Finley + Ryker

-age gap
-student/professor
-forced proximity
-action/adventure
-plus size fmc
-light breeding kink

this was hot & spicyyyy!! fast paced, yet still has some great pining! the audio with duet narration & sound effects was amazing!!

Whirlwind by Kayla Grosse is a passionate and emotionally charged romance that sweeps readers into a story of love, longing, and second chances. The novel follows two characters whose worlds collide in an unexpected and intense way, forcing them to confront past wounds and embrace the possibility of something new. With vivid storytelling, deep character development, and a slow-burn romance filled with tension and tenderness, Grosse delivers a heartfelt and engaging read. The audiobook is spectacular, with narrators who bring the characters to life and enhance the emotional depth of the story, making it an unforgettable listening experience. Perfect for fans of contemporary romance who enjoy stories with emotional depth and undeniable chemistry.

I loved being able to immersive read! The sound effects within this ALC was INSANE! I was so thrown off first 🤣

The story was really cute, not a spicy as I expected but still hot 🥵 It was such a fun storyline with hot popular twister got recently from the movie!

The duet narration was fantastic and Joey was such an AMAZING side character. He had me giggling the whole time.
I now need a Hawke and Joey story!

Honestly this book gave waaaay to much Twisters fanfiction except with a violently stilted power dynamic. I also didn't love how this story is primarily smut and barely story... I found that I wanted a bit more romance in the movie Twisters and much less in this (basically) reimagining, I need something in the middle.

Ryker was so immature and did not act like a 42 year old at all and honestly just gave me the total ick.

i enjoyed the narration and sound effects as it made the book really immersive. Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape for this arc!

Thank you for the ALC of Whirlwind! Reading this book was exactly that and absolutely so fun to listen to. This book is great for the fans of Twisters that wanted a bit more spice. Kayla Grosse really knows how to write a spicy scene that will have you blushing. I can't wait to read more by Kayla!

This book had me at the cover. Twisters, but add romance? Sold.

First off, the audiobook. The production was excellent, the duet narration was fantastic, and the sound effects were just right. Not nearly as much as graphic audio, but the crackles of thunder were enough to be immersed that little bit more.

Overall the book was an easy listen, and the pacing was steady enough to keep you hooked from beginning to end. Despite it being a professor-student romance, the tension is quite low. If you're looking for a book to finish in a weekend, a palette cleanser after darker reads, or something to ease you out of a reading slump - I'd recommend picking up this book. Again, especially in audio form.

My one gripe is that we are dropped immediately into the romance at the "we are about to kiss but we shouldn't" stage. As a professor-student romance, we expect to see the first meeting, the build-up, the tension. There are two flashbacks, but they serve more to provide context to the plot than to build the tension of the romance. Being dropped into the romance past the building stages helps reduce the overall tension, but it also leaves us a bit behind on our investment into this relationship. Did it impact the overall reading experience? No, but it did leave me feeling more interested in the tornadoes than the primary couple.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.75⭐, 3🌶️

This was such a fun book! I love a good forbidden romance and student/ teacher is so fun - ESPECIALLY when they are out chasing tornados! The spice was great, and the characters (and narrators) were so fun! I didn't get invested in the romance so much, just more generally listened to the story for funsies, and had a good time!

Now, excuse me while I go reward myself for finishing this book by watching Twister 🌪️😎

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Whirlwind is a delightful action adventure age gap romance involving Professor Ryker West and Finley Buckley. Finley has had a crush on him for years. She is an outstanding student and has been invited to join his storm chasing team for the summer. There is great ditch scene at their first tornado together. On the team’s first weekend away we meet Joey, Hawk and Ezra. These five interesting characters make an excellent team. As expected, there is a lot of action, some danger, drama, angst and love.
The duet narration by Grayson Owens, Victoria Connolly and Robb Moreira was absolutely brilliant. Grayson Owens was superb as Professor West and all other characters he portrayed. His voice was perfectly gruff and alpha when needed and then a sweeter, softer voice for Finley when warranted. Victoria Connolly was absolutely fantastic as Finley. You could feel all of Finley’s happiness, love, fear, anger angst and surprise through her voice. Robb Moreira was spectacular as Joey. His southern accent was phenomenal. He provided a lot of laughs and comic relief during the storm chasing weekend and later on in the story. This is a fabulous audiobook and I highly recommend listening.

OVERALL: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
•Storyline: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
•Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
•Spice Level: 🌶🌶/ 5
•Swoon level: 🫠🫠🫠🫠/5
•Emotional:🥺/5
•Re-Listen/Re-Read: Maybe
•Platform: Audiobook and Ebook
•Trope: Age-Gap, Professor/Student, Forbidden, it's always been you vibes, Storm chasers.


• Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Twister vibes and the Professor/student Forbidden relationship was hot!! Especially when she calls him Professor West. Le sigh!
It was a fast-paced book, and it truly kept me engaged and entertained. Finn and Ryker truly are a great couple. Their chemistry is spot on, but they are also great characters individually. The side characters are also endearing! I really enjoyed everything about this book. It was well written! I need more Kayla books in my life!

