**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

This book tried so hard to be cool that it just came off painfully pretentious with very unlikable characters.

First time trying/hearing of this author and although I didn't like this book I would give her another go.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to the Audiobook Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was.... eh. Not wonderful. Not awful. It was ok.

A friends, to lovers, to enemies, to maybe friends, to refusing to acknowledge their attraction to each other to lovers again.

She's been scandalously kicked out of school and comes home to angry parents who barely talk to her, a "perfect" sister who barely acknowledges her, and is forced by her mother to volunteer at a bookstore that just so happens to be run by someone she hates.

The story weaves thru their love hate relationship, their playing with each others' emotions and it all ends happily ever after.

Not great. Not terrible. Eh.

3.5⭐️

It's been a while since I listened to an audiobook so I thought to pick this one up to get back into it. I enjoyed it however I think this one just fell short to me. I think I might enjoy it if I'm reading the book instead of the audiobook. Because the tropes are my favourites. However, I didn't find myself wanting to rush finishing it.

The Grump Who Stole Summer is not was I was expecting, reading the synopsis I expected a funny, sweet enemies-to-lovers, second-chance rom-com, fun and light. A hot mess it was this is and that's it.
The plot wasn't really interesting or creative, the chemistry between the MCs was barely there and the spice/sex scenes weren't really all that good.

Enemies to lovers.

Well, technically lovers to enemies to lovers.

Alice has jumped the rails. Her behavior has finally been bad enough that her mother drags her home from college. It’s the summer before her senior year and she’s sure it’s going to suck.

Then there is Smith. His main priorities are drinking himself into an oblivion and barely keeping the bookstore that he owns up and running.

Alice’s mom volunteers her to work at a bookstore partially owned by someone she does business with. Turns out, it’s Smith’s bookstore and one look at him brings back their intense past- and the hurt that came with it.

Alice sticks with it though and helps to heal Smith in the process. The long lost secrets come out and they are able to finally admit their love to each other.

I love when books have bookstores in them, just makes my heart happy. However, this book was just okay for me. The lifestyle of the rich and famous just isn’t that interesting, in my opinion.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

I listened to the audiobook version.

I could not connect with the characters at all, especially Alice.

Rich girl, Alice, coming off a sex scandal, has to hunker down and volunteer at an old bookstore, The bookstore just happens to be owned by Smith, the grumpy boy that broke her heart three years prior.

I didn’t sympathize with either character nor cared if they got back together.

The narrators did a decent job, and enjoyed the two person narration.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. Hmm I honestly don't know why this book got such high reviews. The language is absolutely awful. I don't even know how many times they drop the F bomb. Just not a fit for my taste.

I thought this book was okay enough. I am really not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope when it's that bad. I also am not a huge fan of self loathing. ( I get that there were reasons BUT sometimes as an adult we need to work on ourselves or we hurt people - Cause in point... Alice. Smith crushed Alice in a way I see as almost unforgivable.

Not to take away from some of Alices faults as well - I think the book could use a little bit of clean up.

“Smith was a loner. Worse than that, he was a hate-filled human with severe resentment toward other humans and things that breathed in general—including himself.”

This is Alice and Smith's story of how they meet in the past and trail away but have a chance to reconnect in the present.
Smith is a grump alcoholic who owns a bookstore. He hates everything and everyone, and barely manages to keep his book store afloat because he can't be bothered to smile or be polite to a customer.
Alice is a bit of spoiled princess, with a lot of things going wrong in her life. After being a bit too wild in college and getting caught with her boobs out on display in a paparazzi shot, she is back home to finish her studies.

Holy crap on a cracker this book was steamy! Okay so Smith's past came as a surprise, which I like because I couldn't guess why he was the way he was the whole time. I love that Smith runs a bookstore, because you don't see a lot of romance novels with the guy running the bookstore (it's usually the woman). I also actually like that Alice comes from a well to do family but doesn't seem to act like it around Smith.

2.5 to 3 stars

This was small town romance with two very flaw people.

Our Hero was a mess even when sometimes I didn't understood his grumpy ways and I didn't like what he did to win over the heroine or his reasoning behind his decisions.

Our heroine was... I never really warmed up to her either so that took some of the enjoyment for me.

