Thank you to Berkeley for an advance copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

This book was very cute! I really enjoyed all the characters and how they all felt three dimensional and fully fleshed out. I also enjoyed the talking so openly about depression, abandonment and medication that I have not seen in many books in such an open way. The relationship was very well done and I had a lot of fun reading this book!

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to read Weather Girl, after absolutely loving The Ex Talk, and I definitely think that fans of RLS can say the same. While this book was not as memorable for me as The Ex Talk was, it still was an enjoyable read and I loved how fresh the story felt in the romance genre. As always, Rachel Lynn Solomon does an amazing job at including representation in a respectful and genuine manner. This is the first romance novel I have ever read featuring a fat male love interest, and I hope that Weather Girl can pave the way for more books featuring fat male love interests!! This was also the first romance novel I’ve read where the female main character, while fitting into the “sunshine girl” archetype, had depression. Ari’s depression was handled with such care and I love the journey she goes on in this book to remind herself that she is worthy of being loved as someone with depression. Lastly, I loved Russell’s background as a divorced parent who had Elodie as a teenager. The love he has for Elodie is so apparent and pure and adjghajdh I loved it so much.

I think where this story could have used improvement was perhaps focusing more on Ari and Russell’s relationship. Because half of the book focuses on Ari and Russell trying to mend Torrance and Seth’s relationship, I feel like Ari and Russell were often overshadowed in the story and therefore lacked the connection that other couples, such as Dom and Shay, for example have in RLS’s other books.

Overall, if you’re a fan of RLS, you obviously have to read this book. But if you’re also looking for a sweet story with great representation and heart, definitely pick this up too!

Oy! This book!

Things I loved:
1) This is Jewish Rep without being JEWISH REP!!! I absolutely loved the way the MCs' Jew-ISH-ness was treated so casually: an unsurprising, normal, everyday thing. The Jewishness here is completely mundane and commonplace- it is not a plot line, it is not a trope, it is NOT its own character. There is nothing remarkable about it, and I am so here for that. Jewish joy and life-as-a-21st-century-Jew is not just about our trauma and suffering, about our relationship with a country in the middle east, nor about holidays nor religion. For so many of us, our Judaism is only a piece of what defines us.
2) The mental health rep. Let's keep making this normal to talk about. It's not something magically cured by the perfect relationship. It's real, it's hard, and it's safe to talk about.
3) The chemistry between Ari and Russ was lukewarm and sweet... and that's OKAY! I actually appreciate a realistic romance. Not every relationship is hot and steamy and grand gesture-y all the time. Reality is good!
4) This cover art is soooooooooo cute!

Things that didn't quite work for me:
1) The "set it up" premise. I don't know if I'm just too much of a skeptic, but I couldn't buy into it.
2) Sometimes the pacing was off, and I felt like I missed pieces of the story. I'm not sure how exactly to describe it, but sometimes I just felt like maybe I skipped a chapter or a scene somewhere.

Overall, Weather Girl is a sweet, cozy read - perfect for a grey weather day under the blankets! It's not a true "rom-com" insomuch as it's not "haha" comedy but more of a comedy in the Shakespearean sense (aka wacky situations and mix-ups galore), so anyone looking for a laugh be warned! I am really looking forward to backlist reads from Rachel Lynn Solomon because I really did enjoy her writing!

Thank you to Rachel Lynn Solomon, Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me with the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This was an absolutely breathtaking romance.

In weather terms, Weather Girl is the mood of a rainy summer day. Quiet, warm(hearted), steamy and refreshing. I have not a single bad thing to say about it. This was moody, deep feelings, romance perfection.

We all (I assume) know representation matters. Weather Girl features a main character with depression, who has been protecting her mental health with medication and therapy for years, but still has difficult days. I love romance with mental health rep because I feel like even people who haven't been diagnosed with mental illness or struggle with anxiety or depression can still relate, grow, and empathize with these real and vulnerable characters. Weather Girl also features a fat main character. I love that this character clarifies that fat isn't a bad word and he isn't insulting himself when he describes himself this way. I would love to continue to see all sorts of bodies in my romance novels -- and witness characters who are completely comfortable with their appearance as well as characters who struggle with their body image. I also loved the Jewish representation and culture in this novel and a super positive depiction of a single fatherhood, too.

The romance: It's a slow burn, my friends, which is the way it oughta be!!!! The chemistry and connection between these two is super believable and so satisfying to read about. I have zero complaints about this as a romance.

Funny - but not a romcom. Deep, emotional, romance with superb character development -- especially for the main character, Ari.

I will read this again and again. Instantly pre-ordered.

This book is not your average romance book. It is a book with significant depth and explores mental health, specifically depression, and how it affects family and romantic relationships. It also has a fat single dad as the lead love interest, which I LOVE! I love seeing diversity in my romance characters and plus sizer characters do not get enough love.

Solomon has quickly become a favorite author of mine because you can tell she puts her heart and soul into the stories she writes. Loving someone with depression isn’t easy, but Solomon shows us through Weather Girl it doesn’t make them any less deserving of love. This book was surprisingly spicy at times! Well written and heartfelt scenes between Ari and Russell had me tearing up.

