3.5 rounded to 4

I adored a lot of the banter in this romcom. I also liked the opposites attract.

Unfortunately, while there were many wonderfully funny moments, the dialogue did tend to get lengthy--without managing to delve deeply into character, motivation, and especially connections with the past. So many questions left unanswered, while superficials got repetition. And the ending felt forced.

Will look for this writer's next, though!

This has a slow start it is a grumpy sunshine hence the title. But what I really loved was the main charters and the interactions. Yes they had miss communications but Alfie was so much more than a grump and I loved him. Once you get into it it really picks up and is really funny and steamy.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for thus E arc in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I wanted to like this story, I think it just started off strange to me, like I was playing catch up or something. Honestly it wasn't until over halfway through and the ending that I liked. Loved the body positivity aspect and that he does love her, but this just wasn't it for me.

3.5/5 stars. I enjoyed this book. The writing style was different than I’m used to (third person pov) and there were some things that happened that I didn’t agree with; but I did grow attached and relate to both main characters. I felt seen by both Alfie and Mabel, which I wasn’t expecting. It feels like they both have pieces of me sewn into them. Plus, the Smut in this is way better than I thought it would be.

While they’re fake dating to appease the public, Mabel brings out the hidden parts of Alfie, the things he’s never shown or told anyone, and they start to fall for each other. The last few chapters definitely took me by surprise. I feel like if they communicated even a little bit it wouldn’t have happened like that but it did give us his memoir which was a pleasant surprise and really got me in my feels. I would recommend this book to people, I would just make sure to let them know the tropes first.

I loved this book.. really starting to enjoying the ROM -coms. Great characters and story line. Would highly recommend

2.5 stars

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a pretty standard rom-com retelling of Cinderella/Pride and Prejudice, and I thought Charlotte Stein’s take on these stories showed a lot of promise but ultimately fell short. Mabel and Alfie both have a bit of their backstories explained—they grew up in similarly trying circumstances in the north of England—but it feels like significant parts of their histories get left out, so I wasn’t completely sure how both got to where we meet them. I also thought this was a book that would have benefitted from dual-perspective narration, as the reader sees everything entirely through Mabel’s eyes and doesn’t get much insight into what Alfie thinks. The whole “she’s his ghostwriter” setup falls apart pretty quickly, and overall I just had too many small nitpicks to overlook how they added up into a book that wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped it would be.

I absolutely loved the fake dating romcom When Grumpy Met Sunshine by @charlotte.stein. It came out last week and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, steamy romance. I’m so grateful to @stmartinspress for an advanced e-copy and to @macmillan.audio for an ALC.

Ghost writer Mabel Willicker isn’t sure she’s the right person to write grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding’s memoir, and their first meeting doesn’t go well. He calls her a cupcake, and as a plus-sized woman she doesn’t take it well. But after rejecting lots of ghostwriters, Alfie wants Mabel. No one can know what they’re working on—since he’s supposed to be writing the book—so when they’re photographed together the press screams Cinderella story romance. The only logical thing for them to do is pretend the relationship is real, right? But the more time Mable spends with Alfie, the more she realizes there’s a lot more to him than he shows the world.

Okay, this one did have the miscommunication trope. Or more specifically, the not communicating trope, but I understand why it happened and even though it was frustrating to watch, I bought it. The most important thing was I loved both these characters. They were incredibly endearing, easy to root for, and so, so funny. When they did communicate with each other—because they had a lot of amazing conversations—it was insanely swoony.

I was really surprised by the steam in this book. It wasn’t a five eggplant book (I don’t even know what that means), but there was a lot of dirty talk and definitely an open door. I think I’ve become so used to books set in England being more closed door. Is that even true? I feel like there are a ton of very sweet British romcoms that I’ve loved, and so the first time this one crossed over the sweet, closed door line, I wasn’t expecting it. But the steamy scenes were really well done.

I loved listening to this book. The narrator did a fabulous job immersing me in the setting. I absolutely got into Mabel’s head and it’s always more fun to listen to books set in England in a British accent. This was the exact book I needed and it would be a great February listen.

