My favorite thing about these books has always been the mention and quotes of some of my favorite movies and songs. This book was so cute. I will always root for Wes and Lib. Not gonna lie though, I felt the sting when Wes broke Libs heart. The fact that that Lib lost the romantic side of her was so sad because it was such a big part of her in Better Than The Movies. Opposite to the last book, Wes had a lot to work through has he mourned the loss of his Dad. During the time apart Lib did a lot of growing and maturing herself, no more pastel and dresses. I loved theirs friends old and new. Gosh, the banter between the baseball team was great. Overall it was a cute book, I’m glad Lib and Wes finally got their HEA.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc in return for my honest review.

Lynn Painter knocked it out of the park with the baseball second chance YA romance. In full transparency, Better Than the Movies was a little young for me, so I was a little nervous about reading this one. The nerves were immediately put to rest in this one. I loved it from top to bottom and was able to really connect with Wes and Liz. This a must read for anyone one who likes sports romances or second chance romances.

I loved better than the movies so I was excited to read more about Liz and Wes. However,, I think this book just fell a little flat for me. I expected it to be a lot more romance focused and instead it was focused more on their personal journeys. That completely took away from it feeling like a romcom. I think overall, a sequel wasn’t really needed. I’m so sad because I really wanted this one to work for me and I hope other people love it.

Loved following Wes and Liz's love story unfold. Laughed, smiled and read this one in one sitting. Super cute story and definitely a worthy sequel to Better than the Movies!

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to Wes & Liz when they went to college, here it is. Unfortunately for them, their college start wasn’t as smooth as we’d hoped. After some major life experiences and changes, Wes & Liz part ways for some time. Nothing Like The Movies starts where they reunite at UCLA and we get to experience Wes desperately trying to win back Liz.

I think BTTM is the YA gold standard, but this book moves them into their new adult life and it was a sweet and emotional journey.

Favorite parts:
•texting
•their friend group & college found family
•Wes’s sister (I want a spinoff)
•Helena (I was a fan in BTTM too)
•Wes is obsessed - like good-guy-Justin from JFTS obsessed

and the Wes and Liz enemies-to-lovers rom com of our young hearts, get ready for this roller coaster of emotion. We (the @lynnpainterbooks fan club) asked and she delivered on telling us the extended love(ish) story of a post high school Liz and Wes, and this time from Wes’ pov! My heart you guys. I refuse to reveal any huge plot points but once you start and get your heart a little bruised - you won’t stop until you finish this book in one sitting like I did. Second chance romance anyone?

I’m a huge Lynn Painter fan! I’ve read her entire back list! I loved Better Than the Movies, so I was excited to see there was a sequel coming out. This book was a bit different than her typical writing style, but still made me laugh and cry like usual.

Wes and Liz were so sweet together in BTTM! It was a little hard for me to see what they went through transitioning from high school to college, though it did feel very realistic. It brought back memories of my own relationship trials transitioning from high school to college. Those are hard years and Wes had personal trauma to add to it. Wes will always be a favorite character of mine. Liz is a bit annoying and her communication isn’t the best, but they are so cute together! I loved all of their new college friends, especially Clark!

If Lynn Painter writes it, I will read it! I definitely recommend checking this sequel out, but make sure you read Better Than the Movies first! Now I’m going to go rock out to the soundtrack list included in the book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

This was everything I wanted out of this book and more!!! Still to this day <i> Better Than the Movies </i> is one of my favorite books and is cemented as one of my comfort reads, so, I was a little hesitant to see if this sequel lived up to that, and it absolutely did.

<i> For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. Wes is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good </i>

I am gonna say trigger warning for this book, there are mentions of grief and death. I feel like this was portrayed realistically and what they had to go through is the reality and norm for a lot of people in their lives after such an event.

If you love the “Guy falls first” trope, you’ll loveeeee this book!! It was a bit of a slow burn but Wes is undoubtedly head over heels in love with Liz and the things he says and thinks about her…their love continues to be inspirational no matter the circumstance they’re in.

It was so fun going from reading about Liz and Wes in High School to them now in College and seeing how much they’ve grown up, which is apparent throughout the book, but also seeing glimpses of the things that made me fall in love with them. I’m also currently in College so reading about my fav characters in the same time of their life as me was so full circle!!

I did think the truth behind some things were a little dragged out and could’ve been revealed earlier, it felt forgotten throughout the book and then like remembered it was a thing and so she dropped it and revealed things at the end. But it overall tied together and it had me hooked to keep going!!

Overall, I think everyone should 100% read this at anytime of the year! I had such a great time reading this, it was so easy to read and all the rom-com-y vibes you could ever want.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for an E-Copy ARC in exchange for my review

Synopsis: In the follow-up to Better Than the Movies, Liz and Wes face a new set of challenges in college.

Thoughts: I don’t have a ton to say about this one without spoiling anything from book one. It was cute, and I still liked both of the main characters - but some of the magic was lost from book one, and I think they may have been better off staying in their high school bubble. If you loved the first book and need a more mature and deep Liz and Wes in your life, definitely go grab this book next week though.

