48 pages • 1 hour read
Sarah AdamsPractice Makes Perfect
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 21-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary: “Annie”
Annie is curious about how far the sleeve of flower tattoos extends up Will’s arm, and he gives her permission to remove his shirt. As her hands trail his skin, Will asks if she’s a virgin, which Annie confirms. They begin kissing, and when things become heated and Will reaches to unbutton her top, Annie stops it from going further. Will is respectful and cuddles with her instead. Annie believes she detects fear in his eyes.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Will”
Will wakes up with Annie and wonders if he can have a long-term relationship. For the first time, he understands what his brother means when he talks about his love for Hannah. Though he wants to stay, Will sneaks back out Annie’s bedroom window and heads to the local diner for breakfast. Noah is present, grabbing his morning coffee, and knows about Will’s night with Annie. Apparently, everyone in town has seen his truck, and the news has spread like wildfire. James enters the diner as well, with a petition begun by Harriet at a town business owners’ meeting earlier this morning. The petition demands that Annie and Will cease their relationship for Annie’s protection.
Chapter 23 Summary: “Annie”
Annie’s sisters hear the town gossip and confront Annie about her relationship with Will. When Annie tells the truth, her sisters act as if everything they’ve ever expected from “sweet-little-introvert” Annie has been confirmed (193). They express hope that Will’s date coaching can find Annie the perfect match for her, which they hypothesize might be a pediatric doctor and single dad. Annie is hurt by how little they actually know her because what they describe is not what she wants at all.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Text Exchanges”
Will and Annie text while he’s away for work. They exchange flirtatious messages, and when conversation turn to the circulating petition, Will suggests they allow everyone to believe their relationship is real—to dismantle her “Angel Annie” image once and for all.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Annie”
A few days later, Annie is working at the flower shop while obsessing over the goodnight text she got from Will the night before. An attractive single man enters her shop, but Annie can’t stop comparing him to Will. Annie learns he—Brandon Larsdale—is a veterinarian who’s just moved to town. Annie uses her lessons with Will to converse with Brandon, and he asks her on a date. She admits she’s not looking for anything casual, which Brandon agrees with. He gives her his number so that she can reach out if she’s interested.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Annie”
Annie, Maddie, and Emily go to Hank’s for Friday night to drink, line dance, and catch up. Noah arrives with Amelia and Will, who are back in town after a week away. Annie notifies Will that her family knows about their ruse and that there’s no need to fake date like he suggested. Will seems disappointed but places his hand on her thigh, which prompts Annie to kiss him in the public bar, surprising everyone. Annie notices that John—the “Hot Bank Teller”—is present and watched the kiss. Will recognizes the man too and believes Annie used him to make John jealous.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Will”
Will hasn’t spoken to Annie since Hank’s several days ago. He’s surprised to hear from Amelia that Annie’s sick and is frustrated that no one thought to tell him. Amelia releases Will from his duties early, and he runs to grab several items for Annie, including medicine, hot tea, and tissues. He runs into Mabel, who offers to teach him how to make Annie’s favorite soup.
Chapter 28 Summary: “Annie”
Annie lies half-dressed on her kitchen floor, too exhausted to get up. She has a doctor’s appointment and hopes Dr. Mackey can prescribe her medicine that will make her feel better before her date the following day with Brandon. Will finds her, helps her get dressed, and then takes her to her appointment. She sleeps the day away and wakes to find Will cooking her favorite soup. They cuddle on the couch while Will reveals his troubled past. Annie falls asleep and wakes up in bed beside Will.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Will”
Will is troubled by his growing attachment to Annie. They admit to having feelings for one another but decide to stay friends because they want different things. Brandon texts to confirm his date with Annie, which Will reads over her shoulder. He feigns nonchalance to disguise his jealousy. He takes the opportunity to tell Annie that he’ll be leaving to guard a high-profile politician in DC after Amelia’s wedding. Will distracts from his feelings by jokingly practicing a first-date kiss with Annie before leaving.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Annie”
Brandon takes Annie to his nephew’s baseball game for their first date. At first, the date goes well. Brandon checks all the boxes for Annie’s perfect match: family man, dad material, and a cozy homebody. However, when he mentions he loves to read, he is very adamant about how much he hates the romance genre. In response, Annie feels pressured to lie about her love of romance novels.
