This was a great beach read! It follows a ghostwriter as she pretends to be in a relationship with her subject, a former pro footballer, in order to save him the humiliation of having to admit that he wasn't writing his own memoir. In the meantime, things get real.

As with any rom-com story, there was a ton of insecurities and miscommunication that could have been avoided had they been as open with each other about their feelings as they were about everything else. There's a bit of suspension of disbelief required, but I was totally on board. The witty dialogue and creation of two characters whose interactions start off palpably awkward only to end up the kind of weird that perfectly fit with each other. If you're a romance fan and don't project rules of reality too closely, you'll love this as much as I did.

This was a different take on a rom-com, but it worked! This is a slow-burn romance that gives off major opposite-attract energy. The dialogue was so natural and witty, perfect for our couple who are a footballer and his ghost writer. I loved the slow burn tension that lead to the spice… which was fun and well-written! This is a fun jaunt where the banter sang from the page. Will read more but this author, I recommend!

I really enjoyed Mabel and Alfie's story. Watching them grow closer, work through their baggage from previous relationships, and attempt to keep things "fake" made for a great book. Their very real feelings were obvious from the beginning, it just took Mabel a lot longer to realize that!

I’m writing an honest review based on the ARC I received from NetGalley!

Right off the bat, I ADORED this book. A five star rating FOR ME, are the books that burrow their way into my heart. They are the ones that made me FEEL, all the different feelings and they are the ones that latch onto my brain and have me thinking about them over and over again even though I closed the final page days ago.

It’s not just that I adored the trope of grumpy x sunshine, it’s that these characters had a depth to them so deep beneath the facades that everyone saw. Alfie was so much more than the grumpy exterior everyone loved and Mabel was so much more than the sunshiney persona people constantly underestimated.

As a fat romance reader, i was so enamored with the way Mabel was written. The internal dialogues that ran through her head because of her close connection to this massively sexy soccer player are the kind of thoughts that so many of us have internalized. They are the kind of thoughts thats that leach in no matter how much self love and confidence we have about ourselves in our bodies. But better yet, no matter what thoughts she had, she wasn’t obsessed with losing weight or trying to change herself. She had goals and aspirations but also fears and it was the same thing with Alfie, he was sexy and hot but his stoic and gruff personality was hiding a heart of gold buried underneath TRAUMA. They were both complex and funny and ridiculous and the shenanigans they got into was just a delight to read.

Also the growing romance between them was *chefs kiss* from the bickering and misunderstandings to their budding friendship to fake dating and SEXUAL TENSION. I was putty reading their sexy scenes. Getting to read a character like Alfie (deeply inspired by Roy Kent of Ted Lasso, the Ted Lasso influence is felt and I LOVED IT) be utterly on his knees and WEAK with his lust and desire for Mabel was magnificent. One of my favorite parts of this book was the mutual masturbation scene holy hell it was so fucking HOT

10/10. Highly recommend. I can’t wait to own a physical copy.

I love a good grumpy and sunshine trope, and this book certainly fit the bill! The characters were flawed and fantastic. This was a very steamy book, FYI. Some of the scenes were very graphic so if that’s not your cup of tea, you can skim over them. Overall, an interesting read with fun characters.

I read this book so that others don’t have to. I genuinely don’t know how this book exists because it is messy and irritating most of the time.

Mabel is hired to ghostwrite Alfie’s memoir. He’s famous and they get caught looking slightly extra-friendly so they decide to fake date. They then have to navigate the incredibly obvious sexual attraction and tension they have and then do it in progressively more compromising ways.

Things I liked (because it’s less than the things I didn’t like… see below for unhinged thoughts):
- Mabel’s plus size representation and the way she handled media perception of herself. This felt authentic and I liked it.
- Alfie is a softie and he cared for her a lot. Cute.
- The LAST chapter which is an annoyingly shaped epilogue that was actually the best part of the whole story. The way things come full circle in the memoir was actually adorable and I liked it, but I feel like the ending was completely detached from the rest of the story. The writing was by far best in the last chapter and they had the most healthy conversation of the whole book right at the end.

No apologizes for the following comments that made me hate reading this:
- The actual writing of the memoir is maybe 5-10% of this book. Okay, 15% if you count the last chapter/epilogue that is literally the last 9% of the book.
-He’s grumpy for all of five seconds and then he’s not even pretending to be grumpy around Mabel. Don’t name the book about GRUMPY when he’s going to stop being that way as soon as they interact one time. Misleading.
- This may be the worst instance of fake dating I’ve ever read. And it’s pretty much my favorite trope. But not here.
- This relationship is bonkers. I simply cannot comprehend how this relationship made it through editing.
- The banter was funny for five minutes and now it’s just too much. They can’t take anything seriously. And quite frankly I think they both suck as characters at this point.
- It feels like the author took a list of popular romance tropes and said “yeah I’m gonna use ALL of these” and then genuinely tried to make them all work. News flash: None of them worked.
- The one bed trope scene ends with one of the most irritating encounters and surprisingly it’s not the first time I’ve seen it done. But neither instance was good. Basically they wake up in a compromising position and instead of moving out of the way, they shift slightly enough that they *feel* things… except that they don’t know IF the other person is even awake yet. This is not consent. (Yes, they are both awake and what comes next is considered consensual, but it starts out VERY inappropriately and I do not approve.)
- There is so much inner monologue happening. Too much. Yet we still never know how Mabel is ACTUALLY feeling?? It’s all just her social perception and sexual pining.
<spoiler>
- The ending was the best part, but I feel a little icky knowing that Alfie orchestrated the fake dating purely so he could make her fall in love with him?
</spoiler>

