When Grumpy Met Sunshine is perfection. No notes. Would not change a thing. This book had me laughing out loud, crying, squeeing in delight, and everything in between. From the fake dating to the smallest micro-tropes, it felt like this book was written just for me.

Mabel is a human cupcake, she’s cute and warm and sweet. She puts people at ease and gets them to open up, which makes her great at her ghostwriting job. So when she’s contracted to tell ex-footballer Alfie Harding, the angriest man in football known to walk out of interviews after being asked the most innocuous questions, she’s shocked to learn the two of them have quite a bit in common. Not the least of all, that they’re both giant weirdos.

The narration style is a bit quirky but that’s part of the appeal to the book. It helps propel the book forward and prevents it from ever feel like things are moving too slow. Would I want every book to read like this one? No, but it worked here. Honestly, this is one of those books I’m going to be yelling at people to read for the foreseeable future. It brought me so much joy.

This was SUCH a fun time of a book. Its my first Stein book and I'll definitely be coming back for more. The main characters just filled me with JOY, and I love books that I just find myself giggling at or being overall happy with, their love story kept me coming back for more.

The grumpyxsunshine trope is TOP TIER and was done so well here and the spice was *chefs KISS*.

Honestly an amazing fluffy read - highly recommend <3

Thank you SO much NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC copy! I cant wait to own this as a physical.

This one was a miss for me. The banter was over the top and I didn’t find it enjoyable. This somehow felt juvenile? Wasn’t a fan of the writing style either.

This book is so tropey and I wanted to absolutely love it but it ended up being a solid 3/5 stars for me. The banter in this book was so fun and there were genuinely moments when I was laughing out loud but I personally felt like there wasn't enough going on and the book was primarily conversations, leading the plot to fall short for me. That being said the tropes of grumpy x sunshine, fake dating, and celebrity romance made the book super fun. I struggled through the first half and was tempted to dnf but the second half was a lot more engaging and I think you were able to connect to the characters way more. Definitely a slow burn but the spice makes it worth it! Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a e-arc in return for an honest review.

I fell in love with the synopsis and the cover for this novel but it ultimately fell flat for me.

Mabel Willicker is a ghost writer who has been tapped to write the memoir for football legend Alfie Harding. This book could be career making. There’s just one problem. Alfie is a grumpy ass jerk. And while Mabel may be the human personification of a cupcake, she doesn’t feel like being sweet to him. Despite their initial difficulties, they fall into a fake dating arrangement and which eventually becomes something more.

Like I said, I just wasn’t feeling this book. The plot sounded cute but I wasn’t a fan of the execution. I also found the writing style to be a bit off-putting? Like it wasn’t as polished as I was expecting. I also just plain wasn’t a fan of the banter between Mabel and Alfie. It felt like it was just too much. That could come down to them being basically the only characters holding up the book. There wasn’t much in the way of side characters, or at least, none that made an impression on me.

Now I will say that I loved how the author included snippets from various media at the end of each chapter. I thought that was very clever! I enjoyed seeing the fake movie synopsis or the emails from Mabel’s editor. It was a neat way to end every chapter and I enjoyed reading them! I also got a giggle out of the chapter titles. I love when books have chapter titles! They just make me happy!

If you like a book that has a lot of banter and is almost completely focused on the main pairing then this might be for you!

Thanks very much to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a delightful book. I am a long time fan of this author so when I had the chance to read this book, I couldn't download it fast enough.

Alfie (awful name 🤷🏻‍♀️), a retired football (UK) star and well known grump meets Mabel (an even worse name🤷🏻‍♀️) a ghostwriter full of bubbly sunshine, who is interviewing to ghostwrite his memoirs. They don't hit it off immediately - at least she doesn't think it did. She later finds out he wants her to do the book and no one else.

Their relationship is sweet and real. I loved their witty banter and humor that transpires between these two seemingly opposite people. As they navigate a friendship, we soon discover they are far more compatible than was expected. They share so much in common but it's complicated by his experience with relationships and her low self worth built from years of ridicule and cruel classmates. Together they grow and learn enough about each other to be friends and eventually more. Naturally, they are their own worst enemy's. Throw in the paparazzi and social media and they seemed doomed.

There are a handful of side characters but no standouts as it's not necessary to the plot. I laughed throughout most of this book. Her antics, his antics, the bickering, the mess they end up in is fun in true Charlotte Stein style. It is well written with just a few minor typos. The plot is entertaining. And the hilarious British humor is fabulous. This book was nearly perfect or maybe imperfectly perfect. I do recommend this book to anyone who likes spicy, sweet, real, and laugh out loud fun.

I love a good grumpy x sunshine trope and sadly this one was a miss for me.

Mabel is hired as a ghostwriter to write a memoir for retired football player, Alfie. They don't meet on the best of terms, Mabel is quirky and Alfie is grumpy but they decide to work together. After paps catch Mabel leaving Alfie's apartment they fake date and then fall in love.

This had all the tropes I like to see in a story and the slow burn was perfect but the humor and chaotic characters made it hard to get into. My biggest issue was with the dialogue and the banter between the MC's. There was just so much banter that it came across as juvenile. I'm sure the author was going for fun, witty, and comical but it was over the top. I almost forgot these characters were supposed to be in their thirties.

