This book was a very cute romcom and I loved both of the main characters and each of their backstorys! There was a lot of banter between them which was nice, but at times was hard to follow. I also enjoyed the fake relationship trope. Overall I gave it a 3/5 stars.

When Grumpy meets Sunshine by Charlotte Stein is a fun, cute spicy, banter filled novel staring a plus sized woman and a former football star. It is a slow burn romance that hits on the feelings that many curvy/plus sized ladies feel in relationships, dating and life. While it was a bit slow it's an amazing story that I relate to.

Grumpy former footballer Alfie Harding is somehow convinced to sell and "write" his memoir but decidedly hates revealing anything about himself or showing any emotions. Who shows up but curvy, cheery and obviously attractive ghostwriter Mabel Willicker. She uses her bright and sassy personality to worm her way into his heart and end up getting every detail about him. They banter & argue just enough to writing his life story.

Then their professional arrangement is mistaken for a romance, as a result they pretend to be an item―until that is that they develop genuine romantic feelings for one another.

Synopsis:

Grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling a memoir but hates revealing anything about himself or showing any emotions. In walks curvy, cheery and cute ghostwriter Mabel Willicker who knows how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail about him. They banter & bicker their way to writing his life story. When their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, they pretend to be an item―until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control.

Review:

This was a cute and unique way to write a grumpy sunshine MMC. Their banter is cute and believable because I feel like it would be hard for anyone to pour their life story out to a complete stranger. The slow burn romance is also believable because being vulnerable can make you feel closer to a person. A cute and easy read for anyone who enjoys a HEA :)

I wanted to like this but I sadly couldn’t get through it, the plot was non existent once the main characters starting having sex and I was not in the mood for that right now.

I sadly had to dnf @ 26% this one. I really wanted to love it and I do think the concept of the story is really cute but I couldn't get past the excessive amount of banter that's included. I know banter is often an enjoyable part of a book but there really was too much of it in this case. It felt like it took up entire scenes and I never really got to know the characters that well. I did like the grumpy sunshine aspect and that combined with the plot really made me want to try and read more. This is probably one I'll try to come back to in a few months and see if I feel any different since I see a lot of potential with it.
With all that being said this is definitely my personal opinion and I know there are some people who will absolutely love this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-copy

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a delightful read! I enjoyed this cute romance—it's the perfect pick-me-up! With its charming characters and heartwarming plot, it's an easy read that's sure to bring a smile to your face.

There is nothing better than a cute, fun, and steamy book! In addition to being humorous throughout, it also touched on some of the hardships life can throw at us, painted a realistic picture of the overwhelming thoughts plus-sized women face, and delivered the most beautiful love story!

Having both gone through trauma in their lives, I loved the authenticity with which Alfie and Mabel discussed it. The way they continued to grow their relationship with such care, tenderness, and love was also wonderful. Their whole story here is filled with respect & acceptance of each other, their insecurities and all. In contrast to Mabel's hilarious sunshine personality, Alfie's charming grumpiness & shyness fit perfectly.

I always love having more plus size rep in romance novels, and I quite like the main characters in this book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

I love a good sports rom com and this is the first of a genre that I will continue to read. This book was everything. The banter, the chemistry, the personality of the characters 10/10.

When When Grumpy Met Sunshine was interesting, it was impossible to put down. Conversely, when When Grumpy Met Sunshine was boring, it was impossible to pick up.

I couldn’t get into this one. I also tried it as an audiobook. I just don’t think it was the right book for me.

The way this book had me laughing out loud! I loved the honesty, the jokes, and the fun that was wrapped up in these pages. The chemistry was great and you could feel the tension. A bit of a slow burn that makes the fiery inferno that much more satisfying when it ignites. Once the spice was going, it was all in. In my opinion, it was a bit too much, too fast though. It piled on and then continued to pile more. The author could have pulled back the reins a bit to let it all marinate, but to each their own. I wish there had been more focus on the writing of the memoirs, because it started to become mostly just about how much Alfie and Mabel wanted each other, and less about the plot of the book. I did appreciate the mentions of hard knocks that occur to more of us in life than we like to consider or talk about. I'm also not a fan of the third act breakup, miscommunication trope, and single POV, again, personal preference. But, the book was engaging and like I said, I laughed all the way through it, which I LOVE. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC!

