Reviewed by CJ | Rating: 4/5 | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 📖
⚠️ This is a full spoiler review. If you haven’t read In Stormy Weather yet — go read it first. We’ll be here when you’re done.
OPENING HOOK
Give me a rivals-to-lovers book with actual science in it and I am IN. In Stormy Weather opens with Quincy celebrating one million followers on The Rainy Day Show and taking the leap to apply for a Science and Operations Officer position with the National Weather Service (NWS), and by the end, she’s got both her show and the job. But getting there means teaming up (and eventually falling into bed, then in love) with the one person standing in her way of that job: her childhood/college academic rival, Sebastian Dunn.
THE FULL STORY — SPOILERS INCLUDED
So Quincy runs The Rainy Day Show, a weather-focused social media show that just hit a million followers, and she’s out celebrating at The Hideout with her best friend Harlow and their other best friend Mia Dunn. Harlow owns The Hideout while Mia’s a romance novelist, and also happens to be Sebastian’s younger sister. Quincy and Mia have been close since Harlow and Quincy’s junior year of high school, when Mia transferred into town. She was a grade younger than them, but it never mattered. Sebastian, meanwhile, has been Quincy’s academic rival along that same timeline and crowning him as the bane of her existence (her words). They all share a big friend group with his two best friends Cooper and Nate.
Fast forward to this summer, and Quincy and Sebastian keep ending up at the same storms. Her for The Rainy Day Show, him for his news network out of New York. What starts as professional overlap turns into a slow build from rivals to friendly, leading to one spicy moment after a storm that neither of them planned on. And the whole time, there’s this added tension because they’re both up for the same NWS position. Friendly rivals with a job on the line and an interconnected friend group mean this is messy in the best way.
As hurricane season hits and they end up traveling through Florida together with him on leave from his regular gig, doing a hurricane season documentary for his station and guesting on her show repeatedly while they cover the same storms. That’s when the friends-with-benefits thing begins with the standard “nobody’s supposed to catch feelings” arrangement that, shockingly, nobody sticks to. It’s fantastic.
What I loved is that once they actually get together, they stay together. No third-act breakup, no misunderstanding to create drama. The tension instead comes from something real: Quincy’s got a reckless streak because she’s trying to prove herself in an industry that hasn’t always taken women seriously, and Sebastian’s balancing the line between supportive but trying to keep her safe. There are some minor injuries sustained along the way, nothing life-threatening, but enough to remind you just how serious these storms are. The final hurricane, where they get separated mid-storm, away from their friends, was stressful to read.
By the end, Sebastian gives up his life in New York to be with her, and Quincy lands the National Weather Service job they were both chasing. Their friend group is thriving, with a few loose threads left dangling – Mia’s engagement to Richard doesn’t seem like the smoothest fit, and their friend Cooper is clearly into her, so fingers crossed for that update in future Chelsea Curto books. Harlow and Nate get a mention too, though I’m less confident that’s going to be a thing. They didn’t cross paths as much.
BEST PART OF THIS BOOK
The banter. Chelsea Curto writes this fantastic, razor-thin line between frenemy, rival, supportive cheerleader, and competitive that Quincy and Sebastian walk the entire book, and it’s just so much fun to read.
WORST PART OF THIS BOOK
I don’t really have one. The only tough part was how the aftermath of the hurricanes and tornadoes was portrayed; it was handled with sensitivity and realism, which I appreciated, but it made for a heavier read at points than I expected going in.
THE STEAM RATING BREAKDOWN
🔥🔥🔥🔥 — Spicy. The romance is central to the plot once the FWB arrangement kicks off in Florida, and it doesn’t stay casual for long.
Content warning for natural disaster aftermath (hurricanes/tornadoes) handled with care but still emotionally heavy.
THE ENDING — SATISFIED OR DISAPPOINTED?
Satisfied. Sebastian gives up his New York career for her, Quincy gets the job, and there’s no last-minute gut-punch to get in the way. It’s a happy ending that actually feels earned by everything they went through together.
WOULD WE REREAD IT?
Yes, easily.
WHO IS THIS FOR
Rom-com lovers who want a little science mixed in with their rivals-to-lovers with bonus points if you had a weather-obsessed kid phase like I did.
WHERE TO GET THIS BOOK
📖 Physical Book
🎧 Audiobook
📱 Ebook
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📖 | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