Review: In Review: Love Like the Movies by Victoria Van Tiem
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 24, 2014
"The magic of boy meets girl, the angst of catch and release, the serendipity of meant-to-be. It doesn't matter if a romantic comedy follows a predictable course, we respond because it's rooted in truth. In magic."You could probably guess this based on the majority of the books I read, but did you know romantic comedies are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine? They totally are. This book took two of my favorite things: rom com movies and books with characters you can't help but love and rolled it them into one amazingly charming package.Kenzi's life gets interesting soon after she gets engaged to her boyfriend Bradley (yawn!). Her ex pops back up into her life via Facebook. (Always fun when that happens.) She finds out she's in danger of losing her job. She has a huge client to impress and guess what? The big client is her ex. The one that got away. He's not too impressed with the design work she proposes, he knows she has more to offer, but is willing to give her a second shot, provided she play by his rules. Shane's opening a movie theater/restaurant combination (inspired by her... them) and wants to see her love of movies (romantic comedies, of course), her personality and talent shine through in the design. To achieve this (and hopefully win himself a second chance with her), he asks that she agrees to live ten movie moments with him. She does and hilarity (and more than a little real-life drama and romance) ensues.Love Like the Movies list:♥ Sleepless in Seattle♥ Pretty Woman♥ Bridget Jones's Diary♥ 27 Dresses♥ Dirty Dancing♥ Sixteen Candles♥ Love Actually♥ Say Anything♥ You've Got Mail♥ My Best Friend's WeddingJust look at this list. If you're a fan of rom coms, you can't help but love these movies. I may or may not own all of them. Knowing Shane and Kenzi were going to be recreating scenes from some of my all-time favorite rom coms was enough to completely suck me into this book. Which scenes?! I had a pretty good idea on some of the scenes he would choose, but others were a little more unclear. None of them were disappointing though. I hate using the word "cute" to describe a book, but I can't help it in this case. It was ridiculously cute and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I'm pretty sure I had a giant, goofy smile on my face for this entire book."In 13 Going on 30, Jennifer Garner's character, Jenna, wants to be thirty, flirty and thriving. Through wishing dust, it's granted, but it's not quite as she hoped. Eventually, she gets a second chance. A do-over. I'm not quite thirty and my life isn't thriving. But just like Jenna Rink, I have another chance to start in a new direction. Turns out, I get my do-over after all. No wishing dust needed. Only courage."I absolutely adored Kenzi. She was relatable and charming and completely awkward at times. Her relationship with her family was strained. Every time something big happens in her life, like her engagement to the totally dreamy (or not...) Bradley, she finds herself overshadowed by Ren or Grayson. Her family's an odd bunch. I wasn't honestly a huge fan of them. Nor was I a fan of her fiancé Bradley. He was boring. I didn't see the chemistry between them. He came off like a jerk with a secret... which he was. He was controlling and not in a good way. They didn't match well. Shane, Kenzi's ex, on the other hand, was brilliant. He was sexy and swoony and a perfect match for her. He supported her true dreams. He cared about her interests and obviously still had a thing for her. Their chemistry was off the charts.Love Like the Movies was completely charming and adorably swoony. Was it predictable? Fairly. Did I mind? Not even one little bit. I wanted a sweet book with an HEA and I got it with this one. I love second chance love stories and this one is high on the list of my all-time favorites. It was easy to love the characters (or at least Kenzi and Shane) and I loved Kenzi's inner dialogue. We have the same taste in movies and I really enjoyed how she related events occurring in her life with those she'd seen in movies. If you love romantic comedies (regardless of how "cheesy" they are) and you're looking for a fun book with great writing and lovable characters, you have to read this one. You'll love it.I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. All quotes come from the review copy and may differ from the final version.