Lynn Painter

Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbor would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome's severed head in her little homemade neighborhood book exchange.

Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It's Liz's senior year, a time meant to be rife with milestones perfect for any big screen, and she needs Wes's help. See, Liz's forever crush, Michael, has just moved back to town, and—horribly, annoyingly—he's hitting it off with Wes. Meaning that if Liz wants Michael to finally notice her, and hopefully be her prom date, she needs Wes. He's her in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz her magical prom moment, she's shocked to discover that she actually likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own perception of what Happily Ever After should really look like.

Better Than the Movies #1

Better Than the Movies

Angelica Garcia

I fell in love with teasing you in the second grade, when I first discovered that I could turn your cheeks pink with just a word. Then I fell in love with you.

jean

Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.

Do you really want to stick with over-romanticized ideas when you can have an awesome real thing?

I want the possibility of something more. So … why not you? Why not us?

The more I think about it, the more I don’t want to settle. I want the possibility of more, even if it doesn’t work out.

Wanting something but being unsure if you’re able to have it? Or if it’s safe to have?

Life pressed forward with a burning velocity that left all of the beautifully-pressed details quickly forgotten.

Why did his take on most things — even when he was mocking — make me laugh?

Just putting it into the universe could make it true, right?

alara

“Trust me when l tell you that sometimes the person with the most 'magical night possibility' is the last person you'd expect. Sometimes there can be someone you've known forever, yet never really noticed."

korfai 

“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.”

mohamed

Alessia (Taylor's version) 

He started laughing. Hard. I raised my eyes to his face, and I couldn't stop myself from joining, because he had one of those laughs. Happy and mischievous and full-on little boy; it was contagious. 

donits ~inactive

“I fell in love with teasing you in the second grade, when I first discovered that I could turn your cheeks pink with just a word. Then I fell in love with you.”

“Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”

please🙏🥺 dOnt👎🙌 evEr bEcoMe a 😥strAngEr😔😔 

I really had fallen hard for him, hadn’t I? I stared at them, the picture-perfect couple, as Taylor Swift made my soul ache.

wes⁉️⁉️ wut iz diz behaviour💔💔

He lifted his hands, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly. And then he dropped his right arm across Alex’s shoulders and gave me a thumbs-up.

Had I really just sent Wes Bennett a motherloving prom dress selfie? Holy shiiii—

“Besides, what’s more fun than a story that starts with a fake relationship?”

“You make aging sound incredible. I want that life now.”

LIGHT READ !!! a breather to me tbh. i saw myself in liz in the sense that I TOO was a weird ass kid. but i cringed SO MUCH when liz was trying to talk to wes after prom, my girl really took helena’s advice and went big 😭 but i get it. that was the point of the whole scene. LMAOOOO this book made me so giddy :3

issa

Yega

“life was unpredictable. no matter how much planning you did, and no matter how safe you played it, some intangible was always going to rear its head and shake things up.”

“sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”

this book is really a heaven for romcom enthu. i love the way this book always referring to the romcom movies and it feels closer cause i've watched most of the movies that mentioned. <3 for the plot, it's all cliché, like typically romcom book made. enemies to lovers trope. he-fell-first-but-she-didn't-realize-it-and-yet-by-the-time-she's-the-one-who-fell-harder-but-they-eventually-love-each-other-so kind of trope. but, what makes it so good is the way it just flows naturally, and the reader didn't need to think that much, but still manage to think what happened next. the more you flipped pages, the more you'll think how can liz and wes be ended up together. the book is not only focusing on romance, but also it talks about how liz dealing with grief. i personally love the way she finally opens her heart to helena and i love the way helena as a stepmom is never really put herself as a new mom to liz, but she just want to make sure that she feels loved. i really love their bond to be honest. and also, it's also embracing about how complicated friendship was, when we screwed up friendship but somehow still manage to be best friends cause simply we just understand each other. liz and joss have that and i'd love to read their dialogues. dramatic but it really could be happened in real life. and wes. oh, god. he just makes me think that a good perfect boyfriend does exist in fiction. how can he be so good to be true? and he's yearning. HE'S YEARNING and i love the way he yearns for his love to liz. i can't wait to read the sequel when i'm in the mood (please excuse my moody ass when it comes to reading books lol) cause the ending is giving so much a feeling like bridget jones's diary, i might say. cause it's not always about happy ending, it's giving a hint of plot twist. and i love that. this book is such a good book if you want to read romcom that is light and could make you laugh and giggle as if you're in love. ♡

love, kinanti

“life was unpredictable. no matter how much planning you did, and no matter how safe you played it, some intangible was always going to rear its head and shake things up.”

“sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”

 

"she's not you."

"what?"

"she. isn't. you."

 

this book is really a heaven for romcom enthu. i love the way this book always referring to the romcom movies and it feels closer cause i've watched most of the movies that mentioned. <3 for the plot, it's all cliché, like typically romcom book made. enemies to lovers trope. he-fell-first-but-she-didn't-realize-it-and-yet-by-the-time-she's-the-one-who-fell-harder-but-they-eventually-love-each-other-so kind of trope. but, what makes it so good is the way it just flows naturally, and the reader didn't need to think that much, but still manage to think what happened next. the more you flipped pages, the more you'll think how can liz and wes be ended up together. the book is not only focusing on romance, but also it talks about how liz dealing with grief. i personally love the way she finally opens her heart to helena and i love the way helena as a stepmom is never really put herself as a new mom to liz, but she just want to make sure that she feels loved. i really love their bond to be honest. and also, it's also embracing about how complicated friendship was, when we screwed up friendship but somehow still manage to be best friends cause simply we just understand each other. liz and joss have that and i'd love to read their dialogues. dramatic but it really could be happened in real life. and wes. oh, god. he just makes me think that a good perfect boyfriend does exist in fiction. how can he be so good to be true? and he's yearning. HE'S YEARNING and i love the way he yearns for his love to liz. i can't wait to read the sequel when i'm in the mood (please excuse my moody ass when it comes to reading books lol) cause the ending is giving so much a feeling like bridget jones's diary, i might say. cause it's not always about happy ending, it's giving a hint of plot twist. and i love that. this book is such a good book if you want to read romcom that is light and could make you laugh and giggle as if you're in love. ♡

liz can be a handful and she stressed me a LOT but at the same time i get her. it really captured the point of her being a weird kid. i love that it wasn’t just focused on romance but also on her other relationships. very cute book—i giggled, cried, got secondhand embarrassment. 

friends to lovers trope 🔛🔝 (ik they’re kinda enemies to lovers but they basically became friends with the way they were comfortable w each other :p) 

jiya ˙ᵕ˙

liz can be a handful and she stressed me a LOT but at the same time i get her. it really captured the point of her being a weird kid. i love that it wasn’t just focused on romance but also on her other relationships. very cute book—i giggled, cried, got secondhand embarrassment. 

friends to lovers trope 🔛🔝 (ik they’re kinda enemies to lovers but they basically became friends with the way they were comfortable w each other :p) 

WES BENNETT THE MAN YOU ARE. the prom scenes god this book was so cute but the amount of references sent me climbing walls.

i DEVOURED this book!!! although i do regret that i finished this so quickly because i miss them already :') 

i love everything about this book– and their banters are everything! may all the love lovers (like me) find their own wes bennett 🤗

vera ౨ৎ

i DEVOURED this book!!! although i do regret that i finished this so quickly because i miss them already :') 

i love everything about this book– and their banters are everything! may all the love lovers (like me) find their own wes bennett 🤗



Michael, to whom Liz Buxbaum gave her heart long ago, has returned but to get his attention and, perhaps, a prom date she must scheme with her nemesis Wes, her next-door neighbor.

overall story is very cute and the story is short. wes was such a green flag but liz was kind of unbearable at the start but she started to grow on me. in conclusion pretty good read but dont expect too much from it since it does play with the typical cliches and usual stories available in the market. while its the same basic formula, i really enjoyed it more than i expected. 

Lane Loyola

The main character annoyed me so much though

Ella Williams

A cute read!

The main character annoyed me so much though

The cutest book i have read in awhile 🤌🏻

Shaza. A

This was the best book I have read in a really, really, really long time! <3 I LOVED LIZZZZZZZZZ! And also like Wes step on me-! <3333333

Ari ⭐

OH. MY. GOD. 
This was the best book I have read in a really, really, really long time! <3 I LOVED LIZZZZZZZZZ! And also like Wes step on me-! <3333333

i like this book love how they set it up don’t want to spoil it to much but it is a very realistic book on what could happen in real life

Emma 

Okay I won’t lie I dnfed this book but I wanted to rate it 😛 I genuinely did like the book AT ONE POINT. I did like the characters and their relationships and ngl it did have me giggling and kicking my feet but then LIZ STARTED PISSING ME TF OFF and yes I know that was the point but at one point I genuinely couldn’t take it anymore. Also I feel like a lot of it was way too corny for me like I would read parts and I would be like “Oh! This isn’t for me…” By the end my ass was yawning like every half a page I WAS LITERALLY LIKE 30 PAGES AWAY FROM FINISHING AND I JUST COULDN’T DO IT. I know everyone glazes this book but it’s just not for me 😔

mikki ☆

This is so “When Harry met Sally” vibe and when they mentioned the movie when they were eating hamburgers at a diner. WOAH. They were breaking the fourth wall right there.

