the story of soulmates

Molly Marks shows up at her 15th high school anniversary, a writer of romantic comedy screenplays, but not really believing in love. She wants to drink and roll her eyes at her former classmates and be cynical about life in general. And then she runs into her ex-boyfriend from high school, Seth Rubinstein. Seth is now a divorce attorney living in Chicago and aching to find his soulmate. He wants nothing more than to get married and start a family.

They talk about their individual opinions on soulmates and love and make a bet. They choose 5 couples between them and make a bet on whether they will be together in five years or not. And while they both insist that they are right and will win that bet, neither can guess at just how much their flirting would ignite their old feelings for each other.

But Molly doesn’t want to believe in love or marriage. She was just a teenager when her parents’ marriage imploded, with her father walking out and not looking back. She had been left behind to help her mother pick up the pieces of a nasty financial battle, and without a second parent to give her any of the emotional support she needed.

Seth, on the other hand, was so eager to start his new family that he would rush into relationships and ends up putting too much pressure on them too quickly. But things are easier with Molly. They can fall back into flirting and making out without a lot of pressure or expectations, just enjoying the moments they get.

In the months after the reunion, they run into each other a few times. There is a wedding of mutual friends, a baseball game, a baby shower. Each time they bump into each other, there is chemistry, but the time is never right for more than that. There are other relationships, there is heartbreak, there is distance, there is a pandemic.

Eventually, they get past all those obstacles and finally meet back up, admitting to each other that their feelings for each other are real and not going away. But is that enough for Molly to get past her fears and for Seth to get past his urgency to jump into a marriage?

Just Some Stupid Love Story is a debut rom com from Katelyn Doyle. It’s smart and funny, with an understanding of story and a level of snark that I personally find lots of fun. There is actually a lot going on in this story, so it’s not just all about the love story. The subplots are strong, and the supporting characters add a lot of interest to the story.

I listened to this on audio, with narrators Christine Lakin and Tim Paige alternating the reading, their voices bringing Molly and Seth to life. I thought they did an excellent job with the storytelling, adding emotions and humor in the right amounts to these characters and smoothing out some of the moments the writing was less successful (there were some strange metaphors, like when Seth hugged Molly like a squid? But the moments were rare and over quickly, so they felt more like quirkiness than problems).

Overall, I thought Just Some Stupid Love Story was a fun summer read. The cynical rom com writer and the effervescent divorce attorney made a great combination, and their flirty conversations added a lot of smiles to my day. This is a more significant rom com, not a quick, fluffy read, but a substantial emotional journey for a week of hanging by the beach or pool. Just lots of fun!

An early copy of the audio book for Just Some Stupid Love Story was provided by Macmillan Audio through NetGalley, with many thanks.