This book is a breath of fresh air! I couldn’t possibly love it anymore.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and Rachel Lynn Solomon for this e-arc. Weather Girl is out 1/11/22.

Rachel Lynn Solomon can do no wrong and this is another perfect example of that. I loved Ari and Russell, their relationship was sweet and fun and the story was great!!

I fell in love with the authors writing last year when I read The Ex Talk, that was one of my fave romances and I think I may have even liked this one more?! It had amazing representation of the Jewish community, it discussed mental health in an honest and realistic manner, a plus sized hero and scheming matchmaking done in the purest way. I adored this one SO much!

Ari and Russell are the most lovable characters separately and together they are pure magic. They’ve always been friendly coworkers until they decide to scheme to make their work environment more bearable by nudging their divorced bosses together and from the first minute these two were together I just knew they would have the cutest love story. Ari struggles with depression and feelings of inadequacy stemming from her childhood and Russell is a single dad who hasn’t dated in years and while they definitely had their issue they needed to work through before they could be together I really appreciated the way the author handled their conflict. Sometimes conflict in romances can feel forced or just silly, like the dreaded miscommunication and here I felt like it was really authentic and actually how mature adults with issues would behave. Loved, loved loved it and will be impatiently waiting for the authors next book!

What a great romance! This is filled with tons of representation from mental health, to our Jewish MC and gay characters. I found this to be steamy but also not cringey. I like that the characters talked and were pretty decent communicators. There wasn't too many comments about how the lead female MC was a "cool girl" or not like other girls which always drives me nuts. Definitely one I'd recommend.

Weather Girl is a cute story by Rachel Lynn Solomon that takes place in a television station. The TV station is run by a divorced couple that fight constantly, so meteorologist Ari and sports reporter, Russell decide to gang up on the couple and try to get them back together. While Russell and Ari are working together to reunite their bosses and bring peace to the station, they form a friendship and eventually something more. Ari’s battle with mental health is also important to note and very well conveyed by the author. Yes, this is a romance, but it is also so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley for providing me with an eARC for this book!

Ari and Russell are co-workers on a tv-station run by a divorced couple whose antipathy towards each other is making the workplace toxic and stressful. But at the station's holiday party, Ari and Russell see the sparks are still flying between Seth and Torrance and decide to set up a Parent Trap-style scheme to get them back together to ease tensions at the tv-station. In the process of their scheme, Ari and Russell realize they have feelings for each other.

I really wanted to love this book as I loved the Ex Talk from RLS, but sadly this didn't measure up to my expectations. First off, I understand the label of "romcom" sells better than "contemporary romance" but this is not a comedy. With serious soul-searching content on strained parent/child relationships, mental illness, parenting, teen pregnancy and body-shaming, I didn't find it particularly funny. Important and well-written, but not funny.

Secondly, I couldn't get behind the romance. Seth and Torrance as secondary characters had more sparks between the two of them than our main characters did. I could see them as friends, but their attraction just never felt strong. They're well-fleshed out individuals and you get to know them closely, but their relationship seemed lukewarm at best. Russell and Ari each had great scenes with their families but not really with each other, unfortunately.

If I put aside the threadbare central romantic plot, the book was enjoyable and explored a lot of sensitive topics with great care. Unfortunately, as a romance... not as successful as it could've been.

I liked The Ex Talk but didn't *love* it so I was excited that I did end up loving this! Ari Abrams is a meteorologist at a news channel in Seattle, a long-time depression sufferer, and working to get over a breakup with her fiancé. She's working for Torrance Hale, who is somewhat of a celebrity meteorologist and Ari's childhood hero and role model. Unfortunately, Torrance is frequently distracted and angry at work because one of her colleagues is also her ex-husband, Seth. They've been divorced for five years and are constantly at each others' throats in a way that is really negatively impacting the work environment. After a particularly embarrassing scene between Torrance and Seth at a holiday party, Ari and sports reporter Russell get drunk and decide to parent trap Torrance and Seth to try to get them back together and make work better for everyone. In the process, Ari and Russell grow closer, Ari tries to manage her own depression while maintaining the sunny disposition that everyone expects of her, and she also tries to repair her damaged relationship with her mother, whose untreated depression had a very negative impact on Ari's childhood. I thought it was great to see a main character dealing with depression in an authentic way, and I was also happy to see a fat male love interest, which I'm pretty sure I haven't seen in a contemporary romance before.

Never thought I’d love a book about a weather anchor and a sports anchor but here I am! Weather Girl was so cute and it kept giving me warm gooey feelings in my chest while I read.

Weather Girl follows Ari Abrams who is all sunshine until she isn’t. The work force has become a hostile environment with her two bosses. They are a divorced couple and is making the workplace hard to be at with their constant jabs and bickering. This is when Ari and Russell decide to get them back together.

During the time they get them back together, they start to form feelings for each other and it is the most pure thing probably when it comes to adults falling for each other. AND THEY ARE SO CUTE. The way Ari described Russell was just adorable how she kept constantly wanting to touch him and how he would blush. How she even found his round belly attractive. It was all mushy to me and I ate it right up!

