Sometimes, some books just need to remain stand alones. This is especially the case with "Nothing Like the Movies". In their respective points of view, both Wes and Liz were nothing like the characters we saw in "Better Than the Movies". Liz had lost all of her romantic spirit and the subject of her mom (a huge focal point of the first book) was barely discussed. Wes had an insufferable and at times uncomfortable inner monologue that was a struggle to read. And overall, the book was poorly written at times and included unnecessary pop-culture references that felt out of place.

Wes + Liz forever. I love Lynn. I love this couple. I thought this was an incredibly inventive sequel that brought these two apart and then back together. YA perfection.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an e-arc of Nothing Like the Movies in exchange for an honest review.

Wes and Liz are just one of those couples who make me feel single even as a person who is happily engaged. I am SO happy this book had a dual POV so we could see inside the head of Wes Bennet. It's a complex place, even though it was basically just calling for Liz the whole time. It was really great to see how Liz and Wes both grew and changed. The confidence Liz has along with the emotional maturity Wes obtains are just chef's kiss. My babies are growing up!

This sequel was everything I hoped it would be!

Nothing Like the Movies is so fun! I loved the first book and have always wanted a sequel to a YA novel where the couple breaks up and gets back together during college. The plot makes sense in a real world setting and doesn't just have them break up for the sake of breaking up. It touches on grief, longing, love, reconnection, and many more. As someone who grew up around UCLA it was also quite fun to read something where you know the setting and visualize it very well! Painter did a great job in researching her location and bringing the pages of the book come to life!

I absolutely love this book! It was amazing! I love the new characters and the intensity this book brings. I couldn't believe that there could be more yearning than in BTTM and there was! Had me on the edge of my seat and I absolutely loved the maturity that grew with each character and their relationship.

If you read BTTM and fell in love with Wes and Liz, then you are going to LOVE Nothing Like the Movies. Wes and Liz have grown so much in the 2 year time gap and it felt so natural for the both of them! Seeing Liz's confidence in her major and her job was an absolute delight. Seeing Wes in his element playing baseball and taking his education so seriously through HIS OWN POV was a blast. The new college friends, the old friend group, and seeing mentors (outside of parents) so involved in their lives was so refreshing! Also, keep you eyes out for some cameo appearances from other Lynn Painter YA character throughout the book (this part made me smile). Grief is discussed throughout the book, and just like in BTTM, Lynn handled the topic with such care and intentionality, it was truly beautiful. ALSO, a moment for all the movie quotes at the beginning of each chapter, the song references throughout the book, and the killer playlist that Lynn created (insert clapping emojis) This book was a 10/10, absolutely no notes, read for me. LYNNNNN thank you thank you thank you!!

I had high expectations going into ‘Nothing Like the Movies’ because of how much I enjoyed ‘Better Than the Movies’ and love a second chance romance. Overall I thought it was okay. Personally, I don’t think it’s as memorable as ‘Better Than the Movies’ and it left me with mixed feelings when I finished it.

Liz and Wes are so cute together. I love and adore them but I feel like this book didn’t give me all the same feelings the first one did. I did like some of the cute moments between them though.

Thank you for the arc!

I seriously finished and wanted to immediately reread. It was such a fun book.

I want to give it every star. ALL OF THE STARS. The characters. The execution. THE BANTER. the paaaaaain. Agh.

I was so upset that this sequel would be a second chance. I wanted Wes and Liz to stay forever from book one, but [AS ALWAYS] Lynn Painter hit is so out of the park with their second book that I want to crawl inside this story and live in this book.

WES’S POINT OF VIEW!! YOU GUYS!!

Their love story. How they’ve grown and changed. Their grief and their little broken hearts. AGH.

This book is amazing. Read it. 💛💛💛💛

This story means so much to me, and it was such a privilege to receive this ARC. I rated this book a 4.5/5.

Wes and Liz's story began in Better Than the Movies, taking place in high school, showing a sweet and beautiful depiction of an enemies to lovers romance. We saw them get together, and we've now seen them fall apart before they could find each other once again. Relationships aren't an easy journey for so many out there, and this story gave us a look at one of the most realistic second chances romances I have had the gift of reading. We watched these characters we love so much fall in love with each other, we've followed their journey's through grief and tragedy, until they were able to put themselves back together again. Lynn Painter handled the heavy topics of grief and trauma with the grace and delicacy they demand, and I felt both comforted and safe as a reader because of this. There are family dynamics represented and showcased here that you don't always get the chance to read about, and I think they elevate both the characters and the book.

