still have beef with annie not gonna lie

Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey is the sequel / companion piece to Waiting for Tom Hanks (2019). Chloe, best friend to now married screenwriter, Annie, is trying to live her life in the aftermath of being the inspiration for the rom-com Annie wrote. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

** spoiler alert ** Nick Velez = Nick Miller from New Girl. That's it. That's the review. No, I'll actually write one. BUT can we just talk about the fact that Nick is exactly like Nick Miller but without being funny... like in a good way I guess. This book was an eh for me. I mean this is supposed to me like a coworkers to lovers thing ya know, I was expecting a slow burn romance, but they kissed on PAGE 42!! I wasn't even 100 pages in!! Not even 50!! And I don't knowwww the characters just bothered me so muchhhhhh. Chloe: she was so stubborn it hurt me. She was like one of those jokes about your mom when she doesn't ask you to help her clean or whatever but then she's pissed at you when you don't help EVEN THOUGH SHE NEVER ASKED. Oh but when people do offer to help, like Annie or Nick, Chloe is too stubborn to except their help. She was in this continuous cycle of being depressed about her stressful life, then being to stubborn to except her friends' help, and then being pissed off at everyone for having to do it all by herself. ALSO she completely took advantage of Nick. I was so glad that Nick had the basic self respect to end things between them in the middle there because BOY OH BOY Chloe was using him as her personal therapist and nothing more. Nick: okay, he was actually fine. I liked him. He was alright. Milo: HATED HIM. Rude, inconsiderate brother. Nope nope nope. If I was Chloe I would have dropped his sorry butt off back at his evicted apartment in Ohio. Annie: WHAT THE HECK!! She writes an entire movie based on Chloe's life involving her love life with HER BOSS and then expects Chloe to be fine with it. She never gives Chloe a chance to agree to this and then when Chloe finally says something, Annie is saying it's Chloe's fault for never saying anything... NO, that's not how that works. All I'm saying is that Annie was very much in the wrong when it came to her and Chloe's fight about the movie. Overall, this book was honestly okay. I know I just went on a huge rant about how the characters sucked but that was just annoying little things about them and it didn't really affect the book that much. OH and this book had the one bed trope too... so there's that.

I really and truly enjoyed reading this book. The thing I like the most about the Waiting for Tom Hanks novels is that they're able to kind of poke fun at themselves. Everyone who reads romance knows the tropes and I feel like Kerry Winfrey really leans into it in a way that I find so charming. Bonus points because, as someone who grew up in central Ohio, I obviously loved seeing some of my favorite places be the setting where these stories take place.

This book was a fun and cute rom com style.

It's a fine rom com novel. Nothing super noteworthy, but entertaining.

I can admit when I am at fault. I picked this up from the library and didn't realize this was a companion novel to Waiting for Tom Hanks, so I think maybe that coloured my reading experience. Still, it's not like this is a sequel, just has some major cameos from the first book, but probably would have found this more fun if I'd read Annie and Drew's story first. As it stands, this was okay. It was fine. It was fun. It was nothing special. The plot felt a bit cyclical - you're so hot! no this is a mistake! ugh my life is so hard! it's not a mistake, let's make out! oh shit, this was a HUGE mistake! wait, I think I love you! - and I didn't find the characters particularly likeable. Chloe was annoying. She was a good MC at first; witty, funny, strong... but when everything started going down romance wise, I found her pretty insufferable. I was glad when Nick (view spoiler)[ finally put his foot down and wouldn't let her take advantage of his feelings for her when it was convenient (hide spoiler)], and obviously I sympathized with what she was going through in her family, but her whole never asking for help thing dragged on past the point of belief. And Nick. Usually I love the male love interests, and maybe I'm missing some important background character info on him from book 1, but he didn't feel very distinct. It almost felt like he had no personality. Why is he quiet and brooding? Grumpy but soft? We saw moments of him at his wits end with Chloe, but ultimately, his feelings for her trumped everything and we didn't see much of who Nick was outside of this. IDK. This review might be harsh because it's been a while since I've been really wowed by a romance book. And I LOVE romance.

less cheesy, this book is just sweet and it addresses some problems from the first book of the series.

