🌟 4/5

Genre: young adult romance
POV: dual

Tropes:
✨ second chance
✨ fake dating
✨ soul mates

When I heard Lynn Painter was making a sequel to Better Than the Movies, you better know I ran to add it to my tbr. I fell in love with Wes and Liz in that book and they felt like true soul mates. You have to read that book first to truly experience the yearning in this book.

Starting Nothing Like the Movies with them broken up? I was heart broken, they got their HEA in BTTM. Life is hard and full of unexpected trauma and this story shows that. There’s such raw emotion in this storyline. Wes has been through so much in the last 2 years after losing his Dad unexpectedly but Liz could be frustrating at times with her attitude towards them (but as you keep reading, you learn that she doesn’t know the whole story and can justify her words/actions - to an extent…)

The characters are flawed and made them feel all the more real because no one is perfect.

It’s a beautiful story that is so romance coded it will have you swooning. Liz’s love for music is still laced throughout the book with Taylor references (of course!!)

Thank you Lynn Painter for writing this story and giving us a chance to see Liz and Wes in college.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first book. This one is set when they are both in college and finding their way back to each other again. It wasn’t as fun and cute as the first one but it did wrap up their story nicely and the romance was sweet.

nothing like the movies ―୨୧⋆ ˚
i don't even know where to start with this revue other than the fact this book absolutely broke me and put me back together again.

honestly I was super nervous going into this read considering I liked 'better than the movies' and had no clue where lynn painter was going to go with 'nothing like the movies' because wes and liz got their HEA right?

no. completely wrong.

from the first chapter I decided to go into this book acting like Wes and liz were two new characters who had a lot of backstory. and in some ways they absolutely were and it made this book a little less excruciating to read. but the plot on the who was super enjoyable (also a bit gut-wrenching) but showed such a clear divide between high school drama and relationships with the real-world issues and events that happen in people lives and how they come back from it.
lynn painter showed this beautifully in the setting and the characterisation of wes and liz.

wes and liz ―୨୧⋆ ˚ the growth and maturity of wes and liz was slightly jarring at first and was a slight shock because they felt different and in a lot of ways they were.. 2 years older and a lot has happened in the mean time but the glimpses of the their 'better than the movies' younger selves were so precious to me as I read this book and saw so much development.

overall, i could spend days talking about this book but then i would spoil the whole thing.. this was such a beautiful needing to a HEA i thought i already had and lynn painter wrote the loss, the maturity and the pain of growing up in the most beautiful way that this book pretty much made me sob through the last 50%.

I am so happy to finally read about Liz and Wes again! I’ve missed them so much and this book is literally perfect. As someone who was so obsessed with this book since 2022, getting a sequel like this is my literal dreams come true, and moreover, getting to read an ARC of the book?! I am absolutely grateful for this opportunity and I just love Lynn’s writing so much. I love Liz and Wes’ character development, I love every single banter and every single scene that they have with each other. Pls pls pls read this book!,

Rating: 2.5

I loved Better Than The Movies. Truly it's one of my favourite YA romance books, and because of this I was so excited to read the sequel, and thrilled when I received an email offering me an ARC.

However, pretty soon after I started reading, I got the feeling this book wasn't going to live up to my expectations.

Liz and Wes just didn't feel like Liz and Wes.

I found the book slow to start, and at times I got bored.

And while there were some moments that were good, and the introduction of some new characters who were decent.
There were also moments that made me full body cringe.

The ending felt rushed, leaving the pacing of the entire book just off for me.

Overall, I found myself thinking that Better Than The Movies just didn't need a sequel. Or if the series was going to continue, then personally I would have preferred a companion novel about a different character. Maybe following Sarah.

As it stands, Nothing Like The Movies just didn't work for me in the same way as the first book did.

I'll definitely still pick up Lynn Painters YA work in future. But this one was a miss for me.

I was so excited to read this as I absolutely loved Better Than The Movies but, unfortunately, it just didn't live up to the first one for me and I'm not sure it was really necessary. Better Than The Movies just ended so well!