Wesley Bennett, the man you are. We get a dual POV, getting a look inside both Wes and Liz, which elevated the experience tenfold. His journey was one that held such weight, a child being thrown into a role he never expected, nor did he ask for. Through trial and tribulation, we see him take back control of his life in this beautiful novel.
The quotes, the groveling, the inner monologue, the grand gestures, the patience and understanding - I couldn't have asked for anything more from his character.

Liz Buxbaum, I love you so much. She is a character that we followed first hand through the pivotal stages of her life, we felt her pain and despair, her hurt and disappointment - but we also felt her forgiveness and understanding, her growth and her love. She is a special character, and I believe that she is a strong FMC who so may girls and women can see pieces of themselves reflected in.

Their love is pure. It is a love story which so many can see glimpses of their own woven in. There is light and dark, happiness and pain, and so much love.

I will always recommend Wes and Liz's love story. Again, I am so thankful for the opportunity to read and review this ARC through NetGalley.

Liz and Wes are no longer together. It seems unthinkable, but after tragedy strikes, Wes felt it was best to let Liz go as his world was falling apart.

Two years later Wes is back at UCLA and ready to win back Liz, although it won't be easy. Liz has rebuilt her life after their breakup and she’s not exactly ready to make nice and make up.

Nothing Like the Movies features Wes trying to get Liz back, while both make frustratingly frustrating young adult choices. Still, I enjoyed their banter and the deeper discussions around mental health and grief.

In the end Liz and Wes got their happy ending, again. However, the ending left plenty of room for a possible third book, in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this early copy! I love love LOVED this book! I was hesitant in the first few chapters because the characterization of Wes and Liz was a little different than I expected, but the longer I read and the more I learned about the years between the first book and now, the more things fell into place and made sense. Wes was such an interesting character in this book, his motivations and love for both his family and Liz were so evident as I read on. This Wes and Liz weren't starry eyed teengers, but two people learning how to be adults, and their story of coming back together was beautiful.

I genuinely don’t know that I have cried so many happy tears while reading a book before. Quite literally did not stop trying the last 10% of the book.

Liz and Wes will forever be the loves of my life, the blueprint, my number one ship, and the keys to my heart. Getting to fall back into them was a dream come true and to hear it all from Wes’s POV was magical.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and to be able to enter the book already knowing what happened the first time made it even better. (Honestly I wish authors continued people’s love stories more often).

The last half of the book was 5/5 stars. No notes. Brilliant, genius, perfection. It’s because of the first half that I had to give it 4 stars. It took me almost two weeks to get through the first half of the book, and one day to get through the last half.

I think the context to the breakup and his dad’s death was SO important, but I feel like there was so much back and forth with them that felt wrong? The premise of the book is that Wes does a bunch of cheesy movie, romantic gestures to get Liz back but we really only see two of them in the last half of the book. I feel like they could have been thrown into the first half, even as he was trying to get her to be friends again, so it didn’t magically feel like after they go to Omaha a flip switches in him. Because really, the flip switches in her. While I get that he was being a generally decent person by not perusing her while he believed she had a boyfriend, I just think there could have been more.

All in all, beautiful. One of the best books I read this year, going on all my shelves, telling everyone I know. Lynn Painter you never cease to amaze me

I really enjoyed this book! I fell in love with the first book when I read it last year and highly anticipated the second. I think the characters are so well written and are very relatable and likable. I tend to gravitate more towards books where the characters feel more like regular people rather than just a person on paper, and Lynn Painter executed this well. I enjoy the plot of the story and the inspiration that’s she’s taken from so many iconic rom com movies. This feels like i’m watching one of my favorite movies on repeat! I would highly suggest this book to those that loved the first one.

I can't believe I received an ARC to one of my most anticipated reads of the year! I fell in love with Liz & Wes when reading Better Than the Movies, and I'm so excited we get to see where these two ended up.

It's rare that we get to see what happens after the "credits roll" on a story, and I felt so happy to re-enter the world of Liz & Wes and see how it really turned out. It's definitely not an easy road for them. They have to deal with all the things that come with real life after getting their "happily ever after". They suffer loss and hurt, and ok... maybe they aren't the best communicators at some really important moments, but they each take the journey they need in order to get where they need to be.

And don't even get me started on how incredible it was to have the Wes POV throughout the book! I didn't know how much I needed it until I had it. He really is the blueprint...

"There will never be anyone else for me. Hard Stop. So go have your think and do what you need to do. But Lizzie - we are worth the risk. We always will be." -Wes Bennett

If you loved the first book, you have to read this! And if you haven't read either... you're missing out! Thank you, Lynn Painter, for taking us back to Liz & Wes. But... can I please get a Lilith & Coach Ross book? Because I feel like there is definitely a story there!

