Well hello, Lynn Painter can do no wrong!!! I absolutely adored being back with Wes and Liz in this beautiful abs banter filled Second Chance romance. Easily 5 stars

I loved this sequel to Lynn Painter’s Better than the Movies! I also think this book could be read as a stand alone. The love story of Wes and Liz continues as we follow them to college at UCLA but not without some hurdles. Lynn Painter has given us all the elements we loved in the first book with her great music references and ultimate playlists along with all the rom com quotes.
The author wins us over with her great characters and this book is full of them! Wes’s baseball teammates and Liz’s college roommates are the best addition to this sequel all with all our favorites from the first book.
A fun must read!!

In the sequel to Better Than the Movies, Wes and Liz are now at UCLA and no longer together. Wes suffered great personal loss and was forced to leave baseball and school behind. He worked hard to get his scholarship back and now is determined to win Liz’s heart back too.

I love Lynn Painter’s writing style, and BTTM was such a well done book. I typically don’t enjoy YA books but I loved that one and this one too! I really loved the dual perspective and getting a peek inside Wes’s head. It was fun to see these beloved characters mature a bit and experience college milestones and life lessons. I felt for Wes so much, and though I don’t enjoy the miscommunication trope, I felt like I could understand how someone in pain could make the choices he did. I think fans of the first book will love this continuation of their story!

Thank you so much to Lynn Painter and Simon and Schuster for Young Readers for the arc and opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved this sequel! I loved getting to learn more about Wes and Liz's background and see their characters develop. It made me like them so much more! However, I believe that it was a bit too long and could have been cut down a bit. I really love this series and Painter's YA books for any of my teens that love romance books.

I feel like this fell into the trap of not needing a sequel. I feel if there was more of a spinoff with different characters it would have been better. This book felt very repetitive. Liz was very back and forth but it was a lot of thinking in her head rather than the plot moving forward. I still love Lynn Painters writing and always recommend her books.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND. HOW WAS THIS EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE?
There are so many mixed opinions on this being a sequel, and yes, at first glance, Liz and Wes breaking up seemed like a cheap way to create conflict so there could be a second book. But I would be lying if I didn't say that I ATE THAT UP. These childlike, starry-eyed characters have become adults, and they are both going through some real life crap. Lynn Painter did an amazing job maturing her YA book characters to believable college students while still making it SO CLEAR they're meant to be together. I absolutely loved the dual POV--seeing Wes' thoughts added so much depth to the story. And the mutual pining? The will-they-won't they? Wes' thoughts when he found Liz at the costume party and the scene on the roof? The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife!

I rarely include quotes, but this one made me cry:
"Because our good moments were the crumbs that fed me for seven hundred and twenty 12:13s when I was alone." <3



Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Lynn Painter for the complementary digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💐

DNF’d @ 18%.
YA is so hit or miss for me. I felt like the set up in the beginning was so rushed & I just couldn’t get hooked at all.

I didn’t think this book needed a sequel but wow was I wrong. Going back into this world was like a cozy hug and captures your heart immediately.

Here are a few of my favorite things…
- dual pov!! Getting Wes’s perspective makes this book so much more impactful
- New friends at college made the perfect found family moments. I love their teasing and support of each other
- The music references are everything we wanted

I loved Better than the Movies and I loved Nothing like the Movies maybe even more. Seeing them a little more grown up, finding themselves then finding each other again gives them an even stronger foundation and made me love their relationship even more.

The epilogue at his baseball game is SUCH A TEASE and now I insist that we get another novella or .5 book (make sure you read Better than the Prom for Wes’s pov of prom and then Secret Spot moment!) of another moment we all need. PLEASE.

Would I recommend? Yes!!

Well, Painter does it again. The highly anticipated sequel to the YA hit Nothing Like the Movies was the warm hug I needed.

We learn that Wes had tragedy hit home and had to suddenly leave UCLA, baseball…and Liz soon after they got to LA. We return two years later, Wes is back, baby! He trained his a$$ off, got that baseball scholarship back and is ready to study civil engineering at UCLA as a Freshman.

Liz is a rising Junior. She has parlayed her encyclopedic music knowledge into an internship and job helping with social media on the baseball team. She is going to have to film Wes, daily. This isn’t the romcom, swooning girl from Omaha. Her heart was shattered, she has a bit of an edge, and everything to prove.

I stand my review of the first novel—this is YA for OLD PEOPLE. It’s laugh out loud funny, deeply tender, and just the best time. Bonus for copious Taylor Swift lyric Easter Eggs and deep Jane Austen cuts/references that I geeked out on.

And, the soundtrack. Ugggg. It’s so amazing. Run to read this one! ☝️ 🤩

Absolutely fabulous sequel! I was a bit skeptical about a sequel to a book that was already perfect to me but this one definitely surprised me. This sequel felt so realistic for such a young relationship and it made me root for these characters sooo much more! The character development I thought was very real too! It made sense got Liz and Wes to not be the exact same they were in high school! This book just became a new favorite of mine 💕

In the sequel to Better Than the Movies, no longer a couple Wes and Liz are in California attending the college of their dreams, UCLA. Wes knows he broke Liz's heart when he broke up with her, but now he's in a healthier place and determined to make her fall back in love with him.

My Grade: D
Spice Level: 1 out of 5. Just some steamy kisses.