NARRATOR THOUGHTS: Victoria Connolly, Grayson Owens and Ft. Robb Moreira
•Duet Narration
•Listening at a 1.5 speed.
All three of these narrators were spectacular. Victoria and Robb are new to me narrators and I loved them!! I am so excited to listen to more books that they narrate. Grayson is perfection! I love his voice!

•Recommend note:
I will always encourage people to read what makes them happ If it sounds good, read it! My reviews are just that, my opinion. Happy reading, friends.

YA’LL - I was not expecting to get sucked into this one from the first page! This was my first (and certainly not last) from Grosse and what a first impression! We all know I’m a sucker for age gap but this one had such a fun spin on things! It’s packed with adventure and spice in allll the right places!

If you’re able to get this on audio, please do! They do not disappoint!

This was such a fun listen! The narrators did fantastic, and I really enjoyed that there were storm-related sound effects. The tension between Finley and Ryker was hot from the get go and kept me interested and invested in them. The storm chasing aspects seemed really accurate and technical and added to the authenticity of the story!

Audiobook Review
4.5 stars

I loved the whole weather action aspect of the book with an added taboo situation of a professor/student relationship. Although I wasn’t a fan of the sound effects - that’s a me thing as I have tried it before and did not enjoy that (very popular) particular book.
Victoria Connoly as Finley, Grayson Owens as Ryker and Robb Moreira as Joey were incredible and made the story so much better.

this audio was a ton of fun to do!! the production was top tier, the narrators did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life and the sound effects added a really fun element to everything!!

this was a quick listen, super spicy and funny with a fun storyline. i am very much looking forward to getting more of kayla’s books read

Finley & Professor West

This book was SO fun and the audiobook was fantastic!!

First things first, large age gaps aren't typically my thing, because there always seems to be the "I'm at a different place in my life" conversation that just drives me crazy (as if age has anything to do with maturity). Additionally, I don't love when the FMC is like 18-20 years old, but Finley was a 25-year-old masters student and I was absolutely here for it!

This book was fast paced and picked up very quickly! We get a flashback and enough information about how their relationship developed off page, for it not to be surprising or jarring that they their romantic/intimate relationship moves fast in this book.

The tension and mutual pining between these characters was so good. And boy were they h*rny for one another after the adrenaline rush of getting caught caught off guard by a tornado they were chasing.

These narrators knocked it out of the park! I will always choose listening to a duet narration if I have the option, and I was so excited that there was an additional narrator for one of the more prominent side characters to which he absolutely NAILED it. I also loved that Kayla chose to incorporate sound effects, which really just added to the ambiance of the story. It wasn't a full graphic audio, but you still got the sounds of wind, storms, chimes, emergency phone alerts, etc. I am very hopeful that this becomes a series, because I loved listening.

Thank you to Kayla Grosse, NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the advanced copy audiobook.

Whirlwind by Kayla Grosse
-ouu this man is down bad and i’m eating it up
-ugh I love Kayla’s writing so much its captivating and throws you right into the story I now wanna go storm chasing lol ( I will not cause i’m a wimp lol)
-his inner dialogue fighting his feelings is killing me he’s an over thinker like me lol
-this man is fine he zaddy lol
-its so crazy to me that like storm chasers run after storms versus me that would run away so quick lol we gotta love different passions lol
-I love their back and forth , banter and flirting so much it has me giddyyy
-I need a man to talk about me the way Ryker does
-the sounds effects added such a beautiful touch it had me looking around and looking crazy lol
-their connectionnnn wowww gobble gobble
-bro the audio of this book truly has me feeling like im with them every step of the way what a thrill and adventure
-naughty naughty in the dirt 👀 okayyy kaylaaaa
-joseph is so funny i love him im cackling “you may not be my daddy but you we’re that tornados daddy” 🤣
-the spicy is spicyyyy ate it up and i don’t eat spicy foods but a spicy book like this yes pleaseee
-can this book please be a movie lol ?
-I ATE THIS BOOK UP 👏🏾
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape, and Fat Babe Publishing for the advanced copier.

I picked this up because it was described as "sexy Twister" and I love Twister so I thought, this may be the romance for me! I'm not generally big on romance but it was Valentine's season and I love stormy settings so I was excited to start this... then it kind of turned out a little boring?

There is a lot of sex, perhaps too much, because it makes this story feel like 70% sex and 30% story, and I was actually interested in the story. I'd have liked some more backstory on these characters' history together, I'd have liked some more tension (it starts basically right away), and I'd have liked more tornados! Or more character growth together in general. Or if this were a dual romance with the main leads and the two side characters.

But for a romance novel it was generally ok. The dual narrator audiobook was pretty good as well, and I'm a pretty big fan of audiobooks doing that these days. This is like the third or fourth I've listened to like this and it always makes me feel spoiled lol

My biggest and, maybe only, complaints are 1) the name Ryker, I can only think of the prison so this made me cringe, and 2) Tornado Daddy. I'm really, really, really not into the daddy/mommy named stuff. It also makes me cringe hard.

