Nothing Like the Movies is the sequel to the popular YA novel, Better Than the Movies. I laughed and cried and didn’t want the story to end.

Liz and Wes are a few weeks into their freshman year at UCLA when something awful happens. Wes has to give up his dreams and return home to Nebraska. He decides it’s best for Liz if they break up and he gets a job at the local grocery store to help out his family. She is devastated.

Two years later, however, Wes returns to UCLA where he is thrilled to be back. He’s playing baseball and taking Engineering classes, and, every day, he thinks about Liz. He misses her terribly and will do anything to win her back.

For her part, Liz is starting her junior year at UCLA and is excited about her music licensing internship where she can work with the music, film and TV industries (This sounds incredible!). She’s done well at UCLA and, among other things, makes short videos of athletes (including the baseball players) for the school’s social media.

Liz is surprised when she and Wes run into each other at a party. Wes is trying to be friendly (he wants to win her back) but she is still terribly hurt from when he broke up with her and is now anti-romance and wants nothing to do with him. She lies and tells Wes she is dating Clark, one of her roommates and best friend. When Wes asks her if they can go somewhere and talk, she introduces him to Clark, and tells Clark that Wes is a childhood buddy. Wes isn’t happy about that because they were so much more to each other. He and Liz dated seriously for six months, even going to UCLA together, before their break up but he hides his feelings in front of Liz and Clark. When he sees them together, they don’t look like a couple in love so Wes is hopeful they aren’t serious and that there’s a chance he can win her back once she gets to know him again.

The baseball team is one of the most popular sports at their school and it has been getting a lot of attention since Liz started posting about them on social media. Her mentor, Lilith, asks her and Clark if they can create a ‘Hard Knocks’ version of the baseball team where they cover their day to day activities. Since Wes is their new star pitcher, he and Liz see a lot of each other and we get to see a lot of funny banter between them.

When Liz discloses to Lilith about her and Wes’ past, Lilith asks Liz and Clark to interview Wes and have him tell his story. It gets sad when Liz discovers what really happened two years ago and all that Wes actually went through. I wanted to give Wes a hug!

It’s sweet and funny when Wes decides to romcom his way back to Liz! One of my favorite scenes is when he tries to take her to the restaurant featured in the movie La La Land because it used to be her favorite movie! There are mentions of Taylor Swift songs and it was very moving when Wes uses one to express his feelings to Liz. They are surrounded by great friends and their antics made me smile – their parties are epic – there’s a masked masquerade when Liz makes a bet with Wes that he won’t be able to recognize her in her costume, but he is so in love with her, he would know her anywhere.

My one quibble was I thought the pacing was a little uneven. It’s a slow burn and I would have liked to see them back together sooner in the story and see more of them as a couple. However, it was really special when they finally found their way back to each other.

I loved being back in Wes and Liz’s world and I think Lynn Painter’s fans will too. For readers new to Painter, I do think it’s wise to read Better Than the Movies first, to get more of their backstory. Nothing Like the Movies falls just short of a DIK but it’s a witty and heartfelt, second chance romance and well worth your time.