Weather Girl

November 1, 2021
Co-workers scheme to get their bosses back together, falling for each other in the process. Ari Abrams dreamed of being a meteorologist as a child, when she escaped from her mother's stormy moods by watching Torrance Hale deliver the forecast on the evening news. Now 27, Ari covers the weather for local Seattle station KSEA 6, a dream come true. Having Torrance as her boss? The icing on the cake. At least, she thought it would be when she started the job three years ago. But KSEA 6 director Seth Hasegawa Hale is Torrance's ex-husband, and the two of them are at each other's throats so often that it's made the atmosphere at the station perpetually overcast, leaving Torrance far too distracted to spend much time mentoring Ari. After Torrance and Seth cause a particularly dramatic scene at the station's holiday party, Ari and sports reporter Russell Barringer bond over booze and their shared desire for better working conditions. They hatch a plan to turn their bosses' passion from hate back to love through forced proximity--couples' massages, dance classes, dinners--and in the process find their own friendship becoming much more. But Ari's desire to keep her depression diagnosis hidden, along with Russell's complicated home life, might put the kibosh on their burgeoning romance. The relationship between Ari and Russell is the main driver of the plot, but their connection is slightly underdeveloped. Their three years as co-workers are mostly unexplored, so the journey from friends to crushes to lovers feels rushed. But with a cast of interesting characters, sensitively explored topics of mental health and family dynamics, and enough steamy scenes to fog up the Seattle skyline, readers will no doubt be satisfied. The forecast predicts a 100% chance of heartfelt rom-com charm.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 15, 2021
Solomon’s wildly appealing sophomore rom-com (after The Ex Talk) takes readers behind the scenes of a drama-filled TV news station. KSEA 6 morning weather reporter Ari Abrams loves her job and has always looked up to Torrance Hale, the reigning queen of all things meteorological at KSEA 6. But recently, the nonstop hostility between Torrance and her ex-husband, the station’s news director, has made the workplace stressful. It’s particularly hard for Ari, who masks her clinical depression with relentless cheeriness at work—until one evening when she finally opens up and vents to the cute, chubby sports anchor, Russell Barringer. When Russell suggests he and Ari get their bosses back together to improve their dispositions, she thinks it’s worth a try and is glad to have made a friend who listens to her. Solomon handles Ari’s mental health and Russell’s body image issues with skill and sensitivity. Fans of Christina Lauren and Julie James will enjoy watching the duo’s matchmaking schemes as chemistry begins to sizzle between them—and, inevitably, the plotters are hoisted by their own petard. Solomon writes real characters with real problems without ever sacrificing fun. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary.

December 1, 2021
Following her stellar debut, The Ex Talk (2021), Solomon delivers a second workplace romance set in Seattle. Neurodiverse Jewish American Ari Abrams is a meteorologist at KSEA-TV in love with her job. Though her twin's love sustained her while growing up, their father's abandonment and their mother's mental health challenges took a toll. Ari suffers from depression, but she is taking care of herself with medication and therapy. Jewish American Russell Barringer is a parent of a preteen and a sports journalist at KSEA-TV. He played competitive hockey in school, but teen parenthood dashed his dreams of playing in college. Reporting on sports is now his passion even as he suffers from body-image issues. Stress in the workplace caused by verbal warfare between the station's news director and star reporter-scientist cause Ari and Russell to put their heads together and try their hand at matchmaking. While stronger chemistry between the leading characters would've made the story more engaging, this is a promising second book.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.