This was a great sequel to Better Than The Movies. The sudden shift between the two books was a little jarring, but was still okay. I truly enjoyed the characters, but I didn’t love the miscommunication trope. The banter was good and the ending was sweet.

Painter’s sequel is a fantastic continuation of Liz and Wes’s story! After a split caused by Wes’s family issues, Liz has thrived in her own space at UCLA, while Wes has been back in Omaha. When Wes returns to try and rekindle their relationship, he finds Liz has become the cool, independent figure he didn’t expect.

The book beautifully captures the essence of their second chance romance, with emotional depth and nostalgia. I loved seeing both familiar and new characters, and the soundtrack choices added an extra layer of impact. This sequel offers a perfect blend of romance and sports, making it a must-read for fans of the series!

Dont worry! Trust Lynn Painter! I honestly think she wrote the most beautiful sequel. I was skeptical of a second book..2 YEARS..cmonn!:(
She honestly knocked it out of the park with this one! You will cry,you will laugh and honestly you may get angry at our wonderful Wes and Liz. Lowkey may need to put the book down and squeal into your pilllow at certain points . Its all part of their development and adventure. This book healed apart of me. Life is tough and sometimes we are gonna have setbacks but it’s how you overcome that makes us, who we are. You will eventually get to where you need to be or who you should be with…
Wes bennett pov..enough said👀
Thank you sooo much for the arc @Lynn Painter @Simon and Schuster.. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR BOOKS!!. 💕💐🤩

I adored this sequel by Painter! We pick up where Liz and Wes left off at UCLA, however things have changed and they’re no longer together. Wes had some family things happen requiring him to leave Bruins baseball and Liz in sunny LA, and something transpires that causes him to break up with her. While he’s back in Omaha, Liz has found her groove with capturing sports content, working on her major and interning for her career role model. When Wes gets a chance to try again as a freshman, he discovers his ex girlfriend has become the cool, anti-romance girl that all the baseball guys find super chill and not the “Little Liz” Wes remembers.

It was so fun to be back with Liz and Wes, with old characters we love and new characters we adore. I especially loved the cameo back in their hometown. The second chance, get your girl back narrative was written so well. Wes bringing the beat? The pining? The flashbacks? The chosen soundtrack songs to bring ultimate pain? Painter crushed it and anyone who loved book one will love book two. Plus, who doesn’t love a little sports romance?


It’s a highly recommend, five star read from me!!

Lynn Painter DOES NOT MISS! Nothing Like the Movies was sweet, fun, clever, and hard to put down.

In this sequel to Better Than the Movies, Wes has lost his father and believes he has also lost his baseball career, college prospects, and Liz, the love of his life. But a second chance at pitching for UCLA makes him hopeful, and even determined, for a chance to get Liz back. But Liz isn’t exactly the hopeless romantic he remembers, and Wes has his work cut out for him trying to win her over.

Painter is a master of banter and does a great job of creating chemistry between Wes and Liz while also developing some very lovable secondary characters. Her books have a page-turner quality that made me constantly trying to fit in one more chapter before I put it down. Highly recommend anyone who loves a YA romcom!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for this advanced copy!

I am so grateful to have received a NetGalley ARC of this book, and I am so happy to share my love for this couple. Liz and Wes are simply two of my favorite book characters of all time, and this story did not disappoint.
To start off, I was SO excited when I heard that Wes and Liz would be getting a sequel. And let me just say, this book will not disappoint if you've read Better Than The Movies.
Wes's POV is something that I desperately needed in my life. We all know that men written by women are superior, and seeing the inner monologue of Wes had my heart melting. It reminded me of why I fell for Wes Bennett in the first place. I love his story as well. He really developed as a character throughout the story.
Liz definitely developed throughout this story. In the beginning, I realized that Liz was going to be different than she was in the last book. I loved her in this book! The small character developments for Liz that happened in between the two books was very visible throughout the story, and I think that the author did a great job of showcasing how two people change and go through things, and relationships may also change.
Overall, I rate this book a 4.5 stars. I don't have any complaints about the book. It was such a good second book to Wes and Liz, and I absolutely adored this story!
I recommend this book to people who love romcoms and Taylor Swift, but make sure you read Better Than The Movies before this book!

