Okayyyyy, let’s go write a bad review on one of the most anticipated release of the year🥳! This book had no business being written and that’s my first issue with it. Second of all, I think it should’ve taken place either over the span of a few years, maybe having them interact in college, then as adults in the industry and then rekindle their romance. It felt like no time had passed and yet Wes, for some reason, seemed to be unable to move on. I would rather have seen them trying to move on but unable to and finally giving in after years of trying. My biggest issue with this though, was Wes. The man was being so pushy when it came to Liz, like in your eyes, she’s dating someone else, or has made it clear she doesn’t like or want you, leave her alone. He was so determined to get her back, it really wasn’t even cute, just very creepy and annoying. He just took her for granted and never tried to know her, instead he just assumed she hadn’t changed? She told him how that was an issue but nothing was done to showcase the info had registered in his head. The romance itself was extremely rushed since 65% of this novel is just them doing stuff, talking, getting mad at one another and other useless things. They had to get their sh!t together, yes, but it felt disproportionate in terms of page time compared to the actual romance, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAIN PART OF THIS NOVEL BY THE WAY!!! I liked that Liz was less romantic than in Better than the Movies, it made sense after their breakup, being in a totally new environment, but also just becoming an adult, that she would turn out this way. She really was the most adult of the two, when that would have been expected of Wes, given the last two years of his life. Anyway, Clark is baby girl. 1.5 stars

I apologise for calling wes Bennett a little bitch on instagram the other day.

I'm not really sure how I expected this one to play out after the first book, and I loved the way it did. I think if you have an expectation of how this will go, it won't be that.

P.s. I need another one!

‘Nothing Like The Movies’ by Lynn Painter is the sequel to 2021’s ‘Better Than The Movies’ and returns to Liz and Wes as students at UCLA, with Wes tentatively navigating his freshman season as a baseball player… two years later than expected. We find out early in this novel that the HEA as the couple drove off into the sunshine to start higher studies together didn’t last long due to a tragic event that transformed both of their lives and led to Wes withdrawing from school, and their relationship. Heartbroken Liz rebuilt her college experience and moved on, but this book asks whether the love they had for each other can be reignited.

I loved:
- Liz and Wes were still loveable characters, and the dual POV structure really let us get into both of their heads, crucial especially to understanding Wes’s actions
- The movie quotes at the start of each chapter returned, and I LOVED the ‘Gilmore Girls’ references too
- The baseball scenes that gave this a college sports romance vibe
- The way Liz had moved further towards her dream career despite heartbreak
- Multiple scenes made me SOB which shows just how connected and protective I feel of these characters
- The CHEMISTRY between Liz and Wes was as strong as ever!

Overall, this is a winning young adult romance which strikes a great balance of allowing the characters to evolve and grow up while retaining their core values. I’d definitely recommend to any and all fans of the first book (and do think you should read BTTM first before picking this one up). Giving this a warm, nostalgic, cosy 4.5 stars!

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Simon & Schuster UK via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed Better Than The Movies so I was so looking forward to this book, but it was such a disappointment 😭 It was just impossible to get stuck into. It felt like the Wes and Liz were completely different characters compared to the first book. This was a prime example that some books are not meant to have a sequel.

I tried so hard to get back into reading this so many times but I could just not get myself excited to read it. Ended up DNFing after not picking it back up after 3 weeks.

Lynn Painter wrote Better Than The Movies which I believe to be one of the best rom-coms of all time, so when I found out she was publishing a sequel, I was so excited.
The vibe of Nothing Like The Movies is completely different from the first book. There are so many deeper topics which are discussed in this book and the rom-com vibe was not as prominent as it was in the first book.
There were definitely rom-com aspects spread throughout this book and the addition of Wes' Pov was such an amazing decision and one of my favourite parts of this book. I loved seeing how much he loves Liz because we didn't get to read his pov in the first book.
This book was both heartbreaking and fulfilling, and it had me laughing and crying and giggling the whole way through. I loved revisiting Liz and Wes' romance and seeing them moving on to new adventures and having new experiences and finding their way back to each other.
I really did love reading this book and I think if you love Liz and Wes, you will love this book/

Lynn Painter’s Nothing Like the Movies is a delightful and heartfelt sequel that truly does justice to the beloved characters from Better Than the Movies. Picking up two years after Liz and Wes head to UCLA, the story dives into their unexpected breakup after Wes loses his father, and his determined effort to win Liz back.

Having read the first book I don’t know if there needed to be a second… this book in my opinion wasn’t as good as the first book and didn’t give me what I expected from it. It was still a good read but the first book could have been a standalone.

Thankyou NetGalley for the read still

"You showed me colours you know I can't see with anyone else"💕

A second chance for Wes and Liz, with banter, drama and more. I liked the continued story, though it did feel a little dragged out, I enjoyed the cute romcom and nice ending for our fav couple!😊

4.5⭐️ - I was equal parts terrified and excited when I heard about the sequel to Better Than the Movies, mainly because I didn’t want to imagine a world where Liz and Wes weren’t together! So I went into Nothing Like the Movies with extremely high expectations that Liz was going to do their love story justice and this would all make sense by the end.

I honestly loved this so much more than I was expecting! The story picks up two years after Liz and Wes head off to UCLA together, only to break up a few weeks in after Wes unexpectedly loses his Dad. In the present day, Wes is determined to win Liz back over and knows the ‘little Liz’ he fell in love with is all about the grand gestures worthy of the romcoms she dreams of. So much has changed in their time apart, not including Liz’ new roommate who she is rarely seen without and sparking dating rumours to their circle of friends. But one thing remains the same - Wes knows Liz is his endgame and will stop at nothing to win her back.

Spoiler free review - I honestly think this was a second chance romance that beats the stereotype of poor miscommunication! When you find out the backstory to the breakup, be prepared for the rollercoaster of emotions you’re going to go on. Wes has to battle against the changes he’s gone through, along with maybe not knowing the new Liz who has gone through two years at college without him.

This book is full of witty banter, heartwarming moments and all the romcom references you could dream of. But at the core it’s actually really heartfelt and full of pining, which isn’t at all what I was expecting. Wes Bennett remains one of my favourite book boyfriends and I loved being back in this universe.

Nothing Like the Movies is an extremely well done sequel in my eyes and I highly recommend to any fans that can’t get enough Liz and Wes content! I’m very grateful to have been sent a copy by Simon & Schuster UK in exchange for my honest review.

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!

I loved this! I was originally hesitant about this book because I didn't feel like a sequel was necessary but I was very wrong. I actually much preferred this to Better Than The Movies, it felt a lot more real and it was really fun to see how Wes and Liz had matured and grown. I found myself rooting for them even more this time around. I really liked all the new characters and enjoyed the little glimpses we got of the old characters. I really felt for both Wes and Liz throughout this, the story didn't hold back on how they were feeling and how they had been affected and I think it was a really interesting concept for a sequel. If you liked Better Than The Movies, you'll love this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit that i found the first half of this book a bit of a slog. I know it was filling in the details of Wes and Liz’s split and why they were so firmly apart. It also had to catch the reader up with the ways the characters had developed in the two years they were apart. I did find it a bit frustrating.
Halfway through though it does pick up and starts to become the kind of book I suspect most readers will be looking for. The path of true love is still not smooth, but that wouldn’t make an interesting story anyway.

Unfortunately this was not for me. I felt this book didn’t need to be written, I was bored throughout most of it and i felt like the plot never really developed into something that made me want to root for them. I liked the writing style and the characters from the previous book but this one felt unnecessary to me.

Rounded up from 3.5.

This book isn’t perfect by any means, but I still enjoyed reading it. There’s something really special about seeing beloved characters grow and change. Both Wes and Liz have evolved since Better Than The Movies but to me, their development rang true and they were still themselves. While BTTM was very much Liz’s book, this is really Wes’s story (despite being dual POV) and I really enjoyed his perspective and his character arc. The baseball content was unexpectedly interesting, too.

Structurally, something about the first third of the book didn’t really work for me - the story moved back and forth between time periods two years apart but continued to withhold key information from the reader (and one of the protagonists). This would have made sense had both protagonists been in the dark, but it felt off somehow as we got plenty of Wes’s POV but still didn’t find out all the details pertinent to their breakup until nearly halfway through the book. I don’t mind not knowing everything upfront but the way this was written, I sometimes wasn’t sure if I was supposed to know more and had just managed to miss crucial information (I hadn’t, but that didn’t become obvious until later in the book). It was a slightly unsettling experience for this reason.

I am not sure Wes and Liz actually resolved their main issue by the end of the book, which surprised me a bit - but I was very jet lagged when I finished reading, so maybe I just missed it. I’d also expected the deception with Clark to be revealed by the end of the book, which didn’t happen either. Nevertheless, I had a fond tear in my eye when I came to the last page and said goodbye to these two delightful characters, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to revisit them.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Nothing Like the Movies was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024 and it did not disappoint - it was so lovely to be back in the world of Wes and Liz! I think Lynn Painter had a tricky job following up such a well-loved book and while it didn't quite hit the same mark as the first book, it was still really engaging and heartwarming, and it was nice to jump back in a few years later rather than picking up immediately where we left off. I will absolutely be recommending this to anyone who's read the first one!

