Official excert-

In this rom-com about rom-coms, in the spirit of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, a hopeless romantic teen attempts to secure a happily-ever-after moment with her forever crush, but finds herself reluctantly drawn to the boy next door.

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-comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. 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, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. 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.

Short Summary- 3- 5 minutes

Liz fell in love with 80s rom-com movies because of her mother who died when she was young. Years later, she is a highschool senior and has a childish, playful rivalry over a parking spot near her house with her neighbor Wes. At school, her friend ,Joss, mentions that an old childhood crush, Michael, has come back. Liz is convinced that they are meant to be together and asks Wes for help to interact with him in exchange for use of the parking spot. She does not tell Joss about it and even avoids going prom shopping with her because she misses her mom. First Wes takes her to a party and when she starts talking to Michael, a girl accidentally throws up on her. Wes takes her home and says Michael just sees her the same as when they were kids. He convinces her to have a ‘make over’ in order to seem like a cool girl since her style is more vintage and retro. Liz and Wes spend more time together and she lies to Joss about her plans. Joss thinks that Wes likes her and Michael does too. So Liz comes up with the idea for them to fake-date then call it off. Liz also has a strained relationship with her step-mom, Helena, since she doesn’t want to replace her mom.  Liz and Wes go to a basketball game with a bunch of Wes’ friends and afterwards when Michael is teaching Liz how to play, she accidentally gets hit in her face by a basketball. Again Wes takes care of her and even takes her to the hospital. So Liz comes up with the idea for them to fake-date then call it off. Liz and Wes spend more time together in a area a little beyond their backyards. She realizes maybe Wes isn’t horrible and she enjoys spending time with him. Liz’s dad asks Liz to take Helena prom dress shopping and does so finding a beautiful dress. Then Helena says something to remind Liz of her mother and she becomes sad. 

Michael invites her to his house with others to watch a movie and to give Wes a chance, as he believes Wes likes her. As they watch the movie, Liz is sitting with Wes and has a moment where she thinks they might kiss but the moment passes. After the movie, Wes tells Michael that Liz can play piano and Michael invites her into his dad’s music room to play. They talk and Michael says Wes said him and Liz are just friends and he is thinking about dating another girl, Alex. While this was the plan, Liz is confused since she feels nothing for Michael and something for Wes.  As Wes takes her home, they have a near miss car accident and end up stuck on the side of the road. Wes calls his dad to help and as they wait, Liz thinks about everything and kisses him. He is stunned but then kisses her back. Wes’ dad shows up and takes them home. 

The next day at school, Michael makes a show out of doing a prom-posal in front of the school for her. She sees Wes in the crowd giving her a thumbs up so she reluctantly says yes. Joss is confused since she thought her and Wes were a thing but then realizes Liz did all of it to get Michael. Liz then gets into a fight with her step-mom when she tells her about it since she over-romanticizes her life. She also runs into Wes who she thanks for getting Michael and he says he will take Alex to prom. At prom, she realizes her and Michael are better off as friends and he should ask a different girl, Laney, to dance. When Michael first came back, he was good friends with Laney but she had just broken up from her boyfriend and didn’t want to be the rebound. Michael and Laney are happy together and Liz runs into Joss in the hallway outside of prom. She apologizes for the lying and says doing stuff without her mom is hard. Joss understands and they talk for a couple hours before they head home. She goes home and apologizes to Helena and they make up, her dad also comes and says Wes never needed the parking spot and probably only did it to speak to Liz. She realizes she wants to confess to Wes so she gets some supplies and waits for him in their area. Soon Wes shows up but with Alex, Liz tries to clean up and says her cat got loose. She drives around for a while and when she comes back Wes wants to talk to her. She finally convinces she has feelings for him and he confesses that he has had feelings for her for a long time. He says he didn’t want to mess up her chance with Michael so he let her go and Liz explains she wants him. They kiss and months later they go to college still dating.

Long Summary- 10-15 minutes

Liz fell in love with romance movies after joining her mom in watching one after a nightmare when she was young. Her neighbor, Wes, and her have been friends for a long time and have been recently fighting over a parking spot, often in silly/ childish ways. Liz often dresses like characters in the rom-coms (80s, or 90s) and has a best friend named Jocelyn, Joss, and has a class with a pretty girl named Laney. Liz’s mom died shortly before fifth grade and Laney always had handwritten notes in her lunchbox from her mom which made Liz jealous and she is convinced that Laney is secretly a horrible person. Since she is obsessed with rom-coms, she also wants to find her soul-mate but often just ends up dating someone for a couple of weeks before she quits.  She is going to prom with her friends but wants to have a more rom-com style night. 

