I love a good grumpy-meets-sunshine romance, and Alfie Harding—basically a scorching-hot Roy Kent with a heart of gold—delivers on that front. Mabel Willicker, the sharp and observant ghostwriter, is equally compelling.

However, the endless banter bogs the story down, often feeling more like a Tarantino-esque dialogue marathon than natural conversation. With little action or plot momentum, I found myself skimming just to get to the end.

There’s real potential here, especially with the workplace romance and opposites-attract dynamic, but a tighter edit would have made for a much stronger read. Three stars.

Look, I love a good grumpy/sunshine romance as much as anyone. The idea of a ray of sunshine breaking through a broody, dark cloud? Yes, please! But "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" just didn't quite click for me, and honestly, it mostly came down to Mabel.
Alfie? I got him. I really got him. That man was a mood, and I was here for it. His grumpiness felt real, his vulnerability was touching, and I found myself wanting to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay. But Mabel? Oh, Mabel. I tried, I really did. I wanted to love her infectious positivity, but it felt… forced? Like she was trying too hard to be sunshiney, and it ended up feeling more like a relentless, blinding glare. I just couldn't connect with her, and that made it hard to care about her journey.
And let's talk about the "angel farts" thing. Seriously? I get it, it was supposed to be quirky and endearing, but it just made me cringe. It felt so out of place, so jarring, that it pulled me right out of the story. I kept thinking, "Did she really just write that?"
Honestly, I wanted to love this book. I wanted to swoon over Alfie and cheer for Mabel, but it just didn't happen. I think if Mabel's character had been a bit more nuanced, a bit less aggressively cheerful, I might have enjoyed it more. As it was, I felt like I was watching a play where one actor was giving an Oscar-worthy performance (Alfie), and the other was… well, let's just say they were trying very hard.
If you're a die-hard grumpy hero fan and you can handle a heroine who's basically a human sunbeam, you might enjoy this. But for me, it was a bit of a miss.

I like the characters. I think Miss Stein build the characters perfectly. And the hero who secretly wants to be a writer is adding the swoon effect.

What I miss is the writing. The book is full of cute banter. Somehow I can not connect with any of the banter.

I’m interested to read Stein’s other work because many of my friends are fans, but this one was not for me personally. A bit too reliant on the grumpy sunshine trope for my taste.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein in exchange for my honest review and opinion. The minute I saw the cover on this, I knew I needed to read it! Such a fun, cute rom/com that will make you laugh out loud at certain parts in the story. Very fun book that is lighthearted to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The start of this book was good, we had a grumpy male who wanted to have a ghost writer write a memoir about him and his life as a soccer player. But yet he doesn’t want to talk about himself or give anything to our sunshine character in order to help her to write said book? Honestly it just got annoying.

Then we get into the fake dating / friends booking up while they write the book. But Mabel gets pulled down by her own negative beliefs about her plus sized body. I wanted to root for her, but her and her spirals were a little tiresome, I wanted some real growth and acceptance from her.

Overall I just felt like a lot of the book didn’t work and I didn’t end up loving either of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a grumpy sunshine romance between a retired football player, Alfie, and a ghostwriter, Mabel. Mabel is tasked with writing Alfie's memoir, I believe.

I did not like this book. I think that the relationship was not believable enough and it heavily relied on the physical relationship of the main characters. I wanted to see more chemistry, more tension, and the two main characters getting to know one another better. I also just did not like the steamy scenes. I liked the concept of this book, I just did not like the execution of it.

Obsessed with Charlotte Stein's sense of humor. Also this was super spicy with great fat rep. Where those aspects excelled, the pacing was odd to me and the miscommunication trope was used too heavily.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for the advanced copy of this book.
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I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it left a lot to be desired for me. The beginning started out great, with as the title suggests, grumpy Alfie meeting sunshine-filled Mabel. Mabel is tasked with ghostwriting Alfie's memoir, but the former footballer (soccer for the Americans) hates revealing even the most trivial of facts about himself. As she tries to peel back the layers to him, the press desperately wants to know who this mysterious new woman in his life is. Why not fake a relationship, and hook up as friends-with-benefits while trying to finish the book.
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The first half of the book played out alright, but the second half dragged its feet. Mabel can't get past thinking about her own weight, and her spirals were endless making her not quite the sunshine heroine of the title, and Alfie could be frankly obnoxious in his refusal to speak. At some point, I just wanted to ask him why he even had any interest in writing a book if he would rather everyone just left him alone. Ultimately, I wanted to like these characters, but it was hard to root for either of them.