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin's Press and Charlotte Stein for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love Charlotte Stein's other work but When Grumpy Met Sunshine was not for me.
1. This is very obviously Roy Kent fanfic.
2. The banter hit you like a battering ram but not in a good way.

What did work is the chemistry between the two characters. That scene in the limo after the Beyonce concert will stay with me.

I'm so bummed that I didn't enjoy this. This book had two things going for it: the characters and the premise. This had a fun premise--something I would 100% enjoy--but I did not like the writing style.

Alfie was so funny without trying because he was just a weird individual. He is clueless about technology and is overall like an old man in a young body. He was grumpy, but it was more that he just didn't know how to interact with people, so it made for some funny situations. He was the main reason I kept reading, thinking maybe I can change my mind. But the characters can't themselves prop up a book. The writing was severely lacking. It felt, I don't know, unfinished? Like there's something missing to connect the scenes to make the story flow. Charlotte Stein was telling, rather than showing.

This could've been such a fun romcom--I found potential in the pairing as well as the situation that threw them together, but it lacked the drive to make the reader immerse themselves in the story seamlessly.

i've been debating what i wanted to say about this book since i finished it yesterday.

i really enjoyed this book, took me a bit to get used to the writing style but once i did i could not stop turning pages. i laughed and i cried and really what else could you want from a book?!

i loved mabel and alfie so much. love love loved the pride and prejudice and pretty woman references.

i had a bit of trouble following some of the dialogue but it didn't really take away from the story for me.

so so good

thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to love this book

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me. The writing style was very chaotic and hard to follow. I often found myself skipping around to the dialogue just to keep myself going.

I didn’t really find anything relatable about the characters. Alfie was so randomly chaotic, but not in a way that made sense to me, and Mabel just wasn’t really that interesting.

I couldn’t get myself invested in their story. I’m sure this is a great book for someone, but the writing style just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the copy of this book. Yikes. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. All I kept thinking was who knew banter could be so annoying and over the top. I was not a fan though I had high hopes because of the cover and plot.

There was a lot of good things happening in this book - fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, awesome banter. I loved every time the main characters were interacting with each other. I can't wait until February to get a physical copy for my collection! It was also really interesting having the heroine be a ghostwriter - I really enjoyed that.

It was such a cute Rom com read! Thank you for letting me have this ARC and truly enjoy the characters. The characters were lovable, the story was adorable. My biggest complain would have to be pacing

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. Though I appreciated that the two characters had a shared background that made a perfect starting connection point for their romance, that was the highlight. The prose is very British, as in I really was clueless on a lot of the lingo and had to infer from the context. Which is fine really, just not my cup of tea, and British readers won't have that issue.

The big drawback for me was that this story relies *very* strongly on the miscommunication trope and it's my least favorite thing in romance. It was driving me absolutely batty. I understood intellectually why it would be the case for these two characters but that didn't make it more enjoyable to read so I struggled to get to the end of it. All in all, it was fine but it won't make my list of contemporary romances I recommend to friends.

Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is the first book I've read from Charlotte Stein. The title caught my eye, as I love a good "grumpy vs sunshine" trope. This book centers around Mabel, an author who has been contracted to be the ghostwriter for Alfie. Alfie is a recently retired athlete who has been convinced to write his memoir. While Mabel has heard about his famously grumpy attitude, she's unprepared for just how curt he can actually be. When their business partnership is mistaken for a personal relationship, they lean into it in order to boost sales for their future book.

While I understood what the author was going for with this storyline, the "grump" was actually flat-out rude and I just couldn't root for him. Overall, the chemistry between Mabel and Alfie fell flat and I found myself skimming through the rest of the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I had a really hard time getting through this book. The MMC definitely gave me Roy Kent vibes which I was all for. But the banter was really weird and juvenile to me. It was a cute book but I just couldn’t really get into it, the plot seemed like it changed quickly from the ghost writer into being all about the fake relationship.I receive this book and am ARC in exchange for a honestly review.

This book was a miss for me. The characters fell flat, the dialogue between the 30-something leads felt immature, and the narrative style removed me from the story. This was a struggle to read, and the last 40% reads like a completely different book which didn’t help.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

These two were absolute magic! They had me giggling right away, I guffawed, and had burst of laughter at what they said and did. They also had ridiculous chemistry, and a slow burn that takes most of the story to ignite. Wow, make plans for some “time outs” when reading, you’ll need them once things do take off, because it is scorching hot! While all this is happening, you get to know them, you get to see beyond what they present, and you fall so deeply in love with them, they break your heart, while filling you with hope. That ending, oh, that epilogue, it was everything and the perfect ending to their love story <3

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book and I was pleasantly surprised! I have never read anything by the author but found the style to be amusing and relatable. Alfie is just dryly hilarious and so quirky and out there but at the same time endearing and boy does he have a way with words—especially the dirty ones! Holy heck! And then we have our leading lady Mabel—so sweet and so oblivious in a completely understandable way. The banter was so fun, the steam was so hot, and the tropes were so right! What a fun and times frustrating (in a good way—like hellooooo why don’t you see what’s happening?!) read! And the end. The end was just so sweet and surprising and adorable and so Alfie and Mabel like, I just ate it up! Plus, who else doesn’t adore the fact that it has total Roy Kent and Kelley Jones from Ted Lasso vibes?!