Book Review: Not Like The Movies

Not Like The Movies

By: Kerry Winfrey

What happens when your life is a rom-com…but you don’t even believe in true love?

Chloe Sanderson is an optimist, and not because her life is easy. As the sole caregiver for her father, who has early onset Alzheimer’s, she’s pretty much responsible for everything. She has no time—or interest—in getting swept up in some dazzling romance. Not like her best friend Annie, who literally wrote a rom-com that’s about to premiere in theaters across America…and happens to be inspired by Chloe and Nick Velez, Chloe’s cute but no-nonsense boss.

As the buzz for the movie grows, Chloe reads one too many listicles about why Nick is the perfect man, and now she can’t see him as anything but Reason #2: The Scruffy-Bearded Hunk Who’s Always There When You Need Him. But unlike the romance Annie has written for them, Chloe isn’t so sure her own story will end in a Happily Ever After.

Review

Genre: Romantic Comedy / Chick Lit

Troupe: Boss/Employee, Slow Burn

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Steam Rating: 🔥 (Closed door)

Bookish tip: May get the sudden urge to watch a romantic comedy just like Waiting For Tom Hanks.

As soon as I finished Waiting for Tom Hanks, I jumped right into Not Like the Movies. I am all about a slow burn romance and Chloe and Nick’s is the slowest. It started years (!!) before I knew they even existed.

Here are my LOVES:

Chloe is this bisexual, optimistic, self-reliant person. She is a strong character and yet flawed. She makes some not so great decisions in this story just to avoid her growing feelings for Nick which of course gives us some hilarious scenes.
Nick is her super private boss that only has eyes for her…although she seems to be the only one who does not know. He is so sweet to her. Plus, he is always there for her. ALWAYS.
Chloe and Nick’s banter is off the charts.
There is SO much swoon plus a one bed only situation (romance fans love this sort of thing)!
There comes a point where Nick has to go into self-preservation mode regarding his feelings for Chloe and that scene is AMAZING. I didn’t want Nick to be a doormat and I am glad Kerry Winfrey did not either.
Not Likes The Movies has the perfect happy ever after with a fantastic unconventional epilogue. I wish I could talk about it more but…spoilers.

Why not five stars? Some of the aspects in Chloe’s story felt super random / thrown in. For example, Chloe has a twin. As much as we got to know Chloe in Waiting For Tom Hanks, he is not mentioned ONCE. It felt out of sorts at first……(Side note: he and his boyfriend play a key role in NLTM so don’t feel like I am hating on him).

Recommendation: I 100% recommend Not Like The Movies. In fact, out of the two books, this one is my favorite.

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