Ugh I have never been so disappointed to write a review before. I really thought this was going to be a new favorite. I absolutely loved this for the first 60% or so but then it took such a weird turn???

Unfortunately the spice in this one just did not do it for me. It was not at all what I’m looking for in a spicy book? If they would’ve just ~got it on already, I would’ve loved this and also been so grateful but, unfortunately, that is not what happened.

Aside from that, this also had some weird stylistic choices? It had a lot of great banter but it was so interspersed with Mabel’s inner monologue that I often got lost in who said what or what they were even talking about.

So sadly this wasn’t the cute and easy read I was expecting. And I also didn’t realize this is basically Ted Lasso fanfiction, ie: a show I still have not seen? Not that that matters a ton, since I was enjoying it before the weird turn.

But overall, this just did not do it for me. Which is so disappointing. I was loving this so much and then it just… did not deliver. Oh well. I have other cute romcoms on the horizon and hopefully they will serve me better *fingers crossed*

Anyway, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Grumpy x Sunshine is my top top romance trope and a plus size MFC? Sign me up now!
Loads of banter and lengthy dialogues that didn't hit the mark for me. It felt more immature than anything. Sadly I'm not a fan of miscommunication trope and for that reason alone I wasn't excited to finish this.

For sure up for another installment from Charlotte to see where this can go!

Ex footballer, and perpetual grump Alfie Harding is writing his memoir, after turning away ghost writer after ghost writer, he finally sets his eye on Mable Willicker, a ray of sunshine in a sundress. 
Can Mable and Alfie work together to get this book done?

When this book started I loved, LOVED the banter between Alfie and Mable. I was chuckling, and rereading lines, I was all for it.
But after the sexual tension between them boils over, the dialogue, Took. A. Turn.
It was ... not good.
Mabel went from funny and spunky to, whiney and often immature.
I had secondary embarrassment when reading some of their dialogue, and it was such a let down because for me this book started off so strong!

The first half was a four star and the second half was a two, so I will meet in the middle at three.

What I like about this story you have Mable and Alfie is both of them had a similar childhood and they can relate to each other. They also connected right away after meeting a few times. They have so many cute and funny moments together. I like the fact that Alfie character is a non-social media person, and likes to be by himself. I like his attitude because he doesn’t care what people think about him. The thing that I also like about his attitude is when somebody is insulted someone he cares about he will go after them. Mable character is bright woman that loves to write and keep to herself. She has grown up a lot since beginning of the book until the end. She has gained so much confidence in herself and I like that about her. The thing that I didn’t like about this book was, it had so much going on and I wish it was not too wordy to the point where it became rambling. Other than that, these two are great together and a cute couple.

Mabel is currently a ghost writer who is looking to advance her career. She is assigned to be a ghost writer for Alfie Harding, who is a famous former footballer. He is contractually bound to write his memoir but has no interest or ability to take on the project. They are both forced into this and must make it successful. As the ghostwriting is a secret and Alfie is very private, they have to take precautions to avoid being seen together. Unfortunately, they are seen together and must now pretend to be in a relationship. Given their opposite personalities, this is not easy. It’s a classic opposite attracts love story, but I really enjoyed these characters.

Also reviewed on B&N (1IrishEyes430) and Kobo (IrishEyes430)

Really cute romance but all lot of the focus was on the physical traits of both MCs which got tiring quick.

This was a really hilarious, cute and spicy book. I love any kind of grumpy and sunshine trope. I found my self laughing at different parts. It was a good engaging story with fun and witty banter. This was the first book I read by Charlotte Stein and I plan to read more.

2.5 rounded up! I struggled a little with this one. It felt a little tell-not-showy. I wanted to love it more but near the end it lost me a little. I do like the banter though!

Absolutely loved. I’m a sucker for a grumpy X Sunshine and this hit the spot. This was my first Charlotte Stein novel and I really liked it. I enjoyed all the characters and can’t wait for more. I can’t recommend this book enough!

First, thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book through NetGalley, and to my local library system to access to the audio of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fake dating is usually up there in my top tropes, but this one just didn’t quite do it for me. Usually in fake dating tropes it’s an enemies to lovers or grump to sunshine, which I get this was, but again, it didn’t quite fit.

Everyone kept saying how rude/awful, etc Allie was, but from the get he seemed pretty amazing, so calling him the grump character didn’t quite jive for me. Maybe I’m jaded because I like my men a little more morally grey….

Mable was sweet, but nothing to write home about. While she was upbeat and positive, I just couldn’t connect with her.

I loved the concept and the premise behind the two of them interacting. There was some witty banter and some heartfelt moments. I do think if we had a little more of a backstory we may see why Mable had such a hard time trusting her feelings.