Summary
Mabel is a ghost writer. Somehow she ended up being selected by footballer Alfie Harding to write his memoir, despite the fact he seemed annoyed with her and incredibly grumpy and opposite of her sunshiney self. When Mabel is spotted leaving his house, it is presumed that they are in a relationship, and since they can't let the world know Alfie has a ghostwriter, fake-dating it is. As Mabel and Alfie spend more time together, they begin opening up to each other and a friendship develops, along with chemistry. Do they have a chance at happily ever after, or is fake-dating all it will be?

Review
I really wanted to love this. I love a grumpy-sunshine. And I did enjoy it, especially after we started getting into the book.
I pictured a bigger Roy Kent as Alfie.I think the third person narration took away from the story a bit. It was third person but from Mabel's perspective. I would have loved to see inside Alfie's mind in a Dual POV. The story definitely had heart and the characters were well developed and you could feel the connection, but for some reason the start was slow for me.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

DNF at 30% - I will not be reviewing on social platforms since I didn't finish it.

I'm sorry, I really tried to like this one. The cover is super cute and really drew me in, and I liked that the FMC is plus sized.

My main complaints that ultimately lead to my putting it down with no intention of picking back up:
One-dimensional and stereotypical characterization. I was so tired of hearing Mabel thinking she was unworthy of any happiness because she's overweight.
A LOT of miscommunication.

I tried both reading the e-arc and an audio version.

2 stars for what I did read.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. This book gave me mixed feelings - the beginning was slow, with lots of dialogue to establish the main character's relationship and about halfway through, it turned into a very steamy book with a spicy scene in every chapter. It was a like a switch flipped, which took me aback. It was also full of miscommunication that could've been avoided if they had just been honest with each other at any point in the book. When it got spicier, I enjoyed it a bit more if only because something was actually happening. I would overall give this a 2.5/5

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Charlotte Stein book, so I was super excited for this release.

This is a forced proximity, fake dating, opposites attract romance featuring a grumpy footballer and the ghost writer he has hired to write his life story. It’s funny, and kept me smiling, often laughing out loud at the dialogue between this couple.

Mabel Willicker, ghostwriter and quirky sunshine girl, first meets famous ex-football player Alfie Harding during an interview and is immediately put off by his grouchiness and rude commentary. (Think Roy Kent) So, she walks out on him…but after a stalking misunderstanding and a pepper spray incident they agree that she will help him work on his book. There is an immediate connection, a spark shared over stories of their childhoods that are strikingly similar. He seems to be a softer version of himself around her and begrudgingly opens up and lets her see the real man inside. But it doesn’t take long for the paparazzi to realize Alfie has a new girlfriend, which is where the fake dating comes in.

I will say that this is a slow born romance with a lot of heat and build up. The entirety of the story is told from Mabel’s POV, and she’s obviously burning up alive for Alfie, even though she thinks she isn’t his type. These two are fun together, but sometimes it felt like the lively back and forth banter and inner musings of the heroine sometimes got in the way of the romance development. The misunderstanding trope is heavily leaned on, and I kind of wanted Alfie to be honest with Mabel instead of playing in to her belief that they were just friends who were getting it out of their systems and that she wasn’t his type. I think a couple of scenes from his POV during heated moments would have been nice.

I liked the ending and HEA; it was sweet and felt right for this couple. But readers should be aware that there is a one-year time skip between the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING and the reconciliation and all of it takes place in the last 10% or so. But all in all, this was a fun sexy read that I would recommend.

