Ok first things first. This book delivers on the duet narration (and some background sound effects like thunder, sirens, phone chimes etc). A+ in that department!

Second, I barely thought twice before requesting this audio arc simply based off the idea of this book being about storm chasers in love... I mean who didn't watch Twisters in 2024 and think "WE NEED A SPICY BOOK ABOUT THIS!" So my excitement for this book was HIGH. Well... maybe too high.

At the very beginning we get some author's notes/warnings and we learn that this book is going to be age gap and professor/student relationships. I sighed (not my favorite tropes) BUT - I was not going to be deterred. Make me WANT this relationship anyway right? Sadly, I don't think it was written in a way that made me disregard these tropes at all. In fact, it was repeated so often how it was forbidden and wrong that it almost felt annoying at times. The storm chasing part felt so second fiddle to this big forbidden romance that I was almost frustrated. Give me these two characters who are STEM/science nerds (think Ali Hazelwood) - make it a super slow burn as they risk there lives out there chasing weather that I WANT them to get together, but this did not happen.

So while, I'm not mad at all that I listened to this audiobook (again, DUET NARRATION people!) - I found the main storyline to be a bit lacking and I still yearn for that perfect storm chaser romance read.

Audiobook narration 4 out of 5
Plot 2.75 out of 5
Spice 3 out of 5
Average rating: 3.25 out of 5

Exhilarating Ride
The story centres around Finley 25, a master's student, and Professor West 42, a renowned storm chaser. The tension between Finley and Professor West grows as they navigate their professional and personal boundaries, leading to an intense and complicated relationship. I hope we see more from Joey, Hawk and Ezra.
I appreciated the duet-style audiobook and the added sound effects, which made the reading experience more immersive.
I was gifted an advanced audio copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Twisters but make it spicier. Loved this from the very beginning. The duet narration had me hooked! Could not stop listening and was immediately drawn into the story. Loved everything about this, and always love Kayla Gross’ characters

Pick up the audiobook for this one!

Finley is in a master's student and she has a crush on her professor- who is a well known storm chaser. She's been watching his videos for years. She was selected to join his team for the season.
Ryder is attracted to Finley. Has been since the day she walked into his classroom. He has to remind himself repeatedly that she is off limits.
When they find themselves having a near death experience, they are having a real hard time remembering the boundaries.

As I mentioned- listen to this one. The audiobook is a full production with sound effects and multiple narrators. I will say to be cautious though- siren/alert sounds do happen a few times. My sleeping cat kept popping her head up trying to figure out if she needed to hide or not!

I bumped this to 4 stars due to the excellent production. The only downfall that I have was the length, and the fact that the short length made it feel kind of underdeveloped. The majority of the book takes place over two days. While Finley and Ryder have build up before the book starts, I still feel like more "in person" interactions over a period of time would have improved the story.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows Ryker, an experienced storm chaser and professor, and Finley, a meteorology student, as they navigate a forbidden romance filled with electric chemistry and thrilling storm-chasing adventures.

If you're a fan of Twister, love an age-gap romance, and enjoy stories with fun, dynamic characters, this book is for you! The audiobook was an absolute delight, with incredible sound effects that made me feel like I was right there in the middle of a storm. The narrators did an amazing job breathing life into these characters, making the experience feel like watching a rom-com play out in real time. The banter was sharp, the humor had me laughing, and the spice was spot-on!

The only reason this isn't a full five-star read for me is the third-act breakup trope. While I get its purpose, it felt unnecessary here—watching them navigate the stress of hiding their relationship would have been more entertaining than the forced separation. That said, Whirlwind kept me hooked from start to finish, and I can't wait to read more from Kayla Grosse.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to listen to this exciting and immersive book!

