Weather Girl

By: Rachel Lynn Solomon

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

One of:

Amazon's Best Romances of January

Apple Books' Best Books of January

Goodreads' Hottest Romances of January

Buzzfeed's Most Anticipated Books of 2022

PopSugar, Parade.com, The Nerd Daily, and Fangirlish's Most Anticipated Books of 2022

A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this electrifying romance from the author of The Ex Talk.

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.

In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?

©2022 Rachel Lynn Solomon (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"That feeling you get when you curl up on the couch on a rainy Saturday, with a great book in one hand and a spiked hot chocolate in the other: that's the feeling you get when you read Weather Girl. This book is cozy, comforting, thought provoking, and it'll make you feel warm from the inside out." (Jasmine Guillory, New York Times best-selling author of While We Were Dating)

“A sharp, witty romance full of heart. Rachel's writing zips off the page. As with The Ex Talk, she has created truly original, well-rounded characters you will love. A sexy storm of a book.” (Sophie Cousens, New York Times best-selling author of This Time Next Year)

“A delightful romance. Perfect for rainy days and sunny days and everything in between.” (Helen Hoang, New York Times best-selling author of The Heart Principle)

Weather Girl

This was such a heartwarming novel.
The narrator was wonderful… I felt the emotional ups and downs in her voice. Plenty of laugh out louds… the sexual scenes were a bit too much but necessary to show the true inner character of each of them.

Tough one to review

So the story line checked enough of my boxes that I was willing to listen to the end even though I found the narrator's voice a distraction. Sadly, it was a distraction to me during the main character's, Ari's, voice. I still decided to listen to the entire book. I think I'd recommend it to someone else but suggest they read it, not listen to it.

Fun romcom with some original touches

This was an intelligent and funny romcom that followed the required romcom structure, but added some realism that made it feel fresh. First, the guy love interest was (in his own words) fat. Hallelujah! Am I the only reader who is sick of 6 (now 8)-pack abs? I know these romcoms don't have a lot to do with real life, but even in fantasy, a guy with sharp cheekbones, an incredible jaw, and chiseled muscles is probably a guy who is too busy doing his daily 3 hours at the gym to engage in romcom shenanigans and falling in love - except maybe falling in love with another gym rat. (Sorry for the stereotyping, you 6-packers out there.) He's also self-conscious about his body - a problem that's usually reserved for the female characters. Second, the female protagonist struggles with depression, and this was treated sympathetically without having her "cured" in service to an HEA. The sex was also more realistic than you usually see in novels - no instantly orgasmic heroines here, but lots of communication and learning, which was sweet. The romcom structure requires that after the characters get together, something must drive them apart in preparation for the final coming together and happy ending, and this was the weakest part of the plot. (This is common in romcoms- the protagonist must suddenly lose all her IQ points in order to precipitate the final crisis, and there was some of this in Weather Girl.) However, I still enjoyed the book. I'd also highly recommend Solomon's newest book, Business or Pleasure, which is even funnier and starts with a hilarious "bad sex" scene. This narrator does have a hyper-melodic delivery style, but I wouldn't call it "sing-song" because it's not repetitive. It takes some getting used to, but was fine.

Great book, not my favorite narrator!

Weather Girl is basically a parent trap inside a parent trap! I decided to give Weather Girl a read because my booksta friend put out a call for anyone who might be interested in joining a reading club for it & I wanted to try a book outside my usual genre. I do read some romance, but literally had only read Julia Quinn period romances. So I was ready to try something modern. On top of being a romcom, Weather Girl deals a lot with mental health, & I’m a huge fan of spreading awareness & reading stories of those who deal with any mental health struggle–although usually in fantasy format, so think ACOSF or Girls of Paper & Fire/Girls of Storm & Shadow.

The only two negatives I will attribute to Weather Girl are the narrator of the audiobook & the push on Ari’s mother to take prescriptions for her depression. I strongly believe there are prescriptions that help people! I wholeheartedly support anyone who might need them. My issue was that Ari’s push on her mother felt a little too strong. Ari begins the story as someone who’s been taking antidepressants for years & they really work for her, but she held a lot of resentment toward her mom for not getting help & not trying prescriptions. Ari’s mother had an outdated opinion of antidepressants & because of her opinion she was resistant to trying any. I totally vibed with the mom-resentment & fraught childhood due to mom’s issues, so I agree with Ari that her mom needed help, & I’m glad that when Ari’s mom did find help, she had a support group of doctors who were able to recommend prescriptions & closely monitor her reactions & side effects. So yay, drugs worked for her! But I felt like before this, Ari judged her mom & pressured her to take prescriptions when her mom wasn’t ready.

Back to my vibe: for anyone, especially women, who has/had a difficult relationship with your mom, although this story is a romcom, there’s a strong mom/daughter subplot that hit really close to home for me.

On to the audiobook narrator: she sounded like a news anchor delivering lines with pauses & emphases in odd places. This caused the story to sound more like a drama than a romcom, so I would recommend a visual read, unless narrators don’t bother you as much as they can bother me!

I’m marking this book as a 5 star read because there were zero plot holes & very little issues with character development; although I did feel like Javier could have used some more development as a side character, he did kind of feel like a cardboard placeholder character. As an atheist who has struggled with mental health & the mental health of those around me, I think this is the perfect rom-com to bring light to mental health & Judaism.

Unexpected character development

I enjoyed this is an "easy" read. Something I could have on in the background while working on other things and I didn't feel like I had to give it my full attention to follow along. I appreciated that the characters seemed relatable. The male did not have a perfect body or the stereotypical background of being a womanizer. He was a kind single parent who was working with his ex to co-parent and raise their daughter well. It was just normal. I also appreciated that the main character has relatable characteristics. An adult dealing with anxiety at work and at home. I think we should normalize that because so many people experience it. There were also some elements that made this book fun and silly. A classic chick-lit for those of us who like that sort of thing.

Great story....with a purpose

At first the reader drove me nuts with the sing-song reading. But either I became used to it or it started to.work. The story was good, I really enjoy this author. But I also appreciated that it had a subject on mental health positively and healthily. Thank you!

Finally, a fat king.

It’s so tired to have ripped men in romance novels. What a relief to have a thick male lead with a tummy. I love that he isn’t ashamed of his body but also acknowledges the anxiety caused by living in that body in a society that abhors fatness. I enjoyed the break from rolling my eyes at descriptions of perfect bodies. Instead, this book offers up descriptions of admiration and lust that feel genuine and realistic.

A sexy male lead isn’t the only plus in this book, there’s so much to love here. From frank discussion of mental health, fraught relationships with parents, questions about wanting children, and navigating tough professional environments, this book covers a lot of ground. However, by relishing the setting, building rich characters, and many silly jokes, Rachel Lynn Solomon is able to balance the heavy topics with humor. Weather Girl still feels like a romp.

Thank you, Rachel Lynn Solomon! This chubby PNW girl who is obsessed with storms and finds her husband’s belly hot as hell finally has a romance novel that feels true.

Nowhere near as good as Ex-Talk

I had high hopes after the Ex-Talk, but this story was not very interesting—except for the depression education, which I appreciated. Narrator never varied her delivery either.

Perfection

Honestly, you should just read it. Don’t read the description. Just listen to the book. It is perfect. Great narrator. Great characters.
tw: depression

Ok story. Narration was tough.

I listened to this book because it kept showing up in my “recommended” list for months. This was a good story; but the narration made it difficult for me to listen. The narrator did a fantastic job with the side character voices, but the main character voice was slow and too drawn out. The sex scenes seemed awkward in her voice.