**Thank you to Macmillan for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I absolutely loved this book!! This is the perfect second chance romances for lovers of romance with both humor and emotional depth, much like Abby Jimenez or Emily Henry! This book also has the "black cat/golden retriever" trope, which I love!

This book follows Molly Marks and Seth Rubenstein, exes who reunite at their 10 year high school reunion. Molly is a rom-com screenwriter who doesn't believe in true love and Seth is a divorce attorney who also happens to be a hopeless romantic. These two are the ultimate "right person, wrong time" couple. After a one night stand after the reunion, the two make a bet on the fate of 5 couples at the reunion, which will still be together in 10 more years? Whoever wins will declare who is correct about love in the end. The catch is - one couple is the two of them.

It follows them over several years, as they keep connecting with each other, and while they do have feelings for each other, it's never the right time. Both of them have a lot to work through - Molly has a terrible fear of abandonment and commitment because of her dad, and Seth rushes love because he thinks it will fix all his problems.

Spoiler: after they get together finally, there is a third act breakup, but truly it felt necessary for me because they needed to work on their own issues apart from each other before they got together, even though they knew they were right for each other, and I think this breakup was motivation to do that!

This book was much more emotional than I expected it to be, I definitely cried, but I also laughed several times too! It strikes a great balance!

Overall, this is 5 stars for me!

My main issue with this is that it's being comped to Emily Henry. I know she's popular and an easy go-to comp for rom-coms, but this is nothing like an Emily Henry book. I actually don't think people that like Emily Henry in particular would gravitate toward this. I opened this expecting a certain type of story and that's not what I was given. This might comp better with Christina Lauren or something. I know that's nitpicky but it's how I feel.

The narration is well done, and I appreciate the two narrators for the two POVs. I would listen to other books with their narrations.

I don't know if I would read another book by this author however. The story just didn't work for me.

Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle is the perfect contemporary rom com for the summer!

This second-chance romance follows the ever-practical Molly Marks as she is reacquainted with high school sweetheart, the charming Seth Rubinstein, at their high school reunion. After a drunken hook up, the two make a bet about the likelihood of five couples being together after five years (including themselves).

Doyle’s book is witty and laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has heart. I continued to root for our two lovers the entire time!

Narrators Christine Lakin and Tim Paige are superb! Their witty back and forth is so fun and entertaining!

Overall, I really loved this book. Fans of Emily Henry will not be disappointed by this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced audio-copy of Just Some Stupid Love Story, in exchange for an honest review.

'Just Some Stupid Love Story' by Katelyn Doyle is a swoon worthy novel that captivates readers with its second chance romance, dual perspectives, and exploration of relationships and soulmates.

The story revolves around former high school sweethearts, Riley and Ethan, who reconnect at their high school reunion. Fueled by a desire for closure, they make a bet: to prove whether true love and soulmates exist. The wager involves observing the relationships of four of their couple friends and predicting their future.

Doyle deftly weaves together Riley and Ethan's past, present, and future through alternating chapters. The flashbacks provide depth and understanding to their initial connection and the reasons for their breakup. The present-day narrative explores their evolving feelings and the obstacles they face.

The author skillfully handles the emotional complexities of second chance romances. Doyle portrays the characters' vulnerability, longing, and the lingering pain from their past. The story is filled with missed timing, hurt feelings, and moments of pure longing.

What sets this book apart is its unique premise. The bet adds an extra layer of intrigue and tension to the narrative. Readers are invested in not only Riley and Ethan's relationship but also in the fate of their friends' relationships. Doyle keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

The audiobook narration by Christine Larkin and Tim Paige is exceptional. They bring the characters to life with distinct voices and emotions. The pacing is perfect, and the performance enhances the story's impact.

Overall, 'Just Some Stupid Love Story' is an unputdownable and highly recommended read for fans of second chance romances, dual POVs, and stories that explore the nature of relationships and soulmates. I truly loved this book and would recommend it to anybody that enjoys a good romance. 4.90 Stars!

Just Some Stupid Love Story centers on Molly Marks, a Hollywood screenwriter who goes to her 15-year high school reunion and meets again Seth Rubinstein, her former high-school boyfriend and divorce lawyer. They made a bet on who best predict five couples' romantic status, one of which includes them.

From the plot, I find Molly and Seth's relationship toxic. As much as I envision Molly as a unlikeable character from her nihilistic viewpoint of love and marriage early on in the story, the reason I couldn't click strongly with their chemistry is the lack of background. Most of the writing is telling than showing and there was a lot of direct mentions of the main characters' past yet I didn't have the opportunity to learn about their past interpersonal behaviors as a flashback. I am not part of the target audience for this book, but it shares some funny moments.