SO. GOOD. I love Wes and Liz and was so excited to read about them again. Incredibly follow-up to Better Than the Movies!

I loved ‘Better than the Movies’ and my obsession with Liz and Wes began. I was so excited and nervous to read the sequel ‘Nothing like the Movies’ but It did not disappoint. It follows Wes and Liz in college and their second chance romance. My heart broke and then was perfectly put back together reading this. Wes is still ‘chef’s kiss’ and I love the grown-up Liz. Midnights album just felt appropriate with 12:13 💛. Thank you @lynnpainterbooks, for giving us Wes and Liz and can’t wait to read what you put out next. Thanks for this ARC @netgalley @simonteen

So good! I don’t think I liked it more than the first one but it is still really fun! My only critique is that it definitely should not be marketed as YA. It’s more of a new adult book. The writing is phenomenal and the references to pop culture is so fun!!

Better than the Movies was a Grade A, YA romance. Adding a sequel was always going to be difficult. For me, Nothing Like the Movies just didn’t hit the way I was hoping it would.

The writing itself was great. I loved the callbacks to Better Than The Movies & the actual ending was as sweet and satisfying.

Unfortunately, the storytelling and conflicts got a bit redundant. Wes and Liz’s arguments felt circular, they weren’t making any progress. At one point, I had a hard time picking the book back up to read.

Nothing Like the Movies may have a case of, “did this book really need a sequel?” It was great to be in Wes & Liz’s world again, I just don’t think we needed to go back.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The views expressed here are my own.

*note: I will post the review on social sites after publication.

Wes and Liz finally had their storybook romance, right as they were about to start college together. But then tragedy befalls Wes's family. He drops out, and she is forced to put him out of her mind. A couple of years later, Wes finds his way back to college and his dream of playing baseball. Just as much as he wants to resume his dreams of college baseball, Wes is determined to win Liz back. Liz, however, seems to have changed. Wes is not ready to give up. But as he tries the best rom-com approaches to win her back, he must confront the possibility that their romance is truly in the past.

This is a sweet and touching story. Like her other novels, the author captures the highs and lows of young adulthood and the ways that life does not, and sometimes does, resemble a rom-com.

Highly recommended!

*I pretend I do not see it*

To my utter and utmost devastation, this was NOT IT.

After suffering through this, I've relegated this uninspired sequel to non-canon fanfiction in my head. It's simply ~not~ tied to the absolute GEM and of-all-time favorite that is BETTER THAN THE MOVIES. You will not persuade me otherwise.

You cannot imagine the absolute dread that filled me as I began reading this book and uncovered the absolutely out-of-character dialogue, heartbreaking and confusing character "development," and absurd plot plots. I actually said out loud: "Who are these people?????" *insert distressed emoji*

The thing I'm learning in books and in life is just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. We all *love* the idea of sequels/continuations/reboots because we want to renter the special, familiar landscape of our favorite settings and characters, but in this and in nearly every case, a continuation isn't just disappointing, it's irresponsible. It lacks the one-of-a-kind magic of the original and leaves us with a bad taste in our mouths. It ultimately ends up doing more damage than good.

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES has a singular, romantic magic to it that simply cannot (and should not have been attempted to be) replicated. You'd have to have a REALLY good story to warrant a sequel, and this book simply did not have it. Wes and Liz should have remained in their last-page moment or kept safely in their HEA as it unfolded in the readers' heads and hearts.

NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIES -- a dual-POV story that devastatingly lets us into Wes' POV -- follows after HEA, with Liz and Wes broken up, estranged, and living wildly different lives. Wes, who previously dropped out of school to take care of his family after his father's unexpected death (poor bb), is now returning to play baseball at UCLA with a determination to win Liz back. Liz, in a completely jarring and bizarre character lobotomy, is a jaded non-love-lover who is working for the school's athletic media department, where she, obvi, starts running into her ex (and all of our book boyfriends) Wes.

First of all, they would have never broken up. Nope, didn't happen. And to put them THROUGH it just for the sake of an unnecessary book 2 is very mean and incorrect. Plus, this book has an unnatural and cringey amount of swearing and "dear god"s and what even??? Also, Wes' voice neither sounds or feels like BTTM Wes Bennett, which is torturous and heartbreaking. Lynn's voice doesn't even sound the same.

The music and pop culture references that felt natural and integral to the magic of BTTM felt SO forced and cringey in NLTM. I was deeply uncomfy.

(And do not get me started on outfit descriptions; looking at YOU, black-and-white dotted dress with red Chucks; also Wes "ate at her sweet mouth" 80% in and what???)

I love Lynn but I wish with my whole being that this book didn't exist, and not only can I not recommend it, I actually insist you DON'T read it.

https://images.app.goo.gl/XrTPW9asC7zVeo647

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I thought this was a nice follow up to the first book. It was incredibly frustrating (in a good way) to know that Liz really did love Wes but had such high walls up. I really appreciated the two points of views and thought it was the perfect length!

quite literally one of the best sequels of all time. i have no words.

i had such high expectations going into this and not a single thing let me down.

siri play in between by gracie abrams!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!! IT'S LIKE BETTER THEN THE MOVIES GREW UP ALONGSIDE THE READERS WHO READ IT WHEN IT ORIGINALLY CAME OUT! Better Than the Movies is an amazing rom-com that is set in high school with high school senior main characters BUT Nothing Like the Movies picks up with the same main characters BUT they're now 20 year old college students and I'm obsessed with the growth!🥹 As a current college student, I LOVE getting to read books with college student main characters and I loved the setting and all of the new characters that were added since BTTM!

I had to reread BTTM because it had been two years since I read it and 1) let me tell you it's still amazing as ever but also 2) when I finished it, I was like "if Lynn Painter makes Liz and Wes break up in NLTM, I'm going to be upset" AND while I was correct in some ways, I was wrong in others! 😭😂 I loved this book so much and loved getting the time jump + Liz and Wes's personal growth BUT ALSO similar themes and styles (like the rom com movie quotes at the beginning of every chapter) and let me tell you, the chemistry, the tension, the lovable Liz and Wes are all still amazing things that are in BTTM AND NLTM! 🥳

I'm obsessed with this book and read it SO quickly because it was sooo good and I cannot wait for all other BTTM lovers to get to read it! Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster's Children's for an early copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review!💖

