Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon @rlynn_solomon @sarahmollo @PRHAudio

Ari Abrams is a Seattle television meteorologist working at her dream job for the woman who’s been her idol since she was a young girl. Torrance Hale is the chief meteorologist and her ex-husband Seth is the news director who also functions as the station manager. It should all be ideal but Torrance & Seth have made work conditions a nightmare with their personal acrimony towards each other. Sports reporter Russell Barringer and Ari have an ongoing conversation about it that develops into something bigger following a disastrous holiday party. They jokingly suggested that their bosses just needed a nudge to remind them of why they were once a loving couple but the next day, Ari and Russell decide they will conspire together to make it happen.

I got more than I’d hoped for with this story in Ari Abrams. Her love of weather is genuine, truly defining her life around it. However, her sunny disposition isn’t natural as she’s suffered from depression most of her life and she’s actively receiving treatment. She’s not shared this with anyone beyond family and when she’d done so with her ex-fiancée, it ended their relationship. She’s also Jewish and I loved how that was incorporated into the story. Turns out Russell is also Jewish, something they didn’t know they had in common. While their shenanigans in orchestrating the reuniting of Torrance and Seth were highly amusing, their developing relationship was much more interesting.

I enjoyed every aspect of this story, especially how Ari learned to live with depression, as that was my own personal connection having suffered from it years ago. There is a stigma attached but I chose to talk about it openly versus hide it as Ari did and the contrast was interesting. But the real loveliness of this story rests with Ari & Russell’s developing relationship. It was sweet, kind and natural and I was swept up into their haze. I listened to the story and enjoyed the narrator who fully embraced all things Ari. The chapters are also preceded with “weather forecasts” that give you a heads up of what’s coming in the story. They are über cute and clever, adding a bit of whimsy to a story that’s funny but carries much more weight.

Book Info

• Release Date: January 11, 2022
  
• Narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 41 minutes
• Publisher: Penguin Audio

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