If you're looking for something along the lines of the punchy comedic flair of Funny Story and Love, Rosie but more smuttier and dialogue-heavy, this is the perfect audiobook to listen for the summer. Christine Lakin and Tim Paige's performance made this story breezy and memorable. This audiobook genuinely elevated my reading experience of Just Some Stupid Love Story that I will pick up another book from Doyle if it is the same narrators.


Story: 2/5 stars
Audiobook narration: 4/5 stars

Oh my goodness, I loved this!!! Christine Lakin is one of my favorite narrators and she captured Molly so well. Seth was so good and swoony and I loved their chemistry! Their relationship felt so real and hard won and I loved every minute of it! Such an amazing romcom!

Just Some Stupid Love Story was a fun audiobook to get me through my errands and day! Molly Marks is a romcom writer who does not believe in love; her high school sweetheart Seth Rubinstein is a divorce attorney who is ready for the love of his life—at their fifteenth high school reunion though, the two meet again and they make a bet: whoever predicts the fate of five couples before the next reunion must admit the other is right. This has a lot of elements of a classic rom com. There were some When Harry Met Sally vibes, and it felt like a kind of gender-swapped He’s Just Not That Into You. It was funny and original and I really enjoyed the pacing. I have trouble reading covid storylines, but this felt relatable and honest (covid was just a small part). Personally, I felt the steam levels were inconsistent, some of it was steamy and other parts were closed doors in ways that felt like a big difference. The third act breakup also didn’t super work for me, but the rest of the book did. The dialogue was fun and sharp and the characters were well developed. I loved the connection of Seth and Molly. They’re both complex characters and the banter was spot-on from their emails to texts to FaceTimes to in-person running. I do think this is one of the only grump/sunshines where they guy was the sunshine, and I do think I prefer a broody hero, but this book is bright and witty, and a fun rom com.

Rating: 4.5 stars!

The audio book narrators (for the dual POVs) are fantastic! You can hear the heartbreak and the hopefulness in their voices. The book was a spicy compared to the books I typically read, but if that's your thing, you're sure to love it!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not for me, which is unexpected as second chance romance with trope bingo and some meta touches are all usually right up my alley.

I thought the premise of high school sweethearts at their high school reunion, betting on five couples over five years, was brilliant. I also enjoyed Christine Lakin's narration of Molly.

I did not enjoy Seth's narration, and I can't tell how much that's impacting my opinion of his POV as a whole. I may have enjoyed this book more by reading instead of listening.

To me, Seth felt one dimensional. Golden retriever MC is one thing, but this much optimism/romanticism feels delusional. Molly was more rounded out, but for all the work she did on herself, she put them right back where they were 15 years prior. Their almosts and near-misses weren't the right kind of will they/won't they for me.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where contemporary romance is popular.

Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle and narrated by Christine Lakin and Tim Paige was an enjoyable book to listen to and one that I spent most of one whole day listening to.

Molly is a scriptwriter who is returning home for her high school reunion who ends up meeting up with her high school boyfriend, whom she broke up with on the night of their senior prom. Seth is a lawyer and wants to find love and happiness. They make a bet at the reunion about the couples that are together and if they will still be together at the 20th reunion. During that five years they each live their own lives, but always with the other one in the back of their minds. Their lives intermingle during the five years and that makes the longing (?) for each other more prevalent.

I really enjoy books where the female is the grumpy one, a happily every after has to be worked for, and real life stuff happens. This book checks all of those boxes and includes romance, laughter, and witty conversations between all of the characters.

The narrators in this dual pov, audiobook, were spot on. I was able to fall into the story and they embodied the characters perfectly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Molly and Seth were high school sweethearts, but the night of senior prom, Molly broke up with Seth, before they went off to college separately. 15 years later at their high school reunion, they are each other again for the first time since it happened.

Now Molly is a rom com scriptwriter who doesn't believe in romance lasting and Seth is a lawyer practicing family law who wants nothing more than to find his life partner. They make a wager at their 15 year high school reunion in who is right about romance, and the outcomes of 5 couples, including themselves, for who will be together for their 20 year reunion.

" Talking to you is like having through my high school yearbook while listening to Dashboard Confessional."

Does Seth qualify as a golden retriever? There's definitely a grumpy/sunshine relationship here with Molly and Seth
From the 15 year high school reunion to the 20th, we see how these relationships play out, including Molly's and Seth's. I don't love poor communication as a plot device for the leads misunderstanding each other and their feelings, but I understand it's common. That said, there's a lot of lovely sections in the beats of their story.