This one unfortunately did not work for me. There’s this new thing romance authors are doing where they make the MMC not know anything about technology and it’s something I really don’t like in books. There’s one thing about not liking social media and another of not knowing anything about it at all. Also this banter was not for me. This was a Dnf

I enjoy a good romance, but rarely give them a five star rating. They are usually quite predictable. When Grumpy Met Sunshine tells the tale of a seasoned football (soccer) veteran, Alfie Harding, and the woman he hires to be his ghostwriter, Mabel Whillicker. There are many tropes in this book, but the way Charlotte Stein writes the slow burn is exquisite. I stayed up way too late reading this one to see how it would end. The spice level is high. A quick Goodreads investigation shows Stein has a large back list that will keep any spicy romance reader entertained.

Happy Sunny ☀️ Friday! A while back @stmartinspress offended me an eARC of When Grumpy Met Sunshine and how could I say no to a title like that? And it feels good to post my review on a day filled with sunshine.

This one is a cute little rom-com for anyone in search of one. 💞 Enter stage left: Alphie, the retired footballer with a constant grumpy attitude. Enter stage right: Mabel, the upbeat ghost writer for Alphie’s post professional athlete memoir, who also happens to be plus-sized. Refreshing from the typical size 0, 110 pounds dripping wet heroine.

This one has good banter, which is a big deal for me in these kinds of books. If I were to summarize this book in one word it would be “cute.”

I wanted to love this but because I thought it had so much potential. It just did not do it for me. I just was not in love with the FMC and I think that was kind of a turn off for me that. just made it super hard for me to get into the book. I do plan on give it a second chance later this year in hopes my thoughts might change. I love me a grumpy x sunshine romance so I was a little disappointed.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would do it in a heartbeat. I haven’t laughed so loud or felt for two characters so deeply in entirely too long.

Alfie is a grouch retired footballer. Mabel is essentially a pastel ray of sunshine, spreading joy everywhere. She wins the contract to ghostwrite his memoirs, they end up fake dating…although it’s very spicy fake dating…and then things go as they do in rom-coms.

The banter was A+. The spice was a solid 4 chilis. The character development was also A+. Highly recommend and can’t wait to dive in to the author’s backlist!!

When Grumpy Meets Sunshine is a light read. A romcom where the stakes aren’t particularly high, and the plot is driven by romantic/sexual tension and the protagonist’s cluelessness. Much like most romcoms, it’s not afraid to be silly! Whether there’s such a thing as “too much banter” is to be determined by the reader.

My only major reservation with this book is that it truly reads like a Roy Kent (from Ted Lasso) fanfic. Until the very last chapters, I did not feel like the characters were fleshed out beyond these zany, quirky personas from the show (including the titular character of the beloved show, featured as a minor character in this book). It was almost impossible to separate the two.

Nonetheless, it’s entertaining for when you want to turn off your brain for a bit. Containing beloved tropes such as fake dating, an oblivious and quirky FMC, a grumpy love interest, and one bed.

(Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

I tried my best to navigate through this book without getting caught in another never-ending banter session.

I really enjoyed this! I will say that I was a little confused for a lot of the book just because I was shocked by how British it was LMFAO. Like I had no idea what was being said half the time but I could kind of figure it out with context clues. I really loved the fact that all the chapters had actual titles, that was so fun!!!! The main characters were really fun to read about as well. I loved both of their personalities so much. However, Mabel was killing me......she was second guessing literally every single thing and was just making me go insane tbh. I did like Alfie though. He was pretty clear in what he wanted at least in my opinion. But clearly Mabel couldn't see it. Anyways, I think this is a super fun and easy to read book! I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you for the advanced copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine.
Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I could not connect with the characters and the storyline was not enough for me to stick it out until the end.

Tender and heartwarming, and full of relatable characters. This novel is full of witty banter, but only told from Mabel's perspective.

Loved that this book had a curvy female lead, that’s something we need to see more of and I especially loved it because the mmc was a footballer. Swoon city! Overall I did feel this was a really cute book but I did miss a bit of connection with the story.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein tells the story of sunshiny Mabel who has been hired to ghostwrite a memoir for pro soccer star Alfie. This book had a little bit of everything - grumpy/sunshine trope (obviously), fake dating trope, plus size FMC (yay!), respectful MMC (also yay!). I enjoyed the slow-burn workplace romance - it ended up a little spicier than I normally pick up, but that's okay! I also enjoyed the banter between Mabel and Alfie, but it seemed like the dialogue dragged on a little bit too long. Overall, it was a cute and funny romance and I would probably pick up another book by Stein in the future.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Alfie and Mabel meet when she’s hired as a ghostwriter for his memoir. He’s grumpy and hates talking about himself, and she’s very sweet and sassy. When they’re seen spending time together, people assume they’re dating, so they pretend they’re in a relationship for the public.

I love the fake dating and grumpy/sunshine trope, but this didn’t really hit the mark. I think it was because Alfie pretty much yelled that they were together and did a lot of stuff showing he was interested, but Mabel didn’t see it. And there wasn’t much of Alfie falling for Mabel, so I guess I just wanted to see more of that.

Anyway, this was an okay story. If you like miscommunication, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract romances, this may be for you.

This was such a fun book. I love the FMC and the dynamic she had with the MMC. I can’t wait to read more from this author. This was the perfect romance book for me. The tropes were good.