Thank you to #netgalley and Simon & Schuster for my advanced copy of Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter. I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Liz and Wes had been freshmen at UCLA and in love, but then Wes’s dad died and he was forced to leave school. He broke up with Liz and broke her heart. Now it’s two years later and Liz is a junior working an internship covering the baseball team and she discovers Wes is back in her life. He is back at UCLA as a freshman and back on the baseball team too. You have forced proximity and fake dating and many failed grand romantic gestures. There are dual POVs and I love that. Wes appears to Liz as so sure of himself, it isn't until you are in Wes's POV that you realize he is so very unsure of himself, but he wants to win Liz back. I found this to be a touching and sweet second chance romance. No spice. I enjoyed every minute.

I loved Better Than The Movies and was eager for more of Wes and Liz! Do I think this sequel was 100% necessary? No. However, there were still several aspects of the book that I enjoyed!

This book was a lot more mature than BTTM and I appreciated the additional backstory on Liz and Wes and seeing them in an adult setting. I think we see a lot more depth in Liz and Wes that we were potentially missing in BTTM.

The book did drag at a few points and it felt like the romance and tension were lacking. I found myself getting bored a few times throughout especially since it was obvious they would reunite in some way, it was just a waiting game until when that would actually happen.

Overall this was a quick and enjoyable read if you are looking for more of Wes and Liz!

This book started out strong and felt different from the first. The characters had changed and grown. I was really into it but I think it took too long for the romance to develop. The relationship started feeling cliche and rushed but the book was over. I still liked it overall but I wish it didn't wrap up so quickly.

There were moments of this novel that I really enjoyed - Wes and Liz have so much history - but there were also elements that just felt like too much and stalled the story for me. At the beginning of the novel, there were other things to focus on beyond Wes and Liz's relationships like him coming back to UCLA to play baseball and Liz's internship - but that quickly got pushed to the side to repeatedly go over past events that did not do a lot to move the story along. Overall, entertaining, and I think my older students would enjoy it!

Thank you to everyone for this early gifted copy of Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter!

If you loved the first book, Better Than the Movies, you'll love jumping back into our favorite characters and their love story.

Liz and Wes are older and in college, and we find them working through things together again. I wasn't a huge fan of the miscommunication trope, but I still loved this book as much as the first one. I loved the humor and friendship within this story.

These books were clean, some cussing, but no spice. I would feel comfortable recommending this to people!

If it’s possible, I think I loved this even more than Better Than the Movies!

Between the end of Better Than the Movies, and the beginning of this sequel, two years have passed by and our lovely Liz and Wes have broken up (I know, I know, bear with me). But Wes is back in LA after an extended stay back in Omaha to deal with family issues. Our man Wes has one mission: get Liz back (okay and maybe kick some ass on the baseball mound).

I absolutely loved getting the dual POV from both Liz and Wes, but especially seeing how down bad Wes is throughout the book. The book really fleshes out Wes’s complicated relationship with his father and how it ultimately impacted his relationship with Liz. There is so much growth for both characters, I really enjoyed seeing them develop separately and come back together in more mature version of their relationship.

Overall I would highly recommend reading this if you enjoyed Better Than the Movies (especially if you loved Wes as much as I did!)!

Ok wow!!! I knew I was going to enjoy Nothing Like the Movies, but I actually LOVED this continuation of Wes and Liz’s story. These books are going to live rent free in my mind forever. I seriously love them with my whole heart. 😭💘

I believe Lynn Painter completely demonstrated the struggles that a person will go through as they transition from high school to college. Sure, Liz changed a bunch, but doesn’t everyone when they go through that big of a life change? The same can be said for Wes. Not only was he going through the transition from high school to college, but a lot of unexpected and unfortunate circumstances were thrown at him as well. I was so pleased to see that we got Wes’s point of view. It definitely helped me to understand his perspective and connect with his character even more. Despite all of those hardships, he was still the same boy who’d been obsessed with Liz since day one. Some of the things he said to her in this book were pulling on my heartstrings. I just love him so much. 😭🫶🏼

Both Liz and Wes’s character were so heavily expanded upon in this book. I was so happy to see Liz thriving in college and living out her dream. She may not have been the same little Liz that we read in the first book, but I still loved her character just the same. I’m also so incredibly happy to know that Wes finally got his happy ending.🥲

p.s. I HIGHLY recommend reading these books back to back bc it just makes the experience so much better 🥹

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the arc and thank you to Lynn Painter for creating this absolute masterpiece!!

If you know me at all, you know how much I love a good Lynn Painter book. And you especially know that my absolute favorite book of hers is Better Than the Movies. Needless to say that when I received an ARC for Nothing Like the Movies I actually screamed. Liz and Wes’s story is one of my favorites.

