I knew this book would be good because I love all of Sarah’s other books, but HOLY COW did this one exceed all of my expectations! I LOVED it.

I am forever OBSESSED with Annie and Will! Their chemistry was on fire and the banter and texts were perfectly written. And those kissing scenes?! Whew!

I related so much to Annie and understood parts of her in a way that I never have with any other fictional character. Her social anxiety and perceived awkwardness with others are both traits that totally hit home for me.

I also loved being back in the small town of Rome, Kentucky. It was fun to see more of the townsfolk. Their town meetings, gossiping, and meddling in everyone’s business had me laughing so much.

I wish I could give this one more than 5 stars. Favorite Sarah Adams book to date!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House for the advance copy! I will post my review on Instagram closer to the publication date. It is up on Goodreads now.

I loved returning to Rome, Kentucky for Annie’s story, and, well, I loved it. Annie and Will had electric chemistry and they were so sweet together as they fall.

Of course, fun to see all the side characters we know and love, and also peep a certain special event for a couple we know and love!

Loved the personal growth both characters go through, and their relationship is so organic and beautiful.

Thank you so much to Random House- Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Sarah, come out here and pay for your crimes. HOW DARE YOU WRITE A BOOK THAT I NOW WANT TO LIVE IN!! I fell in love from page one and couldn't put it down until I finished it. Will will forever be my favorite book boyfriend. I don't think anyone can compare to him. Him and Annie were so adorable and I can't even begin to describe how much I truly enjoyed this book. It is now a part of me and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished. Sarah is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors on this planet and I need books about all the Walker sisters. I also need to move to Rome to hang out with all of them, ASAP. Read this. You won't regret it!

I loved this 🥹 Now I know this won’t be every one’s cup of tea, but it was just such a feel good book. Annie was seriously relatable. This character, who supports those around her at the expense of her own feelings, was so well written. I think she might be my favorite character in all of Rome, KY. The way she learns to stand up for herself, not only with the town, but also Will, was a highlight of the book. I also really liked the character of Will. His and Annie’s banter and time spent together made me actually smile while reading. I don’t know what it is, but when characters decide to give their love interest silly names that match their actual name, I lose it. Will = Wilfred, William, Wilson, Wilbur, etc. Makes me so strangely giddy 😂 I really liked When in Rome, but this one surpasses it for me. It’s gooey and cheesy and light and fun. Kinda hope we get more town meetings with the next book!

with his bad boy reputation and some serious childhood trauma, Will Griffin has always convinced himself he wasn’t the settling down type. And then he met Annie Walker.

“Angel Annie” as the town calls her has always been the sweet, innocent one. But Will Griffin absolutely consumes her thoughts 💭

It’s your typical bad boy meets good girl, boy falls hard romance, but Sarah Adams has a way with words that I’ve never seen from another author. She absolutely captivates you with her writing and her characters are top notch. (Will being the best one yet, yes?)

Will steps up to the plate to teach Annie how to date, only to realize the only person she will be dating is him. He’s adventurous and she’s been kept in a box her whole life, but they push each other out of their comfort zones & grow with each other.

Tropes: forced proximity, bad boy/good girl, grumpy x sunshine, fake dating.

Thank you Sarah Adams, Netgalley, and Random House Publishing for the eArc. 💓

Small town sweetheart makes a “practice dating” deal with anti-relationship bad boy? Yes, please!

Sweet and socially awkward Annie is just so relatable as she figures out who really she is and how to be that person in a community that’s put her in a box. And who wouldn’t adore Will, the tattooed, hard shelled bodyguard, who has to learn to love and be loved after a broken past?

Don’t get me wrong, the chemistry between these two is steamy (while still being closed-door), some of the best chemistry I’ve ever read actually, but that’s not even the best part. The friendship that forms between Annie and Will is so very beautiful, they’re so real and supportive with one another. They are each other’s safe place. They don’t try to change each other, instead they allow each other the freedom to be their truest self. I can’t get enough of it.

Sarah Adams simply does not disappoint. If I were to choose a person to write my love story, I’d choose her hands down. (Sarah, is that an option?)

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I may have stayed up til 1am binging this one and I have zero regrets. Loved the bad boy/good girl trope set in this small town filled with hilarious characters. Will and Annie have amazing chemistry and I could not get enough of their interactions. Even though Will gives off a bad boy vibe with all his tattoos and standoffish personality, he is actually so sweet. I loved his interactions with Amelia as well. The way she riled him up in various ways while trying get him and Annie together cracked me up.

If you're looking for a sweet, closed door, small town romance filled with banter, pick this one up!

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This was a steamy opposites attract, fake dating romance. This was the second book in the Rome, Kentucky series and I fell completely in love with Will Griffin.

