✨ ARC REVIEW - Nothing Like The Movies - @lynnpainterbooks ✨

Release date - October 2nd
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What to expect
⚾️ second chance romance
🎧 humour and banter
⚾️ fake relationship
🎧 taylor swift references
⚾️dual pov
🎧lovers to strangers, to friends to lovers

Having fallen in love with “Better than the Movies” last year, it instantly became one of my favorite books. Naturally, when “Nothing Like the Movies” was announced, I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness about revisiting Wes and Liz’s world. I feared their story might change and disrupt the perfection it already held. But Lynn Painter delivered the perfect rom-com sequel.

“Nothing Like the Movies” picks up with Wes and Liz navigating life after breaking up following Wes’ unexpected loss of his father. Lynn Painter flawlessly continues their journey, seamlessly drawing readers back into the world she masterfully created. The banter remains as sharp as ever, and while the characters have evolved, their core essence remains unchanged. The novel is adorned with delightful movie quotes and music references, and I found myself wholeheartedly rooting for Wes and Liz to find their way back to each other.

If you adore rom-coms, these books are an absolute must-read. Lynn Painter excels at whisking readers away into the perfect rom-com movie experience through her writing.

I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance to read this early, and without spoiling too much for those eagerly awaiting it, I can confidently say you won’t be disappointed. 💜💛🩵

I was lucky enough to read this book as an ARC with thanks to Simon and Schuster and Lynn Painter

This book is written as a dual POV and follows Wes and Liz as they embark on their second chance at romance together

I really enjoyed the setting of this novel being on a college campus and loved seeing the contrast of Liz's well settled college life compared to Wes' life as he began (well recommenced) his college journey. I loved where Liz was at in her life and thought the addition of Lillith was amazing as it brought themes of career planning and progression to the story.

I thought the themes of trauma and healing were really well handled and explained. I enjoyed hearing about both Wes' ups and downs of grieving for his father and how he overcame his demons (well his father's voice in his head) as the story progressed.

The first 50% of this book was a lot slower than the second half and honestly my rating improved SOOOOO much towards the end of the book because OMG it was good! Whilst slower at the start I think this was really important for context and character building and enabled a faster paced second half of the book.

Overall a great read! Definitely get your hands on this one!

4.5 ⭐️

“Elizabeth Fucking Bennett” 😭🫶🏼⚾️🎥

This book was EVERYTHING we needed for Wes & Liz.
After two years of tragedy and heartbreak the love story continues with a very mature and engaging story line which honestly will make your heart MELT. There was the lowest of the lows and the highest of the high feelings jumping all over the shop right up until the last 50 pages. Let’s just say I couldn’t put this book down at all and absolutely loved it.

(and thank you for bringing the LOLs with the constant “-while wanting to throat punch him” 🤣🤭)

Thank you so much NetGalley for this incredible ARC and of course Lyn Painter for blessing our lives with more of Wesley Bennett 🥹❤️

Life has not prepared me for the events in this book. I experienced a wide range of emotions while reading it.
I was concerned about the relationship between Wes and Liz. How could they get back what they had before?
You can understand both sides of the story, but you still feel the hurt they caused each other. Wes is a great guy, and you can't help but like him.
And Liz has grown up since then.
This book is a slow-burn romance.
We see the protagonists reconnect after a two-year separation and gradually rebuild their relationship, forgiveness, and love.
They navigate the lingering tensions between them, including the attic scene. Lynn's writing brings the emotional journey to life, making every interaction between Wes and Liz authentic and moving.
The supporting characters add depth to the story without overshadowing the main romance.
I can definitely say that I was very excited to read this book. I was happy to be reunited with my favorite characters.
These books have a special atmosphere that makes you love them and enjoy reading them.

BE STILL MY HEART!

Wow, I adored this book. This book picks up two years after Better than the Movies, and follows Wes and Liz in college together.

I enjoyed Better than the movies, it was a 4 star read for me, but this one- easily five stars. It was funny, lighthearted, and engaging. I loved the stories of friendship, second chances, navigating grief and fighting for what you want. I can’t wait to have it on my shelves!

I adore Lyn Painters books. Each book has been fun and well written, each book gets better! I adore this series! And Lyn painters books!

Lynn Painter has done it againnnnnn !! WES BENNET is everything I swear.

THE DUAL POV!! dual pov kept me obsessed through out this whole book

I was so sceptical of better than the movies getting a sequel cause huhhh they broke up???? but, this book surprised me. At the start, it really did feel like a major mischaracterisation of characters I thought I knew really well, especially the new years flashback. But it quickly changed into a story about growing up and taking on, or being forced into, new responsibilities while trying to manage relationships.

It was such a fun story in a new setting for the first part, especially getting Wes perspective into his love for Liz. I think the story lost me a little in the middle, mostly cause it derailed everywhere I thought the story was going. But I was so HOOKED reading this book. These characters are soo interesting to readd and it was soo painful but worth it

If you loved the first book, this is absolutely a book worth your time!

Thankyou NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Aus) for providing me with the opportunity to read this book to provide an honest review!