Nothing Like the Movies still had the same things we love in Lynn Painter’s books like the banter, angst, and silliness we have come to associate with her writing style. But it also came with a little bit of a raw edge. A bit of anger, a bit of rage, and a bit of longing. In Nothing Like the Movies, Wes and Liz have really grown up. Both physically, but also mentally and socially. We see them grapple with adult problems and responsibilities. But we also see them flounder and drown beneath them as well.

In true Cassie fashion I cried like a baby when I read this book. But while I usually cry happy tears or funny tears while reading Painter’s books, this one had plenty of sad tear moments as well. The journeys that both Liz and Wes go on throughout this book in order to find themselves, and ultimately find each other again, are deeply personal and real. You feel their hurt and betrayal before you’re able to feel the love again.

As always with Lynn’s books this was an immediate 5 star read. I loved every single minute of this story and I can’t wait to read it again.

A special thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Returning to the world of Wes and Liz was honestly so much fun!! I love that even in spite of their breakup, their teasing banter and chemistry will still as evident as ever. The 20 questions game? Iconic. The baseball romance aspect? ate it up.

Wes had it all - his dream girl, school, and the start of his baseball career. But soon into their freshman year, tragedy strikes and he has to return home, which results in them ultimately breaking up. 2 years later he's now back at UCLA hoping to get his second chance.... But Liz is very resistant. She isn't the hopeless romantic she once was. People change, but can these new versions of themselves find their way back to each other?

I do think this is a true second chance rom-com in the truest sense, however I think it would have been much better in Lynn Painter had never heard the folklore album.

PERSONALLY, my fav part of this book was Clark. He acted as the fake bf when needed, he provided a voice of reason, and he told the truth when it needed to be said.

I loved Better Than The Movies and was so excited for a little more Wes and Liz! After reading I’m not sure another book was entirely necessary, but I still enjoyed it!

Wes and Liz have broken up and gone their separate ways after the passing of Wes’ father. I will say if you’re expecting the bubbly, bright, hopeless romantic that Liz was in BTTM, she’s definitely grown up and gone through heartbreak that has changed her. This book had a lot more depth and tragedy than the first. Wes’ story had me a little teary eyed and I just felt so bad for him.

“I’m just Wes f*cking Bennet, Lib, the guy who can’t remember a single day when he didn’t love you”

Overall this was a quick and enjoyable read and I’ll forever be a Wes and Liz stan.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. Nothing Like the Movies is a sequel to Better Than the Movies, following Liz and Wes as the navigate a family tragedy and finding themselves again. I loved this book, while it felt like very different characters than the first, it was very well done and believable. They had just entered their 20’s and you really saw the growth from semi-children to full blown adult. I loved this second chance romance! I would recommend this book to any romance reader out there!

I absolutely loved Better Than The Movies, but this was so much better! We get so much character background and development with Wes and I think that was really the only piece that was missing in BTTM. This book was so much fun and a great one to pick up. This was so much more than just a silly little romance. It talks about grief in an accessible way, especially since this is geared towards young adults/teens.

It’s always a risk to write a sequel to a book, but this sequel delivered for me. I absolutely loved “Better Than the Movies” so I was excited to read this one. The storyline made perfect sense for why Liz and Wes were not together two years after BTTM. Both were able to show change and growth. I would highly recommend this for all lovers of BTTM.

Liz and Wes in Better than the Movies were a great couple. Liz was this unique little weirdo who was obsessed with Rom-Coms and believed in true love in its truest form. Wes loved Liz his whole life, but couldn't figure out how to say it. They got together and it was absolutely adorable. I was hesitant going into this book because I know that Wes and Liz broke up, and it wasn't that long after they left for California. And then I find out there is a TIME JUMP.

I did truly enjoy this book, but it felt as though it was missing something, and at times Liz was unrecognizable as the character she was in Better Than the Movies. I did enjoy that it was dual POV, but sometimes Wes's POV showed how much he was stuck in the past. He was trying to win Liz back with things she would've liked in the past, but didn't exactly match who she had grown to be. But we did see some growth throughout the book from both Wes and Liz, and the representation of grief after a sudden death was there, even if Wes probably should have also still been in therapy.

I adore Lynn Painter’s books -both her YA and adult books and this one was no exception!

This was a fun sequel to Better the Movies. I loved seeing Liz and Wes navigate their complicated relationship. Their chemistry is undeniable, and watching them try to find their way back to each other was both charming and at times frustrating. The story is filled with endearing scenes that will warm your heart and make you smile. I also loved how there was a quote from a rom-com movie at the beginning of each chapter.
If you're a fan of rom-coms read this book! It's the perfect second chance romance (even for those that aren’t a fan of YA).

