Thanks for you the opportunity to read this ARC

I was a big fan of Better Than The Movies when I read it last year, and was very excited to be rejoining Wes and Liz.

I loved the style of writing, it was fast paced, and the dialogue felt quite natural. Unfortunately though I felt like the characters were too different to their original personalities in the first book, I understand that they’d both been through a lot, and it was good to see how they’ve adjusted into their early adult years, but their spark and playfulness just wasn’t there in the same way, given the circumstances.

I also wish there wasn’t as much miscommunication in it, it made me mad at Wes for how much he manipulated the situation and what he let Liz believe for so long, I was still rooting for them and I still loved how infatuated Wes was with Liz and enjoyed all of the music references

Rating: 3.5 stars

4.5 ⭐️

i loved this so much!!! the most perfect sequel to better than the movies i love liz and wes with my whole entire heart!! lynn painters YA romances just hit like nothing else

Nothing Like the Movies? A more suiting title would be, 'Nothing Like the First Book'

* Very minor spoilers *

I was really excited to read this having LOVED the first book, but once I realised it was a second chance romance I began to feel conflicted. I'm never a big fan of second chance romance books, but because I loved Wes and Liz so much I decided to try... and yeah, my opinion on second chance romance books remains the same.

I will start with what I loved about this book, which is the setting. LA felt new and fresh and I liked Liz's new friends which were introduced as a result. Having a complete 180 on the location definitely suited the characters growth, as they are both completely different to how we last saw them. It was also bit nostalgic for someone who has just graduated and is missing uni life. I must admit it was nice to revisit their hometown and old familiar faces.

However, I was seriously not a fan of this plot. It felt 100 pages too long and the miscommunication between Wes and Liz felt prolonged just for the sake of making the book longer. Because of how Wes was acting, I found it hard to sympathise with him over his treatment and (essentially) ghosting of Liz after breaking up. At times it felt like borderline harassment due to how much Liz genuinely hated him for most of the story. Wes, who was my shining star of Better Than The Movies, became an alpha male, self-centred, aggressive caricature of his original self, which was almost devastating to read.

A big issue for me is the lack of respect people seemed to have for Liz's decision making. Wes's relatives, her own parents, her university friends (who Wes made his friends, too) all repeatedly telling her to rekindle with him. The last nail in the coffin for me was her best friend almost having an argument with her over how much he liked Wes and wanted her to get back with him because he was a 'good guy'. I can't imagine how frustrating it was for Liz. Imagine having to deal with everyone telling you to get back together with someone who has invaded your new safe space, cemented themselves in your new life, and did you so dirty when you broke up. The narrative split read like 80% Wes justification for his actions no matter how things went and 20% Liz's genuine (and valid) angers and upset over it all.

I'm sad to admit I found myself skim reading towards the end of the book. Overall, I gave it 3 stars just because I am fond of the original book and how much I liked seeing Liz make a new life for herself elsewhere.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Did the perfection that was better than the movies need a sequel? No.
Am I incredibly happy that we got one and I got to spend more time with Liz and Wes? Yes.

This sequel followed Liz and Wes 2 years after we leave them in better than the movies and follows the fallout of their break up after Wes’s life falls apart around him. I absolutely loved watching Liz and Wes find their way back to each other and find their spark again despite Liz being adamant that she will not be entertaining Wes Bennett and his charm after he broke her heart.

I especially loved that this one was dual pov after only getting Liz’s pov in the first one as I really loved being in Wes’s head and seeing how he feels about Liz from his own perspective. This one while still being ya also felt slightly more grown up that the first one and obviously I loved that we also got another playlist for the book.

Cue the fluttery hearts, ridiculous plots to woo and the inevitable pull that two people who are meant to be have towards each other!

2.5 ✨

Honestly, I love Wes and Liz in BTTM but this just wasn’t enjoyable. I was so disappointed when reading this book considering I was so excited for it to come out. Unsatisfied from start to finish.

Reasons for disliking are very simple:

1. Wes and Liz’s characters were completely changed in this book, especially Liz. I loved her in BTTM but couldn’t stand her in this book. She kept making points about not being ‘little Liz’ anymore and, yes I know people do grow up, but it just got a bit repetitive where she, ironically, ended up sounding so childish.

2. There was just no need for this book. Book one ended happy, we loved the fact that they were together and we could imagine they stayed like that no matter what. So please please PLEASE! Tell me why this book began with them broken up? It felt like book one all over again, waiting until the end for them to get together.

3. This was advertised as dual pining but tbh it was all Wes. Liz just kept saying she didn’t have feelings and wasn’t ready to confront her feelings for Wes even AFTER hearing the whole reason behind why he broke up with her. Like girl just admit you still love him and get over it?