NO ONE TALK TO ME BCOS I NEED TO CRY UGLY TEARS

omg omg omg

THIS BOOK IS THE LITERAL CUTEST I SPENT THE WHOLE TIME KICKING MY FEET & GRINNING LIKE AN IDIOT

IT’S 6:05AM AND I AM WIDE AWAKE OMG

and i am LOVING the second chance romance of it all?? was i surprised when i read the blurb? oh 100%, and i was WORRIED seeing the initial reviews

but you are so right bcos it MAKES SENSE??! most college sequels tackle relationship drama so it’s like, all life-y and not-at-fun anymore but this one is just pure feels & winning her back and ALL THE GLITTER PEN VIBES

my lil’ heart cannot handle all that fluff

and i need to stop reading all the doubtful reviews bcos IDK WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT SO MUCH

like fanfic vibes in the best way?? COLLEGE AU VIBES? IDK BUT I LOVE IT

THE ONLY COMPLAINT I HAVE IS THAT IT’S FAR FAR TOO SHORT (i know i’m *the* person that says romances shouldn’t be more than 300-400 pages but if you wrote an entire 7 book series on these two i will eat each and every one of them up)

(i need more clark too 👀 OR A SPIN-OFF BCOS ALL THE SIDE CHARACTERS ARE >>>)

THANK YOUUUU S&S 😭😭

I was given an arc copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Holy moly I ate that up
It was everything I expected and more and I wish it would keep going forever
Am very interested in Clark and Sarah and I can proudly say I would read Lynn Painter's grocery list

Thank you Simon and Schuster Australia for this ARC!! 💜

Wes Bennett, I fell in love with you in ‘Better Than The Movies’ but fell for you even harder in this book. I didn't even think that was possible to do so. 🥺🫶🏻

This book is a dual POV and follows the journey of Wes and Liz’s break-up (the fact this was the main plot line hurt my soul ngl) I loved seeing them both flourish in college and find themselves as different people from their high school selves. But the two-year separation had me in edge. I was patiently waiting for the story to keep unfolding cause I knew these two were meant to be together and the fact that the weren’t had me nervous 😅

My babies deserved their second chance romance, even if it had to come by the means of a slow burn. THAT ATTIC SCENE THOUGH!! 🥵 They really went from enemies to lovers back to lovers to strangers to friends to lovers 🫣

Seeing the hardships Wes faced after the death of his father was truly heartbreaking and I wasn’t expecting to get so emotional when the whole truth finally came to light. This book was different to what I anticipated but it just proved why Wes is the book boyfriend we need and deserve. Despite his hardships, he was always still true to himself and that's why we all fell in love with him.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster. I was ugly crying in one scene and then laughing out loud in the next. I just love the banter Wes and Liz had with each other but also with their friends 🥰

Overall, I was very happy to be back with my favourite characters and I can’t wait for the world to fall in love with Wes Bennett again. If you loved the first book I’m sure you’ll love this one, it definitely had more depth but was an amazing rom-com sequel 🙌🏻

I was absolutely ecstatic to receive this book and it very much exceeded my expectations. I found Nothing Like the movies really captured what you want in a sequel. While the protagonists are still who we love and know but the books is realistic by showing that they grown and changed which happens with life after high school.

I did read this book in once sitting and honestly was surprised by how much happens yet it never felt clunky and the plot flowed nicely. I also love how Painter shows both of our protagonists following their ambitions and passions. The book had me feeling all kinds of emotions and yes I have already started re-reading it

A big thankyou to Netgally, publisher and author Lynn Painter for allowing me to read an ARC.

This was an amazing read.
I flew through it as it was easy to read.

I loved how it continued with the same characters from the 1st book.

The storyline was wonderful and I greatly thought all the movie quotes and links were brilliant. So talented to incorporate them. I also loved the music song links too.

The development of the characters was well written and I loved both of them.

Very entertaining and I highly recommend this to all readers.

Thanks again Netgally, publisher and author I greatly appreciate the ARC read.

First of all, I feel so incredibly lucky that I got the chance to read this book before its release date.

Second of all, nothing can prepare you for this story. I think I cycled through the five stages of grief the whole time. I was not expecting to feel SO much. This book was
heartbreakingly beautiful, but also extremely relatable if you have ever experienced a break up that changed your life. I was honestly enraptured and mesmorised. There's no other words for this experience. I can't wait for people to get their hands on Nothing Like the Movies!!!

Lastly, Lynn Painter... ma'am... I need to talk to you because that hurt. HOWEVER, I'll forgive you this time because you incorporated some of the most beautifully written quotes and emotionally driven scenes. I'm so glad that we got to see both Wes and Liz's perspectives because it just gave this book the added depth that it needed!

This book is like the boppiest pop song that made song of the summer. It hits all the marks and leaves a lasting impression, like a really long last song syndrome.

Lynn Painter did it again. She is queen of romance YA.

Nothing like the Movies is 🤌🏼.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My other favourites about this book.

✅ When the banter is bantering.
✅ The Taylor Swift references are 🫶🏼
✅ The songs featured and playlist is ❤️‍🔥🎧

I enjoyed this book because it was a perfect balance of a boppy romcom with a touch of reality.

I loved how Lynn Painter added in hard life truths that Wes (and eventually Liz) had to face. It definitely added depth to their characters which we only see in this book. It gives their love story more flavour and it makes you root for them more.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Lynn Painter novel if you didn’t have the cute moments. There were so much funny scenes. I DEVOURED this book. I finished it in a freakin day!! 🙊

I adore Lynn Painter's writing and characters and Nothing Like the Movies did not disappoint.

Wes, oh my, you remain one of the best book boyfriends ever. Everyone deserves a Wes in their lives.

I love that I can confidently recommend these to students as romance novels with kind, strong characters.

The story discussed Wes' heartbreak and love for his family as he navigates the loss of his father and being the provider. Liz is left heartbroken and begins to build her own career. The additional side characters provide support, love, and comic relief.

I could write my own novel on how much I love and adore this book and characters.