Better Than the Movies

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, this "sweet and funny" (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks) teen rom-com is hopelessly romantic with enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine energy!

Liz hates her annoyingly attractive neighbour but he's the only in with her long-term crush...

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks ) teen rom-com is hopelessly romantic with enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine energy! Liz hates her annoyingly attractive neighbour but he’s the only in with her long-term crush… Perpetual daydreamer and hopeless romantic 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 neighbour 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 re-examine everything she thought she knew about love--and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like. Better Than the Movies features quotes from the best-loved rom-coms of cinema and takes you on a rollercoaster of romance that isn’t movie-perfect but jaw-dropping and heart-stopping in unexpected ways. Pre-order Nothing Like the Movies, the swoony sequel to Better than the Movies and don''t miss out on The Do-Over and Betting On You from Lynn Painter!

Auteur

Lynn Painter writes romantic comedies for both teens and adults. She is the author of Better Than the Movies, Mr. Wrong Number, The Do-Over, Betting on You, and Nothing Like the Movies, as well as being a regular contributor to the Omaha World-Herald. She lives in Nebraska with her husband and pack of wild children, and when she isn’t reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms. You can find her at LynnPainter.com, on Instagram @LynnPainterKirkle, or on Twitter @LAPainter.

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Chapter One CHAPTER ONE
"Nobody finds their soul mate when they're ten. I mean, where's the fun in that, right?"

-Sweet Home Alabama

The day began like any typical day.

Mr. Fitzpervert left a hair ball in my slipper, I burned my earlobe with the straightener, and when I opened the door to leave for school, I caught my next-door nemesis suspiciously sprawled across the hood of my car.

"Hey!" I slid my sunglasses up my nose, pulled the front door shut behind me, and hightailed it in his direction, careful not to scuff my pretty new floral flats as I basically ran at him. "Get off of my car."

Wes jumped down and held up his hands in the universal I'm innocent pose, even though his smirk made him look anything but. Besides, I'd known him since kindergarten; the boy had never been innocent a day in his life.

"What's in your hand?"

"Nothing." He put the hand in question behind his back. Even though he'd gotten tall and mannish and a tiny bit hot since grade school, Wes was still the same immature boy who'd "accidentally" burned down my mom's rosebush with a firecracker.

"You're so paranoid," he said.

I stopped in front of him and squinted up at his face. Wes had one of those naughty-boy faces, the kind of face where his dark eyes-surrounded by mile-long thick lashes because life wasn't fair-spoke volumes, even when his mouth said nothing.

An eyebrow raise told me just how ridiculous he thought I was. From our many less-than-pleasant encounters, I knew the narrowing of his eyes meant he was sizing me up, and that we were about to throw down about the most recent annoyance he'd brought upon me. And when he was bright-eyed like he was right now, his brown eyes practically freaking twinkling with mischief, I knew I was screwed. Because mischievous Wes always won.

I poked him in the chest. "What did you do to my car?"

"I didn't do anything to your car, per se."

"Per se?"

"Whoa. Watch your filthy mouth, Buxbaum."

I rolled my eyes, which made his mouth slide into a wicked grin before he said, "This has been fun, and I love your granny shoes, by the way, but I've gotta run."

"Wes-"

He turned and walked away from me like I hadn't been speaking. Just... walked toward his house in that relaxed, overconfident way of his. When he got to the porch, he opened the screen door and yelled to me over his shoulder, "Have a good day, Liz!"

Well, that couldn't be good.

Because there was no way he legitimately wanted me to have a good day. I glanced down at my car, apprehensive about even opening the door.

See, Wes Bennett and I were enemies in a no-holds-barred, full-on war over the one available parking spot on our end of the street. He usually won, but only because he was a dirty cheater. He thought it was funny to reserve the Spot for himself by leaving things in the space that I wasn't strong enough to move. Iron picnic table, truck motor, monster truck wheels. You get it.

(Even though his antics caught the attention of the neighborhood Facebook page-my dad was a group member-and the old gossips frothed with rage at their keyboards over the blights on the neighborhood landscape, not a single person had ever said anything to him or made him stop. How was that even fair?)

But I was the one riding the victory wave for once, because yesterday I'd had the brilliant idea to call the city after he'd decided to leave his car in the Spot for three days in a row. Omaha had a twenty-four-hour ordinance, so good old Wesley had earned himself a nice little parking ticket.

Not going to lie