Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order – Complete Reading Guide

Quick Answer (TL;DR)

Here’s the simple Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order:

1. Better Than the Movies (Book 1 – YA rom-com set in high school; Liz & Wes’s enemies-to-lovers prom scheme)
2. Nothing Like the Movies (Book 2 – direct sequel; second-chance romance at college from Wes’s POV)

Publication order and in-universe order are the same, so just start with Better Than the Movies and continue straight into Nothing Like the Movies for the full rom-com-about-rom-coms experience.

Introduction

Lynn Painter’s Better Than the Movies duology is basically a love letter to romantic comedies and everyone who grew up memorizing their quotes. In book one, hopeless romantic Liz Buxbaum has one simple plan: finally win the attention of childhood crush Michael and have the kind of slow-mo prom moment she and her late mom used to swoon over in movies. The problem? Her path to that perfect ending runs straight through her obnoxious, frog-pranking next-door neighbor, Wes Bennett.

The sequel, Nothing Like the Movies, jumps ahead to college. Liz and Wes are older, more bruised, and forced to figure out whether their high-school HEA can survive real-life grief, distance, and bad decisions. Told from Wes’s POV, it has all the banter of book one, but with higher emotional stakes and a full-on second-chance romance arc.

If you’ve ever thought:

• I want a rom-com where the characters know they’re in a rom-com,
• I love enemies-to-lovers that actually feel earned, or
• I need more YA that balances swoon with real conversations about grief and change,

…then reading Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order is the easiest TBR win you’ll make this year.

And when you’re done, you can slide straight into other high-emotion YA favorites that we’ve already organized for you, like We Were Liars for twisty family drama or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder for mystery-heavy vibes.

Quick Facts

Item	Details
Series	Better Than the Movies duology by Lynn Painter – 2 full-length YA romantic comedies centered on Liz Buxbaum & Wes Bennett
Best Order	Better Than the Movies → Nothing Like the Movies (publication order = story order)
Setting & Tone	Small-town Nebraska suburb → college campus in California; meta rom-com tone; sweet, funny, and emotional with lots of pop-culture references and banter.
Pages (approx.)	Better Than the Movies: ~384 pages (most trade editions) Nothing Like the Movies: ~440–448 pages depending on edition Total: ~830 pages
Estimated Read Time	~7–9 hours for Better Than the Movies and ~9–11 hours for Nothing Like the Movies, ~16–20 hours for the full duology at an average reading pace; audiobooks are similar in listening length.
Reading Difficulty	Easy–Moderate YA – fast-paced, dialogue-heavy, emotionally layered but very accessible.
Genres	Young Adult • Contemporary Romance • Romantic Comedy • Coming-of-Age
Content Warnings	Death of a parent (Liz’s mom, off-page backstory), grief, car accident mentioned, anxiety about relationships and future, some underage drinking, kissing and mild steam (firmly YA level).
Media Adaptations	As of now, no film or TV adaptation has been officially announced for the Better Than the Movies books; the duology exists in book/ebook/audiobook formats plus bonus novellas.
Ideal Age Range	Generally 12+ for Better Than the Movies (grades 7 and up) and 14+ for Nothing Like the Movies, per publisher age guidelines.

About the Better Than the Movies Book Series

On paper, Better Than the Movies is a simple pitch:

A rom-com nerd teams up with her annoying neighbor to get the attention of her childhood crush—and discovers that reality might be better than the movies she worships.

But what makes the duology so beloved (and so endlessly TikTok-able) is the way Lynn Painter layers heart and humor into that premise.

The Core Concept

The Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order track:

• Liz Buxbaum, a high-school senior who has built her entire vision of love around the rom-coms she watched with her late mom.
• Wes Bennett, the boy next door who has been a menace since childhood—think frogs, pranks, decapitated lawn gnomes—and absolutely not Liz’s idea of a dream lead.
• Their shift from bickering neighbors to reluctant co-conspirators to… something way more confusing.

