Review: Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

*We received this book in exchange for an honest review.* 

Liz Buxbaum is obsessed with romantic comedies. She used to watch them with her mom and, after her mom’s death, uses them as a way to feel close to her. When her childhood crush, Michael, moves back to town, she thinks this is her shot at a happily ever after— and a prom date— straight from a rom-com. Except Michael still views her as the odd-ball Little Liz from elementary school. She is strictly in the friend zone. 

Liz needs an “in” to get Michael to notice her. Enter her annoyingly attractive (and evil) next door neighbor, Wes Bennett, who is suddenly BFFs with Michael. In exchange for forfeiting her rights to the prime parking spot in their neighborhood, Liz and Wes make an agreement: he will pretend to be interested in her to up Liz’s cool factor. But as they spend more time plotting, the more Liz realizes she actually more-than-tolerates Wes—she likes him. He may even be the happily ever after she was always looking for. 

OMG! Better Than the Movies book was fantastic— one of the best books we’ve read this year. Claire would put it up there with Glimpsed as one of her favorite rom-coms. Ever. 

The book is pitched for fans of Jenny Han and Kasie West, both of which we love. As self-proclaimed rom-com enthusiasts, we needed this book in our lives. Thankfully it did not disappoint! 

Our favorite part of this book was Wes. He was charming, funny, and more than the stereotypical enemies-to-lovers love interest. He was actually super attentive, thoughtful and made Liz feel great about herself when others did not appreciate her authenticity. Their chemistry was amazing and left us swooning, especially the parts involving their fake dates. Talk about  chemistry. 

We loved Liz for her humor and unique sense of self. Her one liners were witty AF and she was COOL— we don’t care how many people said she wasn’t. Sure, her interests were a bit whacky, but she had heart. She was also her best self when with Wes and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing them go from neighbors-who-hate-each-other to something more. She could also be herself with Wes and around Michael, she put up a façade.

The side characters in the book, especially Helena, Liz’s stepmom, had great personalities. Unlike most rom-com’s where they usually would fall at the wayside, we enjoyed the scenes with her best friend Joss and Wes’s friends Adam and Noah. 

This book had some LOL worthy scenes— from the unfortunate party incident to the basketball blunder. But it also is super sweet and captures the adorable moments all rom-com enthusiasts crave from books/movies/tv shows. Get ready for Liz to make you laugh with all her antics!

The ending was perfection and we wouldn’t have changed a thing. Overall, we think it’s clear to say this book was stellar and that you guys should pick it up on May 4! We can’t wait to read Painter’s next book.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️