*4.5 ⭐️
*2.5 🌶️
This audiobook was so fun! Victoria Connolly & Grayson Owens did such a great job, and the sound effects were perfect!
Kayla once does it again! And this one is with Storm chasing with a student and professor. I absolutely loved these characters I connected with these 2 instantly! The chemistry they share is incredible and they definitely deserve each other with their love for tornado chasing!
The spicy scenes were spicin! 🔥🔥🔥
And the epilogue was fantastic with Joey ! He was so fun and definitely made me laugh out loud multiple times throughout this book!

Tropes
Age gap
Professor x student
Banter
Plus size FMC
Forbidden


Thank you NetGalley for the ALC!

Finley loves storms. She is also obsessed with her professor that teachers her about storms. What could go wrong?
Professor west is a storm chaser and a professor whose been capturing the hearts of people for years on his live streams. Finlay goes with him to chase a storm and sparks fly.
Okay let's start with the audiobook, I loved the narrators. They did a great job making the characters coming to life especially Joey he was hysterical. My problem with the audio was the background noises like the sirens and the thunder. I found them to be distracting and unnecessary.
In the book itself, I really enjoyed the storm chase aspect. The author made those scenes very compelling and exciting. My issues were with the MMC. He was written as a 42 year old man who unfortunately acted very immature. He was very back and fourth about his feelings and kept on having the same conversations with Finlay over and over. I found that the best parts of the book were the action and the side characters which added a lot of humor to the story. Overall, the romance unfortunately fell a bit flat overall.

Updating my review to include the audio review:

I love me some Grayson Owens & Victoria Connolly, but you put them in duet & in a Kayla Grosse story?! FRIKKIN FANTASTIC! They’re perfect as Ryker & Finley, & I absolutely loved this performance! The little sound effects throughout were also a great detail. They weren’t overwhelming & didn’t overshadow the audio at all, I thought they were great touches & made it an even more immersive reading experience!

PS: Rob Moreira is also great in this one!!

Story review below:

Kayla Grosse doesn’t miss! I enjoyed this one so much!

“Professor West” “Ms. Buckley” LAWWWWD🥵

We all know Kayla is queen when it comes to plus size FMCs, men who are obsessed with them, & spicy spice, but I was blown away (no pun intended 😂) by this one & the action! The storm & chase scenes were so good! I also learned a lot about storms through this one lol!

Finley was such a badass! I loved that she had multiple talents & was confident to pursue them. And storm chasing solo? You go girl! The dynamic between her & Ryker is delish, being forbidden & a nice age gap too😮‍💨 They are pretty angsty as well, with the back & forth on if they should pursue each other or not, & the pining on both parts.

They are hot hot hot when they do come together (maybe a little pun intended there 🙃), my kindle & AirPods were melting 🥵

PS: Joey is hilarious, I love him, & I need a novella/novel of him & Hawke PLEASE & THANK YOU! Ezra is also intriguing with his quiet self, so I just know he would be delish as well if there are future books with these characters 😉

A tornado chaser romance under 300 pages, with duet style audiobook.. yes please! I was surprised even being a shorter story, I found the pacing was great. The author really packed in a lot in a short amount of time. A good amount of spice, with adventure and forbidden tension. I enjoyed all of the characters, and especially loved Joey (who is a side character so surprise surprise). I really hope that we get a Joey and Hawke book! One thing I loved is that their relationship felt realistic, even with it taking place majority over a weekend. There are some short flashbacks from 9 months ago so it felt like we were coming into their story right before they finally acted on their feelings. I received the duet audio as arc on netgalley and this opinion is entirely my own. The duet style was great, especially with the added sound effects!

this was a raunchy, thunderous good time! a quick read perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey!!!

while there is a circumstantial threat of power imbalance since she’s her professor and over 15 years her senior, both Finley and Ryker felt on equal footing here, especially as Finley stands up for herself when she feels Rykers being unfair and unclear in his intentions.

this is such a steamy, spicy, hottie story!!! I love the fact they’re on a storm chase with some of Finley’s friends. one, the storm chase makes it exciting and romantic, and two since her friends are there it keeps things even more safe for Finley as the younger student and thus even more exciting in her and Ryker’s passion and explosive chemistry.

this was such a fun, horny story!!! thank you so much for the ALC!!!