In school, Liz sees Michael who she had a childhood crush on but he moved away and apparently has come back. Wes is friends with Michael and catches him up and invites him to a party of a mutual friend. Liz is drooling over him and thinks Wes is rude to not also invite her and Joss even though she doesn’t know him. Joss also tells her that he actually came back a month ago and lives next door to Laney and are almost a couple which Liz is sad about.  Joss invites her to go dress shopping which Liz declines because she has to work. She has been avoiding it since she misses her own mom. 

Liz has a genius idea to help her get close to Michael which includes Wes. She offers to give up the parking spot if he takes her to the party so she can talk to Michael. Wes thinks about it and after some playful banter agrees but mentions that heard Michael was interested in Laney. They talk about her love for romantic movies and how most of them are enemies-to-lovers so technically Liz should “hate” Michael for him to be the guy. Afterwards she goes on her daily run to visit her mom’s grave and tells her about her day.  When she is doing homework, Joss and two friends visit her and they talk about ideas for their senior prank and Liz thinks about how they only have a few months left.

Liz is waiting for Wes and her dad and Helena are waiting with her. Her dad met Helena when they were stuck in an elevator. Her dad is strict about her curfew of midnight since her mom died late at night when a drunk driver hit her. Wes calls her Libby which she hates, since her mom called her that, which makes Wes want to do it more. Liz can’t find Michael at the party but Wes has stayed by her side. A girl, Ash, comes up and hits on Wes. He looks uncomfortable so Liz whispers to the girl and they had come together to which Ash apologizes. Michael shows up and wonders where she works since he thinks her dress is a waitress outfit. Liz lies and says she works at a dinner. Someone brings up how prom is in a few  weeks and how a group is getting a limo and invites them. Michael thinks that Liz and Wes are a thing but they both quickly deny it. They are talking about their childhood together and Liz confesses that she had a crush on him and when Michael starts to respond, Ash throws up on Liz. Wes takes care of her and leads to a bathroom and grabs some clothes for her. She changes and heads downstairs where someone calls her ‘vomit girl’, Wes spots her takes her home.   

On the way home, Liz asks Wes if Michael said anything about her and he said that Michael thinks of her as the little weird girl that used to play with. She used to make up weird songs, plays and pretended to have pretend boyfriends. However Wes defended her and said she was a ‘hot girl’ at school which made Michael think that they were together. So she comes up with the idea to fake-date so Michael thinks she is cool and to give him the spot for a week. He counters with if he can help get Michael to ask her to prom then he gets the spot permanently. 

While Liz is at work, Wes visits her to tell her a few people are going to see a basketball game so he invites to ‘fake date.’ He tells her she should change her fashion since she dresses oddly. She is offended but takes him on his offer to walk around the mall. She texts Joss to reschedule dress shopping and lies saying she has to work. At the mall, Wes grabs a bunch of clothes for her to try in a trendy clothes store. Suddenly, Joss is there wondering why Liz is at the mall. Liz lies and says she got off work early and is helping Wes pick out a birthday present. Joss believes them and Liz goes on and tries a few items and buys them. Wes surprises her by buying her shoes, chucks. As they leave, they start talking about music and how Liz and her mom made soundtracks to everything. Wes realizes that Liz made a soundtrack for her and Michael. They also joke about what would be on their soundtrack and then they arrive and Wes suggests she straighten her hair to achieve the ‘hot girl’ look.

As she waits for Wes, Joss shows up since Liz isn’t answering her phone and mentions dress shopping in front of Helena, who mentioned taking her shopping about a month ago. Wes shows up and Helena asks if he found her at her work which contradicts the lie Liz told Joss. Joss takes her into the bathroom to confront her and Liz changes her story and Joss thinks that Wes is trying to date Liz which she says maybe. This confuses Joss since she thought Liz hated him. They go back out and Wes and Liz leave. Michael texts Wes and Liz answers but then sends silly messages pretending to be Wes. They go to a friend’s house so they can all take a bigger car. They get into the car and Liz is sitting next to Michael and Wes talks to other people. She is not sure what to say but then he starts the conversation saying she looks like her mom. They are talking about her mom but the car stops and Laney enters the car to Liz and Wes’s surprise. Joss also texts her about her going to the party and saying she is acting weird. 