4. Wes deciding he would choose to pretend he cheated on Liz rather than actually explaining what was going on in his life because he felt she wouldn’t move on unless he did something terrible. Honestly, what sort of mess is that?😭

This plot was just all over the place, the fake dating was unnecessary, the over-obsessive pining of Wes was annoying, and the complete change in Liz’s character was disappointing. There was really no need for this book at all. Please, if you have read and enjoyed better than the movies, do NOT read this book. It is not worth it. I promise, from a Wes and Liz lover, don’t do it to yourself, you will finish with more anger than satisfaction.

I usually love Lynn’s books but this really was not it.

Nevertheless, thank you so much to NetGallery and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

Better than the Movies is one of my all time favourite YA books, so when I heard there was going to be a sequel I was equal parts excited and nervous (because I read the blurb for this and had my heart BROKEN by the way 😭!)

Anyway. I shouldn't have been (nervous that is!) Because this was like coming home.

As this is set 2 years later, it had a more mature feel to it, which I loved. And, as ever, Lynn had me giggling and swooning like a teen myself despite being in my 30s 🤭🙃🙃 . I also found myself wanting to bawl at times too, of course.

I've always said BTTMS is Lynn's best work and I'm really happy this sequal has also lived up to my expectations. I'm a fan!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. I came to this ‘fresh’ as I hadn’t read Better Than the Movies but I was still completely enchanted by the love story between Wes and Liz.

Set two years later we see Wes going back to the same College as Liz and hoping to win her back. Liz is focussed on her studies and the amazing internship that will open many doors. Will Wes win her back?

Beautifully written and totally engaging. I love the quotes used to introduce each chapter and a playlist throughout. This is a great book that I’ll be thrusting into the hands of my library users.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a review copy of this novel. Having read and enjoyed the previous novel, Just Like the Movies I was really looking forward to this novel and it did not disappoint. Painter draws engaging characters and an absorbing plot that provide wonderful escapism, continuing a story with two main characters that were really well matched. It’s another slow burn, but this time we get more of Wes’s side and it’s welcome insight into his past struggles as well as hers in what is often a difficult time for any early adult.

After a false start halted by a family catastrophe Wes finally has an opportunity to take up his dream once again and attend UCLA on a baseball scholarship with a real possibility of playing in the major league once again. The only missing piece is Liz. It’s been two years since they’ve been together- she the girl next door and he the boy who has been in love with her forever. He’d finally achieved a place in her heart only to have circumstance tear them apart just as they were both starting UCLA. She’s now a junior and he’s a freshman, but he’s determined to win her back. Only she wants nothing to do with him and that’s she’s different now. No longer someone whose every big moment was guided by romance movies that her mother had loved, she was practical, hard headed and interested in things she’d never had been before. As Wes tries to persuade her they are still meant to be, he wonders if things have really changed so very much.

A warm and thoroughly enjoyable read that was a perfect follow up to the previous book, though it could be read as a standalone.

Since the book 1, better than the movies, was released, I wanted to read more about the protagonists of this book and the author gave us that blessing via this book 😁 and i absolutely love the author fir this reason, she gives what her readers want and desire for🫂
This is as soothing as the Better than the movies 😁 and the protagonists again charmed off my heart ❤️ I am so in love with the author's writing. Literally ate this book in a day.

4 Stars!

This book was super good and I really really enjoyed reading it! Being back with Wes and Liz was incredible as a reader who loved the first book and seeing them a little bit older was awesome. I felt like you could really feel Wes and Liz throughout the whole book and I loved the new characters that were introduced as we were thrown into Liz’s new cool life at college.

I do wish we saw them together more than we did, this plot (as someone who loved their relationship in the first book SO much) was kind of disheartening at times because I just wanted to give Wes really big hug and at the same time I knew Liz was hurting. The banter was still there, wes had me giggling and kicking my feet :’)

Plot wise, not much happened but I really enjoyed reading it anyway - it felt like a welcome hug back to the world and these characters that I’ve missed. The writing in this book is amazing as always and has made me want to read more books by the author yet again. I would absolutely love to have an adult book one day with Liz and Wes to see what they’re up to in 5/10 years time - I’m just not ready to let out with these characters yet!!!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eArc :’)

This book is a complete emotional rollercoaster, I was a nervous wreck as i was reading as I am a huge Wes and Liz fan. My poor heart just couldn't take it!
I felt that the story dealt with heavier topics such as grief very well and Wes's story really resonated with me and i really felt for him.
It was a perfect follow up for Better than the movies and I feel quite satisfied by the story, Highly recommend!

I really like these books, I’m not even one for YA romance as it’s a little too closed door for me normally, but I like the wholesome tone and the hurdles the author tackles in her books.

I love that we pick up with Liz & Wes but they are older, and shaped by heartbreak and grief. I feel like if you’ve ever had a young love that didnt work out, but they feel like the one who got away at that time of your life, then this book will resonate with you. You will completely hope with your whole heart for Wes’s redemption and triumph plus Liz’s healing and a second chance at the love she deserves.

You may call it fan service, but I for one am always happy when one of my favourite YA romances gets a sequel. And it doesn't happen enough!