I was so excited to get the ARC of this book, and it went above my expectations! The characters and storyline were both similar to When in Rome, since it was a grumpy/sunshine relationship, but the good girl/bad boy vibe made me love Annie and Will even more. Annie is the youngest of her family and gets treated like an innocent pushover, but when she meets Will, he sees her for what she is and they connect on a deep level. Will is a bodyguard to Amelia (Rae Rose), and doesn't do commitment, but when Annie proposes a plan for Will to help her get past her horrible dating history. I loved how they brought out sides in each other that no one else had ever seen. Annie is so cute and it kinda made me mad that her family didn't look in deeper and see that she was actually itching to break out of her reputation. Again I fell in love with Rome as a town and all the people in it! Small town romances just make my heart happy and this one especially!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun, light, and charming read

This book follows Annie Walker, Noah Walker’s littlest sister as she tries her hand at dating, which, it turns out… she’s not too good at. With the help of Will Griffin, Amelia Rose’s bodyguard (also known as a executive protection agent👀), Annie starts to bloom and become more confident as she tries to figure out what she wants out of life and who she really is.

I think this book if on the verge of becoming my entire personality! I probably gave it 5/5 stars after only 3 or 4 chapters! I was getting butterflies EVERY TIME Annie and Will interacted because the chemistry and tension was just THAT good! I loved the concept of fake dating/practice dating/dating coach, just because it’s one of my favorite tropes and this was so well done BUT also a different aspect that we (as readers), don’t get to see very often. I also LOVED that this felt like it could be a standalone book, if you haven’t read “When In Rome” and want to read “Practice Makes Perfect”. I don’t necessarily recommend it because the way my heart just blossomed getting to “see” all my favorite characters again was unmatched but theoretically I think someone could!

I absolutely ADORED getting to see more of the life in Rome, Kentucky. Not only did we get to see more of Noah and Amelia, who we fell in love with in “When In Rome”, we also got to see all of our favorite characters again. As someone who is from the south, I completely understand the small town dynamic of Rome, Kentucky and it makes me giggle. Reading this book made me feel like I was going home, in the sense that I loved the small town and everyone (especially Mabel…she makes me literally laugh out loud) and getting to go back to the small town with my favorite main AND EVEN side characters made me so happy! I mean if you read “When in Rome”, you HAVE to read this book! It was absolutely amazing! I had so many feelings, like I actually teared up at the end (because it was so sweet or because I was sad it was over? Even I don’t know…) and I NEVER cry at books!

I can’t wait for other to be returned back to Rome, Kentucky with me and “see” all their fav characters again. I can’t wait to return back to Rome, Kentucky myself!

Oh my goodness!! This was perfection! I wouldn’t change a single thing. Adams wrote actual magic on these pages - there was no lack of charm, laugh out loud moments, and it was beyond swoony! I love the Walkers - their sibling relationships are so relatable and I appreciated how they didn’t shy away from difficult conversations and supported each other to chase their passions.

As a fellow introvert, I felt such a kinship with Annie and watching her blossom and advocate for herself made my heart burst! And Will! Well, Will Griffin has made his way to the top of my book boyfriends list.

I will be shouting about this precious book for a long time and encouraging everyone I know to read it!

Sarah did it again! This book was so cute! I loved it from the first page. This is the follow up to the first book in this series, When In Rome, which I absolutely adored! I knew I had to get my hands on this one.

This book is about Annie who is an introvert with social anxiety and I loved her! She was so relatable and adorable and I enjoyed seeing her character development throughout the book. She was set up by Amelia (from book 1) with her bodyguard to “practice” date. Will has a strict rule of not committing to relationships and doesn’t want to become attached to Annie, but under his rough exterior he was the sweetest!! He was so good to Annie and caring. I loved seeing them together. The tension… the laughs… such a cute book! There were many times where I was laughing out loud.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Once again Sarah Adams delivers with the absolutely INFURIATINGLY adorable characters and plot, while also handling some very real topics and balancing it well. I read When In Rome as an ARC back in my earlier Bookstagram days, and it was so nice to return to Rome (Kentucky, that is) and check in with the Walkers, Amelia, and their VERY tight-knit town.

It’s Annie’s turn this time around, and she is nothing if not determined. At the end of an incredibly awkward and disappointing first date (mood), Annie bumps into Will Griffin (you may remember him as Amelia’s stern but genuine bodyguard), who has returned to town to keep an eye on things leading up to Noah and Amelia’s wedding.

But when Amelia hears the two have talked, she can’t help but meddle (when in Rome, after all), and after a little convincing on both of their parts, confident and laid-back Will agrees to help Annie learn how to overcome her dating fears so that she can find someone to settle down with. But just as friends, because Will is NOT interested in a relationship, and they will not be falling in love. Obviously. Works every time.

But as their friendship grows stronger, and so does Annie’s confidence, they both begin to realize that maybe Annie didn’t need lessons after all - and maybe Will is more ready to settle down than he thought (seriously, she owns a flower shop and he’s got a whole floral sleeve tattoo. COME ON).

