Better than the movies

By Lynn Painter

Boy-Nextdoor? Enemies-to-lovers? Need I say more.

The Ugly Truth:

Be still my heart - we have a “Boy-Nextdoor” and “Enemies-to-Lovers” trope in a romcom ABOUT romcoms (Lynn Painter, you are my hero). For the lovers of "Will They Won’t They?" and movies like The Duff, this is your book!

I first picked up Better Than The Movies as a quick time-filler but instead found myself quickly immersed in the world of Elizabeth Buxbaum and Wes Bennett.

Elizabeth is an original, written as such, but also actually was. I feel oftentimes authors work overtime to make the leading lady so much different from all other female leads when Elizabeth was simply unapologetically herself without seeming to even try. She liked old romcoms, ruffle diner dresses and spent more time listening to music than in reality, but in a way that was endearing and made me turn on my own music after each page.

Wes is your all-american boy nextdoor baseball star that Elizabeth had hardly bothered with for the past ten years besides the occasional spat over the infamous parking spot shared in front of their houses. For Elizabeth, Wes was nothing more than the annoying boy who used to trample her mom’s rose bushes. That is until she needs his help in securing the interest of another former playmate of theirs who recently moved back to town.

Elizabeth and Wes embark on a hilarious adventure in pursuit of love, with both parties not recognizing that the mission has changed throughout the pages. Their interactions were real and hilarious and had me kicking my feet multiple times and yelling at the pages to “just look up!” The novel perfectly captured those unsure stages of a crush mixed in with some passionate moments of true romance that had me smiling from start to finish.

Beyond the love story, Painter once more did a spectacular job of delivering a lead who was struggling with something unfathomable in a very realistic way. Elizabeth is experiencing high school, and all of its lasts without her best friend, her mother, by her side. She is struggling with the idea of growing up and moving beyond her childhood and the fear of what it means for her grief. Through dialogue and actions, you, as the reader, begin to understand Elizabeth’s character and sympathize with her more crazy moments in the novel.

Now, while the book was fantastic, one thing I kept thinking to myself throughout it all was “damn, I just KNOW Wes’ perspective is the thing of movies,” and, surprise, I WAS RIGHT! Please do yourself a favor and, upon finishing this book, immediately pull up Lynn Painter’s website, where she has BONUS CONTENT, including 100 pages narrated by Wes. To put it simply, I think even my imagination did not do that man justice, and he MIGHT be gracing the top ten book boyfriend list after all.

All in all, do yourself a favor and get to reading this if you need a smile, a laugh, a reminder what a crush feels like - it will not disappoint.