Books Like Better Than the Movies — 10 Neighbors & Childhood-Best-Friend Romance Reads (2026)
Better Than the Movies follows romantic-comedy obsessive Liz Buxbaum, who wants childhood crush Michael to notice her in time for prom. Her annoying next-door neighbor Wes Bennett has recently become friendly with Michael, making him the perfect unwilling accomplice.
Liz and Wes do not fake-date; they scheme together to attract Michael’s attention. The more time Liz spends with Wes, the more her carefully imagined movie ending begins to look different from the life actually unfolding beside her. The recommendations below prioritize childhood history, neighbors, crush misdirection, prom or school pressure, banter, and the realization that the person who truly knows you may not be the person you planned to want.
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What Makes a Great Better Than the Movies Readalike?
- A shared history that matters. The couple’s jokes, irritation, and trust should come from years of knowing each other.
- A mistaken romantic target. One character should be focused on an imagined perfect match while overlooking the real connection.
- Banter with affection underneath. The conflict should feel personal and funny without becoming cruel.
- A finite social deadline. Prom, graduation, a wedding, or a move should force a decision.
- An emotionally sincere payoff. The story can celebrate rom-com tropes while admitting real love is messier than a script.
5 Popular Books Like Better Than the Movies
1. Better Than the Movies — Lynn Painter
Liz recruits Wes to help her get closer to Michael, the childhood crush who has returned to town. Their plan requires repeated proximity, rides, conversations, and collaboration—exactly enough time for Liz to notice that Wes understands her grief, music, and romantic imagination better than the boy she placed in the leading role.
Find Better Than the Movies on Amazon →
2. Nothing Like the Movies — Lynn Painter
The sequel follows Liz and Wes into college and explores what happens when a relationship formed through rom-com gestures must survive change, distance, mistakes, and a second-chance pursuit. Read it only after the first book.
Find Nothing Like the Movies on Amazon →
3. The Do-Over — Lynn Painter
A disastrous Valentine’s Day repeats until Emilie stops trying to execute the perfect plan and begins making different choices. The time-loop premise provides another Painter heroine whose romantic expectations have to give way to the person and life she was not looking for.
4. The Cheat Sheet — Sarah Adams
Two adult best friends have spent years hiding mutual feelings because neither wants to risk the relationship. A public misunderstanding forces them to behave like a couple, making it increasingly absurd to keep pretending the affection is platonic.
Read our full Cheat Sheet guide →
Find The Cheat Sheet on Amazon →
5. Betting on You — Lynn Painter
Two teens become coworkers and develop a friendship built on arguments about whether boys and girls can remain platonic. A bet and romantic interference complicate the connection, giving readers more Painter banter, workplace proximity, and feelings hiding behind debate.
Find Betting on You on Amazon →
5 Hotter Adult Alternatives from Fractal Enigma
6. Single House, Shared Secrets — Isla Wilde
Best for: inherited house, forced cohabitation, strangers becoming domestic partners.
Two people inherit the same property and cannot sell without the other’s cooperation. A mandatory period under one roof turns legal irritation into domestic familiarity and exposes the private histories neither expected to share.
7. His Brother’s Wedding Night — Isla Wilde
Best for: wrong romantic target, family pressure, wedding deadline, forbidden attraction.
A woman reaches the week of her wedding and is forced to confront that the brother she planned to marry may not be the man who truly sees her. The premise turns crush misdirection into an adult, high-stakes family collision.
8. Bad Neighbor, Great Lay — Isla Wilde
Best for: apartment feud, thin walls, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers.
Music, parking, and incompatible schedules turn neighboring apartments into a battleground. A building emergency removes the wall between them long enough to reveal how much of their irritation has always been attention.
9. Caulk of Shame — Hazel Green
Best for: contractor romance, inherited home, small town, class differences.
A PhD dropout returns to Oregon and hires the contractor capable of rescuing the house she inherited. Renovation creates a daily routine of arguments, respect, and attraction between two people whose ideas of a successful life do not initially match.
10. Sugar, Skates & Second Chances — Jace Wilder
Best for: MM childhood rivals, figure skating, reunion, second chance.
Two men whose lives were shaped by the same rink and an old competitive wound meet again years later through a coaching arrangement. Shared history makes every professional correction feel personal, while adulthood gives them a chance to understand what rivalry concealed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Liz fake-date Wes?
No. Liz and Wes work together to help Liz attract Michael’s attention. The earlier version of this guide inaccurately called it fake dating.
Is Michael Liz’s older brother’s best friend?
No. Michael is Liz’s childhood crush, and Wes’s new friendship with him gives Liz a reason to recruit Wes into her plan.
Is Better Than the Movies spicy?
No. It is a YA romance focused on kissing, banter, grief, prom, and emotional realization rather than explicit sex.
Do I need to read the sequel?
Better Than the Movies has its own satisfying ending. Read Nothing Like the Movies when you want to follow Liz and Wes into a more difficult college-era second-chance story.
What should I read next?
Choose another Lynn Painter title for similar YA humor, The Cheat Sheet for adult mutual pining, or Bad Neighbor, Great Lay for a much hotter adult neighbor feud.
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