I listened to the audiobook version of Whirlwind and I freaking loved it. I am a sucker for tornadoes and storm chasers, and add to that a good age gap and some teacher/student romance and I'm a puddle!! Yes, the story had a lot of elements that resembled Twister but there was so much more here. The romance, the action, the friendships, the comedy. This audiobook was hard to put down. It grabbed me and did not want to let go. The story definitely had plenty of plot and action and a bit of delicious spice. Even though I loved Finley and "Tornado Daddy" Ryker, it was Joey that made me fall completely in love. He is such an adorable puppy and I hope with my entire heart that he gets his own book. The narration by Victoria Connolly, Grayson Owens, and Robb Moreira was superb. Their voices, their accents and inflections, and the sound effects were just pure perfection. Definitely one story I loved and cannot recommend enough.

OKAY!! So, I must admit I wasn’t on the Twister train when the movie came out. I really can’t explain why it’s just never really been my thing. I was worried going into this so I didn’t feel the pull to read it as soon as it came out. BUT- I was able to get my hands on the audiobook format and that’s just so much more convienent for me and I know I LOVE Kayla Grosse’s books so I figured I would try it. I’m SO SO SO happy I did!!! I may not have liked Twister but I LOVED this book so much. The Duet format is ALWAYS something I look for and appreciate and they just went above and beyond with all of it. There were little sound effects, fun voices for side characters, it all fit so well. It truly felt like I could close my eyes and be there, which is a big thing especially for audiobooks. The story itself was amazing. Forbidden romance once they start they just can’t stop sort of feeling... its dreamy and just- perfection. I always love my age gaps and Kayla really does know how to write them PERFECTLY for me. The voice actors added in another layer and perfect became addictive. I listened to it all in one day thats truly how much I loved it.

"If you don't chase the storm, you'll never know if you'll catch it or not."

This audiobook was so good and the narrators were perfect! If you loved twisters but wanted spice then you need to read this book. The chemistry between Finley and Ryker was hot. I definitely need a “tornado daddy” shirt from Joey. Joey hands down made this book so enjoyable, his character was so fun and funny! I would say if you’re still on that twisters kick from the summer you have to check this book out!

🌪️Forbidden Romance
🌪️Age Gap
🌪️Forced Proximity
🌪️Plus Size FMC
🌪️Action/Adventure

I loved the plus-size representation in Whirlwind! The age gap was so angsty and had me hooked. If you loved Twister but want it with a sexy, forbidden professor-student romance and a plus-size FMC, you will eat this up. Kayla Grosse never misses! 🔥🌪️

OMG. Can we queue up “ain’t no love in Oklahoma” please. I freaking adored this. I loved the audiobook, Victoria Connelly is one of my favorite female voice narrators so it was so nice to listen to a familiar favorite of mine. This gave me Twister vibes and I was so here for it!

I absolutely loved getting to listen to this book & went feral for tornado daddy 😏

This definitely gave Twister movie vibes but with all the sex we needed.

I loved the actual sound effects that were played throughout the audio and the cast was amazing

I think Joey was my favorite side character he was so funny & I need more from him 🩷🩷

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC!

This author’s books just work for me, I always know what they’re going to deliver on and I’m here for it. Fun, steamy, emotional connection, plus size characters.

Whirlwind is exactly what you expect from the cover! An action adventure romance involving stormchasing! Twisters who? If you enjoyed that movie franchise and was like yeah I wish it was steamier, well here ya go. This has a forbidden element to it (professor x student) and an age gap (he’s 42, she’s 25). We drop in to the story realizing that the characters have a bit of a connection already. Sure it could have been nice to see a little bit more of that on page, but I think this worked for me at the same time cause of the length of the book, it’s just under 250 pages and I feel like that was just the right amount!