Wes and Liz have broken up, and this book centres on Wes trying to win Liz back. We gradually find out about why they've broken up throughout the book, but the information felt a bit disjointed with how it was revealed. I think it could have benefited from a dual timeline which would have helped us to understand why everything happened.

While I enjoyed reading about Wes trying to win Liz back, I just really wanted the two of them to have a serious conversation about everything. It felt like they never really addressed Liz' feelings surrounding the breakup and the possibility of getting back together. His attempts to get her back though were very cute!

I did, however, enjoy seeing how Wes and Liz had developed as characters since the end of Better Than The Movies! I just wish I could have enjoyed the actual storyline more.

This title is apt because this was nothing like the good ol' rom-coms of old.

Firstly, Wes breaks up with Liz and comes back into her life trying to charm her as if nothing happened. No contrition, no grovelling - it was weird. Where was the second chance in all this?

Liz is an immature character who refused to have a proper conversation. By the end of the book, they still hadn't properly spoken about their past and how it changed them.

The part where they do get back together is a complete cop-out and not romantic in the slightest. Give me the hard hitting conversations!

Liz and Wes are no longer high school students, thus the tension in this book is also quite intense. I also believe they have matured, as evidenced by how they handle challenges and heal from their different tragedies. What I enjoy the most are the film quotes in each chapter, and Lynn Painter never fails to weave song lyrics into Liz and Wes' exchanges, which make my heart giddy and frequently make me giggle.

In the two years that has passed since Liz and Wes were last together they have both started to shoulder their way into adulthood. Wes has had to take on huge responsibilities within his family whilst Liz has found her feet at university, discovered her passions in life and can see future-Liz and her career path. Can they re-start their relationship despite how much life’s challenges have changed them?
Normally, if I am reading a sequel I will have read the first book but as I haven’t this time, I wasn’t invested in Wes and Liz’s high school romance and had no point of comparison between the two books. However, I was still able to enjoy Nothing Like the Movies as a standalone book.
I liked the movie and music references which placed this book firmly in the romantic comedy genre. I loved the cast of friends who were so supportive to both Wes and Liz whilst also being interesting characters themselves. The idea that you can re-invent yourself at university is spot on.
This is a great cosy YA romcom.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I didn’t think this series needed a continuation but honestly I loved the way this was done. It was definitely different vibes. I really enjoyed seeing the characters affected by life and really grow and change.
There was so many emotions in this book and I felt like all the grief was represented really well.
The characters still had their original personalities but only now they were more mature and facing more difficulties in their lives and of course that showed.
I also could not put this book down I absolutely ate it up.
I love Wes and Liz but also the side characters (new and old) plus getting more in depth with Wes’ family was also nice to see.
Loved that it was finally dual pov!!
The only thing I would’ve wanted would have been a bit more of them being happy together.

Painter is back and better than ever (at least that's what I thought in the first half of this book).

Regardless of my final thoughts, initially I was really excited and impressed with how it started straight out the gate. I enjoyed where the story picked up from and it felt really refreshing for a sequel to not begin the story with Wes and Liz being head over heels in love. The depiction of college life felt so authentic and real, this was all thanks to Painter's amazing tone and specificity throughout. The quotes at the beginning of the chapter was a nice touch to keep it connected to the first book and the world of rom coms.

It's impossible to not find Wes charming. In fact I dare you not to find this caring, romantic and wholesome golden retriever of a character charming at all. Clark's character also stood out to me, he is the perfect sidekick and is so cool and funny. I liked that he was almost the angel on Liz's shoulder but also reluctantly participated in some of her funny plans.

This book is also so effortlessly witty ('God bless the woman who'd designed baseball pants. And yes - it had to be a woman'). Some of the phrasing was really wonderfully done too ('question mark of a person'). However there were sentences that felt like kind of clunky and like they could be phrased better ('...thinking about his girlfriend 24.95 hours a day'.; 'I wanted to make her soften more than I wanted to breathe') Also the flashback to the NYE break up felt messy structure wise, it isn't a flashback with a proper timespan it is more written as a thought flashback which meant when we go back to present day, its still the same chapter which felt a bit confusing and foggy to read.