Book one leans into:

• Prom schemes
• Make-a-boy-notice-you antics
• Liz’s stubborn belief that Michael (the childhood crush) is her cinematic destiny

Book two says, basically: Okay, what happens when the credits roll? Nothing Like the Movies jumps ahead to college, shows the cracks in that happily-ever-after, and then lets Wes fight for a second chance using all the big gestures Liz used to swoon over on screen

Themes Running Through the Duology

Across both installments, the duology digs into:

• Grief & memory – Liz still carries her mom’s loss like a weight and a compass; her obsession with rom-com “rules” is part comfort, part avoidance.
• Reality vs. fantasy – The Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order are obsessed with the gap between movie moments and real relationships—messy timing, imperfect people, and conversations that don’t fit into a 90-minute script.
• Growing up and growing apart – The leap from high school to college is huge. Lives change. People mess up. Book two refuses to pretend everything stays frozen in prom-night perfection.
• Communication & apology – Wes’s arc in the sequel especially is all about genuine contrition, showing up, and realizing that you can’t shortcut trust—even with grand gestures.

If you’ve already fallen for series like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (which we break down in our To All the Boys books in chronological order guide), this duology scratches a similar itch but with a meta, movie-quote-loaded spin.

Better Than the Movies Books at a Glance

#	Title	Amazon Buy Link
1	Better Than the Movies	Buy On Amazon
2	Nothing Like the Movies	Buy On Amazon

Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order

Let’s walk through the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order with spoiler-light blurbs and what each book adds to the overall arc.

1. Better Than the Movies

Core vibe: A rom-com about rom-coms; classic YA enemies-to-lovers with grief, friendship drama, and a prom deadline.

Premise & setup

Liz Buxbaum is a senior who has constructed her entire internal life around romantic comedies. She and her mom used to binge them, and every one left a blueprint:

• Find a reliable, swoony hero.
• Have a grand, public moment (ideally involving prom).
• Cue the perfect soundtrack and slow-mo spin.

Her chosen hero is Michael, the sweet childhood crush who moved away years ago. Now he’s back, cooler and more aloof than ever, and Liz decides this is finally their chance. There’s just one issue: Michael actually likes Wes.

Wes Bennett is the boy next door, the chaos goblin who has tormented Liz with frogs, prank wars, and lawn-gnome “murders” since they were kids. He’s not the kind of guy Liz’s mom would have picked as a safe, reliable rom-com lead. He’s… the other guy. The distraction. The trope breaker.

And yet, if she wants Michael’s attention, Liz realizes she needs Wes’s help. So they make a deal:

• Wes will help Liz get on Michael’s radar.
• Liz will stop glaring at him across the yard. Maybe.

What this book does for the series

• Introduces Liz’s grief and her fear of moving on from the version of love her mom taught her to want.
• Establishes the Liz/Wes dynamic—years of bickering hiding a lot of awareness and chemistry.
• Plants the seeds of Wes’s deeper feelings and the idea that maybe Liz is chasing the wrong leading man.
• Builds the friend group, side characters, and high-school ecosystem that make the world feel lived in.

By the end of Better Than the Movies, you’ve seen Liz’s rigid rom-com rules start to crack. She’s forced to ask herself: is she chasing Michael, or chasing the fantasy of a movie-perfect moment with anyone who’ll fit the script?

This is the essential starting point for reading the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order—and it’s also a fantastic standalone if you want a single, deeply satisfying YA rom-com.

2. Nothing Like the Movies

Core vibe: Second-chance romance, college growing pains, and Wes trying to be the rom-com hero Liz deserves… after he already messed everything up.

Premise & setup

In between books, something big happens:

• Wes and Liz do, in fact, get together.
• They’re supposed to head off to UCLA together, full of prom-night glow and plans.
• Tragedy strikes before college, derailing Wes emotionally and causing him to push Liz away “for her own good.” She’s left blindsided and heartbroken.

When Nothing Like the Movies opens, we jump months ahead:

• Wes and Liz are both at college now.
• Liz has rebuilt some emotional walls, and she’s not interested in hearing Wes’s apologies.
• Wes, now in a healthier headspace, realizes he wants her back—and decides to win her over using the exact rom-com tropes she loves.

There’s just one more complication: Liz has a new guy friend. And Wes, for all his planning, can’t script her feelings.

What this book adds to the duology

• Flips the narrative into Wes’s POV, letting us see his guilt, his mental health struggles, and his genuine desire to be better, not just get the girl.
• Forces both characters to confront that loving someone in real life is nothing like the movies—there’s no guarantee big gestures will fix deep hurt.
• Tackles the high-school-to-college transition head-on: changing interests, new social circles, and the realization that “forever” looks different when you’re actually living it.

As the second half of the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order, the sequel is crucial for turning a single cute rom-com into a full character journey:

• Can Liz trust love again after feeling abandoned?
• Can Wes show, not just tell, that he’s someone she can rely on when life gets ugly?
• And can two people who bonded over fictional happily-ever-afters create something sustainable and real?

