Nothing Like the Movies is a fun, fast-paced rom-com with all the classic Painter charm. The banter is sharp, and the characters feel real. It’s about figuring out what love really looks like — not the movie version, but the messy, honest kind. Perfect for fans of quick reads, big emotions, and lots of flirting

Loved revisiting Liz and Wes, they’re such a great couple! I defo need a story for Wes’ sister and Clarke now though! This book gave me all the feels as Lynn Painter usually does. Very well executed book on dealing with grief and the guilt that can come with it. 100% recommend.

This was absolutely adorable, and is a really good example of how allowing your characters to grow and evolve from previous books (and a supposed happily ever after) doesn't have to mean the end of a story. Wes and Liz are given the space to evolve as characters, adding to their complexities and therefore changing the dynamics of their relationship in such an honest and realistic way. The shine of high school romances, all that sweetness and firsts is notches up a gear here as our characters have matured too and have to face the ugly reality of growing up. Relationships aren't easy, romance isn't easy and Nothing Like the Movies explores this really well. A particularly liked Wes's story and struggles, and thought they were sensitively done.

I will say that as not the biggest Taylor Swift fan, I found all the repeated quotes really, really annoying though. Pop culture references already irritate me in books, however given the nature of the story I expected a fair few, but less is definitely more. A lot less in my opinion.

Overall an enjoyable read that approaches the evolution of first romances well, but the cultural references I could have done without.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for this opportunity to read Lynn painters new book!


Lynn painter my lord you know how to write. Your books are so fast paced and they have me swooning and kicking my feet and giggling! This book is amazing and I’m in love with these characters! I’ve loved from better than the movies and so glad I got to see them progress in this book! I 10000% recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

LYNN PAINTER MY QUEEN!!

i adored being back in this world, BUT i was a little disappointed as it wasn’t as good as Better Than the Movies, which is one of my favourite YA books of all time. As much as i enjoyed this book, personally i felt that it wasn’t needed… BTTM had the perfect ending in my opinion,

I will always read a LP book and can’t wait to see what she writes next!

🧡

A fitting sequel, thoroughly enjoyable. Recommend for a light easy read (although it deals with some darker themes) - perfect for summertime

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5)

This was a charming rom-com that had me smiling from the first page. Lynn Painter really nails that balance between being laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally grounded. The characters are relatable without being cliché, and there’s just the right amount of banter, awkwardness, and romantic tension. It leans into the tropes but also gently pokes fun at them, making it feel modern and self-aware. Great for fans of flirty but meaningful romance.

It might be a controversial opinion but I liked this book much better than the first one. I was in from the start, wondering what had really happened for Wes and Liz to broke up (as a reader you just know there is more that what Liz thinks), and enjoying seeing them slowly get into each others lives again.

I was glad this was a dual POV book because I had liked Wes a lot more than Liz in book 1 and I thought it added layers to have his perspective. It was great to see Liz grown up and much more confident and opinionated, as her character had been the weak point of the first book for me. In this one she’s a lot more decisive, secured in her self and her worth and I liked her a lot more.

Wes and Liz still made for a great couple and their chemistry was still very strong. I did love that Wes, even if he had good reasons for how he acted, had to work to her Liz’ trust back and I was really happy to read the story of how they got to know each other again and found their way back to each other.

Such a wonderful YA book with the beauty and complexity of falling in love and heartbreak. She manages to encompass some very adult feelings into words. I found myself fighting sleep to keep reading this. Such a great read, Painter never misses. Sequal to 'Better than the Movies' I hope she releases a third one because I love Wes and Liz too much.

❣️⚾️Nothing Like The Movies by Lynn Painter⚾️❣️
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Wes & Liz broke up. He cheated on her and dropped out of college. She’s moved on and is a different person, thriving in her chosen career path. What Liz wasn’t prepared for is for Wes to make his comeback to college and end up being the centre of her portfolio work for her internship. Wes is determined to win Liz back, but she doesn’t want that and she doesn’t think she’s the girl he’s in love with anymore.

I did enjoy this book but I wasn’t overly excited to pick it up. I liked the music references throughout and it did make me want to listen to the playlist! I part read this on kindle and part listened to it and the mixture definitely worked well for me. Definitely one for younger adults who like a sport romance!

#nothinglikethemovies #betterthanthemovies #sportsromance #wesandliz #romance #youngadult #2025inbooks #bookstagram #yabooks #booksta

I loved this. I absolutely loved falling back in love with Wes and Liz. I loved watching them work out whether they were going to find their way back to each other.
The references were so good and I want to read it all over again. An absolute joy.

This book hurt in the best way possible. I often worry about sequels like this story but I think this was handled with so much care. It was a story that needed to be told and you still love the characters just as much.

This is the sequel to "Better than the Movies" and picks up 2yrs down the line after Wes and Liz have broken up. They went to college together but only 2 weeks into their first semester, Wes's dad died and he had to move home to Omaha to take care of his family and he didn't want Liz waiting for him when she should be living her life, so he lies to her and tells her he cheated on her.

Now he's back at UCLA as a freshman, playing baseball again and he's determined to win Liz back but she's not interested in reliving the heartbreak from the first time around. So she fake dates her roommate and colleague, Clark but nobody really buys it because they've always acted like siblings.

The story is really cute but it would have been better if Wes had put the time into getting to know Liz now, rather than trying to appeal to the girl she once was. She's grown up a lot and changed quite a bit from when she was 18 as she's made new friends and had new experiences but Wes is holding onto the girl he fell in love with and doing whatever he can to win her back.