My biggest "issue" with the book was the plot because it was there but... I feel like I need more. Like every problem and every solution was surface level and it wasn't engaging enough for me to care.

I think the narrators did a great job setting up the mood for the scenes so that was good.

Overall although I like some things in the book it wasn't enough for me to fully enjoyed it.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Grump Who Stole Summer
by Ella Fields
Narrated by Kelsey-Ann O'Dowd and Brian Meslar

I received a digital copy of this audiobook from NetGalley and Orange Sky Audio in exchange for an honest review. The print/ebook version was released in January of 2022 and is available to read on kindle unlimited. The audiobook releases 8/9/22.

This is a second chance romance - a broody angsty new adult romance with high steam (open door) and frequent cursing. There’s underage substance use but no underage action. Remembered references to casual sex. So if that doesn’t sound to your taste keep walking. As a mom in my late 30s I’m not always in the mood for new adult romance drama but sometimes it’s a nice snack.

A scarred (literally and figuratively) grumpy virgin hero is one of my absolute favorite romance tropes. We also get a bookstore workplace makeover. The author uses alternating hero vs heroine; present day vs past storytelling to unravel what’s really going on between these two.

Our heroine is a “bad girl/uninhibited party” who really isn’t all that bad. She’s relatable and intellectual beneath the glittery surface.

Our hero calls Alice “wonderland” as a nickname, which I find fun, romantic and potentially full of meaning. Alice is bisexual and some of the cruel reactions by peers after a high school exploration of feels occurs. Largely just cattiness. No specified cruelty or violence. So not pleasant but not overly scarring if that’s a trigger subject.

Narration quality - female was solid with inflection for various characters. It appeared to me at least, that the gravelly-ness of the hero’s voices was likely not natural and an affectation. Kudos to him for giving the people what they want. The reading of the chapter titles felt a little unnatural and forced but once entering the narrative it melded with the story quite well and I appreciate the effort in voice acting the character more than a natural voice that wouldn’t fit the character.

At the end we find out what really happened in the past and connections are made that none of our leading players even knew. It was a bit darker than I expected but the author didn’t linger overlong on the subject.

5/5

3.5⭐

Alice is fresh off a scandal and kicked out of college. Her mom is making her work at the local bookstore. She's an aspiring writer and book lover, so she doesn't put up a fight about it. But when she sees who works there too, she hightails it right out of there because there's no way she can be around the guy that broke her heart 3 years ago. Resigning to her mother's demands, she makes the best of an uncomfortable situation.

Charles, who goes by Smith, co-owns a bookstore with his father. He is one of the grumpiest, grumps I have ever read about. He's rude to customers, smokes in the store, the place is just a disaster and he drinks up a storm. And now he has to work with the girl he pushed away years ago. Think it'll be all sunshine and lollipops? nope.

I love that it was told in dual pov in the present and back 4 years prior when these two first met. Both characters were immature and had a lot of growing up to do and as the story progresses they finally matured. Smith's big secret will both break your heart for him and wonder what the big whoop is.

Okay so I've been known to swear a time or two or 807, but holy moly I've never heard the f word so many times in one book. I wonder if I would have noticed it as much if I read it. It felt like I was hearing it every other paragraph.

Kelsey-Ann O'Dowd and Brian Meslar did a lovely job narrating for 9 hours and 22 minutes, easy to follow along at 2x. One thing about Brian though, his voice does not sound like he's in his 20's, more like 40's maybe, but he definitely gives off the gruff grumpy tones.

This is a friends to enemies to lovers, second chance romance for a couple in their early 20's. I was happy they finally figured out their misunderstandings and got their happily ever after.

*Thanks to OrangeSky Audio, Ella Fields and NetGalley for the advance audiobook. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

I gave this book 2/5 stars. Alice was ok. She didn't jump off the page for me but she was an alright character. Smith was an insecure ass! He behaved like a child for the entire book. That's probably ok for a lot of people but it's not my cup of tea for a mmc.
The reasons I bumped this book from a 3 to a 2 was the male narrator. I enjoyed the female narrator's voice but the male narrator was not for me. It made it difficult to focus.

