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Practice Makes Perfect

(Southern Comfort #5)

Sarah Title (Goodreads Author)

3.64 · Rating details · 116 ratings · 38 reviews

Helen Lee has a top-secret dream: to publish a romance novel. There’s just one problem, and her most recent rejection letter doesn’t mince words: Helen can’t write a love scene to save her life. As Head of Reference at Willow Springs, Kentucky’s Pembroke College, Helen is hoping her library research skills will do the trick. But she may have to resort to a far more “hands- ...more

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ebook, 96 pages

Published August 30th 2016 by Lyrical Shine

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· 116 ratings · 38 reviews

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Mar 17, 2017 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tag-reviewed, archived, genre-cr

3.5 stars for being the right length

Delightful. Doesn't try to do too much and does it well. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Sarandah Princess rated it really liked it

Shelves: real-jobs, short-read, romance, beta-male, funny-romance, steam-level-3, friends-to-lovers

This book lightened my day. Author broke the fourth wall (is that even a thing in books? Is there a better term?) and made me giggle. Henry is yum and Helen is delicious and together they are adorable.

Bingeing all of Sarah Title’s books now, tyvm

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Jun 29, 2016 Judy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-romance, netgalley, theme-southeners, theme-pet-lover, reviewed-in-2016, state-kentucky

Reviewed on Musings and Ramblings.

I always stop and take a look at books featuring Librarians. I thought long and hard about becoming one, but finally decided that though I enjoy reading books, I personally wasn't professional librarian material. However I still love libraries and those that take care of the books held within.

But this book had more than just librarians, it also had basset hounds. I have been in love with basset hounds since watching The Fox and The Hound as a child. Who can resi ...more

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Jan 01, 2018 Sometime rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-reads-novellas, from-library

This was a perfectly done novella. The author isn't so ambitious that you lose all the good bits. I loved Helen and Henry as they moved from best friends to more. Great book! ...more

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Aug 24, 2016 Vivian rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, romance, netgalley

3.5-star read

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes.

Helen Lee is a research librarian extraordinaire. Her colleagues respect her research abilities. Her friends like and love her. Her two adopted basset hounds, George and Tammy, adore her. The only thing missing from Helen's life is success as a romance author...oh, and having a love life. And apparently, the lack of the latter has gravely influenced the lack of success as a writer. The only thing lef 3.5-star read

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes.

Helen Lee is a research librarian extraordinaire. Her colleagues respect her research abilities. Her friends like and love her. Her two adopted basset hounds, George and Tammy, adore her. The only thing missing from Helen's life is success as a romance author...oh, and having a love life. And apparently, the lack of the latter has gravely influenced the lack of success as a writer. The only thing left for Helen to do is research the heck out of sex/love scenes in Sarah Title's latest addition to the Southern Comfort series, Practice Makes Perfect.

Helen finally receives a rejection letter that provides constructive criticism on her romance novel. Everything she's written works except for the sex/love scenes and since the book is being submitted as an erotic romance there's obviously a problem. Fortunately, Helen knows how to research almost any topic. Unfortunately for Helen, her friends, especially history professor Henry Beckham, notices that Helen is not being herself. After getting Helen to admit what's going on, he does the only thing a true friend can do and that's offer to help her in her research and that leads to lots of kissing and sex.

Practice Makes Perfect is, in my opinion, the perfect addition to the Southern Comfort series by Sarah Title. It is a fast-paced and enjoyable read that provides all of the hallmark elements of a Sarah Title read: sweet and sexy romance, sassy characters and dialogue, and humor. Seriously, what's not to love about a sex-starved librarian turned erotic romance writer and a history professor that hides his assets behind suits and bow-ties, throw in the two adopted basset hounds and you've got the perfect romance read. If you've never read anything by Ms. Title and enjoy reading romance, Practice Makes Perfect may be the perfect entry into the world of the Southern Comfort series. If you're not sure about romance reads but want something quick and sassy to read, then I urge you to read Practice Makes Perfect. Just in case you couldn't tell, I enjoyed reading Practice Makes Perfect and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Title in the future. ...more

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Jun 10, 2016 LJT rated it really liked it

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Title is a cute and fun novella. The quick-paced story captured my attention from the very first paragraph, and as a result, I finished it in one sitting.

Librarian Helen Lee and history professor Henry Beckham have been best friends for a long time. They live and work in the sometimes gossipy small town of Willow Springs, Kentucky. Helen is on the verge of publishing her first romance novel, however, according to her publisher, the sex scenes need some spicing up. ...more

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Jul 14, 2016 Marjorie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance

Sarah Title will put a smile on your face over this story regarding a librarian, Helen Lee, trying to write a novel but can't make the sex scenes sing. She keeps getting rejection letters. Helen's best friend, Henry Beckham, professor of history, catches her reading on the computer how to write sex scenes. He decides to help her by being her sex guinea pig.

