Romance Reviews: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT & MEET ME AT THE LAKE

 

Happy Friday, everyone!  It has been a hectic week for me with the end of the school year fast approaching, but I’m planning for a relaxing weekend with nothing but blog hopping and reading on my agenda. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on another couple of romance novels that were highly anticipated reads for me. I’m so excited that so far none of the books I’ve hyped up in my own head have let me down and my winning streak continues with these two. 🙂

 

Romance Reviews: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT & MEET ME AT THE LAKEPractice Makes Perfect Goodreads

Author: Sarah Adams

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher:  Random House, Ballantine, Dell

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

Sarah Adams’ new small town romance novel, Practice Makes Perfect, is sugar and spice and everything nice!

You guys, I don’t know that I have ever loved a fictional setting more than the tiny town of Rome, Kentucky and its wonderful cast of quirky characters.  I adored them in the author’s last book, When in Rome, and couldn’t wait to visit them again in this new book. One of my favorite parts of When in Rome was Noah’s close relationship with his sisters, so I was thrilled that this new book would focus on one of them.

Annie Walker is a shy, romance reading, bookworm, who also runs the town’s flower shop. She is the epitome of the “girl next door” and her sweet personality has led the townsfolk and her siblings to nickname her Angel Annie.  While the nickname is meant as a term of endearment, it makes Annie feel like she always has to behave in a certain way so as not to disappoint anyone.

When we first meet Annie, she is on a mission to meet her perfect match, a proper respectable husband whose life will mesh nicely with her own.  Unfortunately, having had little experience with men, Annie is awkward around most men her age, and according to her most recent date, she’s also downright boring.   Annie knows all she needs is some practice with dating and flirting, and so she turns to the one man, who surprisingly enough, doesn’t make her nervous at all, Will Griffin, the sexy, tattooed bodyguard of Noah’s wife, Amelia, who also happens to be the town’s resident pop star.

In many ways, Will really is perfect for the job.  He’s a serial dater with no interest in a real relationship, so there’s no danger of either of them forming an attachment to the other.  He also clearly has plenty of experience, and the fact that Annie is comfortable around him is a bonus.  There’s just one problem – Will is secretly attracted to Annie and if anyone could make him rethink his decision to be in a relationship, it’s definitely her.  He can’t resist Annie’s charms though and so he agrees to mentor and fake date her.

I can’t even express how much I love the chemistry between Will and Annie.  Their “lessons” were just so adorable and sexy, and I especially loved how Will sees Annie in a way that no one else in the town or even her own family sees her.  As much as I enjoyed watching the romantic relationship blossom between them, it was the emotional connection between them, and especially Will’s encouragement of Annie to be who and what she wants to be that really took this story to the next level for me.

Highly recommended for fans of small town, opposites attract romances! 4.5 STARS

 

Romance Reviews: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT & MEET ME AT THE LAKEMeet Me at the Lake Goodreads

Author: Carley Fortune

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

Carley Fortune’s new novel, Meet Me at the Lake, is a second chance romance that follows Fern and Will. 22 year old Fern meets Will while she is working at a shop in Toronto. Will is a budding artist who has been hired by Fern’s boss to paint a mural in the shop.  Fern and Will hit it off and end up spending an amazing day together seeing the sights in Toronto and getting to know one another.  Both of them are leaving Toronto soon, but they feel such a strong connection that they vow to meet up in exactly one year in Muskoka, Canada, at the resort Fern’s family owns.  One year later, however, Will is a no-show, and Fern is devastated.

Fast forward ten years and the untimely death of Fern’s mom has left Fern as the new owner of the now struggling resort.  Fern is still mourning the loss of her mother and getting used to the idea that she now has to run the resort. As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate, she is utterly shocked when Will of all people comes strolling in.  He tells Fern that her mother had hired him as a consultant to help her turn things around at the resort.  Needless to say, Fern’s emotions are in complete turmoil at the thought of Will reappearing in her life after ghosting her all those years ago.

I have to say right now that I was a little worried going into this novel after the extreme hype that surrounded Fortune’s debut, Every Summer After, but I actually enjoyed Meet Me at the Lake even more. The storytelling and character development are spectacular in both novels, but something about the subject matter in this one just resonated with me more.  I especially loved how the story is presented in a dual time line with scenes from Will and Fern navigating their present day awkward situation balanced out with flashbacks from their one amazing day together 10 years earlier.  Even though I don’t normally buy into insta-love, Fortune brings that day to life in such a way that I could easily understand why Fern thought she and Will had such a special connection. The picture Fortune paints quickly had me invested in Fern and Will, and although I was initially furious that Will seemingly threw away that connection, my heart broke for him once he finally revealed why he didn’t meet Fern that day and I was really rooting for the two of them to find their way back to each other.

Carley Fortune truly has a gift for making her readers become emotionally invested in her characters.  She broke my heart into a million pieces and then slowly put the pieces back together again as I followed Will and Fern’s journey, and that’s the kind of story that is going to stick with me.  With Meet me on the Lake, Carley Fortune has cemented her status as an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait to read more from her.  4.5 STARS

 

12 replies
  1. Jonetta | Blue Mood Café
    Jonetta | Blue Mood Café says:

    I added both of these recently and just got the audio version of the Fortune book. Wonderful reviews, Suzanne💜 Both of these are new-to-me authors you’ve made me feel better about taking a chance on.

  2. Sam@WLABB
    Sam@WLABB says:

    Great batch of books for you. I loved Fortune’s book. My heart is speeding up just thinking about the ending. It made me so happy.

  3. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads says:

    Great reviews! Meet Me At The Lake is one of my most anticipated new releases so I’m happy to hear you loved it! And Practice Makes Perfect sounds amazing, though I still need to read When In Rome first 🙂

  4. Mica - Away From The Blue
    Mica - Away From The Blue says:

    Meet me at the lake sounds really good! I had enjoyed every Summer After but felt the ending let me down a bit – it’s good you enjoyed this next book of hers better and I will have to add it to my to read list! Thank you for sharing 🙂

  5. Lark
    Lark says:

    I can’t wait to read Practice Makes Perfect. Sarah Adams has become one of my favorite romance authors. I love her books so much. Probably because they always make me laugh. 😀

  6. Verushka
    Verushka says:

    Practice Makes Perfect and Will and annie sound adorable! I can see why you like heading back to Rome <3

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