Be still my heart! This book, which is a follow-up to Better than the Movies, was just as sweet as the first, but much more emotionally impactful. A majority of the action takes place 2 years after the first book ends, with Liz in her junior year at UCLA while Wes is restarting his freshman year after a tragic event sent him home to Nebraska, leading to a devastating breakup.

I’ll give you a moment to process all of THAT!

I read this book right after finishing BTTM and was SHOOK by the shift. My take is that it may feel less shocking to those who read the first book when it came out 2 years ago since there’s been plenty of time to enjoy the original HEA. I, however, was riding high on all those lovey-dovey vibes, and then…BAAAMMM…book 2 started in a completely different place. You'll get this reference if you’re a theater nerd, but NLTM is like Act 2 of Into the Woods. In other words, what happens after Happily Ever After?

The main thing I loved about this novel was its realistic depiction of how relationships ebb and flow, especially at a young age. So many changes happen between high school and college, and I appreciated that Lynn Painter didn’t hold back when it came to those growing pains.

With those changes, however, came a few choices that seemed uncharacteristic of Liz and Wes, which was frustrating. Again, I read these books back-to-back, so this may have been more jarring to me than someone who hasn’t seen this fictional couple on the page in 2 years. Luckily, Lynn Painter did a good job filling in the backstory and letting each character speak to their choices.

If you loved the first book, then you’ll love this one! And if you haven’t started this series yet, I highly recommend it. Both books, and especially this sequel, are incredibly sweet, so heartfelt, and an overall joy!

Im really conflicted writing my review for NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIES. I had very high expectations since BETTER THAN THE MOVIES is my all time favorite YA read, but I feel like this sequel wasn’t really necessary. I was perfectly happy with how BETTER THAN THE MOVIES left off with a beautiful HEA. This one just made me sad and yearning for the way they used to be.

I appreciate what Lynn was doing because these characters are now in college and going through big life changes, but I didn’t enjoy all the conflict and how much more emo this sequel was. It was in no way a bad book because I really love Painters writing, but it just didn’t give me the happy feels I loved so much from BETTER THAN THE MOVIES.

Interesting sequel, I liked it a lot, but it was slow at parts and I was frustrated by some of the angsty parts.

thank you to netgalley and simon and schuster children's publishing for this eARC!

i really liked this book. it’s not the best thing i’ve read this year, but it’s a solid 3.75. i’m gonna start with things i didn’t love/wish had been done differently.

this book didn’t really need to exist. it almost felt like a standalone with well developed characters as opposed to a sequel. there was a kind of distance between this book and the last; i felt like i should’ve felt more about their past since i literally read it.

they also seemed so different, liz especially. that in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, there just didn’t seem to be a solid explanation for it.

another thing is that this book fell into the “dual pov trap,” meaning it has dual pov not because its necessary but because it’s popular. it didn’t need to be dual pov and i think i would’ve liked it better if it were only wes’s pov.

on that note, it likely would’ve helped with my lack of understanding about wes’s motivations. i wish painter had delved a little deeper into his grief and why he was hiding things/“needed” to break up with liz. i think it would’ve helped to have seen more of his pov in those months.

the thing that bugged me the most was the conclusion. it felt like wes still had liz up on a pedestal and ignored the fact that she had changed. the top of the arc is them agreeing that they still love each other and want to get back together, but i think that wes, if not both of them, is in love with the version of liz that he knew before. if there wasn’t as large of a time gap, it wouldn’t bother me i don’t think, but it’s two years, within which one of them lost a parent and the other completely rediscovered herself in college. i think the plot could have been more effective if more work had been put into them actually getting to know each other again, as opposed to basically saying, “we’ll get to know each other later.”

i know that seems like a lot of criticism for a 3.75, but i honestly did enjoy this book! it was cute and i had a good time reading it, which is ultimately what i want in a book. i’m mostly being picky because i don’t think “better than the movies” was a book that needed a follow up.

that said, there were plenty of cute moments and moments that hit me in the feels. the side characters were done well in this also, similar to the first book. they were all very likable and had depth to them.

if you liked better than the movies and aren’t a terribly picky reader, there’s a solid chance you’ll enjoy this book. this book is definitely for those who loved wes and liz and just want more content of them. if you get annoyed at plots without a ton of substance, or ones that just aren’t necessary, i wouldn’t pick it up.

Being back in the Liz and Wes world was something I needed so badly!! Lynn is such a great writer I feel completely immersed in the story. Better than the movies is still my comfort read, but I loved this one as well. I will say the miscommunication made me so sad but I understood why. Wes and Liz grew up so much but they found a way back to each other!