Weather Girl — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Pages: 352
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: Berkley

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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?

First Impression

Obsessed with this cover. I love the yellow umbrella and against the light blue it really pops. Solomon has become one of my auto-read authors over the past few years so honestly, even without the summary the first impression was very strong.

What I thought

While this book was cute and I enjoyed it, there were bits and pieces that just didn’t quite work for me.

Ari is a weather girl in Seattle which is what she’s always wanted to be. Her boss was her idol growing up but now that she works for her, she realizes she’s a bit of a nightmare. Russel works for the same news station but in the sports department and his boss is Ari’s ex-husband. Together, they decide that if they can reunite their bosses, it will make their workplaces more tolerable and hopefully more like the jobs they dreamed for them to be.

My biggest issue with this book might seem minor but it really bugged me. When on a work retreat, Ari falls down the stairs and fractures her elbow, essentially as a plot device to start bringing her and Russel closer together. However, the elbow fracture ended up being inconsistent and really took me out of the story. For example, she immediately start physical therapy even though she’s in terrible pain and can’t even move her arm. Doesn’t allow the fracture to set at all. There’s even one point mere weeks after she has broken her elbow (she is still in a sling) where she props herself up on her elbow. There’s no way! She would’ve been in excruciating pain!

It’s such a minor thing but it ended up feeling like such a big deal. There are so many other parts of her body that she could’ve broken that would have had the same outcome without all the messy inconsistencies.

I did enjoy the banter between Ari and Russ as well as between their bosses. And I always love a good scheme. There was also a small twist I didn’t see coming that I really loved, even if it ended up causes unnecessary conflict.

The biggest part of this story that I think is so important is that the main character has depression. I always love Solomon’s books for representing Jewish culture in a nonchalant way that feels true to me and the way she handles mental health and depression connected with me too. Ari is consistently fighting with depression and it is apparent on almost every page. Whether it is dealing with one of her dark days, worrying something is going to trigger a dark day, or being constantly aware of the stigma that might follow her if they learn about her depression. While the book overall may not have been my favorite of her, I think the story it tells is beautiful and important.