Stop reading reviews and read this book!

Okay if you must read a review….
Read this book if….
-you’ve ever been called “sweet” or “too good” or felt overlooked because you aren’t as vocal as the people around you (Seriously, that part where Annie explains why she hates her nickname ❤️)
-you like small towns
-you like tattoos
-you want to read the loveliest love story this year

This was a fun read!
I loved both Annie and Will!
I love a good bad-boy trope, and opposites attract, then add in the dating coach trope and I'm sold!
The connection and chemistry between the two was really good! I love- "the shy introvert is awkward around everyone but him" kind of stuff - it just shows me that the two are actually friends and feel comfortable with one another and with being themselves! And then it was a no-brainer when they fell in love with each other.

This book is also big on finding yourself and being your true self and feeling comfortable and confident in your own skin. Will and Annie discover these things as they spend more time with one another during their practice dating.

There are so many cute moments - when Annie is sick and Will takes care of her! and that ending!

HOWEVER - there were parts of this book that left me with mixed feelings...

The romance and Language Content---

Will is a playboy and has slept with many women and its mentioned a lot, and Annie is a virgin and this is also talked/joked about a lot- So the topic of sex in general, and innuendos, are talked about quite frequently through-out the story.

There is a scene where Will and Annie are very obviously having sex, but it uses vague terms/not explicit. But it does mention that clothes are off and they are "skin to skin" in bed, etc. (If you've read When in Rome, Sarah Adams called that romance "a crack in the closed door", I would say this one is more than WIR)
In many reviews I have seen this book labeled as "Fade to black" , but personally I would call it vague open door. While the scene is not explicit, we don't actually "Fade to black" or "leave the room" - we are still experiencing the moment, although emotionally, with Annie. This makes it hard for me to recommend to my readers who only read clean/closed-door romances. And I definitely wouldn't give it to my younger readers.

The language is still more than I prefer to read, I think there was maybe a bit less than WIR, but still more than I like personally. I'm not sure why Sarah Adams feels the need to add more cursing in her books as compared to her earlier works?? The language just doesn't feel natural, and for me it ruins the sweetest quotes. But I know thats just a personal preference and probably not a popular opinion haha. I just wonder if when she decided to go trad, then all of sudden she felt pressure to add 'more', to make her books seem more 'real life', but I think her books have always felt real and were amazing without the language and steamier romance.

BUT - all that aside, I do enjoy Sarah's writing overall and I love her stories and her humor! I just think if the language and romance continues to become more, maybe I'll just stick to her earlier work!

my my my! sweet & spicy are the words I would use to describe this book. sweet, innocent, introverted & shy annie falls for the tattooed bad boy vibes bodyguard. throughout the book they’re characters start to evolve & they learn things about themselves that they thought they weren’t capable of. also it def gave me all the Gilmore girls vibes when the town had a town meeting about annie & wills relationship (iykyk). such a good read! (

After finishing "When in Rome" earlier this year, I was so excited and honored to be approved to read an ARC of this book! Once I started it last night, I could not put it down, the story moves at a pretty quick pace, but you still get to know and fall in love with all the characters. One of my favorite things about this book was how Annie and Will's relationship developed through the story and how I can see real people in all the characters, specifically Annie. Annie is a romance reader who wants to be seen differently but has to deal with how other people see her, and I loved how Will sees her for who she is, and doesn’t want her to change. Sarah Adams really knows how to write feel-good stories and characters that you just want to keep reading about, and I'm so excited to read more of her books and for people to read this one!

This was the first Sarah Adams book I’ve read and now I want to read all of hers! From the beginning of this book I was captivated and had to find out where the story would go. This was one of the first romance books I’ve read to actually make me laugh out loud. I appreciated that i felt like I knew the characters so well. I also loved the small town setting and the secondary characters reminded me of Gilmore girls which I loved. This was such a wholesome, heartwarming read.

💐 𝖯𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝖬𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝖯𝖾𝗋𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍 💐

Whenever you feel like a sweet-as-pie rom com, look no further than @sarahadams books! They’re just too good to pass up! I love her writing style and I’m excited for more from her!

𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾:
Fake dating
Opposites attract
Small town romance
Meddling friends & family

Annie - wholesome, shy, flower shop owner.
Wants to find her soulmate.
Plans to get married and have a family someday.

Will - (my new book boyfriend 🥵) hot, sexy, tattooed bodyguard.
Player not willing to risk his feelings.
Single and likes it that way.

I loved both of these characters so much! I wanted both of them to find their true happiness!!


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Sarah Adams is the Queen of writing Rom-coms. This book was so good, and I stayed up way too late reading it. I loved Annie and Will and their chemistry and how their relationship progressed. I can't wait for the next in the series and I hope Adams never stops writing!