I also don't like the fake dating between Liz and Clark. She should have been honest with Wes and told him from the start she didn't want to get back together or be friends again but instead she drags her close friend into it and makes him lie. Even when Clark starts to befriend Wes and can see what a good guy he is.

I'm glad they were able to work things out between them by the end though, even if it did take something drastic to get Liz to finally realise her feelings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This is a rom com movie in book form. It has all the tropes you'd expect from a rom com - a protagonist with a tragic story, a feisty heroine who doesn't date and a life changing opportunity that thrusts them together. Wes and Liz were together in high school and left to go to college together but a death in Wes' family change his plans. When he drops out of college to support his family, rather than talking to Liz about what is going on, he tries to put on a brave face on how left behind he's feeling. Then he decides to end things, leaving Liz heart broken. Cut to sometime later, Wes has a second chance at college and has decided he is also going to get a second chance with Liz. She meanwhile has been getting on with her life at college. She's heavily involved in the college newspaper, reporting on the different sports teams. She has been offered the opportunity to work with a real life media company, reporting on the baseball team, the team that Wes has rejoined.

While I am a bit of a sucker for romance and happy endings, I did find some aspects of this book frustrating. The usual, why didn't they just talk about things and why did Wes make decisions for both people in the couple without speaking to Liz being the most obvious. I guess a story where people talk about the fact that they're having a hard time and feeling like they're holding the other person back wouldn't be as interesting but from a feminist point of view, I did find myself annoyed that Wes decides it was for the best for them to split up and then decides he is going to get Liz back. It frustrates me that I was rooting for them to get back together while also kind of thinking that it would serve Wes right if Liz was to turn around and say that he'd missed his chance. In this way, the book left me a little conflicted. However, it is a fun read and I did enjoy it.

This is not the usual type of book I would read.
I know very little about either baseball or US colleges YET I got really drawn into the two main characters and how they were feeling about their lives and one another.. An amazingly (for me) good read

3.75
I have to admit that like everyone else when Lynn announced that there was a sequel and that they BROKE UP I was scared. But I can understand that the breakup was the best for them both so they could grow and mature.

This book made me SOB which i was not expecting but i probably should have.
I loved the way wes grovelled (rightfully so after what he did), he was determined and was refusing to give up which made me fall more in love with him

I loved the little movie references at the top of every chapter but it didn’t hit the same because liz didn’t mention or reference the films anymore. I feel like one thing that made me love bttm was liz’s cute cute and fun personality where she would wear dresses and make playlists which they didn’t have at all in nltm. However, I kinda of loved and admired how she didn’t just back down to wes after he broke up with her the way he did.

thank you netgalley and Simon & Schuster Children's UK for an arc!!

I had previously loved Better Than The Movies and was expecting big things for this novel. I am a huge fan of Lynn Painter as an author.

I personally was heart-broken to hear of Liz and Wes' split - I really enjoyed their relationship growth in the first book, but I felt obliged to figure out exactly how the second book would pan out and how their development would progress.

It felt like home returning to the characters and Painter did such a fab job at keeping these characters alive - it felt divine to see how they had gotten on and it felt like I was learning about friends. I found my emotions towards Wes to change a lot and, due to his narrative being so complex, I had mixed emotions learning about how he has changed and what he did.

It was wonderful to see Wes winning Liz back, and the way in which he showcased his emotions was second to none (of course it was) but I can't help and feel that there was something missing and I can't quite pinpoint exactly what it was.

That being said, it was an enjoyable read from start to finish.

This unfortunately ended up being a DNF for me, but I can see why other readers have enjoyed it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

I feel like I'm in the minority with this one as I loved it but I'm a sucker for a second chance romance and watching two people who are meant to be learn from their mistakes. I love Wes and Liv and seeing how they reconnected and fit back together so easily was joyous. This was well written keeping me gripped and not wanting to put it down. I loved the characters and the friendships and this was a great ya romance.

How could I ever give a book that made me kick my feet and giggle at stupid hours (that probably made my neighbours believe I had company) anything less than 4 stars?
That's right, I can't.
And I am very much okay with it.

"She rolled her eyes, raised her chin, and I wanted to drop to my knees."

I was late to the party, okay? I was late because I read Better than the Movies only in October. I was late because I did not understand the hype until halfway through. I was late because I did not immediately devour Nothing like the Movies as I should have.

"I looked into the eyes that I saw every night when I closed my own and said, 'Okay, I will do it.'"

Maybe I did not deserve to get the advanced readers copy. But you know what? It does not matter, because this book, yes book number two, made me feel like BTTM only managed to in the second half. The POV's of Wes? The love confessions in his mind? The chaos? The drama? The fun? The lovable friend group? The REALISTIC reason for them to break up in the first place? The grief, the hurt, the angst, the stress, the anxiety, the everything. I loved it! I laughed, I giggled, I kicked my feet, and I teared up and cried numerous times during my read.

"Fucking yes, tease me, Buxbaum"

And what I would not give to have a man like Wes Bennet in my life who does not take himself too seriously, puts other people first, and speaks poetry...

"I am just Wes fucking Bennet, Lib, the guy who can't remember a single day in his life when he didn't love you."

I don't understand why so many people are this unhappy about the book. I had a great time, because I love to torture myself, and this one had the perfect balance of heartache in every way possible. It showed the reality of life but mixed with movie worthy romance.

I loved that it moved slow and the only reason that I did not give the full five stars is
1. that is always very hard to reach and
2. that the very ending felt rushed after everything else moved at a perfect speed.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Simon & Schuster Children's UK and Lynn Painter for the advanced readers copy!