Series Timeline & Character Development

Reading the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order lets you track how Liz and Wes grow through distinct emotional “phases.”

Liz Buxbaum

Book 1 – The Scripted Romantic

• Liz idolizes rom-com structure: meet-cute, conflict, big gesture, kiss.
• She views Michael as a safe, mom-approved choice and Wes as a wild card she shouldn’t fall for.
• Her grief is tightly managed; she keeps her mom “alive” by clinging to the movies they loved and the rules she thinks came from them.

Book 2 – The Unsure Adult

• Liz has actually lived through a full rom-com arc—with Wes—but it didn’t magically fix her life.
• She’s more cautious now, less willing to let movies dictate her choices, and more protective of her heart.
• She has to decide whether forgiveness and risk are worth it for a relationship that already broke once.

Liz’s arc across the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order is about moving from “I want the perfect scene” to “I want the person who shows up when there are no cameras, no soundtrack, and no easy answers.”

Wes Bennett

Book 1 – The Hidden Softie

• From Liz’s perspective, Wes is chaos and pranks. But readers quickly see that he’s attuned to her moods, surprisingly thoughtful, and more than a little smitten.
• He hides vulnerability behind jokes—classic rom-com boy behavior.

Book 2 – The Rom-Com Hero in Training

• Wes is older, more self-aware, and deeply remorseful about hurting Liz.
• He tries to do everything her rom-com-loving heart used to want: big gestures, elaborate plans, heartfelt speeches.
• The journey forces him to learn that growth isn’t just grand gestures—it’s consistency, listening, and accepting that Liz is allowed to say no.

Wes’s development is one of the joys of reading the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order: you go from seeing him as a “funny neighbor boy” to understanding him as a full, flawed person trying very hard not to be the reason someone he loves gets hurt again.

Supporting Cast

Across both books, the supporting characters get their own small arcs:

• Michael evolves from dream guy concept into an actual human being with his own issues.
• Liz’s friends and family (including her stepmom) push her to rethink black-and-white ideas about loyalty and change.
• New college friends in Nothing Like the Movies test both Liz and Wes’s understanding of what it means to choose each other when there are other options.

Novels Sorted in Order of In-Universe Events

Chronologically, the story flows like this:

1. Better Than the Movies
   • Senior year of high school.
   • Michael moves back.
   • Liz and Wes team up for the prom plan.
   • Relationship shifts from enemies → friends → something more.
2. Nothing Like the Movies
   • After a time jump: Wes and Liz have been together, then broken up.
   • Both are in college, processing past tragedy and heartbreak.
   • Wes begins his second-chance campaign to win Liz back.

If you’re strict about consuming the story as it “happens,” just follow the spine numbers—this is a very clean timeline.

Novels Sorted in Order of Publication

Publication order is the same as in-universe order for the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order:

1. Better Than the Movies – May 2021 (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
2. Nothing Like the Movies – October 2024 in the UK, similar timing in North America (Simon & Schuster Children’s / Books for Young Readers)

So whether you’re going by story logic or release date, the order stays the same.

Companion Works

The Better Than the Movies universe is bigger than just the two main novels. Lynn Painter has released several bonus stories and POV extras, many of them originally through Wattpad or as digital shorts.

On Goodreads, they’re grouped as part of the Better Than the Movies series:

• Liz’s Proposal (#1.1) – Wes’s POV of the scene where Liz approaches him with her “help me get Michael” plan.
• The Party (#1.2) – A key party scene from another angle, giving more insight into Wes’s reactions.
• Basketball Night (#1.3) – Additional Wes/Liz dynamics around a basketball game.
• Wes Bennett’s Vivid Dream (#1.4) – A dreamy, slightly more fan-service-y peek into Wes’s subconscious.
• Better than the Prom (#1.5) – A much-loved prom-night extra that expands on emotional beats from the end of book one.

These shorts are relatively brief but wildly popular with fans because:

• They often switch to Wes’s POV, answering that eternal rom-com question: “But what was he thinking?”
• They flesh out moments that are only hinted at or sped through in the main novel.

If you’re a completionist for Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order, a good extended-universe reading path looks like:

1. Better Than the Movies
2. Bonus novellas #1.1–1.5 (in any order, but roughly lined up with the scenes they mirror)
3. Nothing Like the Movies

They’re absolutely optional for understanding the main duology, but they’re candy if you love Liz and especially Wes.

