The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Painter, Lynn. Better Than the Movies. Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 10020, 2021. Kindle AZW file.

Liz Buxbaum has an ongoing feud with Wes Bennett over the prime parking spot in front of their side-by-side homes. The feud is more serious because Wes is that annoying boy next door who also attends Liz's school. Liz is comfortable in her settled life. She works at a bookstore, hangs out with her best friend Jocelyn, and spends most of her free time watching the romantic comedies that her mother loved. Though Liz's mother has been dead seven years and her father is now married to a wonderful, quirky woman named Helena, Liz feels renewed grief at every milestone during her senior year. Knowing that her mother would have made a production out of things like shopping for a prom dress makes Liz want to skip those events altogether.

Liz is thrilled when her childhood crush moves back to town and returns to her school. Michael Young has grown into a handsome teenager, and Liz sets out to get his attention. Liz bases her ideas of romance on the romantic movies she watched with her mom, and Michael fits the criteria perfectly. The problem is that there are limited opportunities for Liz to capture Michael's attention. She calls on Wes to help arrange meetings, promising she will let him have that prime parking spot if she gets her guy. Liz is surprised to discover that Wes is kind, handsome, and funny in ways she had not noticed. When another teen throws up on Liz at a party, Wes rushes to the rescue by providing Liz with his gym clothes for the ride home. When Liz is hit in the face with a basketball, Wes hands over his shirt to help stop the blood, then walks her to the nearby hospital to meet her parents. Liz begins to feel the universe is against her plan to get together with Michael. Her stepmother Helena echoes that idea.

When Wes and Liz join some other teens to watch a scary movie at Michael's house, Liz feels a romantic pull moving her toward Wes and away from Michael. That night, Wes and Liz kiss on the way home. Liz assumes they will make their relationship official, but Wes does not call or text at all. The next afternoon, Michael sets up an elaborate “promposal” to invite Liz to the prom. When she looks to Wes for his reaction, she feels he is pushing her toward Michael. Over the next week, Liz discovers that she misses Wes, hurts Jocelyn and Helena, and realizes she interrupted a budding relationship Michael was afraid to pursue. On prom night, Liz arranges a meeting between Michael and the girl he really likes, makes up with Jocelyn, and discovers Helena is sympathetic to Liz's continuing grief over her mother's death.

Liz comes to realize that she has held unrealistic expectations about love, and that what she has with Wes is better than she could have expected. As the novel comes to a close, Liz and Wes are moving to California where they will attend UCLA together. Liz has one last visit to the cemetery before she leaves, feeling more peaceful about her mother than she has in the past.