I will be watching Twister and Twisters this week for sure now, though.

Did i know before i requested this book that there was a publishing house called fat babes publishing inc? No. But i do now and it would be worth it for that alone, but this was a spicy lil treat, so thanks netgalley/dreamscape/fat babe for this audio ARC.

Finley has spent the year nursing her crush on her v. hot professor, while kicking butt in her meterology masters program. Shes chosen for a spot on an important storm chasing trip, but the day before she is caught out by a storm she couldnt predict, both in the weather and her love life.

There is always a good chance if you put a big girl on the cover of a romance novel that i am gonna pick it up. This audio arc was truly very fun- i dont really know or care much about weather stuff, but i liked that it wasnt a basic hot for teacher type story, and it reminded me of the cinematic masterpiece that was twister, so it was nostalgic AND fun. i havent listened to many full cast/duet recordings, and they add so much to your experience! I loved listening to these characters chat, especially if joey was given twister daddy a hard time (#^.^#) all the extra sound imagery was also great- sometimes its nice to experience while you imagine. All the narrators were excellent and. Um. The steamy performances. Just. Bravo, y'all.

Whats there to say besides this story was cute, i love a man that is DOWN BAD, and its worth worth a read, but REALLY worth a listen.

Ryker is a renowned storm chaser and a professor. Finley is his student that excels in storm chasing. Lines get blurred as they chaser storms together.

I liked this book. But I would have liked more depth in their relationship.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Damn Kayla did it again! I will devour anything she writes but when it’s in audio version I love it even more! Victoria and Grayson did such a wonderful job bringing these characters to life! It’s also the first time I’ve heard sound effects in the book and let me tell you it was life changing! I loved it so so much. Seriously one of the best audios I’ve listened to. And the story is phenomenal. The tension between Tornado Daddy Ryker and Finley was so hot. And the comedic relief of Joey was top tier! Now I need books about all the TT storm chasing family! Easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given!

This is a hard one for me to rate. I have now read five books by Kayla Grosse, including Whirlwind. This is the second audiobook from her that I have listened to. Since this is an audiobook, let me start by giving my feedback regarding this aspect.

I have been listening to audiobooks consistently for the past 9 months or so, and I never knew there was a difference between dual narration and duet narration. Well, apparently there is. We learn something new every day. Dual narration is where the chapter written in the PoV of a specific character is voiced by a narrator and that person voices all internal monologue and external dialogue for all of the characters present in that chapter. Duet narration is multiple voice actors, each taking the speaking role of a specific character, and if the chapter is written in a PoV of one of the characters, they are the ones that read the internal monologues as well. In the past 9 months, I kept saying that I wished audiobooks would do what I now know to be called duet narration because I don't always like the way that some narrators voice other characters. Now that I have experienced it, I'm not sure if I like it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it but I think it takes some time to get used to. Maybe I just need to find more books with duet narration. Also, there were a lot of sound effects that also took some time to get used to. I'm not saying I didn't like it, I am just not accustomed to it so it caught me off guard. I sometimes felt like I was in an attraction at Disneyland or Universal Studios, where it was all immersive. It's great, but it catches you off guard if you have never experienced an audiobook like this.

Also, I want to congratulate Kayla and her team and the team at Dreamscape or whoever does the casting. I think Grayson Owens has voiced all of Kayla's audiobooks, and he is phenomenal. I love his voice, his acting, everything. I think Victoria Connolley did a fantastic job as well. But my favorite, my absolute favorite in this book had to be Robb Moreira, who I believe voiced Joey. I need to check out more of his work to see what his regular speaking voice is like or what his other work sounds like because the character of Joey was perfect!

Now, on to the book. Here is where I am confused. I'm going to start by saying that Kayla did a great job writing it and researching all of the meteorological scientific aspects. Or at least I think she did because I do not understand anything about weather phenomena, but she sure had me convinced. However, as mentioned, I have now read a few books from Kayla, and while I always say that they are not my cup of tea (the throple aspect of many of her books), they are always SPICY. Not just spicy scenes but MULTIPLE SPICY scenes. We did have spice and hot smut between Finley and Professor Ryker West but there were 3 or 4 scenes. It was few and far between, not something I have become accustomed to Kayla. So, while the book was great as a smut book on its own, if you are picking it up because of Kayla and the work you are accustomed to from her, not because of the synopsis, then you will find a difference. Because I listened to this in audio format, something that allows me to do other things while listening, I had no problem finishing the book. If I had gotten the digital version or paper version, where I have to sit down and read rather than multitask, I think it would have been a DNF for me. I'm perfectly fine with no spice books, but I requested this audiobook on NetGalley because it was written by Kayla, not because of the blurb, and it just didn't feel 100% like the Kayla work I am used to reading.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select and Kayla Grosse for the opportunity to list to Whirlwind.