How to Accidentally Settle Down [With Your High School Boyfriend] is stand up comedian Katherine Ryan's account of her tumultuous dating history, which ends as she ends up settling down with her high school boyfriend from her small town in Canada. I too have accidentally settled down with someone I went to high school with and I'm a fan of Katherine Ryan, so I thought this would be a fun and quick read!

And quick it was! At 42 pages, I finished very fast. I liked getting to hear her story and her dating misadventures. Her writing was witty and unfiltered. I wish that it had been longer! Once I finished, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel because it kind of ended like "that's my story!" instead of wrapping it up with any overall thoughts on love, relationships, etc. I think if this had been a longer novella or memoir it would have worked better for me. Ryan obviously has a lot of thoughts on stand up comedy, which felt a little out of place in this story (if it's just supposed to be a short story about her dating history) and might have worked better if it was expanded into a longer book. Some of the jokes related to this area didn't hit for me, and I think they would have if there was more room to express her thoughts in this area.

I recommend this if you're a huge fan of Katherine Ryan or want a quick and funny read. 3 stars from me. Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book, my thoughts are my own!

How to Accidentally Settle Down is a short story told by comedian Katherine Ryan chronicling her love life from high school to her mid thirties.
It's always hard to review a story about someone's life, especially when you have mixed feelings about what you just read. This was an incredibly short story with alot of life details. Unfortunately, I felt Katherine was trying to squeeze in too many details. The overall content wasn't horrible, it just could've used more space to depict the story being told. This would have allowed for more freedom to get into the nitty gritty rather than jump around so quickly. Overall, it wasn't a bad read, it just needed to be longer.

I absolutely love Katherine Ryan. I'm quite picky with comedians - sometimes they can be too much, and I go off them very quickly. Ryan isn't one of those. She's hilarious, and unashamedly so. I could recite her Hamilton gag to the pitch. I love that she stands up for what she believes in. So it would come as no surprise that I absolutely loved HOW TO ACCIDENTALLY SETTLE DOWN. This novella recounts Ryan's relationships over the years, from her first high school boyfriend to the man who fathered her adorably precocious daughter, to reconnecting with that same HS boyfriend she later married. Ryan's humour is dry and witty - very much influenced by her years in the UK. So if that's your sort of thing, this novella will do the trick. The only sad thing? I actually would devour a full memoir by Ryan - maybe someday!

Thank you for the EArc NetGalley and Amazon Stories. How to Accidently Settle Down is a quick trip down memory lane with Katherine Ryan. You get to learn about her dating life from High School to present. Her experiences can be quite relatable and she delivers her narrative with a sense of humor. This is a quickie and worth the time it takes to read.

Quick, easy read. The author was extremely relatable, which made me want more. I was sad when it was over.

This was a nice story still filled with humor. I really liked how honest and relatable it was and how everything worked out for her.

I ended up loving this one more than I thought. Mainly because it was such a believable story at least for me. because I'm pretty sure the only way I'm settling down is if it's an accident.

There were things I liked about this. Katherine has a clear voice that is easy to hear in her writing. I think the length was good; it didn't overstay its welcome. The writing style is easy to read as well.

I think this is just not a memoir for me. I don't think this format worked for the story; it could have been more interesting as a comedy special. I couldn't find myself particularly caring about it, nor did I find it particularly funny. I don't think you have to have an eventful life to write a memoir, but this story seemed to focus on strange parts and be very brief for others.

However, I think there is an audience, maybe those more familiar with her and her work, that will love and find inspiration in this. It does have a nice message of not sticking around for the wrong people. It just didn't work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine's short memoir of her younger years with stories of her as a teen, her parents, falling in and out of love several times, dating, and parenthood are told in a fun and sassy way.

I want to thank Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the uncorrected proof of this book in exchange for a review.

I enjoy Katherine Ryan's work. From the time I first saw Glitter Room on Netflix I have been a fan of Ryan's and have been constantly consuming her work. [I recommend listening to her weekly podcast Telling Everybody Everything.]

I liked this book and I think it is a great entry point to Ryan's overall work. However, if you are already a fan, I felt that most of this book was stories you have likely heard before because Ryan is honest, open and self-reflective in her work.

