Book Title: Chase Me If You Can
Author: Heather Frances
Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)
Publishing Date: June 2026
If there is one unexpected romance trend taking shape this year, it’s the weather. Storm chasers, meteorologists, climate scientists are rapidly becoming publishing’s newest heartthrobs, and Heather Frances’ debut arrives at exactly the right moment. Chase Me If You Can proves there’s plenty of room left in the forecast for a fresh take.
Wedding photographer Sloane Michaels spends her summers chasing storms, hoping to capture the kind of photograph that could transform her reputation through a prestigious photography competition. Standing in her way (or so she believes) is “Wild Wes” Talbot, a fellow storm chaser whose reckless reputation appears to make him her antithesis. When one particularly daring chase leaves Wes stranded after wrecking his SUV, Sloane reluctantly offers him a place to stay, and a partner for storm chasing, peppered with some mild insults, as nemesis often do.
“Have I told you how much I like chasing with you?”
Let’s get the obvious praise out of the way first: Frances has an excellent grasp of her setting and theme. Chase Me If You Can balances levity with genuine stakes, allowing exhilarating storm-chasing sequences to coexist with thoughtful reflections on why people willingly pursue something so beautiful and so dangerous. The novel understands both the thrill and the recklessness of storm chasing, and never glamorises one at the expense of the other. That balance gives the book an almost cinematic quality, making it easy to imagine as the kind of sweeping screen adaptation that would appeal to fans of Twisters.
Chase Me If You Can: Tropes Edition
Chase Me If You Can never allows itself to become trapped inside — or tethered to — a single romance trope; scenes fluidly hop across tropes. Rivals give way to forced proximity, which quietly slips into a satisfying he-falls-first romance, with plenty of smaller, familiar beats, from eldest-daughter-sacrifices, to caretaking during migraines, to found-family warmth.
“That kiss wasn’t a favor. That kiss was a goddamn reckoning.”
What truly distinguishes the novel, however, is its remarkable attention to detail. Frances writes with the confidence of someone who knows this world intimately, and it shows in the small observations rather than the grand spectacles. One particularly memorable moment comes in her description of a gas station after a convoy of storm chasers has passed through: empty shelves, overflowing bins, exhausted staff, scattered debris: the quiet aftermath that makes the setting feel inhabited rather than simply researched. Similar details about the culture of storm chasing, its unspoken codes, and even the gender dynamics within the community lend the novel an authenticity that elevates it above many of this year’s weather-themed romances.
“Watching you stand up for yourself was kinda hot.”
In the list of things to love about this book is that having mature protagonists in their 30s paves the way for calm communication; there are no theatrics just for the sake of dramatic twists. The story, however, remains firmly rooted in Sloane’s point of view, meaning Wes often feels more intriguing than fully realised. Readers are told that he has quietly carried feelings for Sloane for a long time, and they’ve known each other over the better part of a decade, yet because we spend so little time inside his head, that revelation raises almost as many questions as it answers. Given that the pair have orbited one another for years through the same storm-chasing community, it occasionally feels difficult to reconcile why their relationship only truly develops now.
Chase Me If You Can is an immensely satisfying, compelling debut. Frances captures the exhilaration of chasing storms while grounding the spectacle in believable relationships, vivid atmosphere and an obvious affection for the community she portrays. In a publishing season crowded with weather romances, this one stands out because of the thoughtful world built around them.
WRB gives Chase Me If You Can a solid 4.5 stars for its entertainment quotient.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance review copy (ARC). All opinions expressed are my own.
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