Lynn Painter really knew what she was doing with this one. This is truly a heartwrenching second chance romance, full of angst, and it was exactly what I needed to read at this moment.

I loved that this book was dual POV, and I especially loved Wes's POV because the ANGST of it was so well done. I was truly rooting for him.

I also loved all the movie and music references, because they added an extra emotional layer to the book in a way that made it easy to picture everything as a movie, including the soundtrack. I always appreciate vivid writing like that.

4.75 ⭐️

I had the pleasure to meet Lynn Painter at a signing back in June this year and I got to tell her about my excitement for Nothing Like The Movies (sequel to Better Than The Movies). So, getting an ARC for this novel was like a dream come true.

This book follows Wes and Liz, who were once together and in love but just as they were about to start a new life in college, they broke up. Now, Wes is determined to win Liz back with big romantic gestures, but she isn't easily convinced, leaving him to wonder if they are truly over.

I actually enjoyed this so much!!! (ignoring the fact that all I did was cry). Re-reading the whole Better Than the Movies series before getting into this sequel was like a rollercoaster. At the beginning of the book, Wes was in a really dark mental state so he decided to end things with Liz so he wouldn’t bring her down with him. And I, too, shut myself down when I have any problem so I understood him a lot and got why he did all of that.

Was a sequel really that necessary? I don’t know but I am just a girlie who loves second chance romances and —sue me— but I enjoy the miscommunication trope as well. And, to be honest, I’ll take any LizWes crumbs I can get.

Read if you like:
⚾️ second-chance.
⚾️ dual POV.
⚾️ college romance.
⚾️ slow burn.
⚾️ longing and banter.
⚾️ miscommunication.
⚾️ content warning: grief, PSTD, anxiety.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Nothing Like The Movies by Lynn Painter will be coming out on October 2nd.

4.5 ⭐️

Whenever I read a YA romance, I often find myself wondering if they'd actually stay together after. You like to think they would, but realistically, it probably doesn't work out that way most of the time.

Lynn really knows how to write grief. In book 1, we see Liz deal with hers, and in this one, it's Wes. Two very different manifestations of grief but both very well written. You can feel his pain and his struggle with it.

We also keep the theme of strong friendships going with this one. Both with their new groups of friends and their old one. I like that we get to see a little of what the high school group is doing as well as side relationships with the new group. I'm fairly convinced Clark likes wes's sister, and I'd read the hell out of that.

The thing with Liz and Wes is their romantic moments are always super sweet. There's Taylor Swift quotes and movie moments, and I love that. But I was sad when I realised this book is basically a huge miscommunication, I wish we had gotten a bit more of Liz helping him with his grief because it would have added an even more mature aspect.

The reason we have for Liz being so upset with him was unnecessary for me. There was already a lot going on while I got that we needed a reason for her to be so set on avoiding him it felt a little random. Plus, wes was so clearly head over heels. I'm surprised anyone believed it anyway.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and its look at grief, PTSD and anxiety. The friendships are great, and the romance is very cute. I've gone with 4.5 stars because while the miscommunication is probably my least favourite book trope, there is a good reason for the initial secrets, and it was handled well.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

This was a quick and enjoyable read, I loved the first book so was excited to read this one! I love a second chance romance, it did not disappoint!

Actual Rating: 4.25 stars

Nothing Like The Movies is the sequel to Better Than The Movies, following Wes and Liz in their college years. They hadn't seen each other for two other after Wes went home after a tragedy struck in his family and not able to cope, Wes ended the relationship. Fast forward the two years and Wes is back as a freshman playing baseball and Liz is stuck covering the baseball team as part of her internship. What could possibly go wrong?

This is literally everything that I wanted. At first I was a little scared of what was in store for Wes and Liz, like them breaking up after what happened in Better Than The Movies, I didn't want to believe it. However, their characters did grow so it might've been necessary? I loved having Wes' point of view in this book, I think this was something that definitely drove this story more and made it more interesting. I need a Wes Bennett in my life, like can he actually just be real?

I absolutely loved the tension and the angst between Wes and Liz within this book, it had be squealing so many times but as much as I loved it, I wish they had gotten back together a little sooner so we could have so many cute scenes as well. I felt like the ending of them was a little rushed which let it down a little for me. I would've maybe liked to see more of Liz and Joss' friendship, like I know Liz went to college and everything but surely they could've called as they were best friends. Either way, was this sequel needed? No. But did I enjoy reading it anyways? Yes.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The storyline in this one was almost identical to book 1 and I felt like Liz hadn’t learned anything from her lying ways in book 1. I found myself getting a little annoyed because, despite the 2 year gap from the end of book 1 it felt like certain characters were just making the exact same mistakes they did in book 1, like where’s the progression, people? The book felt wholly unnecessary and a lot like it was written solely cause book 1 did well on TikTok?! Call me cynical but I’d have been happy if Liz and Wes’s story had stopped at the end of book 1.

That being said I did enjoy it, the characters were still good, there was lots of baseball in it which i really enjoyed!