Contemporary romance has really been missing the mark for me lately. These character fell really flat, and I think in a world with no Ted Lasso the male character would have made no sense. This was a DNF for me, and I will probably stay away from the sports romance genre for a bit.

This book is a slow-burn, spicy romance! The first few chapters grabbed me immediately. I was giggling with legit little leg kicks during a good portion of the book. Definitely a must read!

I could not get though this book at all, the first two chapters made me hate it right from the get-go. I had to DNF it. I will not be posting a review out of respect for the author.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the plus-size representation in this book. I felt like I was with the characters along with them along for the journey!! I would definitely recommend this book.

I enjoyed the characters in this book, and their interactions. I kept visualizing Alfie as a character from Ted Lasso. I liked that he wasn't so much grumpy as misunderstood. I do wish the plot moved along more but it was still a cute book with good characters.

I love grumpy-sunshine with my whole heart and LOVED the premise of this one (the memoir! the banter!) but I HATE the miscommunication trope, so unfortunately this one fell flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

This book started out great! I loved the premise of a former footballer (soccer player) and the woman who's been chosen to be his ghostwriter. There's lots of fun moments, and some he-falls-first-pining. But then it sort of goes off the rails a bit and I can't really describe why? It seemed to get bogged down in the fake dating storyline and stalled a bit plot-wise. The ending was lovely and sweet but the third-act breakup didn't really make sense.

Overall, it was cute and fun. (Even if the title isn't that original.)

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
I enjoyed both the narration and the characters in this story. Mabel and Alfie are quirky and cute together! The premise of the famous grumpy footballer and the gregarious ghost-writer fake dating plot was spot-on. I wish that Mabel hadn’t been as negative about her prospects with sporty stud but I get that it was part of her growth arc. All in all, there was some witty banter and super swoony moments. Recommend!

This was hilarious and adorable!! I absolutely love a good grumpy/sunshine romance and this book hit every target. The back and forth banter was fantastic. It had me laughing out loud a few times! Also that tension, was everything!! This was a new to me author who I’ll definitely be reading more work from.

2.5 stars!

I think I was overall just disappointed with this book because I had great expectations and everything just fell short. I don't mind smut in a book, but I felt like there was so much that the plot suffered as a result. I also really wanted to like the FMC but I just couldn't and I was also really confused by the random additions of mixed media.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Honestly, there were some really funny jokes and banter exchanged. It was refreshing in some ways, but the other aspects outweighed the more fun parts of this.
There was something so confusing about the book. I couldn't always figure out where the characters were physically or what the FMC was thinking. It was something about the way it was written that made it difficult for me place them. I can't quite figure out what made it so confusing, but it made the experience frustrating.

I want to start by saying this is not a romantic comedy. Luckily I didn’t go into this one thinking that way, but I’ve seen a lot of people calling it that. Sure, it has funny bits and is very witty, but it’s not a comedy and shouldn’t be judged as such.

Speaking of witty, boy does this book have banter. I know that’s not everyone’s thing, but I love it! Of course, sometimes it slowed me down because I’m from the U.S. and the characters are British so I would have to think about what was being said to follow it correctly. I didn’t mind, though. Mabel and Alfie are both brilliant, tender, and (surprisingly) have low self-esteem. As the reader, I could read so much more into their banter than they were reading into what was being said because of their self-worth issues. It was beautiful and gutting at the same time.

This story is the type of romance where she is THE ONE in his eyes. She calms him with a look and reassures him with a gentle touch. He makes her feel safe to be her true self, good and bad. Alfie and Mabel become friends; good, trusting, ride-or-die friends. This story has a slow build, but it’s delicious because their friendship is everything. And once that slow build catches fire, it is an inferno. Holy cow, these two are filthy in the best way.

At the beginning of this book, I thought I was going to miss having a dual POV. We only have Mabel’s POV and I desperately wanted to know what Alfie was thinking. At some before even getting a quarter of the way into the story, I realized it was important to not have his POV. I’m not someone who can explain this sort of thing, but it seemed to me to be very intentional and important to the reading experience for the reader to unravel Alfie at the same time as Mabel was unraveling him. But in the last few chapters…phew! It was hard. The final chapter makes it all worth it in the end. I promise. It’s sublime.

Sandwiched in between the initial meeting and the swoony ending is so much growth for both characters. Both have to find what makes them happy. Not just what they’re good at, but what they want to do. Their relationship ultimately forces them to do so.

This was a pretty cute story. Very much read like a Roy Kent and plus-size Keeley Jones fanfic. Which isn't meant to be bad. It was just really obvious if you're a Ted Lasso fan.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine starts out really cute. Love the banter. Genuinely funny. As the characters begin focusing more on getting together, the banter started to lose some appeal. Alfie and Mabel both have a lot of issues stemming from trauma, and I wanted to see them talk about these very real issues. Instead, the book focuses on the miscommunications and the attraction, which begins to feel immature and underdeveloped. I love a grumpy meets sunshine trope, but I wanted a more out of this fluff piece.

i was really excited for this book because i love grumpy sunshine and it also has a plus size main character. it was everything i wanted but sadly it was a letdown, it was so hard to get myself to pick up this book everytime that i just couldn’t end up finishing it. i didn’t like the writing or the dialogue

Who doesn't love a grumpy x sunshine novel? I really enjoyed this one, and I loved the fact that it was a quick read! I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves the trope.

I DNF'd after the first chapter, forgive me Netgalley CEOs. I promise I give books real chances, this just wasn't the book for me.

What a fun read!! It started a bit slow but quickly picked up with funny banter, strong chemistry, and steamy romance. I found myself kicking my feet up and down in happiness as i read this book and i cannot recommend this more. If you want a light, fun and cute romance read, this book is for you!

I really enjoyed this romance. It included a lot of fav tropes: obviously grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, only one bed, and more. The banter is top notch and I laughed out loud so many times. I loved the humor and good will between the characters that felt like a base for the steamy stuff which I think a lot of romance forgets the building a friendship bits. Also the descriptions Charlotte Stein is brilliant at. I love making out and make out scenes and these were some of the most well written scenes of this sort.
However what made this book disappointing was the fat representation of the FMC. I love seeing more fat/curvy women in romance (also would love this of men and non-binary folks), however when that character continually rehearses shame of her size and disbelief that a good looking successful man could love them and uses words like:unbelievable, disgusting, etc over and over again it becomes less empowering and more reinforcement of the narrative about those body types. We only get the last chapter where she believes he loves her and Al that isn’t related to her overcoming her own body issues and only that he straightforward says it. This was overall very disappointing. Do women feel this way sure, but let’s go beyond this narrative or show how she healthily overcomes those issues and doesn’t just rely on a man professing love to automatically solve those. I’m bummed because so much about this novel I loved but I can’t recommend or condone anti-fatness even anti-fatness the character has internalized without finding ways to use and grow that. It shows that the author hasn’t dealt with her own or thinks all fat/curvy women think this and wouldn’t bat an eye. Ugh.

I had a hard time with this one. It felt like it was trying too hard and, although I really liked the premise, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the story. This was missing a spark for me, but it might be perfect for someone else.