In NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIES, Lynn Painter pens the sequel to her wildly popular 2021 debut teen rom-com Better Than The Movies.  I guess you could read this one as a standalone but trust me when I tell you to start at the beginning and you’ll fall in love with the characters. Remember those 80s movies that follow a group of quirky kids through the angst and drama of teenage love (e.g. Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald)?  That is the vibe as motherless romantic Liz Buxbaum tries to get her just-returned-to-town childhood crush to notice her and take her to prom. She asks her neighbor and longtime nemesis Wes Bennett to help her which turns into a fake dating relationship that develops real feelings. The first book ends with them heading off into the sunset for college at UCLA where Wes will be a star pitcher and Liz will study Music Industry. 
 
NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIES picks up with the couple not together and then immediately fast forwards two years later to Liz’s junior year when Wes decides to restart everything he lost including getting Liz back.   The time apart and break up are revealed throughout the story including using flashbacks. This story is everything the first one delivered and more. More mature characters, more hurdles to overcome, more romance, more romantic movie and pop culture references, more time with old friends, and plenty of new fabulous secondary characters. Reading this book made my eyes well up with tears and my heart soar as I rooted for these fated lovers to find their way back through all the hurts to each other again.  This is a lovely sweet YA romance. Don’t miss the bonus novellas on the author's website.