Wes and Liz's first run in after years felt unrealistic. Liz behaves like a fangirl almost but this felt like an odd reaction to have to someone who literally broke your heart and dumped you. It just felt like the intention of it being written as a romantic 'omg its him' moment weren't quite aligned with the reality of the context in which they broke up in. I'd have imagined Liz to be at least a bit annoyed rather than constantly swooning over him. I also felt like the weakest plot point was revolving around the breakup. Wes lies to Liz about something that feels unrealistic to lie about and when its revealed that he is in fact lying the stakes just drop and it doesn't feel like there's any obstacles to actually overcome for these two. Also the kiss scene was a little cringey for my taste and felt kind of odd as Liz seems unsure throughout that scene. Because the kiss felt a little one sided, and we don't get Liz's POV between the kiss and date it kind of built up this feeling that Liz just wasn't that into Wes which dampened the spark a bit. Saying that, I did enjoy the unconventional date they had when it was obvious later that they were on the same page.

The initial pacing and momentum of the book felt good but it lost its momentum in the middle for me personally. Eventhough Wes' backstory was tragic and really sad, I didn't feel particularly connected or moved by it and this aspect of the book didn't cut through as much as other elements like the romance and chemistry did for me.

Overall, a decent romance read. But compared to 'Better than the movies' I didn't get the same butterflies and actually spent some of the time reading this feeling confused which is a beige flag when reading romance.

I absolutely adored this book! I’ll never get enough of Wes and Liz. Lynn Painter brought these beloved characters back in such a fresh and emotional way. Their new journey made me laugh and cry—I felt all the feels!

Liz has changed so much from the first book, and while I missed her lightheartedness, I loved seeing her grow. Wes? My heart broke for him. His growth and determination were inspiring, and the love between them was just as intense and beautiful as ever. The tension, the pining, the yearning—it all had me hooked!

The side characters were also amazing—Clark was hilarious, and I’m begging for a book about him and Sarah. The cameos from other characters were a delightful surprise too! The ending had me on the edge of my seat, but it was the perfect way to wrap up their story.

I’m still emotionally recovering from this book, and I’ll never get over these characters!

I wasn’t sure what to expect with a sequel to Better Than the Movies. But in true Lynn Painter fashion, it was pure escapism and I couldn’t put it down. She truly is a master of the rom-com genre.

We find Wes and Liz in different paths of life when the book begins, after breaking up two years prior. Wes is back at UCLA as a first year student, while Liz is in her third year.

We find a lot of information about the split sporadically at the same time some of the characters make the discoveries, especially as there’s a lack of communication throughout.

I liked how the author portrayed the grief Wes felt following his dad’s death and the glimpses we get of his new family life. His bond with his sister was nice to read about and her quirky nature shone through the pages.

It felt realistic how Liz struggled to move on from how things ended with Wes and be friendly towards him, even once she starts to understand more about their past. I liked how she had become a tougher person and a lot more independent.

One plot point that truly stood out was how much the characters had grown individually during the split. I liked seeing Liz’s school life and the successes she was having behind the camera.

The university setting was great as well. We got to meet lots of new characters that were good for the story. Clark in particular was probably a favourite due to the antics he adds. Wes’ teammates also added a lot of humour with their silly jokes and how they teased Wes.

There’s a lot of movie and music references throughout which make the book unique and in a way, it comes to life like a movie.

Nothing Like the Movies should not be missed. It’s a lighthearted sequel with a lot of depth.

“But just know that no matter what you decide, and no matter what happens, I will feel this way about you for the rest of my life.”

Wes & Liz will forever be my favorites and I feel like I'll never get enough of them. Liz was more mature in this book but it was sad to see her be so volatile because it was so out of character for her. Wes was also very intent on baseball and I liked that his friends were so supportive. Wes & Liz were always meant to be and it was heartbreaking to see them separate for a while. But in between all this, both Wes & Liz's characters were butchered. Wes became kind of manipulative and a liar and Liz was so unromantic which was unlike herself. Still, there were so many moments of them together which I loved and I was rooting for them to find their way back to each other. Overall, while the book was enjoyable, I just couldn't get over the breakup part. I missed the old version of both Wes & Liz's characters so much. The story was complex but I absolutely loved the way Wes tried to get Liz back and the angst was also great to read. The tone of this book was quite serious but Wes & Liz always made everything feel better! So, my rating for this one would be 3.75 stars.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

as a fan of the first book, i was super happy to receive this arc!

liz and wes are back again, although this one definitely starts more angsty than the first!

aged up and in college, we get to follow the beloved characters from the first book find their way back together!

lynn painter is great at writing love stories with heart at their core and these loveable characters keep you rooting for them throughout.

i don’t think i am the target audience however, but these two books definitely would have been favourites of mine as a teenager!

definitely recommend for ya romance fans!!