At the game Liz is bored/ focused on Laney’s cheer performance so Wes creates a bet to get her mind off of it. Afterwards Michael thinks she is into basketball and a certain player (the one Liz and Wes bet on) and Liz makes up a lie they used to date. The boys start playing their own little game and Liz sits and watches while listening/ imagining a soundtrack. Later Michael asks her to play which she says she is uncoordinated and Michael promises to help. He tries to tell her that Wes is into her and she plays it off as just friendship. She casually mentions prom but then is hit in the face by a basketball. She bleeds for a while and when she takes off Wes’s shirt, that she was using to stop the bleeding, it looks bad so Wes offers to take her to the ER.  They meet her dad there and Wes leaves. Liz tells Joss about the nose and Joss thinks since Wes took her to the hospital, that he likes her. When she is at home, she gets a text from Michael asking her if she is okay and they start texting. After she calls Wes to ask if everything was okay since he looked a bit tense before leaving which he denies. She also asks about Michael to which Wes confirms giving him her number as well as mentioning that Michael liked her look. They end up talking for a while before finally going to sleep. 

In the morning, her dad asks her about her nose and some college forms she needs to take care of. Liz asks if she was a weird kid and her dad shares a memory of when she tried to force a neighborhood kid into marriage and even tackled him.  While at work, Michael shows up not knowing she worked there, asking for a romance book which surprises Liz. They talk for a bit and Michael is convinced that Wes likes Liz and tries to get her to give him a shot. He invites her to his house as a few people are coming over to watch a movie and thinks she should come with Wes. 

Later on she is out for her run talking to her mom but Wes sees her. He was also out running and saw her but feels bad for intruding, she is upset and runs home. When she gets home, her dad asks her to take Helena when she goes dress shopping and Liz reluctantly agrees. Wes texts her and apologizes, but she says sorry for overreacting. He says he understands since he talks to his grandma when he visits her grave too. She looks over and wonders where he is and he tells her that he is at the Secret Area, a little forest they have in their backyard they played a lot as kids.  She isn’t supposed to be out but says she will after he dares her. 

Liz wants to hang out with Wes due to their shared grief. Liz is surprised when she gets there and it is nicely decorated to which Wes confesses he did himself after he worked for a landscaping company. They talk about Michael and his invitation and they think maybe fake dating is not a good cover and they should go but declare they are not a match. He apologizes again for the cemetery but Liz says it’s okay, then Wes shares a story about her mom. Liz talks about how she misses her mom and how Helena is there, Wes suggests trying to include her but not as a replacement mom. They talk about other things and Wes offers her a cigar which she tries but hates. Liz mentions a girl, Alex, having a crush on Wes and Wes says she is pretty but not the one since he wants someone to make him laugh. 

Liz is practicing piano and mentions to Helena that she is going prom dress shopping with Joss and invites her. Helena thinks her dad asked her to do it but Liz denies it and Helena accepts and gets really excited. They start talking about Wes and Liz just says they are friends but Helena is confused since they have been fighting forever. Liz then tells her everything but as a secret. Helena laughs as Liz’s bad luck and says the universe is trying to keep them apart and likes Wes more. She is trying on dresses with Joss and not finding anything. Wes starts texting her and Joss is surprised but happy. Wes mentions that white is her color and she tries one on. It is beautiful and even sends a pic to him. Helena says something that reminds her of her mother and she immediately takes it off and pays for it even though Helena offered and wants to go straight home.

There is a meteor shower so Wes and Liz hang outside. They talk about college plans and Liz wants to go to UCLA for musicology so she can become a music supervisor, curating music for soundtracks. Wes mentions he got offers at several schools to play baseball to which Liz mentions never seeing a game. Liz’s dad shows up mad that she is up late and they explain they wanted to watch the meteor shower, which they actually forgot about. Before going to Michael’s to watch movies, Wes and Liz go and eat at a burger place. At diner, Liz starts feeling confused about if she is starting to like Wes. During the movie all Liz can think about is Wes and how close they are sitting. At one point Wes leans over and whispers a joke to her and she looks at his lips and there is a weird moment, where she thinks they could kiss. Someone interrupts them wanting to sit near them and Wes goes to get a drink. After the movie, Wes mentions that Michael has a grand piano and that Liz can play. Liz and Michael go to see it alone and he encourages her to play which she does. She is having alone time with Michael but then the others, not Wes or Alex, show up. Laney is jealous that she can play. Wes shows up asking about pizza which others agree to and leave. Michael mentions that Wes told him that they were just friends and he is thinking of dating Alex. Michael then mentions Laney, when he came back to school, she had just broken up with her boyfriend. Michael does not want to start something with her if she isn’t over her ex. They talk about prom should mean something and not just going with friends and she realizes she does like Wes. Someone interrupts again asking them to play a game and they join. 