I was so excited for this book. The Grump Who Stole Summer just sounds like the perfect rom-com, and the fact that it was set in a bookstore was just even better. The cover is super cute, and I've never seen a grump who wasn't actually darling (until this book).

Just in the first chapter there is already explicit sexual content, copious amounts of substance abuse, and an f-bomb dropped about every other sentence. Alice was whiny, solely because she got caught in a sex scandal and now has to volunteer at a book store as recompense. Smith is your classic toxic emo boy, who had some trauma as a child that justifies him being an acidic hermit as an adult. Their whole relationship was just bonding over unhealthy coping mechanisms and lust.

To be completely fair to the book, it might be amazing for its genre (which I don’t read). My only valid complaint is that it is marketed as a fun summer rom-com when it is nothing of the sort.

This just wasn't the book for me. This was a DNF for me at about the 25% mark. First of all - I think the title sold this as a book that would be light and fun. While Smith was definitely a grump - he was also an alcoholic mired deeply in depression. Alice is a spoiled rich girl who had something very terrible happen to her - as a result she also has devolved deeply into denial and bad behavior to escape her pain. I didn't find Alice to have much in the way of sunshine - so I would say this is was a grumpy/depressive book with quite a bit of on-page drug and alcohol abuse.

I also didn't love the narrator choices for this book - so that may have swayed me as well. Overall - this wasn't for me - but if you are a fan of very angsty, new adult with some blacker elements you might love this one!

The Grump Who Stole Summer
Ella Fields
Alice seems to attract scandals. She seems to seek scandals out. Her college dumped her. Her mother had enough and put her on a curfew and is forcing her to do volunteer work at a bookstore. Alice loves books and is shocked when she sees the way this one is being taken care of or not taken care of. The place is dirty, and the books are not properly on the shelves. But the biggest shock was who owns the shop.
I wanted to like Alice, but I didn’t. She allowed the grump to treat her awful. I saw potential in her; she obviously improved the book shop. The Grump was so busy feeling sorry for himself he could not see the good in others. The language in this tale is terrible. F*** this and F*** that. I think every sentence out of Grumpy’s mouth was F***.
This is not a good book and I feel like I wasted my time listening to it.

So steamy and so enjoyable to listen to. The story was well written and I couldn't stop listening. The narrator also did a wonderful job and I really liked this book
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own

4.5 scarred grumpy hero stars.
I have had Ella Fields on my TBR for a while and I decided it was time and I have to say, I am happy with my choice. I was drawn in by the blurb but Smith and Alice captured me from the start and they never let go.
This was a second chance, enemies to lovers, scarred, grumpy hero that lived in a bookstore. A quadratic effect that I just fell in love with. While Alice wasn't sunshine, she pretended to be because when she didn't, the darkness of her past consumed her. When she was called home because of another tabloid scandal, her mother forced her to get a job, and of course, it was in the one place where her past was shoved right in her face. They say you can run from your problems and heartbreak, but at some point, they will follow you and the feelings will always come out.
I felt for Smith and was dying to know what happened to him and why he was the way he was. Even when we knew he was so obviously gone for Alice, he still acted so wounded and at times it was a bit too much. He always apologized because he knew he was wrong, but it felt a little off to me, like, we need to control this. I loved how his character grew and he admitted he didn't know what he was doing and he went into therapy to try to deal with his demons.
Thank you to Ella Fields, Netgalley and Orange Sky Audio for a gifted copy.

I had to drag myself through it because I didn’t feel like dnf’ing but it was….not my fav

They both annoyed the fuck out of me, and he was pretty insufferable most of the book but the main thing is their communication….dear god 😳 This is filled with the miscommunication trope and sometimes I don’t mind that trope but this was not one of those cases. It made it hard to root for them and when I didn’t really like them already it made this book not fun…. The fmc is also bi/queer and there are good and bad moments but I’d say there are a few too many harmful or even just iffy stereotypes and phrases for me to be able to really feel comfortable/confident labeling it as good queer rep.

I will most likely forget the plot of this book within a week and it was a meh experience listening to it so 🤷🏼 Oh also the fmc’s narrator I enjoyed but I didn’t enjoy the guys narrator.

*Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky audio for this arc in exchange for my honest thoughts and review*