Editions & Formats (Hardcover, Collector, Audio)

Because the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order have exploded in popularity, you’ve got some fun edition choices.

Standard Paperbacks & Hardcovers

• Better Than the Movies is available in both paperback and hardcover. Most trade paperbacks list 384 pages, while a forthcoming collector’s edition is also set at 384 pages.
• Nothing Like the Movies comes in hardcover and paperback, with page counts around 440–448 pages depending on region.

Collector’s & Special Editions

• Better Than the Movies (Collector’s Edition) – A fancy edition with upgraded design, releasing January 2026 through Simon & Schuster.
• Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition of Nothing Like the Movies – Offers special design elements (such as bonus content or unique cover art) for collectors.
• The Going to the Movies Collection (Boxed Set) – A paperback box set containing the full duology in one “movie night” package.

These are perfect if you want your shelf to scream “rom-com nerd” at a glance.

Audiobooks

Both Better Than the Movies and Nothing Like the Movies have audiobook editions available through major platforms (Audible, Libro.fm, etc.), typically categorized as YA romantic comedy titles.

• Great if you prefer to hear the banter.
• Very bingeable if you’re cleaning, commuting, or recreating Liz’s cinema-quote marathons in your ears.

eBooks

• Both titles are available on Kindle and other e-reading platforms, sometimes bundled or discounted during promos.
• Some bonus shorts originally appeared digitally on Lynn Painter’s site/Wattpad, making e-reading a natural fit if you want all the content.

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Why Read Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order?

Sticking to the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order might sound obvious, but there are real advantages:

1. Emotional Arc Integrity
   You experience Liz’s journey from starry-eyed prom planner to college student with scars and agency in the exact order it happens. Skipping to Nothing Like the Movies first would ruin the slow build of Liz/Wes chemistry and the context of their breakup.
2. Thematic Build-Up
   Book one establishes the fantasy: movies, perfect lines, choreographed moments. Book two interrogates that fantasy and shows what lasting love might look like when life is unpredictable and painful.
3. Character Development Payoff
   Wes’s POV in Nothing Like the Movies hits way harder when you’ve already seen him from Liz’s perspective in the first book. You understand what she saw—and what she missed.
4. Bonus Novella Placement
   If you choose to read the extras, they slide neatly between or after scenes in Better Than the Movies, giving you a richer experience before you leap into the more mature tone of the sequel.

In short: letting the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order guide your reading means your emotions get to crescendo exactly when they’re supposed to.

Author Spotlight: Lynn Painter

Lynn Painter is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author known for writing fizzy, emotionally satisfying romantic comedies for both teens and adults.

A few fun highlights:

• She writes across age categories—YA titles like Better Than the Movies sit alongside adult rom-coms like The Love Wager and Mr. Wrong Number.
• Painter is a self-proclaimed rom-com superfan, which shows in the countless references and Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order.
• When she’s not drafting or reading, she’s often talking about movies and books on social media, leaning into the same pop-culture geekery that fuels Liz’s worldview.

If you finish the duology and want more Lynn Painter, you can branch out into her other teen titles like The Do-Over and Betting on You, which share that mix of humor, heart, and high-concept rom-com premises.

Media Adaptations (Films, TV, Radio)

Despite feeling tailor-made for the screen, the Better Than the Movies duology does not yet have an officially announced film or TV adaptation:

• No studio deals or casting news on record as of the latest publisher listings.
• The books remain available in print, digital, and audio formats only.

Given the success of other YA rom-com adaptations (like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), it wouldn’t be surprising to see something happen in the future—but for now, the only canon for the Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order is on the page and in the novellas.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

The Better Than the Movies Books in Chronological Order offer exactly what the title promises: a story that understands and loves rom-coms, while gently nudging you toward the idea that real life—messy, painful, unscripted—is where the best love stories actually happen.

Reading in order—Better Than the Movies first, then Nothing Like the Movies—lets you experience Liz and Wes’s relationship from flirty glares across the yard to second-chance negotiations in college dorms. Add in the novellas if you want every last crumb of Wes’s POV, and you’ve got a mini-universe that’s as bingeable as any movie marathon.

When you’re done, keep the YA momentum going with our guides to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Books in Chronological Order, We Were Liars Books in Chronological Order, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Books in Chronological Order—your TBR (and your inner rom-com nerd) will thank you.