Amelia and Will show up in sunglasses and hats, clearly spying on Annie’s date. When Brandon asks about Annie’s straying attention, she lies by saying there’s a bee nearby. He’s deathly allergic and requests they move to a different spot on the bleachers, but the only available seats are beside Will and Amelia. When Brandon mentions that he feels no desire to travel, Annie feels disappointed, and Will intervenes with aggressive questioning about Brandon’s intentions. Annie drags Will away to confront him about sabotaging her date. Will admits that he doesn’t believe Brandon is right for her because he wants her to “marry someone who sees [her] and loves [her] and who makes [her] excited and happy—not just someone who looks right on paper” (262). Will and Amelia leave, and when Annie returns to Brandon, she decides that they would be better as friends. Later that night, Amelia can’t sleep. She texts Will to come over and snuggle.
Chapters 21-30 Analysis
This penultimate section is filled with conflicts that threaten Will and Annie’s deepening relationship. This builds up to the climax of the second act, which usually ends in a breakup or miscommunication that launches the plot into the final act. The town petition in favor of Will and Annie ending their relationship spreads like wildfire, Annie successfully earns a date with her “perfect match,” and Will intends to leave town soon for work in DC.
A popular trope in romance is “tending to injury,” where one love interest cares for the other, typically treating an external injury of some kind. Adams employs a lighthearted version of this trope by introducing Annie’s temporary sickness to the plot line. The tending to injury trope is often intended to display the depth of the love interests’ feelings for one another. In this case, the love interest in denial is Will, who reveals his feelings by acting overprotective of Annie as he nurses her back to health. The trope allows Adams to build a scenario in which Annie and Will can display the typical actions of a domestic life together—such as when Will cooks Annie soup before cuddling together on the living room couch. Scenes such as these give both readers and the characters a glimpse of what life could be like if the love interests commit to a long-term relationship, which is important for the reader to be able to contrast with Annie’s date. With the inclusion of the tending to injury trope, the reader aligns themselves with Annie’s perspective and likely favors Will’s familiarity and comforting nature in the story.
The trope does its duty, as Annie wholeheartedly believes that the sweet local vet and single dad she goes on a date with is no longer the perfect match for her. Instead, she’s drawn more and more toward Will, even when his impending departure casts an uncertain shadow over the future of their relationship. The uncertainty in their relationship causes Annie to occasionally regress in her Confidence and Individuality. She doesn’t feel confident telling her sisters the whole truth about her feelings for Will, and despite feeling disappointment “as [she] den[ies] being true to [her]self,” she “squash[es] that feeling under [her] Converse sneakers because what has being true to [her]self gotten [her] besides blown off in the middle of a date?” (192). Eventually, Will’s continued and deepening interest in Annie, even while temporarily out of town for work, reinforces her self-confidence.
Even as her confidence grows, Annie continues to hurt over “not feel[ing] seen by them at all” (195). This issue is one she cannot overcome without first overcoming her propensity for passivity. Until she can actively confront her sisters about her feelings, Annie is stuck in an endless cycle of seeking her own desires and shameless people-pleasing. Annie struggles with fitting the mold she’s been in her entire life, even when she yearns to outgrow it. Her connection with Will is deepened once learning that he, too, used to strive for perfection to his own detriment. He “wore polo shirts […] And glasses. And [he] never socialized, ever,” believing that it would please his parents, yet it never did (232). Will eventually decided in adulthood to be selfish for once and enjoy living in pursuit of his own desires, a way of thinking he helps Annie herself find. Will’s habit of being unapologetically himself and taking advantage of every adventure without caring about what others think provides Annie with the perfect example of how to fill the void in her life.
Though Will doesn’t present as passive in life, he is in love. All Will witnessed with his parents was infidelity and emotional abuse:
There was no tenderness. No patience. There were insults and harsh reprimands and me wondering if that night was going to be the one when all their yelling was going to end with my dad hitting my mom or her leaving us for good to sleep with some other guy (177).
By ensuring his relationships never contain fighting or disagreements, he exhibits The Passivity of Excessive Kindness. His avoidance of confrontation and deep feelings hinders his activeness in his long-term love life. His fear that he might make his partner miserable or push them away allows him to look on passively as potential happy relationships pass him by.