I love lynn painter and I love this series! This is the perfect fun romance that’s easy to read and super boggle. If you love romantic comedy movies this is the perfect book for you!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

Wow, Lynn painter is fast becoming a new auto-buy author for me! I loved this book even more than book 1. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wes and Liz will be with me for a very long time.

This young adult romance makes you feel all the feelings, I was unsure at the start what could’ve happened to split them up but then it all made sense and Wes Bennet the man that you are, he deserves the world.

I will be thinking about them forever, Lynn’s writing is unmatched and I think she’s done the characters so much justice.

I would happily read about them forever!

I loved Better Than The Movies so much that I was looking forward to this sequel. I’m pleased to report that I enjoyed it! Is it necessary? Probably not. It’s clear that Painter wrote this to satisfy the fans rather than there was something she wanted to achieve through this story, but I love Wes and Liz, soI was happy to see them again. I love the rhythm and tenderness in Painter’s writing. So I don’t mind. I think this is a good sequel, if not as good as Better Than The Movies. And more than anything, I love all the quotes from romcom films! It makes me want to watch all of them again.

Este libro me hizo querer aún más a Wes. Poder leer sus pensamientos y entender por qué hizo cada cosa fue genial.

Aunque me gustó el libro, siento que no era tan necesario. El final del primer libro ya era perfecto, y hasta hubiera sido interesante ver una historia de otra generación. Introducir un problema de la nada me resultó un poco raro, y el personaje de Liz no me convenció tanto esta vez; hubo momentos en los que hasta me molestó un poco.

A pesar de eso, me divertí leyéndolo. Extrañaba a Wes y Liz, y los nuevos personajes me encantaron; ojalá aparezcan en futuros libros. Además, creo que Clark y Sarah tienen algo especial, y espero que Lynn lo aproveche, porque ahí hay potencial.

🎥🎥🎥

This book made me love Wes even more. Being able to read his thoughts and understand why he did everything was awesome.

Even though I enjoyed the book, I feel like it wasn’t really necessary. The ending of the first book was already perfect, and it would’ve been interesting to see a story from another generation. Introducing a problem out of nowhere felt a bit odd to me, and Liz’s character didn’t really win me over this time; there were moments when she even annoyed me a bit.

Despite that, I had fun reading it. I really missed Wes and Liz, and I loved the new characters; I hope they appear in future books. Plus, I think Clark and Sarah have something special, and I hope Lynn takes advantage of that because there’s real potential there.

Two years after everything went wrong, Wes Bennett finally finds his way back to UCLA, and now that his life is back on track, he decides it's time to get Liz back.

As someone who absolutely Better than the Movies, this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect from it, and I was just a bundle of nerves every time I thought about it, and part of me constantly wondered if a sequel was ever even necessary in the first place. Now, this took me completely by surprise, and I really liked it a lot more than I thought.

Both Wes and Liz have grown and changed so much, to a point where they sometimes seem like completely different people, but there's still little things about who they used to be that shine through every now and then, making it clear that, deep down, no matter what, they are still the same people.

All the side characters also were such a great addition, and I loved all of them; I almost kinda wish there was more of them, because their relationship were so fun to follow. The cameos from past characters felt so nostalgic in a way, and it was so good to get a glimpse of "normalcy" in such a heavy situation.

This was a much deeper read than I anticipated, and I need to give Wes Bennett the biggest hug and then put him in bubble wrap for good measure. I truly loved his character in this book, and getting his point of view was truly a win. Also, I felt so incredibly proud of Liz, and it was so interesting to watch her do her thing.

To me, it perfectly encapsulated how sometimes love alone is not enough to keep a relationship alive, and people need to grow and truly understand who they are and what they want. Sometimes I did feel like certain things were a little out of character, but I guess considering what was going on in their lives, that can make sense too.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. Was it necessary? Probably not; at times it did feel like it took away some of my favorite things from the first book, but it still was a good read, for sure. It had me giggling and shedding a few tears every now and then, just like the first one did. I definitely had a great time with it, some parts were more interesting than others and made it impossible to put down, it still is a swoon-worthy Lynn Painter book to its core, and that alone made it worthy it.

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster UK Children's & NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.