Henry is researching a brothel that operated in Willow Springs, KY and he thinks the brothel is a house now owned by Pembroke College. The c ...more

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Jun 10, 2016 Despina rated it liked it

I received copy of this book from NetGalley for a honest review.

I give this story 3 1/2 stars

Practice Makes Perfect is a quick read. I'm not sure what to say about the story, it was sweet but I bit dry, I never fully connected with either Henry or Helen but I the dogs made me laugh. It hard to say what was missing for me, because the story itself is complete, I just didn't really feel the attraction between the two. So the basic story is Helen writes a romance novel, but is told her love scenes ...more

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Jul 04, 2016 Nichole Howell rated it really liked it

Oh how I wish Practice Makes perfect was a full length novel. There is plenty of content in the story to make it possible. That is the only thing I don't like about the book.....way too short. I WANT MORE!

The novella had me hooked from the beginning. It is a topic I've always wondered about. How do romance writers write the love scenes to make them believable? Do they have to research it, take notes, and act out scenes to make it work? This book takes ahold of those questions as the plot and it ...more

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Nov 23, 2016 Amber Polo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: writing, dogs, library-research

So much fun!
Librarian/romance author Helen Lee decides to research sex in order to study and improve her writing of sex scenes. What better way to study erotica than first hand. Lucky for her a friendly history professor has a practicum in mind.
I probably would have still liked it if I wasn't a librarian who's written a couple romance novels (but every time I began a sex scene it turned comic) and am a huge dog lover. I totally believed a librarian would launch a research project just like Hele ...more

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Jun 10, 2016 Heather andrews rated it it was amazing

Henry was such an oddball, but damn I loved him for it, “I didn’t think you would be so . . . in charge.” He was pretty sure that was a compliment. A compliment to his lovemaking, if not a compliment to his personality. Whatever, there was a compliment in there somewhere. He was pretty sure. “Seriously, Henry. That was amazing.” Yup, definitely a compliment." I liked this book, it was short, sweet and Henry I loved him. ...more

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Jun 28, 2016 Gemma rated it really liked it

Practice makes Perfect was an enjoyable read that enchanted me from the start. It was a short but sweet story and I adored the characters. Helen is determined to release her romance novel and needs help in making her love scenes more hotter in her book. Henry becomes the person to help Helen with fixing her love scenes up in her novel.
I found practice makes perfect to be an enjoyable read.

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Aug 29, 2016 Cyn Delia rated it liked it

Even though I didn't read any of the other books in this series, I still enjoyed it- it had some of my favorite things in it! My full review will come soon! ...more

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Nov 03, 2016 Jennyj Jennifer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sweet book about books and history!

Gives a glimpse into a connection between love, historic preservation, and local legend. Great, sexy read with humor and friendship thrown in to make the story more engaging!

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Dec 21, 2016 Anna Marie rated it it was amazing

Lovely, short read about a university librarian who wants to break out of her boring shell and write an erotic romance novel, and her bow-tie wearing best friend who sees his colleague behaving oddly and troubled... and how he sets himself to helping her. LOVED it!

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Jan 28, 2019 Emma rated it it was ok

I sadly didn't like this book. Some of Sarah Titles books are great, such as The Undateable, but the romance in this one just didn't work for me. I didn't feel the chemistry at all and the plot felt a bit forced too unfortunately. ...more

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May 28, 2019 Penny Leidecker rated it really liked it

Practice Makes Perfect is a fast read about Henry and Helen. Helen received a rejection letter stating that her sex scenes were boring. Henry, being the friend he is, decides to help her with some hands-on research. Grab your copy and see what happens.

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Jul 08, 2017 Samantha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Quick read, but you know good.

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Jul 21, 2017 Amanda rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-novels, summer-2017

I thought this was a really cute book! I blew right through it. I enjoyed reading a romance set on a college campus with two smart main characters (even though the premise was pretty silly).

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Sep 05, 2017 Beth rated it it was ok

It was just ok. Short story.

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Aug 12, 2016 Amy ~ Love At 1st Read rated it really liked it

Librarian Helen Lee dreams of writing a romance novel. Unfortunately, she just received another rejection letter for her erotic story. The reason? It just ain’t erotic. Helen needs to spice it up. Perhaps she can use her considerable research skills to write the sex scenes.
Helen’s friend and colleague, Henry Beckham, is proud of his friend when he discovers her secret. Henry and Helen started out as colleagues, but they’d grown a real friendship. Helen always helped Henry with his historical re Librarian Helen Lee dreams of writing a romance novel. Unfortunately, she just received another rejection letter for her erotic story. The reason? It just ain’t erotic. Helen needs to spice it up. Perhaps she can use her considerable research skills to write the sex scenes.
Helen’s friend and colleague, Henry Beckham, is proud of his friend when he discovers her secret. Henry and Helen started out as colleagues, but they’d grown a real friendship. Helen always helped Henry with his historical research. He could help with her research as well. What would any good friend do? He’ll be her sensual guinea pig.

