Ari Abrams loves her job as a meteorologist for a tv station in Seattle.  But her boss, lead meteorologist Torrance Hale, is too busy sniping with her news director ex-husband to give Ari the mentorship and guidance she’s looking for.  Sports reporter Russell Barringer sees the problem too, so they hatch a plan: they’ll sneakily set their bosses back up, encouraging them to work through the issues that ended the marriage in the first place.  Shenanigans ensue: swing dancing dates, gifted succulents, an accidental double couples massage, until Ari and Russell start to feel like something’s sparking not just between their bosses, but between them too.  But it’s not always rainbows and sunshine for Ari -- can she trust Russell with her cloudy days when she’s never trusted anyone like that before?

I really liked THE EX TALK, Solomon’s adult debut, so of course I picked up this book expecting to enjoy it as well.  Wow, did I underestimate how much I’d love it.

Solomon excels at writing fully-fleshed out, nuanced characters that I’d love to be friends with IRL, with dialogue that’s witty and sharp without ever feeling too contrived.  Ari and Russ are so tenderly crafted -- you can tell that Solomon really loves and respects these characters.  

A fundamental part of this book is Ari’s depression, which is now well-managed after nearly a decade of mental health treatment (which means she’s on medication, sees a therapist regularly, and still has some bad days).  It’s juxtaposed against her mother’s struggle with the same illness.  Again we see how much Solomon cares for the people she’s writing: Ari’s mom isn’t demonized for being in a pretty deep depression most of Ari’s childhood, but Ari is definitely critical of her mom’s choices not to seek help.  It’s tough for her when her mother finally does seek treatment.  I really respect where Solomon took this storyline: I love that Ari explored how her mom was too depressed to seek help and understanding that feeling, but also examining how that made her a bad parent at times, and how that affects Ari’s feelings of being capable of being a partner and a parent.

Weather Girl is simply delightful.  It’s both laugh-out-loud funny and tear-jerking, it’s tender, thoughtful, and nuanced, it’s a book I cannot recommend enough.

CW:

Ari has well-managed depression with the occasional dark day, her mother has a history of depression that results in her entering in-patient psychiatric treatment at the beginning of the book, her mother’s depression resulted in her being an absentee parent for some of Ari’s childhood and occasionally making a snide comment about Ari’s appearance, Russell is fat and acknowledges it might bother Ari (it does not)

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!