𝟯｡𝟱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 ੈ✩‧₊˚

Did I enjoy this book as much as I ADORED Better Than The Movies? Not by a mile.
Did I still eat it up? Kinda, a bit, yeah!

“𝗜𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁｡”
“𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗻 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗕𝘂𝘅𝗯𝗮𝘂𝗺｡”

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.

Where do I even start? Firstly, the fact the author had to tamper with Liz and Wes’s relationship, to create this sequel was a bit PANTS, not gonna lie and it took a while for me to get on board with the direction the book was going in the beginning. I have such mixed emotions with this one. BTTM ended perfectly, and it’s almost like trauma was created, just so we could get a second book. You may want to check triggers with this one.

The reason the fandom wanted a sequel was because we wanted MORE LizWes. I feel like the author had the perfect opportunity here to give us maybe a dual timeline situation where we could SEE the downfall, rather than be told what went down, and equally get some happy flashbacks in there too. What we got delivered however was 90% of build up to a very underwhelming reunion of two loves that should have never been messed with.

This book was a lot deeper, we finally get Wes’s POV which I just loved, but oh this boy has been through it in the two years he’s been away from Liz. His story in this one is so very complex as we delve in to his backstory, but there is a lot of miscommunication and deceit that surrounds his story too which was a bit frustrating to read at times. It’s like barriers were out in place for the purpose of stringing out the tension, but it wasn’t entirely executed as well as it could have been for me.

Wes is on mission “get Buxbaum” back, but this part of the plot didn’t really kick off until the last 30% or so - and this was the part I ate up the most. Like, I was GUSHING. I mean it’s Wes, this boy just DOES ROMANCE - and lord he had me swooning all over again. Overall I really did enjoy the story, typical sports romance vibes.

I loved the movie and music references in the first book, but NLTM seemed to take what was good, run with it, then over do it. I’m so done with Taylor Swift references in books at this point.

Side note, I’m kind of shipping an interconnected standalone where we get a bit of Clark and Sarah because, eesh, the flanter between them was real?! Or was I the only one that got that?

Overall, this was OK. Listen, the book wasn’t bad, but as a die hard LizWes fan, I wanted more for them. Kinda wish I had stayed in my BTTM bubble in some ways.

I loved this book! Anything by Lynn Painter is a win for me. Such easy reads 🖤
The concept and writing style makes the book flow so effortlessly. I do think I preferred Better Than the Movies over this one. But still an amazing book!

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

Nothing like the movies - lynn painter
Review-
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would give this book all the stars in the world if I could so just know I actually rate this more than 5 stars! I was so unbelievably honoured to receive this arc as I absolutely love Lynn painters books every single one of them so this was a dream come true for me🥺.

Wes and liz have my whole and complete heart and I was so happy to read another book with them in they are the literal best main characters ever, I loved the changes to each of them and seeing them grown as people finally able to put the past behind them and be the most beautiful couple again, tears was definitely shed while reading happy and sad ones both of them deserve the absolute world! Reading about Wes and the things he went through was raw and emotional and hit very close to home for me so it added a level of understanding to this beautiful story for me too.

All in all I absolutely LOVED this book and I’m actually so sad it’s over and now I don’t know what to do with myself gonna miss my silly little love lovers 🥲💕

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

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆ ☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆ ☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆ ☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

I really enjoyed this novel. I have read other books by the author and Nothing Like The Movies certainly didn't disappoint. The story was easy to follow, had good pacing and a great cast of characters. Overall a brilliant novel that I would recommend to other readers.
🩵 Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.