What a humorous, romantic tale of friends to lovers. The characters of Helen and Henry were delightful. Helen loved her job but it wasn’t challenging. She wanted to try her hand at writing. She hadn’t told anyone about it because she felt she wasn’t taken seriously as it was. She wasn’t a professor like so many of her friends and colleagues. She was a librarian and she didn’t think adding romance writer to her title would help. Henry could tell something was bothering Helen. They’d been friends long enough that he could read her moods. When he discovers her googling “how to write about sex”, he’s impressed that she’s giving writing a try and he understands her secretiveness. He knew how it felt to feel passionately about something that others didn’t take seriously. Like his research into the long ago Willow Springs brothel. While other colleagues teased him about it, Helen was always willing to help him with his research. So he decides to assist Helen with her research. This is where things get interesting and pretty funny too. The scene with Henry and Helen trying to recreate sex scenes using GI Joe and Barbie was hysterical. And since GI Joe and Barbie don’t exactly bend easily, you can imagine it was pretty unsuccessful. So Henry sees no other choice but to be her “research partner”. And for the first time, Helen saw Henry as a man. A man who had sex. And apparently a man who could really kiss too. The toe-curling, mind-blowing research seemed to work too. It was like working with Henry took everything Helen knew and loved about sex and made it legible. The problem though was that they were starting to forget this was research. That they were supposed to be acting out a sex scene in a romance novel instead of making out with their best friend. Were these feelings real or sex feelings? And was it worth risking their friendship?
I love friends to lovers plots because when the friendship changes, it’s so much fun watching the characters explore those possibilities. And we readers get to travel along with the characters on a voyage of surprising discovery. This is the latest in new-to-me-author Sarah Title’s Southern Comfort series. Though it can be read as a stand-alone, I’m eager to read the earlier books in this series so I can get to better know the other characters in this charming college town. I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Bungluna rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary-romance, novella

This fun novella centers around a unique couple: he's a history professor trying to prove that an old house in town was a brothel of historical significance; she's a librarian who finds artistic outlets writing erotic romance. When her book is rejected due to lack of fire in the love scenes, he offers to help her wit "research ". Who knew nerdy, bow tie wearing professors could be so passionate?! Every thing about this story was good. Recommend to readers looking for something fresh. ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Frederic rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance

What a fun time I had reading Practice makes perfect. Sometimes I am in the mood for a funny and short story. This one was everything I was looking for and then some. It is not an easy task to be able to create a good story with an interesting character development in less than 100 pages, Sarah Title managed to do it perfectly. When I reached the end of the story I caught myself hoping that I could have stayed a little longer into the world of Henry and Helen.

Helen is a librarian (I always love What a fun time I had reading Practice makes perfect. Sometimes I am in the mood for a funny and short story. This one was everything I was looking for and then some. It is not an easy task to be able to create a good story with an interesting character development in less than 100 pages, Sarah Title managed to do it perfectly. When I reached the end of the story I caught myself hoping that I could have stayed a little longer into the world of Henry and Helen.

Helen is a librarian (I always love when the main character loves books as much as I do!!!). She is working in a college and she has a big secret : she wrote a romance novel. She did not tell anybody about it, worrying that she would be judged by her colleagues and family, so she kept it to herself. She submitted her manuscript to a contest and it was refused. She received some constructive criticisms from an editor that asked her to work on her intimate scenes and to submit her book again once it is revised. Helen was taken aback, she had no clues what was wrong with these scenes or how to rewrite those. Helen is a charming character, full of life and funny as hell. I really loved how she cope with disappointment: drinking wine and dress up in a disco dress while listening to disco songs. I can totally picture myself doing the same thing (I might trade the dress for Disco pants instead though). Her dogs are lovely; it added a “doggie” vibe that made this story great!

Henry is a historian in college. Helen and he are close friends and he is trying to prove that one of the historical building that was bought by the college used to be a brothel in the early 1900's. He is stating that it must be kept as it is for its significant importance in the community. He is having a hard time to find some facts to corroborate his hypothesis. One day, he went to the library to discuss with Helen but she was watching something on her computer. She was so focused that she did not hear him creeping up to her side. Then Henry saw she was reading about how to write steamy scenes. Helen did not react well when she realized that he was there. Being a good friend, he suggested to Helen to actually practice some steamy scenes together to better her writing. That is quite funny coming from a character that is so conservative. He is a real gentleman and he is trying to help Helen. This is when the story become really funny and entertaining.

The pace was great and I love the writing style of Sarah Title. She was able to make the main characters alive and as crazy as this story is, I believed it! Who knows that might be happening to me one of these days!