Read this if you like:
🍿 teen romcoms
🍿 second chance romance
🍿 pop culture references
🍿 miscommunication

this was everything I didn’t know I needed in a sequel. I devoured book 1 last year and it felt so comforting to be back with Wes and Liz. Although at times cheesy (which I feel is the point and this books charm) it was so good. Hearing all that Wes went through and his personal journey to get back to Liz just warmed my heart. His relationship with his sister melted my heart and head me tearing up. Liz growing up and making a life for herself at UCLA without Wes was also so fun to see. Her new circle of friends and their dynamic was great.

The ending though. I was tearing up at the ending of this. Such a beautiful perfect ending for little Liz and Wes Bennet 🥲🥲 I just adore them and ate this up. Such a quick cute story.

I liked Better than the Movies but the sequel really knocked that one out of the park! I loved both of the characters and their development as well as the slow burn reconnection.

I'm going to be honest, I was very scared to read this book. Wes and Liz are a top tier couple, so when I found out they were broken up in this book, I was sad and had lower expectations for it. But after finishing Nothing Like the Movies, I can confidently say Lynn Painter has hit it out of the park (no pun intended, ha) once again. Was my heart broken for 90% of the book? Yes. But was it put back together in the last 10%? Absolutely. I found this book to be so beautifully realistic as to what people would actually feel like in real life if they had to go through what Wes and Liz have had to go through. These characters have grown and changed, but who doesn't grow and change after graduating high school and going to college? Especially after grief and heartbreak. I loved getting to see these characters more, I loved their banter, their wit, and all the cutesy moments along the way. I will read anything and everything that Lynn Painter writes.

As a resident Wes and Liz apologist, I was so excited to receive this arc and get thrown back into their story. I love a great second-chance romance, so to see them both rediscover their love for each other was something I ate up immediately. This story grabs you from the beginning and you find yourself falling fast into the story until - wait. It's over? That fast? I just started?

I enjoyed myself immensely while reading this but I felt as though the plot picks up far too fast and the book ends far too quickly. I wanted more, and it felt like that's what kept me from giving the book a full 5 stars. I also then had to consider if I felt even happy with the way Liz and Wes's story played out following Better Than the Movies. It just didn't feel very true to their characters, it had that almost "New Moon" effect where I was irritated by their breakup, and the miscommunication of this book is insane and almost hindered my enjoyment.

So with that I caution, this book is a fun fast read, and if you enjoy messy relationships, you'll love it. If you loved the quaint sweetness of Better Than the Movies, you might want to skip this one. I really appreciated Painter's idea that relationships grow and change, especially between high school sweethearts, but I do wish the characters hadn't lost some of their spark in the process. 3.5/5 Rounded Up to 4.

Gotta love a good second chance romance!
I loved Will’s character development and Lynne Painter sure knows how to write a golden retriever MMC. The addition of the playlists at the end is brilliant. Make sure you read Better Than The Movies before picking this one up!

It breaks my heart knowing that Wes and Liz broke up before their relationship really started. This book takes place 2 years after their break up. Liz has been at UCLA for those 2 years and Wes is finally starting his freshman year. Now they are discovering how much they’ve changed but also that no matter what they still know each deep down. I loved all the little references from book 1 and the fact that we got Wes’s pov. There were so many times I just wanted to go through the pages and give Wes a hug! I also understood why Liz felt the way she did but I just wanted her to forgive Wes. And shout out Clark because he was my favorite side character 🫶🏼


Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to arc read this book!

Gotta love a good second chance romance! Especially when it's Wes feeling all the feels! Loved his story and his character development.
Also obsessing over Wes and Liz's soundtrack at the end of the book. So clever and cute!
Highly recommend reading Better than the Movies before reading Nothing Like the Movies.

Thank you so much to Netgally for providing me with an ARC for Nothing Like The Movies!

I would like to start out by saying that this book was so much fun! To jump back into this amazing world that Lynn Painter has created was so nostalgic. Seeing both Wes and Liz apply different songs to their emotions and life events was absolutely amazing! (Also can we mention Wes literally saying ‘in between’ is their couple anthem! Huge TikTok win lol)

The only small problem that I felt with this book is that it almost felt like a forced sequel. Sometimes a book ends and it does not feel like the story needs to be continued and this is one of those books. Was I glad to see more of these characters? Of course I was! That’s being said I still did not feel like the plot of this book moved forward their story line a ton!

The character of Wes definitely felt like he was a fully developed character with a planned plot and effort put into writing him. Liz however was an incredibly stale and immature version of her previous self. I felt like for every ounce of character progression Wes had Liz had character regression which was disappointing.

Overall I did find this a fun book to read! I found myself giggling and kicking my feet at certain scenes, and even thinking about the book and characters throughout my everyday l would still definitely recommend this book to fans of ‘Better Than the Movies’ but they should keep in mind that it does have an entirely different feel to the story.

I absolutely adored this book. If you are a big fan of Better than the Movies like me, you NEED to read Nothing Like the Movies. I feel like anything could have happened, and I would've just been thankful that Lynn Painter gave me more. Our main characters are no longer teenagers, but they are dealing with heartbreak, loss, and grief. I thought the story was fun and fast paced. I will forever love Wes, and I will purchase and read anything Lynn Painter writes.