One thing I wish was that this was dual POV. We got A LOT of Mable’s inner monologue (even in the bedroom!). While I can appreciate some bedroom talk, I wanted her to shut it at that moment and enjoy the ride!

Lastly, I struggled with the audio. The narrator did not do a good job on changing the tone or pitch when Alfie or Mable spoke, so sometimes I got lost in their banter as to who was saying what. I was able to defer to the physical copy then, which was helpful, but still.

All in all, it was just okay.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this book. The grumpy/sunshine trope is one of my all.time favorites. However, I struggled to get into this. I did not care for the female main character. The way she was written made it very hard for me to focus and connect with the story.

This book would have been so much better if it had been dual POV. The FMC’s POV was increasingly annoying to be. She never stopped with her internal monologue which made any interaction she had with other characters hard to follow.

This was an enjoyable romance read! Loved the characters in this book! There personalities were great and they were really easy to connect with and root for early on. I also really loved the story line for a good chunk on the book but it went from a fun laugh filled storyline to physical romance focused book loosing a bit of the lighter elements that were in the beginning of the story that made the romance feel believable and enjoyable. Overall it was a fun romance read that I would recommend if you enjoy a mix of spice and laughs.

Tried on audio and the narration is too monotone. Will pick up the ebook at a later date. Thank you for my copy

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy!

When I first saw the cover of this book I was SO excited! It had a cute plus size female character and a broody male soccer player - what more could you ask for?! Welp, I learned I need to lower my expectations and not go by the cute cover because I had attempted to read this prior to the pub date and I got 10% in and had to pause to revisit at a later time. And now it is the later time.

I ended up waited to listen via audio and I will be honest and am not sure what about this book I found difficult to follow but it was hard to follow. I had my book next to me to reference and perhaps if I followed both at the same time I wouldn't have been as confused but just listening I was. The book came more together for me in the second half when they were pretending to fake date.

One trope that I am not a fan of was the when the female main character is so blind to how the male character feels about her when he has been very obvious on his feelings. Even UNTIL THE END she was still denying that he had feelings for her.

I will say though I have never read the author's prior books before but had heard she wrote really spicy books and I will say the spicy times were excellent. I thought all the scenes were well done and the way it was written just made it feel really sexy. THOUGH I will say for the one intimate moment, I was trying to imagine the logistics of it and it was very hard to picture what they were doing in the backseat of a car?

I thought the grand gesture at the end was really sweet but even still as I mentioned above the FMC still couldn't believe that he wanted her. He even alluded to something they talked about and I can confidently say that I had no idea when that was mentioned. Perhaps it just wasn't memorable to recall back.

This didn't work for me but it may work for you!
I am glad I read this but I don't think I will be running to other books from the author anytime soon.

A very generous 3 star read.

First, I am grateful to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC of this book through NetGalley, and to my local library system to access to the audio of this book! These are my honest thoughts!

This was a great British rom-com, which I seem to be reading quite a few of these days. I really enjoyed the story and thought it had unique elements. While the story wasn't totally new, it was fresh. I loved the plus sized rep with the hunky and thick athlete.

There were so many things I loved about the grumpy MMC, Alfie. He was kind of shy, reserved, obviously grumpy, but also quick to defend. He was tongue-tied around the FMC, Mabel, which I just found so endearing, and once the two found their footing around each other, they were snarky and sassy and it was a lot of fun to be along for the ride.

It was a little slow at the beginning, but once the pace picked up, I loved the banter and some of the adventures the couple went on.

Solid read, but not totally memorable. I finished it yesterday and I've already forgotten a lot of the details... but I enjoyed the read while I was in it.... going to give this one 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars here!

I think I just read this book at the wrong time. The premise was everything I was looking for but I just never got into the story! I could see where the author was going with making Alfie similar to Roy Kent (who I LOVE in Ted Lasso) — so that is a plus! While it wasn't for me, I wouldn't discourage you from checking it out yourself.

I finished this book, but I didn't want to. The entire book lacked depth and relatability. The characters and the storyline felt very flat and drawn out. I was so excited from grumpy/sunshine but it just fell really flat for me. I will not be recommending this to my audience. Thank you for the opportunity.

I love grumpy/sunshine books. When they are done with the perfect amount of chemistry and overall vibes and banter but I just did not enjoy this one. It felt like I was struggling the whole way to finish. I almost DNF’d. The banter was good here and there but overall the writing style was not the best and that affected the overall book for me.

I love a good grumpy/ sunshine opposites attract trope. Unfortunately, this just fell a little flat for me. There was some fun banter between the main characters. Overall a little rambling and not as well developed as I would like.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC In exchange for my honest review.