Book Review – Practice Makes Perfect

STATS
Genre:	Contemporary Romance/Comedy	Amazon Rating:	4.4
Publication Date:	2023	Goodreads Rating:	4.1
Pages:	331	Dual POV:	1st, present

DISCLAIMER:  

1. Trigger Warnings.  Should you desire trigger warnings, please seek them out.  If you do not know where to look for said warnings, I found this article from Book Riot to be a helpful starting place.  
2. Spoilers.  I apologize in advance, but there will probably be some small spoilers.  I try to limit discussion to information found in the cover copy.  If you are sensitive to spoilers, you may want to skip My REST section.  

SETUP.

Angel Annie, as her family nicknamed her, is ready to find her dream man, get married, and start a family.  However, on the heels of a terrible first date, Annie believes she’s bad at dating and needs some help to be “unboring.”  Enter Annie’s soon-to-be sister-in-law, friend, and pop star Amelia Rose, who just happens to have a smoking hot tattooed bad boy bodyguard,Will, who also, just so happens to take center stage in Annie fantasies.  Amelia volunteers Will to be Annie’s dating coach, but Will is reluctant to agree because for a man who doesn’t believe in love and marriage and happily-ever-after, Annie occupies his thoughts more than any other woman.  Annie and Will agree that falling in love with each other would be a mistake, but as the practice dates and tutoring sessions reveal explosive chemistry, Will realizes he doesn’t want Annie to change.

MY WHY; or, What I Thought I’d Like About This Book.

I wanted to get back into contemporary romance/rom-com books, so I picked a bunch of books.  I didn’t want books that I knew too much about, so there was no pre-planning or scrolling involved.  I simply picked books that sounded interesting, had illustrated covers, were published in the last few years, and were on sale.

All I really wanted was to laugh and fall in love.  

NOTEWORTHY ELEMENTS.  (You decide if they are Pros or Cons.)

1. Whiffs of Pygmalion, but really it’s fake dating.  While Will agrees to be Annie’s Dating Coach, the two settle into a friendship and Will quickly realizes he doesn’t want to change Annie.  There is none of the cringy makeover scenes synonymous with Pygmalion.  Will sees Annie and wants to help give her the courage and support to step outside of the role her family and the town have assigned her.  “It seems to me, Annie, that you are just waiting for someone to give you permission to be yourself out loud.” (p.104)  So, the coaching sessions end up being more like dating skill confidence boosts for Annie.

2. Healthy Relationship.  There is consent and communication and a lovely friendship that blooms.  Will does deflect a fair amount in the beginning when Annie asks him about his family, but as their friendship grows, he opens up more and more.  As Annie and Will grow, their healthy communication skills extend to their familial relationships.

3. Open Door Romance, but nothing explicit.  The focus is more on the lead up and the kissing and discovering during their tutor sessions and becoming friends, so when the moment arises it feels organic, cute, and sweet.

4. Low Drama.   Will and Annie have low drama/conflict.  The conflict arises between family members: Will and his brother, Annie and her sisters, and arguably, Annie and the town members.  (It is a quirky small town romance after all.)

5.  Quirky Small Town.  Love it or hate it, Rome, Kentucky is a town of busy bodies who all have your best interest at heart.  There were two women that gave me Blanche and Dorothy vibes.  I LOVED it every time they were on the page.

6. Part of a Series.  This is Book Two is a series centering around the Walker siblings of Rome, Kentucky.  In true romance fashion, each book is a stand alone, focusing on one couple within the same world.  Book One told Amelia and Noah’s love story (Noah being Annie’s brother).  And Adams deftly teed up the next couple in this series: Maddie and James, here’s looking at you.  (Maddie is one of Annie’s older sisters.)

My REST.  (Reaction. Experience. Summary. Thoughts.) 

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading Practice Makes Perfect; it was sweet and cozy.  Annie and Will were cute together and the chemistry was wonderful.  It was a delight to watch Annie grow and come into herself and watch Will process his past and open up to love.  There was no high drama or big dramatic break-up scene, which seems to be a trend in the most recent contemporary romance novels I’ve read, the low drama, I mean.  Though there is a bit of the miscommunication trope towards the end, Adams set it up beforehand and resolved it quickly, so it wasn’t too painful.  

I’m really glad I stumbled across Sarah Adams.  I love the world she built and I’m going to tuck her into my back pocket for those moments in life when I need a shot of cute and sweet and comfy.  (To be clear, I’m talking about Adams’ books, not her person; it’s not that kind of blog.)

Thus concludes an in-depth review of Sarah Adam’s Practice Makes Perfect.  Hope you enjoyed.  I’ll see you next time I pick my head up out of a book.