What happens when the characters in a romance know that they’re in one? Rom-coms are screenwriter Molly Marks’ bread and butter, so she’s already well aware of the tropes at play when she sees Seth Rubenstein at their high school reunion. He’s her first love, high school sweetheart, the one who got away, the one whose heart she broke. She’s the snarky cynic who runs from anything that looks like love, and he’s the wide-eyed dreamer who throws himself headlong into relationships because he still believes in true love, despite his highly successful career as a divorce attorney. They’re hitting every beat for a second-chance, opposites-attract romance, but Molly thinks she’s too smart to fall into that trap. She makes a bet with Seth: They’ll pick five couples and use their expertise to predict whether they’ll last or fail by their next reunion. Whoever makes the most correct predictions is the one who is truly right about love. But the fifth couple Seth picks to go the distance? It’s them.
In Just Some Stupid Love Story, author Katelyn Doyle takes her time with her characters. This isn’t a romance where perfect love is achieved in a matter of days. The timeline goes from Molly and Seth’s 15-year reunion in 2018 all the way to their 21-year one in 2023, including the height of the pandemic—which Doyle folds into the story very effectively, showing how COVID-19 acted as a pressure cooker for personal relationships. Seth and Molly’s relationship develops in fits and starts, often moving two steps forward and one step back even as their feelings for each other endure, sometimes painfully. Love doesn’t come quickly or easily in Just Some Stupid Love Story, and when it comes, it doesn’t fix everything. These characters legitimately struggle to overcome their fears, let go of their worst tendencies and show compassion even when faced with situations they don’t fully understand. While there are plenty of stories out there that say love conquers all, this one actually shows how and why. And that’s as surprising as it is satisfying.