I loved the premise of this one. A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter. also including fake dating and forced proximity. But this one missed the mark for me. I didn't really connect with the characters and didn't get to the point of rooting for them. The most important thing in a romance for me. The comedy was a little lacking for me also. I could see what was meant to amusing, but it didn't really make me smile. Maybe I just don't appreciate British romance humor?

I thought maybe switching to the audiobook would help, but it didn't. Emily Spowage was a good narrator, but I didn't think she had the sunshine voice for the main character.

Basically Roy Kent fan fiction (and as a lover of Roy Kent this works).
A fun take on the grumpy/sunshine trope and a workplace romance. Cute romcom!!

2.75

I loved the idea of a grumpy ex-athlete and the sunshine ghostwrite he hired to help him write his memoirs, and overall I found enjoyed this book, but I did find it a bit forgettable.

I think where I struggled the most is that this entire premise hinges on a lack of communication. Alfie is an ex-footballer who actually hated football and wanted to be a writer. Mabel is curvy and convinced that Alfie could never really want her because she doesn't look anything like his past girlfriends. I appreciated the body positivity and I liked the build up of them getting to know one another but I didn't love the execution.

Alfie and Mabel are never really together. For reasons, they start fake dating and then they start faking dating with benefits, which I think is when I started zoning out. The sex scenes were not for me. Then there's a "third-act breakup" that only leads to the two getting together in a one-year later epilogue? I liked the prose and I liked the concept, so I'd be interested in trying another book by Stein, but I'm sad I didn't love this.

When diving into this RomCom I was super excited about it being from a ghost writer and ex-footballer coming together. For some reason that was just what I was looking for. This fell flat for me. I enjoyed my time with it but I feel it just was kept at that, just an enjoyed time. When putting the book down and stepping away from it for 24 hours, I really didn't think about it again.

I had lots of laughs and highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good RomCom but I wouldn't be expecting anything long lasting.

Ok, this one got a little wheels off for me. Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the early peek at this. And I apologize for not getting to it before pub day. This is out now, if you’re curious!

⚽️ Ok, this starts out cute. Grumpy soccer player à la Roy Kent meets his sunshiny, bigger-bodied ghost writer and sparks fly. Cute right? And of course, as she tries to get him to open up for his memoir and learns more about him the romance begins. All good, though nothing super original.

⚽️ But then, things escalate super quickly. As soon as things got spicy, it was like the plot went out the door. There was a good 15-20 % of the book that felt like it was all spice, no plot. And then the third act breakup/ get back together all felt very uniform. That super simple ‘he doesn’t want me’ excuse.

⚽️ Overall, this one was very meh for me. It was basic and a little too focused on sex. That might sound right up your alley— and you should give this a try! But if you like your romance with a good plot too, you can probably skip this one.

A lovely read! very sexy and loved the plus size rep!!! very slow burn and kinda hated it but in a good way! i wanted so badly for something to happen, slow burn kills me every time. This book was so good and I am glad I read it!

very sweet and very funny! I'm definitely a sucker for a MEGA grumpy hero and this book delivered in spades

A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.

In the beginning, I didn't like Alfie. He was a little too grumpy/bullish for me. It took a while for him to finally grow on me. As the romance starts to bud between Mabel and Alfie, it becomes very apparent that he is just reserved/flustered, and he wants to keep his personal life private. Which begs to questions...why did he agree to the memoir in the first place? That too gets answered!

Ah sweet Mabel. She really is quite lovely. Mabel is curvy with a great sense of humor. She is the epitome of sunshine with a bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality. I wish she would have believed in her self-worth more and able to accept that a strapping man like Alfie could totally obsess over her curves and all. (I have this issue as well though, so...)

Can we talk about the spice in this book? Holy Moly! The spice is off the charts. It always surprises me when the cover is cutesy/sweet, but then a MC has a dirty mouth! In this case...both of them! I freaking loved it! HA! The narrator did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. If not for the audiobook, Idk if I would have finished this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publishers for giving me a digital copy and audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

3.5 stars