Russell seemed like the perfect gentleman for Ari and the person to help her through her issues. The person to love her regardless of them and it made me feel seen.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute work romance. Where they slowly fall for each other and are the perfect fit. I want to thank NetGalley for giving me this ARC for an honest review.

Weather Girl was my second read by Rachel Lynn Solomon after reading the Ex Talk this year and I absolutely loved both books! Her female characters are so lovable and adorably quirky, but real and always different than the typically romance heroine. Both Ari and Shay have this refreshing passion and commitment to, not just their careers, but to the thing they love most. For Ari, it’s meteorology and for Shay it’s radio. I love that they are both full-fledged characters on their own, apart from the relationship and the hero—this is something you don’t always get to see in many romance novels. With Ari, we also get to see how she navigates her world despite her depression and how this can often keep us from showing our true selves to others. Solomon handled this topic so beautifully and I found it really moving.

Our hero was also adorably different than what we find in most romances novels. He was charming, lovable, and funny, but he was also a little goofy and awkward, which made me love him all the more. He didn’t have the typical hero “moves” but the relationships between him and Ari felt all the more real for it.

I loved the twist on the parent trap. This book had me laughing, smiling, and rooting for me them the entire time. If you love heartwarming romance that will leave you with warm, fuzzy feelings, you will love this book (and all Rachel Lynn Solomon books for that matter).

Thank you so much to Rachel Lynn Solomon, Berkley, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Incredibly charming and written with Rachel’s signature wit and heart. I loved every second and the characters were so well drawn. I loved them together!!

I loved this book. I read the Ex Talk this year as well and am in love with Rachel's writing. I love that her books are set in fun job locations and usually also centre around a work romance. All the characters were well written and a great addition to the story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun romance to read.

Following the stellar debut of Ex Talk, Rachel Lynn Solomon delivers a second workplace romance set in Seattle. Neurodiverse Jewish American Ari Abrams is a meteorologist at KSEA TV station in love with her job. Jewish American Russell Barringer is a parent of a preteen and a sports journalist at KSEA. While stronger chemistry between the leads would’ve made the story more engaging, this is a promising second book from Solomon.

Full review on Booklist, Dec 1st issue.

It's been about a month since I finished Weather Girl and despite busyness and moving on to new reads, I still wish I had pages to come back to in Solomon's latest swoony romance! She is an absolute star at writing chemistry and build-up between characters, and these two rival the romantic sparks in Solomon's The Ex Talk. Another staple in Solomon's stories are protagonists and supporting characters that are fully developed and feel like they could walk right off the page and into the real world - I especially thought that about Ari, our meteorologist heroine who has this romance growing with sweet, likeable Russell, but she also has a host of other things going on beyond the romance (too often adult contemporary/romance turns into 'love and only love' as the plot and I get tired of reading about it real quick. Not the case in Weather Girl!) I appreciated the subplots containing Russell's body confidence, Ari's mental health and family dynamics, and a focus on her career development. I've read books by authors trying to "tackle depression" as a topic, only to be frustrated that they depict the character as inapproachable, a loner, or one that is defined by the diagnosis. Ari, instead, shows readers the effort that goes into living *with* depression, some of the shame that can go into talking about it with others, and how important it is that we DO talk about it to 1) lessen the stigma and 2) provide an accurate representation of depression. As always, I can't wait to share this book with friends, recommend to my local libraries, and buy a copy of that CUTE cover for my own shelf!

This was a cute and fun romance novel.

I really liked the quirky characters. Ari’s love of rain and weather puns made her so endearing. Russels love of flashy jackets and quiet warmth made him a lovable lead.

I appreciated how thoughtfully the author incorporated Ari’s struggle with depression. She made is a center point to the story but didn’t make it completely overwhelming to the story. For me, it seemed like a realistic representation and not an extreme.

My only complaint is that the ending drama felt a little rushed. With how slowly Ari’s depression was explored, I feel like her insecurities at the end were quickly set up and then resolved. I wish a little more time was spent in the resolution between her and Russel.

Overall and fun and quirky romance!

Weather Girl is a rom com with a wonderful cast of characters.
Ari Abrams is a fantastic protagonist, likeable, funny, vulnerable and a top notch meteorologist at the TV station KSEA.
She has loved weather since she was a young girl and has her dream job in Seattle. However the station has 2 feuding exes who make everyone’s life miserable.
Ari commiserates one night with a sports colleague and they plot to change things. The sports reporter, Russell Barringer, is a particularly appealing leading man.
I loved this story, the Seattle setting and all the quirky characters.
Highly recommend this appealing romance.

My first book by Rachel Lynn Solomon was The Ex Talk and I absolutely adored that one. It was an easy five star read for me so I had really high expectations for this one. It fell a little flat for me unfortunately. I loved the Parent Trap-esque matchmaking that Ari and Russell took part in with their bosses, but their romance felt like it was missing something. I loved the discussions about depression and mental health, but again it felt like something was missing. Ari's relationship with her mother wrapped up so quickly and almost too perfectly that I found myself questioning what even happened. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't loved The Ex Talk so much, but as always with her books, her descriptions of Seattle were so fun and had me googling local restaurants to check out.