This was not good but I still enjoyed reading it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tiff Brunson

this was not better than the movies but it was still cute! its a ya book so theres some cringey dialogue and humor, but its fine and to be expected in a ya book.

this just reminded me of like a hallmark rom movie, which is fun and cute and i enjoy them from time to time. but its nothing amazing and ill probably forget about it in a few months. 

alice l

this was not better than the movies but it was still cute! its a ya book so theres some cringey dialogue and humor, but its fine and to be expected in a ya book.

this just reminded me of like a hallmark rom movie, which is fun and cute and i enjoy them from time to time. but its nothing amazing and ill probably forget about it in a few months. 

This was my first ever romance book and I'm glad I started with this one. Wesley and LIz were such a good couple but I hate Liz for being a bit stupid and going for Micheal but then she later realized that she loved Wes instead. I also disliked Wes for bringing Alex to his house and then I was so confused about what happened at the time between the two. I would absolutely want to read more of Wes and Lz's relantionship.

Ashley Lively

Jenna-Lee Gordon

my first YA romcom book in YEARS and a quarter thru the story i got reminded of why i avoid stories like this. (but i am planning to read the sequel 🫣) 

lola tung will forever be liz buxbaum in my eyes don't @ me

tink 😵‍💫⭐

this book was phenomenal and just the perfect romance book for any reader.

peyton 

the young adult setup is giving me so highschool by taylor swift. got into this book due to the amount of videos from booktok, and i wud have to say that i'm not disappointed. 

altho it roamed around romcoms and all that, i still think that it was kinda more on the realistic side—with all their feelings and decisions. younger me would probably think "???" with all the encounters, but i guess, i now understand everything. 

liz's grief was too heavy to handle, ik it's not easy. it affected her relationship w the people around her, but i hav to say that the development in the end was so nice. it showed how it wasn't really easy even if you really really wanted to reconcile w them, but with all the courage she had, she still did it. i'm so proud of her. >< little liz is not so little anymore. 

and of course wes bennett, the man you are. his "greenest green flag" title from me was challenged w the ending chapters, but his reasons justified that. so, he's still the best man ever !! i love everything about him. and the way liz narrates how his smile looks like, i'm now vv much curious to see HOW. 

for now, i'd be our little liz and hope 4 the best in my real life—wes bennett from somewhere in this planet. 

++ some bias take because i'm also a music and a romcom girlie. liz and i, we're both just girls. ✧⁠*⁠。

p.s. i'm not so ready for nltm yet ,, pls spare me some heartache. 

i'm really happy that nothing better than u was written, there's nothing more i love than having a glimpse of wes' pov. that guy is inlove, like really REALLY in love. 

kshi

vv cutesy, very demure 🪼

the young adult setup is giving me so highschool by taylor swift. got into this book due to the amount of videos from booktok, and i wud have to say that i'm not disappointed. 

altho it roamed around romcoms and all that, i still think that it was kinda more on the realistic side—with all their feelings and decisions. younger me would probably think "???" with all the encounters, but i guess, i now understand everything. 

liz's grief was too heavy to handle, ik it's not easy. it affected her relationship w the people around her, but i hav to say that the development in the end was so nice. it showed how it wasn't really easy even if you really really wanted to reconcile w them, but with all the courage she had, she still did it. i'm so proud of her. >< little liz is not so little anymore. 

and of course wes bennett, the man you are. his "greenest green flag" title from me was challenged w the ending chapters, but his reasons justified that. so, he's still the best man ever !! i love everything about him. and the way liz narrates how his smile looks like, i'm now vv much curious to see HOW. 

for now, i'd be our little liz and hope 4 the best in my real life—wes bennett from somewhere in this planet. 

++ some bias take because i'm also a music and a romcom girlie. liz and i, we're both just girls. ✧⁠*⁠。

p.s. i'm not so ready for nltm yet ,, pls spare me some heartache. 

—

i'm really happy that nothing better than u was written, there's nothing more i love than having a glimpse of wes' pov. that guy is inlove, like really REALLY in love. 

Friends to lovers trope I loved this book enjoyed it so much. She asks her neighbour to help her get a guy who she likes but eventually likes the neighbours Wes and yeah it was adorable. 

Better Than the Movies Better Than the Movies #1

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