Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Weather Girl

This book had some of the most realistic characters I’ve ever read in a romance. Ari, Russell, and even the side characters felt like real people with real problems and I loved that. Ari and her mother are portrayed as having chronic depression and while I can’t speak to the accuracy, it felt like it was depicted with care and sensitivity. Russell was a teen dad and speaks about the hardships and judgment he faced because of it. It was lovely to read a close sibling relationship too!

I loved that Russell was a fat hero and that Ari still found him sexy and attractive from their first interactions. It’s such a nice change of pace from the usual muscular six-pack body type we usually see, and one that I personally find much more attractive. (Not that I think every hero should be personally attractive to me, just that it would be nice to have a little more diversity for those of us who don’t like abs!) There’s some discussion of fatphobia and Russell’s insecurities, but I thought his body was handled with love and care. Ari and Russell had great chemistry and tension together, and this book had some unexpectedly hot and creative sex scenes. Their romance was soft and tender and full of heart.

While I did think the third-act conflict was believable and in keeping with Ari’s characterisation, I hated that they didn’t reconcile until the very last page before the epilogue. I would’ve liked an additional chapter or two because I like to see the couple happy together after the reconciliation (otherwise the ending feels too abrupt). I also felt like the characters’ relationships with their bosses were a little weirdly close. And I'm sorry, but even if you ask permission

proposing at someone else's wedding is just odd.

I'm baffled as to why this was called a romcom though because it wasn't funny (a problem I have with most modern 'romcoms' to be honest!).

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Title: Weather Girl
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: January 11, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Cozy • Feel-Good • Predictable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Ari has always been fascinated by the weather, so working as a TV meteorologist is like living the dream. Unfortunately for Ari, her boss, the legendary Torrance Hale, is too preoccupied to mentor her properly. Russel, the sports report seems to be the only one who understands how she feels.

Following a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell 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.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Weather Girl was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, given the sweet premise and knowing there would be a mental health aspect. To say my hopes were high would definitely be an understatement. And unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

What I like:
• the representation. This book has excellent representation of mental illness, plus size portrayal, single parent, and a Jewish main character.
• the unique jobs. I loved that Rachel used such unique jobs as the basis for the story. An added bonus that the idea of a romance between a weather girl and a sportscaster seems fitting.
• the cover. Probably one of my favourite covers of the year.

What I didn't like:
• the romance. I get the romance isn't meant to be the main focus, yet the chemistry between the two main characters didn't feel all that believable.
• underdeveloped plot points. Some aspects of the plot were just left unexplored, which didn't feel quite right, even though this book already tackles a lot.

At the end of the day this was quick read with a cute plot, yet could have been better. For me, there was just something missing or maybe it's the fact it tried to do too much opposed to focusing on developing several aspects more broadly. I'm still glad I read it for the living with function depression aspect alone.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of The Ex Talk
• readers looking for mental illness representation

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The people who love us the most have the power to hurt us the most, too."

"If anything could confirm that weather isn’t small talk, it’s this. Weather connects us. A shared experience, even when we aren’t in the same place."

Content Warnings

rachaelm13's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

LOVED this book. The characters are so lovable and REAL. It felt like a romance than could actually happen in real life.

Loved all the representation in this book!

This first spicy scene was one of the best I’ve read, it was spicy but also so meaningful and like caring/emotional/ meant something, I don’t know how to describe it. I’m a sucker for consent consent consent so that scene was everything.

The second spicy scene was a bit underwhelming and short/not very descriptive and I found the whole book to be a bit this way. There were some scenes I didn’t want to leave yet and wanted to stay in that moment for longer with the characters with more description. The book tops out at 292 pages and I would haves loved to read another 30-50+ more pages just for more depth/descriptions/detail but it was still fantastic as is!

Content Warnings

jusaoirse's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

martachbc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

Solomon has carved herself a nice little niche of Seattle-based, media-centric workplace romances. The Ex Talk focused on radio, and with Weather Girl, we move into the exciting world of local news.

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕥:: Ari Abrams is a weather girl who tries to prevent anything from raining on her parade. Her always-cheerful attitude resulted in her being dumped for not being real enough, but it helps her survive her toxic workplace, where her two bosses, who happened to be exes, are constantly at each other’s throats. She teams up with sportscaster Russell to reunite the wayward lovers in the hopes of making their professional lives better. But when she starts spending more time with Russell, she starts to wonder if romance might be in the cards for her too.

𝕄𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤: Don’t hate me for saying this, but Weather Girl just fell a little flat for me! I think I struggled to buy the extremely unprofessional Parent Trap-ping of the bosses - normally I can overlook goofy plotlines in a romance, but it didn’t click for me.

Overall everything just seemed a little nice but a little lackluster. It’s weird because that’s exactly what I did like about two other recent reads, The Suite Spot and Lease on Love. But I never felt drawn to pick up this book - I was mostly reading it just to get through it.

I really do appreciate that Solomon brought into the mix a few elements we don’t often see in romance: depression (because it’s not sexy but it’s real!) and a male lead who wasn’t carved out of marble and who has his own body issues. Normalize it all! I think Solomon does a great job of normalizing these diverse elements without making it *the* story.

I would describe this as a good spring romance. It’s not necessarily a beach read, it’s not the most fun thing in the world, but it works well for a rainy day. Fittingly, I guess!

Content Warnings