The Dates We Called Practice

by Pippa Gannon

Janelle Pruitt has spent four years building a bakery people return to because the work is good—not because she knows how to make herself smaller.Then one bad date turns his bruised ego into a viral review, and suddenly strangers think her fat body and confidence are public property.Her best friend, Andrew Keane, has a six practice dates. Low stakes. No pressure. No kiss required. Just enough ridiculous outings to make dating feel ordinary and chosen again.The problem? Andrew has been quietly in love with Janelle for years.Mini golf becomes music and pastry. A flour-dusted almost-kiss becomes a freezer kiss that definitely is not practice. By Date Six, Janelle and Andrew have to decide whether the rules are protecting their friendship—or keeping them from the thing they actually want.But real life does not stop once the practice ends. A career-making media offer wants to turn Janelle’s humiliation into a redemption story, and Andrew is offered a summer music residency out of state. If they want a future together, they will have to prove that love does not require either of them to become smaller.A warm, body-positive friends-to-lovers romance with a secretly pining hero, small-town found family, clear consent, one open-door scene, and a guaranteed happy ending.

99 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2026