3.5 stars

While this book had lots of charm and a great second chance romance at its heart, it read way too YA for me and my reading tastes. I remember loving Better Than the Movies, but that was many many books ago for me and before I really understood my tastes and preferences so my opinion on it could be different now if I chose to revisit it.

While the characters were supposed to be slightly older with a little bit more life experienced, they still read incredibly immature. The changes that were made to make the premise of this second book make sense felt forced, inauthentic, and honestly out of character for Liz and Wes. At the end of the day, I know I am not the target audience for this book, so I let my rating hang on the higher side due to it being okay for what I think it is intended to be.

Better Than the Movies was a 5 star read for me so I was so excited to get back to life with Wes and Liz.

While a lot has happened since we last saw Wes and Liz, Painter stayed true to their character. College life is in full swing for Liz and she's changed a lot so it flips her life upside down when she runs into Wes in her own apartment during an annual party.

Nothing Like the Movies took a while to take off for me. Since the last book took place 2 years prior there was a bit of backstory that needed to be covered, but by 40% I was excited to see how things would end up. Liz is still stubborn as ever trying to figure out her feelings and Wes is overcoming huge obstacles. The best part was we get glimpses of all the great side characters from Better Than the Movies (mostly Helena) and get a new cast of endearing side characters and I definitely laughed out loud a few times.

What made BTTM great was all the lead up to figuring our how Wes and Liz feel about each other through all the small moments. But in NLTM those moments and history have already been established and they're trying to figure out if they work together as the people they are now and I didn't get as many as those moments in this story. I think there was a little too much lead up for this one and it seemed to end so quickly.

This was enjoyable overall but still fell a little short for me. 4.25 stars for me.

⭐️: 3.5/5

I was absolutely, 100% for sure not the target audience of this book. However, I was also 100% not the target audience of Better Than the Movies and I LOVED that one. This sequel however was simply just contrived and unnecessary. Drama was definitely created and a breakup was forced in order for this one to exist at all, and for that reason, it was kind of obnoxious. I think it also kind of cheapens the first book too, since we find that their teenage HEA wasn’t so happy after all.

The way that Wes was acting the whole book was irritating and unnecessarily blasé, and honestly if I was Liz I’d find the way he was treating her so offensive, because it was clear he wasn’t listening to what she was saying at all. It felt clear that Wes was the one who messed up, so he should have been doing a better job at groveling, which I don’t think we got enough of. I also kind of felt like a lot of the references were like, millennial coded, but the target audience is probably more gen-z, so that was confusing as well.

I think the main issue I had with this one was that for a second chance romance, they hadn’t grown up nearly enough. In my opinion, for a second chance trope to truly hit, there has to be more than two years inbetween, and the MCs have to be in a different phase of life than when the breakup occurred. Wes is…still a freshman and Liz is…still in college. So I’m not convinced at all.

This one was just longer than it had to be, and really just didn’t have to be at all 😂 It was cute enough though, and I had to add an extra half star for the reality that I am NOT the target audience of this one.

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for this eARC for my review!

I love love love this book. I adore Wesley so much, it’s kinda weird, frankly. I mean, he’s so ridiculously well-spoken and honest and funny. He is so clear in his feelings and he is so focused on his pitching. And I wish I knew him.

And Elizabeth? I kinda wish I was her. Or that I could have had a life more like hers. I didn’t have the confidence she has and I certainly didn’t have her drive. I also wish I had been more able to appreciate my friends like she does. It’s sort of inspiring.

Mostly, I would just like to thank Lynn Painter for her hilarious, lovely, interesting, yummy writing. These novels are so great for certain students and I really can’t wait to start recommending them! 💜💜💜📚

Another winner by Lynn Painter. Read in one day. Loved this book. Better than the movies series is a good pick for contemporary romance readers. Won’t disappoint

I'm going to read anything that Lynn Painter writes, but I think Liz and Wes could have just stayed with one book. I enjoyed their next chapter, but it lacked the hope that the first book did. In Nothing Like the Movies, Liz and Wes have broken up but it takes a long time before you understand the full reasons behind their breakup. It devastated Liz and she reinvented herself to get beyond the hurt. Now Wes has come back into the picture expecting to take off where they had stopped, not realizing just how much he hurt her. It is hard to see this couple back as an enemies to lovers trope, but that is where they are. It is a good story, but it didn't make my heart flutter the way Better Than the Movies did.