A MelanieM Review: Gavin & Morgan (Storming Love: Blizzard #5) by Nicole Dennis

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Drained from forecasting both hurricanes and twisters, Gavin Larson, a meteorologist, accepts a request to become the head forecaster for a Philadelphia television station. He goes for a trial time during winter. A calm, quiet winter where he can recharge. Until he discovers a series of potential events ready to clash.

Taking over his family’s position, Morgan Rylee Whittaker III feels the pressure to follow their lofty attitude, he can’t stay hidden in the executive suites. He jumps into the chaos. Bumping into the meteorologist, Morgan feels a thump of arousal, but listens when Gavin locates a dangerous blizzard heading up the coast.

Together, they protect and prepare Philadelphia from the incoming nor’easter. They dance around the steady beat of attraction brewing between them as the storm rages.

Gavin & Morgan by Nicole Dennis brings up the end (for me) of MLR’s Storming Love: Blizzard collection and it’s fitting that it goes out with a romance between a meteorologist and the owner of a tv station during the blizzard of the century. Gavin Larson is an intense, “owned by his job” man. His passion is the weather but that passion has taken him into jobs such as hurricane and then tornado forecasting that has left him burned out. The offer of a job at a station in Philadelphia holds out the promise of less meteorological drama and some much needed down time. After all, says his old college friend that hires him, nothing huge ever happens weather wise in Philly. Of course, Mother Nature and a Polar Vortex have other ideas.

Also trying out a new position is Morgan Rylee Whittaker III, stepping into the manager shoes at his family media company. When he meets Gavin, its due to the fact that Gavin sees unstable and dangerous fronts forming and wants to start alerting the community around him that a huge snow storm is headed their way. It doesn’t help that newcomer Gavin is the only meteorologist with this forecast or that the “on camera” old school weatherman refuses to use Gavin’s forecasts. It’s a clash of old established ways of doing business against the new “youngsters” at the station, even if one happens to be the son of the owner.

It’s a great storyline and one I enjoyed immensely. Dennis makes her characters and their passions for their jobs believable and grounded in authenticity of the forecasts heard nightly on the weather forecasts. The weather patterns and the buildup, from equipment to the various fronts forming to build the “storm of the century” felt plausible and real. The same goes for the attraction building at the same time between the men during this stressful time. I liked that this is no instant love sort of story, more instant attraction and respect that might grow into something larger and deeper down the line.

In fact, Gavin and Morgan could easily have been written as a much larger story. The men and their backgrounds were not only complicated and interesting but the present position that each found themselves in could have been made more layered by adding the background that was only hinted at. I wanted to know more about Gavin’s past stressful jobs and the life style that brought him to Philadelphia. Same goes for Morgan and his strained relationship with his father.

The clash of personalities of the station was also well done as was the “wear and tear” of a 24 to 48 hour non-stop working situation during a “storm of a lifetime” broadcast. That aspect of the story was fleshed out beautifully and felt as real as any other element here.

What hurt the story? The editing and incorrect word choices not caught by either the author or editor. At one point in the story, Gavin is said to be ” the finest meteorologist and one of the most facetious researchers” in the country. Uh, no. Facetious would be if he “treated serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor” or was flippant about his job. That is the opposite of Gavin. Further along, poor Gavin got the brunt of even more malapropisms when it talks about his calm “facade” when I suppose the author meant demeanor or mien. Façade which is actually the spelling Dennis used means ” outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality”, definitely not what the author intended. I think Dennis wanted to get across that Gavin had a strong, calm presence in front of the camera in face of this dangerous storm. But that’s not what she said. Oh, for a Funk and Wagnalls. These inappropriate word choices had pulled me straight out of the story because I was so dumbfounded that the errors had not been caught before publication. There’s more but I think I made the point needed. Poor editing hurts a story, it stops the flow of the narrative and makes the reader start concentrating on structural elements rather than the plot. This should have rated a 4 star or higher rating. But the inaccuracies and inconsistent editing pulled it down.

I liked this story, and thought the major elements were well crafted. Perhaps I’m too picky and the things that bothered me about the story aren’t as important to you. Pick it up and decide for yourself. For me, its spring and I’m looking forward to flowers, and higher temperatures while putting the snow, Polar Vortexes, and all things similar away for another season. If you find yourself missing the cold, and snow and ice of the past months, pick up any of the six stories that form the Storming Love: Blizzard collection. There you will find a story sure to bring those months and romance alive once more.

Cover art by Kris Jacen. A simple cover that serves to brand the series as a collection.

Sales Links: MLR Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here