As a huge fan of the first book, I was so excited to read this. I absolutely loved the love story of Wes and Liz, and I knew coming into this book that there was going to be some angst, but I sadly feel that this book just didn't work for me.

The personalities of Wes and Liz have changed so much that they are almost unrecognizable. I understand that experiences will have people grow and develop, but this seemed to be a bit drastic. The break up affected Liz is an extreme way, causing her to be cynical about love. Wes, dealing with the fallout of a huge family crisis, is now focused and obsessed on returning back to the way things were before. By the end, I was feeling that they should not be together, that it would have been better if they just ended up as friends.

The story is lacking in the fun romantic whimsy that enveloped the first book. I disliked the sudden fake dating/ love triangle, and the plot seemed to be bombarded with so many side characters that I couldn't tell at times who everyone was and what they brought to the development.

On a positive note, by the time the story got to approx. 70% the plot picked up a bit and moved along. I also enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Sarah and Clark, and I would love to read a spin off story between them.

On a side note, the Kanye references were extremely problematic and not appreciated.

I enjoyed going back to Wes and Liz’s world but I probably favored the first book a little more. It was an easy, enjoyable read but there almost needed to be a little more conflict to keep me invested and up the pace a bit. Overall, still a good read if you like Lynn Painter’s YA style!

As a romcom fan, I was immediately drawn into these books with the movie quotes and themes. But as the book went on I fell absolutely in love with Liz and Wes. The second chance trope always gets me, and the added childhood friends to lovers just made it that much better. I absolutely loved this sequel, another amazing read by Lynn Painter!

"I was carpe diem-ing the crap out of my life"

Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennett's relationship fell apart right as they were coming together. As they were starting off at UCLA, Wes on the baseball team and LIz a music major. Tragedy at home caused Wes to lose Liz, without giving her the full reason and breaking both their hearts in the process.

Fast forward two years later, Liz is now a junior who just landed the best opportunity of her life, an internship with her idol, someone with all the connections who can help her career thrive before its officially begun. Her first assignment? To get highlights and stories of UCLA's baseball team, especially their new Ace freshman.
To Liz's surprise, their Ace is NONE OTHER than Wes Bennett.
Wes seems the same, but also more grown up and serious, and it's clear he has his sights set on Liz. While she struggles to be around him, still wanting answers on why he broke her heart, he wants to make it right. Liz, who thought she was over him, is suddenly confused by her feelings, which she immediately avoids by pretending to have a boyfriend.
Wes is shocked, but he can't give up. For the first time in two years, he has a second chance to start over, save his baseball career, and possibly get the love of his life back.

Personally, I loved this book. I will admit I've never read the first one, but honestly this one can be a stand alone. The characters are all amazing. I LOVED CLARK. And I loved the plotline and the pace.
Wes's story playing out slowly, revealing little bits and pieces at a time, kept me engaged and I loved the development.
Liz is practically me. Same great taste in music, same attitude, etc.

I highly recommend this book and I'm so thankful for Lynn Painter and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy.

Let me preface this by saying I did not think BBTM needed a sequel. I have conflicting feelings about this story. I felt really disconnected from Wes and Liz and the things that made them “them” was missing. At first I looooooved Wes coming back and trying to win Liz over but the same conversations between them kept happening over and over again that I got bored. Overall, I think if you liked BTTM, you might enjoy this one

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter.

I really enjoyed this sequel to Better Than the Movies. It was great to revisit Wes and Libby for an adventure. This book takes places a few years later and Wes and Libby have broken up. Wes' father passes away and Wes has to move home to help take care of everything. But unfortunately, he is a man, a man that cannot express his feelings and just pretends things are fine and doesn't share the truth with his amazing girlfriend. Sometimes you just want to shake men and tell them we would rather know instead of believing a lie.

It was a good story, and I enjoyed the familiarity of the characters. I won't go into it more because I don't want to spoil the book.

When I read Better Than the Movies last year I was blown away by how much I loved it. The usual recipe for a YA romance doesn't hook me as much as it used to, so I was expecting it to be just "okay" but WOW! So when I saw that there was going to be a sequel, I was ecstatic! I did a re-read of Better Than the Movies to prepare myself for this one and fell in love with it again.

This book was SO WONDERFUL! I loved that it was told from dual POVs and I loved that the heartbreak Liz felt changed her as a person. I went through a heartbreak when I was right around her age and felt very similar. All the happily ever after type feelings and loving love seemed to evaporate and so it was easy to connect with Liz.

I loved the complexity of Wes' story at home and how the author didn't just spell it out right at the beginning of the book.

Once again, this book is an EASY 5 stars for me. And I'll forever be a Lynn Painter stan.

The easy flowing writing style of Lynn Painter was just as prevalent in this book as it was in Better Than the Movies. It was a quick read as I could find I zipped through multiple chapters without even looking up.
She was able to take the characters we fell in love with in BTTM and give them a little more life experience and maturity but not lose their “Little Liz” moments.

Absolutely adorable and funny. Two of the best things in a romcom! I giggled, I swooned, I loved every single page of this book!

I absolutely loved this book! I was really able to connect with Wes on a more personal level because I went through a similar experience. Loved all the movie and song quotes! Fake dating, forced proximity, and second chance! Can’t go wrong with those tropes! The second chance was done perfectly! Liz made Wes work for it so it actually felt like Wes wanted to win her back!