Wes and Liz leave but it starts raining. Liz mentions him going to date Alex and then the car in front of them stops suddenly causing Wes to swerve almost hitting it and then down a hill and almost hitting a tree. Turns out they hit a rock and are stuck. Wes calls his dad who will be there in ten minutes. Wes notices her curls are back and says he regrets saying she needed to change. Then Liz kisses him and after being stunned for a minute, he kisses her back. They kiss for a bit and then Wes’s dad shows up. He gives them a ride as his dad’s friend uses their tow truck on Wes’s car. She gets home and tells Helena about her night. She also invites Helena for a pre-prom salon time. She goes to her room and texts Joss that she like-likes Wes but leaves out the kiss.    

 Liz is at school thinking about Wes with Joss when she notices a bunch of people near the parking lot. Everyone is looking at a car with a prom-posal from Michael to Liz. Joss urges him to let him down gently and she asks Muchael about Laney and he says why not Liz. Liz looks at Wes in the crowd and he gives her a thumbs up. Michael asks for an answer since it had been a few minutes and she reluctantly says yes. Michael mentions them talking last night in front of Joss. She gets mad that Liz hasn’t been truthful and they have a fight and Joss realizes Liz lied and schemed with Wes to get Michael. When she gets home, Helena asks about her day and Liz tells her how she said yes to prom with Michael. Helena is confused and criticizes her over-romantic ideas which makes Liz upset since she thinks her mom would have understood. Liz goes out for a run and sees Helena at her mother’s grave. They argue again and she leaves. She runs into Wes on the way home and she says thanks for “getting” Michael. He says he will take Alex to prom and then they fight about how Liz is trying to be like her mom and she could have her own style. 

Until prom, Liz just worked a lot since she wasn’t speaking to Joss, Wes, or Helena. Michael picks her up and makes small talk with her dad. They go to dinner and everything is perfect which makes Liz feel weird since she doesn’t feel anything.  Lane comes by for a minute to say hi which then prompts Liz asking Michael about her. Liz learns Laney is a nice person and volunteers at an animal shelter. Liz then confesses she asked Wes for help to get Michael’s attention. She goes to the bathroom and runs into Laney who says she looks sad and thinks it is due to her mom. Laney mentions how her own mom felt bad about Liz’s mom passing and always packed extra food for her but Liz always said no. Liz tells Laney that her and Michael are going as friends and how he was worried she wasn’t over her ex. She encourages her to speak to Michael as it is obvious she likes him. 

Inside prom, she encourages Michael to go speak to Laney and how Laney likes him. He hugs her and leaves. She walks out and runs into Joss and explains everything and apologizes. Joss is still mad but Liz explains that she just misses her mom who won’t be around for all the milestones. Joss understands and they are friendly again. One of Wes’s friends shows up and all three chat for a while before they leave.  She goes home and starts watching You Got Mail. Helena comes in and asks about prom, and then starts to leave. Liz asks her if she wants to watch the movie together and she agrees. Helena makes a comment about the movie and it makes Liz realize a lot and says sorry to Helena. Her dad comes in and Liz tells them all about prom and how Wes is happy with Alex. Her dad reveals that Wes has been in love with her since they were kids. Also, how he doesn’t actually need the parking spot but how he started that when she could drive and did it for a reason to talk to her.

She makes a CD and gets some supplies and waits in the Secret Area for Wes. However he comes back with Alex. She quickly tries to clean up and leave but is unsuccessful. She makes up a story of how her cat ran out and how special a penny can be before she leaves. She ends up driving around and getting food. She gets back and is debating on where to park when Wes knocks on her window. She sticks with her story and he says how he saw the CD and the other stuff she left. She confesses she was wrong about Michael and she loves him. But he is happy with ‘perfect’ Alex. He responds she isn’t perfect because she isn’t Liz and confesses all the things he likes about her. They talk about how he has loved her for years but knew she wanted Michael so he wanted to help her. She confesses that she wanted to go with him and they kiss. 

A few months later, Liz and Wes stop by her mother’s grave to say bye for a while as they are going to college. As they leave, a cardinal shows up on her gravestone. It shocks Liz as cardinals have always reminded Liz of her mother.

My Review- 4/5 stars

This was a very cute story about a highschool romance. It had clear tropes and was a fun read. Liz was a very believeable main character dealing with loss even though it is years later. I enjoyed the makeover part since it still seemed like her style but with a bit more her modern ideas compared to just plain “pretty” clothes. Wes seemed perfect and it was nice that he appreciated Liz’s style and hobbies. Their friendship was very cute and definitely could be a highschool rom-com. I am a bit older than highschool so this was a bit YA for my usual taste but still enjoyable.