ARC Review by Annie: Natural Disaster by Erin McLellan

Posted October 22, 2019 by Dale

When two tornado chasers form a reluctant team, the pressure between them builds….

Human-interest reporter—and son of a famous storm chaser—Guthrie Gale wants nothing to do with severe weather. But his station’s director insists he join the storm chasing team, or else, and worse yet, she pairs him with hotshot rookie chaser Luke Masters.

All Luke wants is to be a part of the KTTY family, and he won’t let prickly Guthrie Gale spoil his chance. Little does he realize Guthrie’s anxiety around storms is more than justified.

As Oklahoma’s unpredictable tornado season picks up, Guthrie and Luke strike up a turbulent working relationship that shifts between lust and bickering. But when they are forced to outrun a dangerous twister, their trust is tested and the desire between them flashes quick as lightning, threatening to burn more than just their careers.

Release Date: Oct. 11, 2019
Amazon | Universal link
You can find a detailed list of content warnings here.

Erin’s guest post about the real-life inspiration for Natural Disaster can be found here.

*A copy of this was provided via Gay Book Promotions

Natural Disaster was my first book about anything related to a, well… natural disaster.

I really enjoyed McLellan’s refreshing take on the forced proximity trope, which in Natural Disaster involves a car instead of the usually known hotel room or workplace etc. Both characters are constantly flirting snarkily, there’s lots of banter and yet they also show a vulnerability with each other that they don’t show anyone else. I found following them along on their chase highly enjoyable.

I found Luke and Guthrie to be extremely relatable characters.
Guthrie is at times (very) judgmental – particularly towards Luke – who he knows nothing about because he literally just met him. At first this makes him appear more abrasive than he actually is. But it doesn’t take long for Luke to start winning Guthrie over and for Guthrie to slowly but steadily open up to Luke. I especially loved the moments when we could see him feeling completely safe with Luke.

Being from Germany where tornadoes are a very rare occurrence, I’ve naturally never done any storm chasing myself, but I know that you have to trust your chasing partner without any doubt ever. And for Guthrie, who has an extreme fear of tornadoes, to trust and to actually feel safe with Luke was just lovely to see.

Whereas Guthrie keeps things close to his heart, Luke is a lot more open about his feelings and in general appears to be a more easy-going person. It doesn’t take long though for the readers to realize that he’s not as confident as he seems. Luke grew up in foster care and is now reluctant to trust that people will not just leave him again. He craves stability and hopes to finally find a family-like group. For me he definitely was a character I constantly wanted to give a big hug, because he did not deserve what happened to him.
Thankfully McLellan perfectly mixed the more emotional scenes with humor and a hefty dose of snark so that it never felt like it was too much.

I also want to mention how much I loved the promo video shoots Luke & Guthrie had to do after their first one went viral because of their snarking, banter and obvious attraction to each other.

I really appreciated how their relationship progressed. Both of them constantly challenge each other, which was cute and sexy at the same time. I especially loved though, that they got to know each other before starting anything sexual.

If there is one thing I did not like about the story, it’s that I wish it was longer. Hopefully we’ll see Guthrie and Luke again in the next installment of this series. Otherwise this was an exciting, sexy and funny read with a small dose of angst that I definitely recommend!

Erin McLellan is the author of several contemporary romances, all of which have characters who are complex, goodhearted, and a little quirky. She likes her stories to have a sexy spark and a happily ever after. Originally from Oklahoma, she currently lives in Alaska and spends her time dreaming up love stories set in the Great Plains. She is a lover of chocolate, college sports, antiquing, Dr Pepper, and binge-worthy TV shows. Erin is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Alaska chapter.