Better Than the Movies Books in Order

The Better Than the Movies series is Lynn Painter’s love letter to rom-com fans who grew up believing their lives could have soundtracks. It centers on Liz Buxbaum, a film-obsessed teen who learned to cherish happy endings while watching old movies with her late mom. By the time the first book opens, Liz is a high school senior in Omaha, Nebraska, locked in a petty war with the boy next door, Wes Bennett, and nursing a long-standing crush on clean cut Michael Young.

In Better Than the Movies, Liz is convinced that getting Michael to notice her and take her to prom will fix everything that still feels off after her mom’s death and her dad’s remarriage. To make that happen, she reluctantly teams up with Wes, trading parking-spot favors for help staging picture-perfect moments. The book leans hard into classic tropes like enemies to lovers, fake dating, and makeover montages, all filtered through Liz’s running commentary on the movies she loves.

The fun, though, sits on top of something gentler. Liz visits her mom’s grave, sorts through complicated feelings about her supportive but imperfect stepmom, and tests the strength of her friendship with Joss. Wes, for his part, gradually shifts from resident prankster to the one person who remembers the details of Liz’s life and quietly shows up when it matters. The result feels both fizzy and grounded.

It is very much a comfort-read high school rom-com, but one that lets grief and growing up onto the page.

Nothing Like the Movies picks up later, when Liz and Wes have left high school behind and college life on the West Coast is not as simple as they imagined. Wes is a pitcher trying to reclaim a baseball dream after putting his family first, while Liz works behind the camera for the university athletics department. Being on the same campus forces them to face old hurt, new boundaries, and the question of whether their first big love can survive real adult pressure.

Where the first book is about discovering that real life can be better than the fantasies in Liz’s head, the sequel explores what happens after the credits would usually roll. There are still late-night talks, inside jokes, and romantic gestures, but there is also burnout, family obligation, and the awkwardness of starting over. Readers see familiar side characters grow into their own paths as the world around Liz and Wes widens.

Taken together, the series offers a full arc from teenage daydreams to early-twenties second chances. It balances big-screen swoon with parking-lot arguments, homework, jobs, and messy conversations about mental health. If you like neighbors-to-lovers, slow-burn tension, and stories that admit happily ever after takes work, the Better Than the Movies books deliver that in a bright, contemporary package.