As you might remember – you will definitely do when you have been following my blog for a longer while –, I was really in my romance era in 2024. It was exactly that summer when I came across Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle. I was eating up all kinds of romance, so naturally I had to add this book to my collection and the TBR. It was only the summer of 2025 when I finally picked it up. Did this book still speak to me in the end?

About the book

Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle
Published by Flatiron Books on June 4, 2024
Pages: 322
ISBN: 9781250328090
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

For fans of Emily Henry, a debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup

Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living—which is how she knows “romance” is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth—who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn’t seen in fifteen years.

Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well…one of Chicago’s most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he’s sought “the one” in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.

When Molly’s friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she’s forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a bet: whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.

Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she’ll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he’s delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.

Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates—even if they would never admit it.

My review

Expectations

As it has been a whole year since I bought this book, I wasn’t so sure whether it would still pique my interest. It got quite some buzz back in the day, but it was short-lived. This was definitely due to plenty of mediocre and quite critical reviews. Furthermore, this book got marketed as “for fans of Emily Henry” and surprise surprise, I’m not really one of them. I also strayed away from romance – not fully, don’t worry – as I have a clear vision of what I prefer in my literature and what not. Shallow characters and ditto plot don’t do it for me anymore. When reading the blurb once again, I was afraid that this book would deliver exactly that, shallow characters and a paper thin plot. I therefore decided to dive into this reading adventure with no expectations at all. Honestly, I just wanted to get this out of my “up next” queue on The Storygraph, and I figured summer is the best time to accomplish that.

Characters

We alternately follow Molly Marks and Seth Rubenstein. They have been to high school together and even were high school sweethearts. However, they haven’t spoken in fifteen years. When they are placed at the same table at their high school reunion, they start talking again and they close a bet on the relationship status of five couples in five years time, themselves included. If this doesn’t sound shallow enough to you, the characters might. Molly and Seth are elaborated at surface level which is not ideal for a romance novel. We hardly get to know them, apart from the fact they are wallowing in self-pity and that they are still attracted to each other. The chemistry isn’t there, because they lack depth and personality. The romance therefore feels forced. Because of all these elements being non-existent, the characters barely show growth. Molly has undergone a traumatic experience in her youth that determines her believe in love. As a screenwriter for romantic comedies, this is ironic. Her career is in shambles, and she struggles with the insecurity that comes with that. Molly has a low self esteem and that doesn’t help her with Seth and her career. Seth on the other hand is a divorce lawyer, another irony. However, this is hardly touched upon. These aspects are all mentioned but only make sense towards the end of the book.

Plot

The plot isn’t much better. Romance is character driven and therefore the plot is subordinate to it. As this story is set in the span of five years time, there’s a lot of time jumping involved. We get to see what Molly and Seth have been up to in their lives on several occasions between 2018 and 2023, but there’s not much that piqued my interest. The lack of character development is to blame for this as well. It was okay, definitely predictable and absolutely not intriguing. This plot falls flat as a book in my opinion. It would work much better as a movie or even TV series. Which makes sense, seen Molly’s career path. Many might enjoy this way of storytelling and such, but it’s too much at surface level for me. It is never funny, nor sexy. I just cringed, shrugged and rolled my eyes a lot because I was so underwhelmed and annoyed.

Writing

Doyle’s accessible and straight forward writing style is what saves this book for me. I was able to finish it pretty quickly, which is good looking at the disappointment I was feeling with characters and plot. The POV switches are indicated clearly, as are the time jumps. The writing is just generic, shallow maybe, but the perfect fit for this type of novel.

Final thoughts

I already kind of knew it, but Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle lives up to its title for me. It’s not too bad, hence the 3 stars, but it’s not a book I will remember either. It’s just a palate cleanser that happens to be mediocre at best. Both characters and plot are shallow. There is no growth and development visible, and the progression off the story is predictable. This is what works well for the genre, but books don’t get away with this with me anymore. This falls flat as a book but would work very well as a movie. Are you looking for an easy read that doesn’t demand you to think a lot? Then this book might be a good fit for you. I still have no clue what the 2024 Laurie was thinking when buying this book.