Final grade- B-

Content notes- mentions of parental alcoholism and neglect, fatphobia

The premise is a sure-fire attention getter for most romance readers -- opposites attract with fake relationship. Toss in a dead ringer for Ted Lasso's Roy Kent and a smart & funny woman and this title will pique interest. It has a slow burn start and spends time really focusing on the dialogue. The readers who get past the first half will be rewarded with a very fun and flirty read. Recommended for libraries with a large and varied adult romance collection. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Unfortunately, this was an ultimate no from me. I struggled to get through the excess of banter without loosing track of what they were actually talking about, usually finding that the entire conversation (if we can even call it that) did not accomplish anything. The glaring similarity of Alfie as Roy Kent was so overly blatant that it felt underdeveloped and a lazy pass at "creating" and interesting character. I had hope for Mabel at first but she also disappointed in the end. I found her narration more whiny that upbeat or optimistic. There was no development or growth from either character. It seemed like Alfie immediately had feelings for Mabel, with little to no explanation, yet it took 90% of the book for Mabel to even start to be convinced that he might actually like her (this during/after the fake dating that included very real kissing and physical intimacy).
The story itself was overly long, which just made me bored and frustrated at about the half way point. The dialogue, while also lengthy, was confusing and distracting and we never get any true backstory or answers to why Mabel is so hesitant to trust that he likes her. The theme of social media along with size is barely addressed and could have played a bigger role to help better understand Mabel. But, again, it ended up just being frustrating and left me with very little empathy for Mabel's "situation."
I think this could have been more enjoyable with a dual perspective.
IMO, this book needs some serious editing and help.
Don't even get me started on using the trope as the title.

It wasn't that this book is bad, and I'm more than positive that lots of people will enjoy this book, it just really wasn't for me. I didn't like the dynamic between the love interests and found the dialogue to be jarring.

I also despise miscommunication tropes, except if it's a situational thing, but this book was chalk full of it and I just couldn't get past it.

When grumpy and emotionally-challenged ex-footballer, Alfie Harding is paired with cute and bubbly ghostwriter, Mabel Willicker, the two opposites banter and bicker their way through the writing process of Alfie’s new memoir. As the pair meet up for multiple writing sessions, local paparazzi create a firestorm with the tabloids, insinuating curvy and cherry Mabel is Alfie’s latest flame. As the two pretend to be an item, their fake relationship brings out a sizzling chemistry neither can ignore. If you love a spicy, opposites attract novel, you’ll want to pick up this new novel by Charlotte Stein.

This was such a cute book. I loved the fake dating trope and the text messages, reddit posts, and online news stories. I breezed through this book and couldn't put it down


Thank you netgalley for the arc!

This was a big miss for me. I’m not sure I can exactly put my finger on it but I think it’s both the dialogue and the FMC inner monologue. There are plenty of examples of good banter with grumpy/sunshine dynamic. This just isn’t one of them. So much of the book felt like it could just be cut out. The FMC was both annoying and didn’t make any sense. Repetitive. Immature. I actually liked the format of having the articles/letters/etc at the end of the chapters but it didn’t make up for the rest.

Alfie, a hot, ex-football player, has been badgered into selling his memoirs. The publisher has hired a ghost writer, Mabel. Mabel is full figured and cute as a button. So, the world is shocked when these two are seen around town together. They just don’t seem to fit.

This is almost like two books in one. The first half of the book is adorable. These two characters have a cute banter and are just getting to know each other. The second half of the book is nothing but $€x…almost no plot. It’s not bad, the story just seemed to change directions all of a sudden.

I did enjoy the way the author plays these two characters’ differences. Alfie is the world’s most eligible bachelor. He dates hot models and actresses. So, when Mabel is brought into the scene, the world loses their minds. But, Alfie is oblivious and he falls hard for Mabel! The author totally ROCKED THIS!

Need an opposite-attracts romance…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

In support of the SMP boycott, I will be withholding my review of this title until SMP speaks out. If the boycott is resolved, I will update with a full review.

The synopsis of this hooked me right away and so did the first couple of chapters. I actually guffawed at some of the early interactions between Mabel and Alfie. I loved the clear sexual tension between them, and it was subtle and sweet. Then BOOM... about halfway through this turned into a totally different book. It was page after page of sex so steamy that I was actually uncomfortable and found myself skipping ahead. It was like the sweet relationship developing between the characters was only about their physical needs and attraction. If I wasn't so invested in seeing how it ended, I would have DNF'd it. The end (last few chapters) brought it back around to the way it was in the beginning, but it was too late for me. If you are all about the steam -- this might be the perfect read for you!