I’m sorry, but I really disliked this book. I tried to read this contemporary after reading her paranormal, but both books were really hard for me to get through.

DNF@ 24%

This is just poorly written Roy Kent fanfiction. It's repetitive and the dialogue is ridiculous. Maybe if it was edited better, it could have been good.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a bit like watching a classic football match—plenty of banter, a few unexpected goals, and a fair share of offsides. Charlotte Stein’s romantic comedy brings together Mabel Willicker, a curvy, bubbly ghostwriter, and Alfie Harding, a retired footballer who’s more grumpy than a manager at half-time. As Alfie reluctantly agrees to have his memoir written, Mabel refuses to be intimidated by his scowls—much like a midfielder who’s not afraid to take a tackle from a centre-back.

The chemistry between Mabel and Alfie is the real star of this show. Their witty banter flows like a perfectly executed counter-attack, and the contrast between Mabel’s sunshine personality and Alfie’s gruff exterior creates an engaging dynamic that keeps you on your toes. As they fake date to quash rumours, the romance slowly heats up—much like a penalty shootout where you can’t quite guess who’s going to score first.

However, the story occasionally feels like it’s offside—some moments were a bit too exaggerated, with Alfie’s grumpiness and Mabel’s bubbly charm at times dialled up to the point of being more red card than red hot. Their larger-than-life personalities could have used a bit of a tactical rethink. And while the comedic timing is often spot on, the pacing sometimes dribbles out of control, leaving you wanting more in certain places while dragging in others.

Despite these quirks, When Grumpy Met Sunshine is still a solid match. It delivers a feel-good romance with plenty of laughs, heart, and enough sizzling tension to keep you in the game. While it didn’t quite score a full five stars, it’s still a goal worth celebrating for fans of witty, opposites-attract rom-coms. A fun read that leaves you cheering for the characters

I have been a Charlotte Stein fan for a few years, she writes these intense, delicious, and sometimes heartbreaking short stories and novellas about flawed people finding love, connection and lots of very good sex. Her descriptions are rich and evocative and I was bummed that she hadn't released anything new in a awhile. But then I saw she was releasing a traditionally published full length Romance and I was so there for it!

The banter between Alfie and Mabel was everything I want, Mabel never backed down but was still sweet and supportive. Alfie was honest, caring and just so careful with Mabel. Agaon, love how the author describes things. An Example: "Seriously, she'd never seen him look so incensed. And she'd once pepper sprayed him in the face."

The only thing I was on the fence about was the third act break up, I just knew it would involve a Big Misunderstanding, which I usually hate, but didn't bother me so much here.

Sweet fun story that was so readable I could not put it down. Loved all the characters, the writing and especially the ending. Very well written. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

Loved the Roy Kent coded MMC. The banter had me laughing with my whole chest. Charlotte never fails to tickle my funny bone and get me in the feels. I love everything she writes.

If you give me a grumpy sunshine I will eat it up! Mabel is a bright spot and seeing a plus size woman so happy helps me as a plus size woman get a little perk in my step. Her relationship with Alfie is great and overall I really enjoyed this book.

I'm not usually a romcom girlie, but this was a great read. Huge Ted Lasso vibes. This one's for the Roy Kent girls.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I wanted to love this so badly! A plus size FMC and a Roy Kent inspired MMC… yes, inject it into my veins please but the end product however is an over written mess which had me skimming through more than half of it. If the author focused more on the characters and their back stories and less on he’s so grumpy/I’m so sunshine I would have liked this way better.

For me….this book was the perfect amount of comedy, romance, & spice. The chemistry between Mabel & Alfie was so entertaining I couldn’t put this book down. Well executed. Well written.

This really is a hilarious RomCom - the perfect opposites attract AND steamy romance for sports romance fans.