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!
I am completely obsessed with this book! Wes and Liz have my heart, and I will never get enough of them. Lynn Painter, thank you endlessly for bringing back my favorite lovebirds in this sequel. I absolutely adored exploring this new chapter in their lives. This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster—I laughed, I cried, and I felt every single emotion. It was beautifully painful.
If you want to go into this book completely blind, I suggest skipping the next parts! I won’t reveal any spoilers, but I do discuss the characters a lot. Feel free to skip ahead <3
“He was the center of my world; we were my center.”
Liz Buxbaum - NLTM Liz and BTTM Liz feel like two entirely different people! Gone is the hopeless romantic from the first book, and it broke my heart to see how much light she’s lost. But I have to admit, I really like the new Liz too! She’s moodier, more realistic, and sometimes a bit frustrating, but she’s also determined and focused on achieving her goals. I also enjoyed meeting her new friends, especially Clark :)
“Clark was like my platonic soulmate. I was comfortable with him as I was with myself, and sometimes it felt like we were just extensions of each other.”
Their friendship was beyond adorable!! Clark was hilarious and such a great friend to Liz. I’m sensing some sparks between him and Sarah… Lynn Painter, I’m begging you for a book about them! I know you have the manuscript, just hand it over!
“Wes Fucking Bennett, ladies and gentlemen.”
Wes Bennett - Oh Wes… my heart broke so many times while reading about what he went through. He deserves nothing but happiness. Despite everything, he managed to pick himself up, start over, and pursue life with such determination. I loved seeing his new perspective on life, his dedication to school, baseball, and just living to the fullest. I’m so proud of him, I could cry! In this sequel, he definitely took on the role of the hopeless romantic.
“I was cherishing every fucking piece of it.”
“This is what I’ve been working toward, and I need to enjoy it.”
Wes’ friends were amazing too! AJ, Mike, Wade—they were all so supportive and hilarious. Team Wes all the way! And Clark was right there with them. I also loved seeing Michael step up as a great friend to Wes, helping him out when he needed it most <3
AND the little Bailey and Charlie cameo?! I LOVED IT! So happy to see Mr. Nothing still giving piggybacks to his Glasses :,) And the Nick Stark mention too?! Lynn Painter, you are amazing.
“Eventually, we’d find our way back to each other again.”
Wes and Liz - I don’t even know where to start with these two because so much happened and I’m struggling to put my feelings into words. They both went through so much, and it was heartbreaking to watch two people so in love be forced apart :( Wes was determined to win Liz back, while Liz was doing everything she could to keep her distance. But the universe had other plans and kept pulling them back together :) The longing, the yearning—it was everything! I must admit, I love a bit of pain in my romances, AHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

“There is no one for me but you, Lib.”
“There was never anyone else for me but you.”
Even after all the time apart, they effortlessly fell back into their old rhythm. Their banter and teasing were still spot on :)
“I am just Wes fucking Bennett, Lib, the guy who can’t remember a single day in his life when he didn’t love you.”
am on the floor, in tears! The 12:13 alarm, the way he kept count—720 days—SOMEONE HELP ME, HE LOVES HER SO MUCH! I’m completely shattered in the best possible way. These characters have my whole heart, and their love story will stay with me forever.
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you, Wes Bennett, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love you.”
The ending had my heart racing—it was so intense, but absolutely perfect. I loved how everything was tied together in the end. The little Elizabeth Bennett reference was adorable, and finding out what Liz’s note from the beginning said in that final paragraph made me cry all over again. This sequel was everything I could have hoped for and more!
“It’d been better than the movies, I swear to God.”

Are you kidding?

I adore see them again. "Better than the movies" is oe of my favorite YA adult books and I can't believe I finally read about them again.

This book in particular was a good one, nothing like the first but at the same with the same magic!!

I adore this couple!

"Nothing Like the Movies" by Lynn Painter is a captivating follow-up to the first book in the series. This story picks up with the main characters no longer together, leaving readers questioning if they will ever find their way back to each other. Throughout the book, you can't help but root for their reunion, making it a super adorable and engaging read. Painter expertly weaves a tale of love, heartbreak, and second chances that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. "Nothing Like the Movies" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a heartfelt and emotional romance story.

Good way to continue the BTTM universe and it wwas fun to see Liz and Wes again. Make sure to refresh before getting into this one as I did have a hard time remembering some of the characters and how they were connected to our MCs. I think Lynn did their story justice and if you loved the first one, you will like this one.

3.5 stars! 65% and onwards of this book I absolutely adored!!! I didn't enjoy the beginning as much unfortunately. There was so much focus on their own interests (Liz and her film internship, Wes and his baseball team) and I think a lot of people will find that interesting but I just didn't care for it as much. I also feel like characters changed so much since better than the movies which isn't a good or bad thing necessarily, I think i just wasn't prepared! It makes so much sense though considering they've both been through so much. I loved that it was a bit of a slow burn because they didn't just immediately fall back into a relationship. They had a lot to work through and they did! The moments with friend groups were also so cute!!! So many great moments. As i said earlier, from around 65% - 100% of the book I loved SO MUCH!