Solid 4 stars. Cute, romantic, and I love the characters.

*4.5 Despite all the hardships in her life, Chloe Sanderson is an eternal optimist. She faces all obstacles thrown her way-- her father's Alzheimer's, finishing her college degree, helping plan her best friend Annie's wedding-- with a smile on her face and baked goods in her hand. She has no time for a relationship, and especially no time for Annie's upcoming rom-com movie inspired by Chloe and her boss, the grumpy (yet oh so handsome) Nick Velez. As the movie premiere looms closer, Chloe finds herself unable to stop thinking about Nick and, how unlike everyone else in her life, he's never let her down. Chloe's convinced a happily ever after could never happen in real life... but what if she's wrong? I liked Waiting for Tom Hanks, but I loved this one. I really enjoyed Chloe and admired her outlook on life, and how she always tried to remain positive when everything was falling to crap. I will say, she did annoy me at times when she refused to let anyone help her, but that was my only small gripe. She and Nick have such a fun flirty banter which I loved. And Nick! I have such a soft spot for guys who have that grumpy-old-man-with-a-heart-of-gold thing, so I was all for him from the very start. He was so caring and kind towards Chloe and it was so sweet. If you're a fan of those will-they-won't-they type relationship tropes, I definitely recommend.

Very cute, and just as good as the first book in this installment! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that, I don’t think there was enough time spent establishing why Chloe and Nick even like each other, other than the fact that they both want to bang. But I think once you get past that part of the plot, into the will-they-won’t-they parts, their connection is realistic and sweet!

Real-world problems in a chick-lit book? Yes please! It isn’t often that I grab a seemingly light and fluffy read that actually has a lot of underlying real-world problems. Most of the time I suspend disbelief and just take the journey with the characters but Not Like the Movies makes you live in it. We have a fairly flawed main character in Chloe and I don’t want to make that out to be a bad thing. It’s a great thing! It makes her more real. She has commitment issues, doesn’t realize that she uses people, has family drama surrounding her mother leaving, her father dealing with Alzheimer’s, her brother being kind of a deadbeat… but through it all, she still tries to be a ray of sunshine for others when she can. Chloe has layers and it’s wonderful to see. At times she can read as a bit annoying to me though and I kind of want to hit her upside the head but that’s way better than having a Mary Sue. I also need to talk a bit about our love interest, Nick. And, can I just say, Nick is a saint! The way he puts up with Chloe and is always there for her just proves how much he cares. The times when I appreciated his character the most is when he gives her doses of tough love and kind of puts her in her place. While Chloe has had to grow up relatively quickly in her childhood, she still doesn’t fully act like an adult and I think Nick is the perfect balance to get her on track. The underlying romance vibe that Annie observed in Waiting for Tom Hanks is well-established in Not Like the Movies which is a great tie-in for both stories. Not to mention further development of the town and it’s people further roots us in their lives and continues to paint the overall picture. We also still get interactions with Annie in a very natural way where she doesn’t feel like she is forced into the story and all of these make sense while still building out more of Chloe’s life away from Annie. We also get to see the darker sides of Chloe’s life in juxtaposition to the brightness she tries to put off. Her interactions with her dad in particular carried some great emotional weight. Not Like the Movies was a quick read that allowed me back into the lives of these characters in an interesting setting with lots of movement and development. A downside I had however was the ending felt rushed and unexplained. I know we don’t have to know everything about these characters but Chloe announces a character trait so off-the-cuff and presumptuous at the end that I feel like it should have been explored as part of the actual plot. But if you’re interested in Chloe and Nick’s story, it is worth the read for sure.

Let it be known: I enjoyed this one EVEN MORE than the first, and I loved the first!Not Like the Movies is a charming and really, really delightful romantic comedy with just the right amount of humor and self-awareness to keep you smiling the entire time. The main characters were precious , thoughtful and dynamic and I wish I could be friends with every single one of them. If you haven’t already, add this to your TBR. You’ll love it! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkeley for approving me for this adorable book!