I enjoyed both narrators in their dual POV audio book.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an ALC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I adored everything about this title, especially the sarcastic banter between the characters. It had the perfect blend of self-sabotage, hopeless optimism and real-life to keep me reading. It is a great weekend read and I loved every word! Can't wait to see more by Katelyn Doyle!

Thank you to flatiron for my physical arc and Macmillan audio for the alc. I enjoyed listening to this book so much and would follow along in the book sometimes as well! The narrators really brought the characters to life for me! This was a fun romcom with witty banter, some dirty talk and a lot of spice! I thought it was a great second chance romance story with an original concept. While Seth is adorable and likable, he isn’t your typical book boyfriend! But his chemistry with Molly was off the charts and I loved how the story ended! Also, if you are into the sprayed edges, I mean who isn’t??, this one will have gorgeous purple edges, so make sure you preorder!!

Warning……. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥…… spicy 🌶️ but realistic!!! 😍

Synopsis: Molly Marks, a pessimist towards love, has made a career off of RomCom Script Writing only to be challenged at her high school reunion to a bet that love is real with her high school ex boyfriend turned divorce attorney, Seth Rubenstein. Will Molly win the bet, or will she fall prey to the love she feels she can never have?


Review: Y’all this book is such a fun twist on teenage romance turned silly teenage breakup to high school reunion bets…… I loved how the two main characters lives took such realistic turns and things never really lined up quite right, but showed how timing in life means so much!!! This is a realistic broken romance that adds a realistic amount of steam for how adults likely are in real dating situations. (I wouldn’t know I was married at 20…. But seems accurate:) I enjoyed the banter and the betting, the hilarious comments, the views of lots of different side relationships. I loved the theme of Love and how no relationship is perfect. Truly the accuracy of feelings from a child of divorce was impressive. The brokenness and desperation from both characters added greatly to the character development and brought impressive insights:)

If you would enjoy a steamier version of Emily Henry, then I encourage you to read this book.

Content: Divorce Trauma
Romance: STEAMY! You have been warned.

If you're super into romance novels as a genre, you're going to love this one! The overarching plot was cute, and how the story dealt with Covid-19 felt really realistic (vs some other romance novels I've read featuring that time). The main characters both had realistic problems that still felt unique - our FMC struggles to be emotionally vulnerable, while our MMC is almost TOO emotionally vulnerable. This felt very different from other romance books I've read, and it really made the story stand out to me! And (without spoiling anything) I LOVED the ending of this one. It was laugh-out-loud hilarious, and made up for all of the "cringe" moments that are typical of the genre.

I loved the idea of a missed connections romance, but, sadly, this fell flat for me. In Just Some Stupid Love Story, we follow Seth and Molly who were former high school sweethearts reunited at their high school reunion. Their on and off relationship felt like a situation typical of a young adult novel. The characters were messy and indecisive to the point of leaving me dreading to continue the book. There was one too many breakups between Molly and Seth to feel realistic and it made me feel as though they weren’t meant to be together.
The narrators were fantastic and saved this book for me, incredible job by both of them. Three stars.

This was such a fun romcom!

Molly and Seth dated in high school. She broke up with him before leaving for college and broke his heart.

Molly is a romcom screenwriter who isn't sure she believes in love and seems to sabotage her own relationships. Seth is a divorce attorney who definitely believes in love and soulmates.

They run into each other at their fifteenth high school reunion and hook up. Seth and Molly bet about several couples and what their relationship status will be at the twentieth reunion. Seth thinks they will be together. Molly disagrees.

Both go their own way. They have other relationships. Their paths cross several times. But they can't stop thinking about each other.

Who do you think will win the bet?

Many thanks to Flatiron books for an eARC and MacMillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I adored this book and loved laughing and kicking my feet at the banter between characters. The book kept me engaged from the beginning and i will be highly recommending this book to all my reader friends!

ARC review.
Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle
I do not DNF books. Like ever. I listened to this on audio. I could not get through it. I love second chance romance. But. This was too much. I love grumpy/sunshine and reverse grumpy/sunshine. This was a big no.
The MFC was annoying. The MMC was the only good part in this book.
I love some back and forth..but this was too much. They were back and forth so many times I lost count. Had the book been shorter and some stuff had been cut out, it could've been better.
The relationship was toxic at best.
I'm not at all saying this was a bad book...it just wasn't for me.