“Please don’t wake up,” Bailey thought, watching the cynical, infuriating guy beside her sleep. Despite his button-pushing throughout their flight, she couldn’t help noticing his attractiveness now—the length of his eyelashes, thickness of his dark hair, and tiny dimple in his chin. “You checking me out, Glasses?” he asked without opening his eyes, making her flush with embarrassment. “Swear to God I can hear you holding your breath. Relax and exhale, kid; it’s okay to creep on me.”
“Better Than Before” by Lynn Painter is a captivating young adult romance that explores the delicious complexity of relationships that evolve from antagonism to attraction. The novel follows the intertwined stories of Bailey and Charlie, who first meet as strangers on a flight to Nebraska, and Wes and Liz, longtime neighbors with a love-hate relationship simmering beneath their constant bickering.
The story opens with Bailey’s first solo flight, where she finds herself seated next to “Mr. Nothing” (Charlie) – a cynical, button-pushing smart-ass who manages to both irritate and intrigue her throughout their journey. Despite their contentious interaction, there’s an undeniable spark between them as they trade barbs and observations. When Charlie unexpectedly shows a moment of vulnerability, Bailey instinctively tries to reassure him, revealing her inherent kindness beneath her defensive exterior.
Meanwhile, we meet Wes and Liz, neighbors who’ve perfected the art of antagonizing each other over years of proximity. Their dynamic is electric—full of cutting remarks, eye rolls, and the kind of passionate annoyance that barely conceals deeper feelings. Wes knows exactly how to get under Liz’s skin, from deliberately throwing footballs into her yard to teasing her about the romance novel she’s reading beneath her favorite cottonwood tree.
The narrative brilliantly contrasts these two relationship dynamics—Bailey and Charlie’s fresh, uncertain connection versus Wes and Liz’s long-established pattern of mutual provocation. The plot thickens when Charlie is revealed to be Wes’s cousin, creating a perfect storm of emotions and complications as the four characters’ lives intersect.
Painter excels at capturing the exquisite tension of young love, particularly the kind that begins with friction. Her dialogue crackles with wit and authenticity as the characters navigate their feelings. Bailey’s frizzy hair and braces alongside her sharp tongue make her endearingly imperfect, while Charlie’s initial arrogance gives way to glimpses of genuine interest. Wes’s cocky exterior barely conceals his fascination with Liz, whose expressive green eyes and fiery red hair mirror her passionate personality.
The novel delves into themes of perception versus reality, exploring how we often misjudge people based on initial impressions or carefully constructed facades. Each character harbors vulnerabilities they’re reluctant to expose, from Charlie’s concern that those close to him hate him to Liz’s immediate self-consciousness when Wes mentions her past embarrassing moments.
The push-pull of attraction and resistance forms the emotional core of the story, as the characters struggle with acknowledging their true feelings. Painter masterfully builds the romantic tension through small moments—Charlie noticing the strawberry scent of Bailey’s lip gloss, Wes being affected by the metallic shine of Liz’s hair in the sunlight.
“Better Than Before” delivers everything readers crave in contemporary YA romance: sizzling banter, authentic teenage emotions, and the beautiful complexity of relationships that start in one place and evolve into something deeper and more meaningful than either party could have imagined. It’s a story about how sometimes the people who push our buttons are precisely the ones who steal our hearts.