Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.
The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.
But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she 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 ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.
***
For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.
Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.
Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.
Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.
In full transparency... this is the best romance ever written. I also have two funny fun facts. The first one was that I prepared a review of Nothing like the movies... when I figured I never reviewed on my platform the masterpiece the first book was. The second fun fact is that I had Better than the movies in my wishlist since it got out because I saw a Tiktok about the Taylor Swift references in the book and I wanted to read it just for that. In the end, I forgot about it, read it, loved the TS references... then saw it in my wishlist. End of the story : I got it in hardcover and I also pre-order Nothing like the movies way too long before the release. But it was worth it. Everything about Wes and Liz is worth it.
You're going to fight me on this, but I'll stay on my ground. I don't care about every other romance, this, this is what true love is. And this is why these books destroyed my soul and made me love love at the same time.
Better than the movies is perfect from L to W. From Liz to Wes. They took my heart and made my fangirl like I never before. Hermione and Ron ? Meh. The Jonas Brother and all Disney Channel girls ? Nope. Katniss and Peeta ? Bella and Edward ? Rhysand and Feyre ? No, no and no. Liz and Wes is all you need, because you're going to shriek with your book in hand, throw your feet in the air, run in your apartment, scream at them, cry for them, love for them.
This series is more than about love, it's about tropes, the so many of them, that are assumed and played with. This book is You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift with the cute neighbors. It's friendship, it's fake dating, it's a love triangle, it's every Taylor Swift song in a book. But I'm here for you, so I listed them for you, non-Swifties that have no idea what I'm talking about, and for the Swifties that didn't read this book, this might give you the push you need to read this book.
It's Paper Rings
Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince
Everything has Change
New Year's Day
it's the damn season
Betty
August
Fearless
Love Story
Enchanted
Lover
End Game
Call it what you want
So it goes
Red
The very first night
Forever and Always
Mine
The Story of us
I wish you would
Wildest Dreams
New Romantics
So High School
and obviously : You belong with me.
Liz and Wes, it's clichés, it's the guy that falls first. It's an enemy to lovers but that weren't really enemies. It's characters that know their life is a cliché, that they aren't in a Hallmark movie. That real life isn't like the movies. But what if. What if some love stories are like, or even better than the movies ? The clichés are mentioned, accepted, put in front with a laughable moment. That's what makes this book absolutely perfect. It's a rom-com book about rom-com with enemies-to-lovers-next-door-neighbor-rival-fake-dating love story that was perfect. Did I say that it was perfect ? It's perfect. I will FIGHT everyone that says it's not. Everyone deserves an opinion... except on Wes and Liz.
I cried, I laugh, I lived their story from the first page to the last one. I didn't care about Michael. I just wanted to see Liz and Wes in his backyard. Seeing him call her Libby. Lib. Liz. Elizabeth. Buxbaum.
It's about teenagers that find their place, their voice. It's about making the right choices.
That's why I have read every novella that includes these two.
And this is also why I was heart broken when I turned the first pages of Nothing like the movies.
When the lyrics of Breathe by Taylor Swift were written black on white.
And I can't breathe without you, but I have to
That song that helped me so much through heartbreak since I was a teenager. Taylor Swift was all over again in this book, but this time, the soundtrack was different.
It was How did it end?
The Manuscript
loml
Castles Crumbling
Haunted
I can do it with a broken heart
Back to December
Come back... be here
Teardrop on my guitar
Champagne Problems
Exile
and Breathe.
I've never cried that much at the beginning of a book, I swear. I knew it, because it's written on the synopsis, but starting the story, the one with your favorite characters, the one you longed to be with again, that are just completely broken, it breaks you. It really does. My heart almost didn't make it through. Was it as good as the first one ? No, but it still has a place in my mind that will never be given to another series. Another couple.
Nothing like the movies, it's the reality check. It's life throwing shit. This book is about right person, wrong time. Liz and Wes grew up and their personality changed from teen to young adults.
Liz is trying to make her place in the music industry with Lilith as a mentor (which was an incredible character. She was such a good mentor and she had a nice motherly vibe) and of course, dealing with her heartbreak, caused by Wes when he dumped her with no really good reason, or so she seems to think. It's even worse when the absolute dumbass makes her think he cheated on her. I screamed at him, but at the same time, I just wanted to take them both in my arms.
Because when you love like Liz loves Wes and Wes loves Liz, ending things, even if you think it's the right thing to do, it can break you and change you. That's what happens to Liz. And during the whole story, learning the truth, knowing how Wes saw her and thought about her to break his own heart so she can have a bright future. That's real love. It's stupid, sad, raging, but deep down, it's true. It's a "our path will cross again if we are meant to be". It's "you showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else". It's "you taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else".
It's Wes and his rage, his culpability, his sacrifices, his love, his grief and his heartbreak. I just wanted to take him in my arms, take his pain away. The scene in his house, when he was having a nightmare... it broke me. I just started crying like he was my own ex, boyfriend, lover, whatever. I just wanted to make him feel loved.
The stages of grief are well shown even if Wes act like an asshole sometimes, but who doesn't in his situation, really ? When you give up everything you love, put your life on pause.
I liked how he wanted to find back his goofy self, but at the same time, he needed to heal some really deep wound.
And that's how Wes and Liz found out life is nothing like the movies.
Was that sequel necessary? No. Was it amazing? Heck yes. It has a full redemption ark, self-growth, self-love, grief, mental health, relationship issue and true love.
Now I need a third book with Liz and Wes in their adult life, getting married and have a family (dogs and cats count if they don’t want children). I need 15 books of Liz and Wes, please. And movies. 🥺
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