I received an audio ALC, all thoughts in this review are my own.

CW: mentions of parental death

Kayla Grosse did it again! Whirlwind was an absolute thrill ride from start to finish, and the audiobook experience took it to the next level. The tornado and storm sound effects? Genius. They made me feel like I was right there in the chase, heart pounding, adrenaline rushing—such a cool and immersive touch that elevated the entire book.

I absolutely love how Kayla writes plus size heroines—Finley was incredible. She was strong, smart, and passionate, and I appreciated that her story wasn’t just about her body, but about who she is. She felt so real, and I loved seeing her navigate the electrifying (and forbidden) tension with Professor West. Their chemistry? Off. The. Charts. 🔥 The push and pull, the tension, the way the storms mirrored their emotions—perfection.

And the spice? Kayla never misses. 🔥🔥🔥 The forbidden professor/student dynamic combined with the high stakes, storm chasing action made this book so unique, intense, and completely addictive. It was such a fun, fresh twist on Twister (pun intended 😉), and I was hooked the entire time.

If you love forbidden romance, adrenaline fueled love stories, and insanely good spice, Whirlwind is a MUST. This book was an easy five stars and one of my favorite audiobooks of the year! 🌪️💨⚡️

Thank you to NetGalley, Kayla Grosse, Dreamscape, and Fat Babe Publishing for the ALC of this book.

First I want to give a big thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing me an arc of the upcoming audiobook. As a heads up the published kindle and physical copy already released on February 6th. This review is for the audiobook format of Whirlwind!

I’ve got to be honest I requested this book because TikTok kept talking about the spicy tornado ditch scene. PS for the record TikTok was 100% correct that scene was spicy as hell and honestly this book is going to go down as one of my favorites of 2025. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

I gotta be honest on another point I had never heard or read anything by author Kayla Grosse until I sat down to listen to this audiobook. I can promise you that’s about to change and I’m about to devour everything from Mrs Grosse back catalog.

Whirlwind follows our MFC Finely who is a masters student going on storm chasing assignment with her Professor and mentor Ryker. The two of them have massive chemistry and have been flirting endlessly for years but of course have never acted on it due to the schools HR policy regarding student/teacher relationships. That all changes when one of their storm chasing adventures goes sideways and they both decide to throw caution to the wind and act on their feelings. Now they must figure out how to navigate their relationship and the consequences that arise from them being together.

This book was fabulous from beginning to end. I devoured the audiobook in less than 24 hours. Honestly if you’ve already read the book I recommend going back and also listening to the audiobook. The audiobook is dual narrated and Victoria, Grayson & Pablo did an amazing job. They had me laughing, crying, screaming, and swearing throughout the entire journey. Especially Joey! Y’all I cannot stress this enough Joey is hands down the best side character of 2025! That man had me dying and I seriously need him to have his own book to recount him and Hawkes backstory.

If you can’t already tell I cannot recommend this book enough. Perfect for every romance reader, especially those who recently fell in love with Glen Powells “Twisters”. This book is action packed, spicy as hell and has a great found family dynamic. Please don’t miss out on this amazing read and pick it up immediately.

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Select for an early copy of this audiobook!
WOW! This audiobook is GREAT! The Whirlwind audiobook is highly entertaining because they have sound effects, like weather sirens, chimes, notifications, etc. and it really adds so much to the audiobook experience! As well, the fact that the audiobook is a duet really helped me keep the characters separate and it makes it feel like there's more chemistry between the two characters!
Storywise, Whirlwind was really fun! I just finished reading the Cowboys of Night Hawk series by Kayla Grosse and I was SO excited to hear that these two stories intersect a little bit! The female main character in this story is the cousin of Jake in Rein Me In and Rope Me In! I loved that! And I loved that this was a spicy action packed storm chaser story! The male main character is a storm chasing professor and the female main character is his student (and there's an age gap 👀)! This story was super sweet and cute and I really hope that there can be a second book and make this book a series! 💖