I definitely recommend this short read; you will read it in one sitting and I am quite sure that you will be left craving for more!!

*I was gifted this book by Jeep DIva in exchange for an honest review ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Blackjack rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: published-2016

I enjoyed the premise of this book a bit more than the execution. I have to say though that I was smitten from the start by the academic setting and the promise of a romance between a history professor and librarian. My favorite parts of this story center around the research Helen, the librarian, engages in as part of her endeavor to write a romance with believable sex scenes in her spare time. And I liked this part of the novel even more once Henry, Helen's colleague, good friend and hero of th I enjoyed the premise of this book a bit more than the execution. I have to say though that I was smitten from the start by the academic setting and the promise of a romance between a history professor and librarian. My favorite parts of this story center around the research Helen, the librarian, engages in as part of her endeavor to write a romance with believable sex scenes in her spare time. And I liked this part of the novel even more once Henry, Helen's colleague, good friend and hero of the story, gets in on the project and starts his own research to better understand why women read romances. I enjoyed too the debunking of romance myths, especially through the eyes of Henry as a new reader to them. I think readers who enjoy seeing romances validated will enjoy this aspect of Title's book. Also, the nerdy beta guy is a favorite for me in romances and so I did really like Henry and had no trouble envisioning the sexy man behind the bow tie!

I wished for more background though on why Helen feels the need to write a romance, especially given that she feels disconnected from the sexuality represented in them. And it turns out this is just one area in which I wanted more background to fill in gaps in the writing. Practice Makes Perfect is a novella and so the author is limited in space and time to how much back story can come in here, but I still think that even in a shorter frame, the story suffers from not providing enough context. Why are Helen and Henry such good friends given how very different they are? Also, the transition from friends to lovers felt rapid to me and I wished for more expansion from both characters' perspectives on how they saw each other before the changed they became lovers. Why did they not have an attraction prior to the romance project? Title does try to fill in gaps at times by stating the reasons for characterization and plot but I wanted to see things develop. "Telling" versus "showing" is a definite issue for me here. I think in the end this is a promising story that just needed a more leisurely treatment. ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Gaele rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-challenges, net-galley, kensington, crrc, reviewed

When a novella leaves you satisfied and smiling, even as you wish there was more to the story, you’ve found a story from Sarah Title. This warm and clever story is full of charm with a touch of the warmth of the south, and is sure to leave readers smiling.

Helen Lee has only ever wanted to live with and in books, and her position as a librarian allows her that. But with a secret desire to write her own romance novel, she’s hit a stumbling block. The publishers wants more spice in her sex scenes, ...more

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Feb 22, 2017 Michelle Robinson rated it liked it

Simple, fun, fast read. Henry was really believable and memorable.

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Aug 08, 2016 Janis Hill rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley-review, humour, romance

I would like to thank Kensington Books for providing me with a free Arc of this book, via Netgalley, in exchange for an open and honest review.

This was a cute little novella and really is what it is… And what it is is a fast paced, light hearted and amusing look at how to best write romance… set in a romance novella.

I loved its simplicity; we all knew where it was going from the title and blurb, so no real surprises along the way. But it was well written, filled with humour and I loved that the ...more

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Aug 01, 2016 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: romance

This was a short and sweet novella about research librarian turned erotic romance author, Helen, and her co-worker/best friend, historian Henry.

Helen finally gets a rejection letter with a reason for the rejection, and a suggestion for fixing her novel. Turns out Helen's story is great, except her sex scenes are boring. So she decides to do what she does best and research writing a good sex scene.

She's so into her research she doesn't notice Henry reading over her shoulder. Then Henry offers to ...more

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Aug 30, 2016 Laura rated it it was amazing

This is a great novella; this novella is part of the Southern Comfort series written by Sarah Title. Helen Lee’s dream is to publish a romance novel. The latest rejection letter says that she can’t write a love scene to save her life. As Head of Reference at Willow Springs, Kentucky’s Pembroke College, Helen is hoping her library research skills will do the trick. But she may have to resort to a far more “hands-on” course of study. Luckily, there’s someone who’s more than happy to instruct her. ...more

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Jun 09, 2016 Mary rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary-romance, netgalley

This is a cute story about Helen, a librarian who aspires to write an erotic romance novel. After many rejection letters she receives another one that, although it's a rejection, ends with telling Helen that if her sex scenes were spicier she would help her get published. One of Helen's best guy friends offers to help her with the research (ha!). It's a novella so the plot progresses quickly. I thought the storyline about Henry's goal to save a certain historic building from destruction was a bi ...more

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About Sarah Title

Sarah Title

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Sarah Title has worked as a barista, a secretary, a furniture painter, and once managed a team of giant walking beans. She currently leads a much more normal life as a librarian in West Virginia. Kentucky Home is her first novel.