Wednesday, April 28, 2021

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?: Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter - REVIEW!

Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.


Today, you get to live out your unrealistic, but totally worthy of being real, dreams of the Romantic Comedy variety as we take a spin through the pages of a NEW TITLE COMING SOON via Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.  Between the high hopes, high school antics, meet cutes, and earth shattering feeling revelations, you'll be glued to your favorite reading spot for the duration.  Ladies and gents, get ready for the imminent foot pop and starry gazes as we welcome today's title in the BUZZ worthy spotlight and book of choice...


by
Lynn Painter
9781534467620
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

About the book...
Perpetual daydreamer 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 neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. 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, the pair grow closer, and Liz is forced to reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.



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Buxbaum and Bennet.
A match made in heaven or teenage heck?
It's the classic girl meets boy, boy is neighbor of girl, they drive each other crazy until one day a scheme with mutual end benefits unites them, and POOF...they live happily ever after.  Umm...okay, so I'm surprised I typed that LAST bit with a straight face!



Seriously, everything before the dots is TRUE, and a riot to read.  Liz tries SO HARD to get Michael to notice her in THAT way in time for her romantic fantasies to comes true, and in time for that ever coveted prom date.  Even when she's down in the dumps because her special milestone moments are missing someone very dear to her heart, she still has her heart set on the end prize.  You know she has it bad when she enlists the help of the ever irritating Wes to get her an in with her potential man...but things have a way of backfiring when it comes to a love that's worked so hard for.  It's not that it's not worth it, but some things shouldn't be so difficult...especially if it's the right someone.

Enter stage left, or should I say parallel parking from his left, Wes Bennet.  His name conjures images of long help adoration from characters of literature...but in reality, he's a typical teenage guy.  He's got the looks, the attitude without being overbearing (to everyone except Liz, of course), and the swagger.  Surface level, eye candy with enough brains to get by...or at least that's the image Liz held of him.  Turns out, when her plan to get Michael is kicked into action, getting to know Wes is like opening a door to a wardrobe you never thought to walk beyond.  He has depth.  (Gasp.)  He cares for others.  (Double gasp.)  He can make her laugh, while still helping her out of tough jams.  (Alright already, I've gasped enough!)  In short, he's much more than she perceived...but the fact that's it's HIM wigs her out so much that she may not see past her own set interests in time to score the BIG win.  Do she and he get together...or do all her rom com dreams comes true as scripted?

You'll have to read it to find out!  Sorry, not sorry...it's not worth spoiling!  In the end, I loved the characters more than I thought I would, and the overall story really cast it's spell on me...also, I now have a burning desire to binge watch my entire rom com collection, but that's beside the point.  Aside from the romance, I was really touched by how to author tackled a hard subject like losing a parent.  She showed the heart, and hardship of the situation, while giving our gal Liz some realistic ways to not move on from it, but live and move forward with it.  Oh and one more thing, watch for the movie quotes at the beginning of each chapter!  Loved that little add in!



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About the author...

Photo by Jackson Okun


Lynn Painter lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband and pack of wild children. She’s a biweekly contributor to the Omaha World-Herald’s parenting section, even though she is the polar-opposite of a Pinterest mom. When she isn’t chasing kids, she can be found reading, writing, and shot-gunning Red Bulls.




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Special thanks to Jenny at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing for the copy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is set to release May 4th, 2021, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!





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