So, for those of you who do not know Ryan's work I recommend you read this book and see what you have been missing. This book will give you a window into Ryan's comedic style and work. From there I am sure you will want to explore her work further.

For those who are already fans of Ryan's work, I would say skip this one and buy her full-length book The Audacity. Her longer work covers much of the same content, but it's even better because it is longer.

Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Received via Netgalley.
This is an account of her romantic relationships from high school through adulthood to finding happiness in single motherhood and eventually reconnecting with and marrying her high school boyfriend. There were some entertaining moments but if you are expecting to laugh out loud, you will v better served watching one of her Netflix specials. Stories felt a bit rushed .

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for access to this title

I truly enjoyed Katherine Ryan's Netflix series " The Duchess" and so when I saw this title, it was an immediate grab. I thought that it was a good memoir type novella of Ryan's guide through romance and motherhood and finally finding happiness with a high school boyfriend. I am not sure if I was supposed to find any of her anecdotes funny. But I did find her voice compelling and her story engaging. If you're looking for a short story to top off that TBR, check this one out.


Expected Publication Date 26/12/23
Goodreads Review 12/12/23


#HowtoAccidentallySettleDown #NetGalley.

This is a very short but sweet account of how Katherine rekindled her romance with OG high school boyfriend. Kind of like her villain origin story, but in a good way.
It's very entertaining, my only comment is that it's too short to really let her humor shine through. You get a few glimpses of it, but I would have liked a few more pages on this — I feel like the topic makes for great material. Still, great read!
Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Its written in the tone and pace of the way that Katherine speaks which is great as the sharpness and humour is why she is such a winner. It was interesting to learn more about her story and the life that she has lead. I just wish that it had been a bit longer as I could have read for hours. All in all 4 stars as she this was told so well and felt like you were listening to her rather than just reading.

I love Katherine Ryan’s stand up and this book was a great read and her sense of humour really shines through.

Some people on here seem to think this is either a short story or novella. Just to be clear: it definitely isn't either of these things!
It is, however, a short memoir by one of the brightest stars of the current comedy scene, Katherine Ryan. It is essentially the story of how Katherine came to be reunited with her old high school boyfriend from her days growing up in Canada. In the years since Ryan had moved to Britain, given birth to a daughter and become a leading comedy star.
It's a good story and Ryan, who is always intelligent and funny, tells it well. The only downsides are that this a very short book and that fans of the talented comedian's work will be familiar with this tale already.

I'm a bit disappointed by this novella and I'm not sure if I'm to blame or it is. The book is tagged as a biography/memoir, and it's certainly a recap of Ryan's relationships from high school on. If you are familiar with her specials, you'll recognize at least some of that here.

Like Ryan's work, there's also a good message about the struggles of being a woman and a woman in comedy, as well as the constant struggle to figure out if doing it all on your own is the best option.

At the end of the day, however, there's not a whole lot of humor here. Maybe it isn't intended to be humorous, but a short story by a skilled comedienne without any feels strange.

Katherine Ryan is, hands down, my favorite comedian. Her Netflix Specials are frequent rewatches for me, and I loved her Netflix scripted show as well. If you're a fan, I'm confident that you'll enjoy this. And vice versa - if you enjoy this, then get over to Netflix and watch her content there. I actually didn't know much about her private life (beyond what she shares in those specials) and had no idea that she had married fairly recently and had more kids, so this was really fun to read.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC

Katherine's wittiness, sense of humour and love for her family all shine through as she recounts a brief history of her love life and how she finally managed to settle down with her high school boyfriend

While this was a very enjoyable quick read (It probably took me just over an hour to finishing reading - and I'm a slow reader!) It feels like this book is just a brief sketch of the author's life, rather than her opening up to the reader. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see her emotional journey change from "I don’t want to be alone -> I don't need a man to in my life -> I've found the right guy

How to Accidentally Settle Down by Katherine Ryan is a novella that details the romantic history of the stand-up comic. While I am not familiar with Ms Ryan's work, I did find this brief telling of her reconnection with her high school boyfriend to be fresh and unfiltered, though I was expecting a few laugh out loud moments, and was sadly left wanting. Overall, though, this is a quick and witty read if you are looking for something a little different from your usual fare. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an ARC.