Despite being next door neighbors, Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennett haven’t had the friendliest of experiences. Every since they were little, Wes has felt like the opposite of the prince charming Liz fantasizes about. But when Liz hears news that Michael – the guy she’s been crushing on since forever – moved back into town, it’s even more frustrating to see Wes become friends with him. As it is their senior year, she plans to finally get Michael to notice her and take her to prom, but it’s going to require the help of childhood enemy Wes Bennett. Yet everything Liz has believed to be part of the Happily Ever After she always dreamed of gets flipped on its axis when she actually finds herself enjoying Wes Bennett’s company. Can the rom-com centered Liz continue on with the scheme for the prom moment she’s been dreaming of? Or does the unexpected childhood menace get in the way?
Throughout its entirety, Better Than the Movies stayed true to its rom-com story format, but everything was almost far too frustrating. The secondhand embarrassment in this book can and will make you question your choices. That may seem a bit harsh, but the main character’s choices and actions were often frustrating to read. Furthermore, the love triangle almost felt dragged on and partially unnecessary because of the poor attempt at chemistry with the second male lead. But, this book did at least have the redeeming quality of Wes Bennett. Reading a romance book with a kind and genuine male lead is always refreshing. Wes and Liz’s relationship dynamic was fun and entertaining, and the multiple tropes (childhood enemies to lovers, next-door neighbors, fake relationship) made it that much better. But these tropes can be misleading as the book is most likely not up to par with what you may expect.
-Anonymous
