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Better Than the Movies
368 pages
A cinematic, banter-filled love letter to classic rom-coms that feels like a warm hug and a perfect movie montage rolled into one.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like slipping into your favorite oversized sweater while a classic 90s rom-com plays in the background. It is effervescent and deeply cozy, moving at a brisk, joyful pace that makes it nearly impossible to put down. The narrative voice is incredibly charming, balancing laugh-out-loud banter with a tender, underlying exploration of grief and the ways we hold onto the people we have lost. It captures the specific, sun-drenched nostalgia of high school milestones and the dizzying realization that real life can be messier and better than a movie script. Perfect for readers who devour enemies-to-lovers arcs and swoony, slow-burn tension, this is a story that leaves you with a lingering, ear-to-ear smile.
- Mood
- effervescent
- nostalgic
- cozy
- sun-drenched
- Tone
- playful
- earnest
- humorous
- swoony
- witty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the messy reality of love · navigating grief and memory · letting go of fantasies · the comfort of the familiar · coming of age
- The writing
- Breezy, dialogue-heavy, and peppered with charmingly obsessive pop-culture references that make the pages fly by.
- The arc
- Moves from a desperate clinging to cinematic fantasies toward a grounded, heartwarming acceptance of real, imperfect love.
- Who it's for
- Romance enthusiasts who live for classic rom-com tropes, banter-filled enemies-to-lovers dynamics, and a heavy dose of early-2000s nostalgia.
Content notes
- loss of a parent (past)
- grief
About the book
Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks) teen rom-com follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her cute yet obnoxious neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her untouchable crush.
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.
Description from Open Library.
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