Katelyn Doyle's first romantic comedy, Just Some Stupid Love Story, has the same kind of strong female heroine and tender romance as the historical fiction she writes under the pseudonym Scarlett Peckham. High school sweethearts Molly Marks and Seth Rubinstein haven't spoken since the night they graduated, when Molly unceremoniously dumped Seth. Fifteen years later, they find themselves assigned to the same table at their high school reunion. Molly, a rom-com screenwriter, and Seth, a successful divorce attorney, discover that while their adolescent spark is unchanged, their adult views on relationships are anything but. Molly tells Seth that romance is just fantasy: "It starts at the meet cute and ends when things are finally going well," but never shows harsh realities and bitter ends. Seth, who helps people end their love stories for a living, still believes that "everyone is meant to have a love of their life."
Their opposing views create amusing banter and seductive chemistry. Doyle cleverly provides Molly and Seth with a second chance, with higher stakes, when they make bets on the longevity of their friends' relationships--and on their own. They both think that by their next reunion, they will have proved the other wrong. The novel follows Molly and Seth over the next five years as their relationship evolves into a poignant portrayal of true love that defies all odds.
Molly's tough exterior and Seth's trustful optimism lead to touching moments of vulnerability and intimate truths about what makes someone the way they are. Their alternating perspectives take readers on an entertaining, bumpy ride through their individual emotions and, ultimately, their second chance at love. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer