We’d snack-up, kick back on the pillows, and binge-watch from her collection of kiss-infused happy endings like other people binge-watched trashy reality TV. Those things always disappear, which is why you never, ever choose the bad boy.Īfter that, we shared hundreds of similar moments, exploring life together through romantic movies. And to this day, I can still hear my mom’s voice and smell the vanilla of her perfume as she played with my hair and set me straight.Ĭharm and intrigue can only get you so far, Libby Loo. Yep-I’d missed the movie’s point completely and had fallen madly in love with the playboy. Why would Bridget give up the cuter one-the charming one-for the person who was the equivalent of one ginormous yawn? How did that even make sense?

At that point, it was too late to rescue me from the so-not-first-grade-friendly content, so she snuggled up beside me, and we watched the happy ending together.īut my first-grade brain just couldn’t compute. (A house-size cricket might not sound scary, but when it speaks in a robot voice and knows your middle name, it is terrifying.) Bridget Jones’s Diary was playing on the boxy television on top of the dresser, and I’d watched a good portion of the movie before she even noticed me at the foot of her bed. My mother taught me the golden rule of dating before I even hit the second grade.Īt the ripe age of seven, I’d snuck into her room after having a nightmare. I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love-and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.īut 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. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor 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. 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. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago.

Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks) teen rom-com follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her cute yet obnoxious neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her untouchable crush. A USA TODAY and New York Times bestseller

Better than the movies by lynn painter