Wahhhh!! I wanted to love this one so much and it was just an okay read for me.
I’m so sad because I love Lynn Painter and I loved Liz and Wes in Better Than The Movies.
I think my biggest complaint is that the entire book was Wes and Liz not together. The entire book. I missed their relationship, their banter, and the fun. This was much more serious and Liz just felt like a whole different person. I still adored Wes.
.
.
3.5
Thank you to netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this book!

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾☆ 3.25 ‘nothing like the book’ stars… ☆☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Sequels are like coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts. Not always worth it, but the possibilities are endless!

playlist 🎧: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Ck...
pinterest board 📌: https://pin.it/5oFsZiuxh

In more eloquent terms, sequels are a precarious matter. Consequently, I always strive to approach them in an unbiased manner. Though, I stand my ground when I say that the most memorable books are the ones that illicit a visceral reaction from the reader; negative, positive and everything in-between. In this particular instance, I just feel…uncertain, and not in a way that leaves you pondering for time long past.

“˚₊ · »-♡→ Characters

The Liz we all know and love can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she’s dead. What’s worse than a ‘pick-me’ girl, you may ask? A ‘one of the guys’ woman.

The lack of empathy toward Wes is, as Liz herself would say, asinine. It devalues her own conflicting experiences with grief and the character development that evolved from such in the previous novel. In the present storyline, readers are subject witness to the stripping of Liz Buxbaum’s entire being. In attempts to prove that she is more than “lovesick Little Liz”, she ultimately deems that the only capable version of herself is the one that swears off love. Not only is she demeaning herself, but the audience that should be rooting for her. I implore authors to truly grasp the concept that you can admire and even desire love and still be a complete individual. The lack or abundance of such bears no weight in who we are. It is not a rite of passage to hate the very act that makes us and it doesn’t make you stronger when you wield your past hurts as a weapon. In a world that feels broken beyond repair, I, like so many others, crave stories of those that love because they’ve been hurt, not hurt because they’ve been loved and lost. Sincerely, a very anti-patriarchal woman that is o v e r the worn out narrative that women need to be heartless to be taken seriously.

I acknowledge what Painter was aiming for in terms of relatability and progressiveness, but subsequently, our main protagonist didn’t emotionally mature from this momentous, heartbreaking and sudden change. She didn’t find her true self, nor did she rise to the odds of such occasion. Instead, she became her own antagonist. Viewing Wes through her eyes is just sad. All the ways in which she finds herself falling in love with him again are physical, and she, like everyone in this life, deserves so much more than that.

Wes Bennett is no saint either. Grief is like a disguise and the longer you wear it, the easier it is to forget who you truly are. That being said, confessing to a sin that you never and would never commit, even in the wake of obscurity is absolutely mind-boggling. It was a complete overlook that took every wrong turn possible before swerving toward a cliff. There were an abundance of perfectly reasonable justifications for your inability to maintain a romantic, or even platonic, relationship at that point in time, and yet that was the out you chose? He’s for the streets, ladies and gentlemen! I literally cannot defend him.

Despite this, I must admit that I actually enjoyed delving more into Wes’ mind considering his lack of POV in the preceding novel; particularly his involvement in baseball. One of my qualms with ‘Better Than the Movies’ was the abrupt and almost irrelevant knowledge that not only was Wes a player of the sport, but he was also considered one of the best. So much so, he was going to pursue it professionally in college.

˚₊ · »-♡→ Plot

On a more serious note, I would like to speak on behalf of all those that have grieved, are grieving, and will grieve by kindly suggesting that authors not write about life after loss if they’re not willing to properly delve deep into the mental aftermath. Sensitivity readers exist for a reason. Wes doesn’t need the love of his life back, he needs a normal year of young adulthood with no traumatic physical or emotional losses or parental responsibilities for crying out loud!

˚₊ · »-♡→ Dynamics

I fear even fictional high-school sweethearts are no match for the inevitable divorce stereotypes placed upon them. I see no world in which these two live happily-ever-after. There was more vitriol than banter, a far cry from the usual WesLiz charm that with complete transparency, I didn’t even expect, just hoped for. Love is work and I saw no evidence that these two grew enough to be willing and able to persevere in the face of adversity.

˚₊ · »-♡→ Pacing

The plot we anticipate from the synopsis doesn’t begin until 70% of the way through the book with the rest just existing as white noise. An accumulation of niche pop culture references that I would like to declare the end of. They hinder any sense of timelessness and make actual fans of such mentions feel like nothing more than a cash grab (I mean, cut Taylor and I a portion of the check at this point…). The build-up, or lack thereof, set us up for an anticlimactic ending. It was loose ends galore, mainly in regards to Liz’s internship and the project she poured her heart and soul into.

P.S. I call penalty for not capitalizing on the PERFECT opportunity to end this book with “Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope Buxbaum.”

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Lynn Painter for so kindly providing me with an ARC. As always, all thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.