I had really high hopes for this book. I loved that there was a plus sized FMC, the Ted Lasso vibes, fake dating… but it just did NOT work for me. I didn’t think it was possible to have such a thing but there was too much banter.
Mabel didn’t stop talking about how different they were, like… we get it. Stop making it a big point. But the one thing I never want from a plus size FMC is to hear her talk about how fat she is.
I understand Alfie is a Roy Kent knockoff but the use of the f word was excessive. And I use it a lot. But this was overboard.
This wasn’t a good reading experience for me.

Slow burn romance, with a lot of banter! I'm usually not a slow burn type of reader and it makes me extremely anxious to read books like that but this one didn't disappoint!

While this book did have funny parts, great spice after a good slow-burn, and a MMC that definitely was my vibe, I couldn't get into it that much. There was just something off for me and I cannot really pinpoint what.

I love fake dating and a big part of this book was just it but even though I could enjoy the tension and all, it always felt like nothing made the character's relationship evolve into something. It was always really surface level and they both kept assuming stuff instead of talking, which after a while was really bothering me. They did have pretty great banter and interactions which made up for it a little.

Overall, the book felt like a big miscommunication trope all along, and well, that's far from a favourite for me. I wasn't really a fan of Mabel, and while I usually enjoy being in people's heads, I was tired of being in hers (sorry). The way she was thinking annoyed me a little if I'm being honest. That being said though, I liked Alfie A LOT. There was just something about him and I wish we had more of him. I would have killed for his POV. It felt like he did everything right but somehow Mabel couldn't see it, so yeah, annoying.

And while the ending was great, the big time gap felt unnecessary (gosh I hate those, and it was a little bit too much of a grand gesture for me. I KNOW, I'm that crazy person who hates grand gestures, sue me. But yeah, I still think this book is worth a read if you don't mind miscommunication and might connect with the MC. It's fun, light, and like I said before, pretty good spice in there so, give it a try and see for yourself!

Note: The audiobook was fun, but at times it could be hard telling who was who... I wasn't a fan of the chapter endings. Not sure if I would have felt the same while reading but it always brought me out of the story for the 1-2 minutes that part went on and then back to the story.

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

2 Stars
This was cute and the concept sounded really intriguing to me but the plot of this book was a bit boring, not enough really happened. The banter is fun and a lot of the writing is humorous but there is just too much of it. The potential is there but this ultimately fell a bit flat for me and I didn't really care for the characters because of it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

A steamy opposites-attract between a retired footballer, Alfie Harding, and a sugary sweet ghostwriter, Mabel Willicker. What begins as a professional relationship helping Alfie write his memoir somehow turns into fake dating after paparazzi captures Mabel leaving Alfie’s home. Surprising heat and attraction simmers between them and lines become blurred as they both stumble through this fake relationship. If they both fight their fears and live their life authentically they might be able to get their own happily ever after’s.

I thought this book was cute, but it was a bit hard to read in some places. 🤷🏻‍♀️This one focuses heavily on their differences and miscommunication which distracted from how sweet they were together.

Outside of that, her bubbly sassy personality against his gruffness was so cute. We love a woman who can tame her man with just a touch. And also two people who are clearly compatible and when they finally accept it it’s so good. 😮‍💨

I also really enjoyed the body positivity for both genders! It’s so nice to read about the average woman’s body type in a story.

I wish I could give this 6 stars. This will probably be one of my favorite reads of the year and will probably be an all time favorite read. Alfie might just be the best man ever written. Mabel and Alfie’s story filled my heart up like a balloon - pricked a hole in it so that it deflated (loudly and violently) - then patched and filled it up so it was stronger and more buoyant than at first. I just wish we got more of them together in the end. This was actually one of my most anticipated reads ever since I learned about it quite a while back, and not only did it not disappoint, it stuck the landing like Simone Biles.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Contemporary romance 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
An okay read, it was funny and sweet but definitely not my favorite

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Grumpy/ sunshine (super shocking right?!)
Football(soccer) player & ghostwriter
Witty banter
Fake dating
Forced proximity
Romantic comedies
Slow burn

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The cover is adorable
Alfie is so sweet and thoughtful
Plus sized rep

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I wish there had more about the book
Miscommunication
All the lengthy (& repetitive) inner dialogue
There was almost too much banter
The steamy scenes seemed a little out of place IMO
I hate that there was a year gap before they connect again

This was a light, cute read. As a sucker for fake dating tropes, this one had a different twist to it that I liked. I thought the plot was something different. the character of Alfie reminded me a lot of Ted Lasso's Roy Kent. At times I felt the banter was a little too over-the-top and would have enjoyed more tender moments of conversation between Mabel and Alfie. All in all, it was a fun, lightread and I would recommend it!

I am so sad to say this but… DNF @ 30%

I hate, hate, hate to DNF books, but unfortunately this one just isn’t for me. It follows Alfie and Mabel; Alfie is an ex-soccer player and Mabel is the ghostwriter tasked with writing his memoir. To do this, she has to get every nitty gritty little detail about his life — and spend time with him! Problem is that Alfie is a HUGE grump and not the most willing to give up those juicy details that make for a great book. Mabel, his opposite in every way, is not one to give up on a challenge and she’s determined to break through that hard exterior. Let the banter and bickering begin!

The reason why I could not finish this book didn’t have to do with the storyline – in fact, this is exactly the kind of book I love to read – but rather with the writing style. I struggled to break into the story and the characters. Some of this had to do with the choice for 3rd person POV. I’m not typically one to care too much about what POV a book is in… I like them both. But I think this book would have been benefitted from 1st person POV. The characters feel too far away in 3rd person. Speaking of the characters, their interactions felt so odd and unbelievable. He’s a star soccer player with no phone besides a flip one? How has he survived in his career? The two jump into long banter sessions from the get-go and it was just weird. It didn’t seem like something that would actually happen and that’s all I could think as I was reading and it took me so far out of the book that I just couldn’t continue.

That being said, just because this book didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for someone else. And I love that it’s body positive. I hope someone else reads this and loves it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Five stars for the first half of the book and then... it just stopped working and felt awkward to read and not in a good way.

I loved the story of Mabel and Alfie at first. It was a little cheesy and over the top, but it worked for me. He was a famous retired football (soccer) player and the was a ghostwriter for his book. Obviously, they start to fall for each other when she is an explosion of rainbow sunshine, and he is just an angry man.

The thing that put me off was when the sexual tension began to rise. The witty banter was just weird and hyper focused on them accusing the other of wanting to "please themselves" and on at least 2 or 3 occasions they did so... near each other and continued to joke about it. None of it felt realistic. Overall, when things heated up, it got uncomfortable spicy rather than good spicy and I felt more like secondhand embarrassment.

Around the same time as the uncomfortable sexual tension started, so did the "woe is me" attitudes and the wild non-communication. The whole second half of the book just completely missed the mark for me because the two main characters were not behaving as adults.

I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down! "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein is a romance book, with some very steamy sex scenes. I was rooting for Mabel and Alfie to get together the whole time. I loved the character development of both of them.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein was such a fun and relatable five-star read!
This book was such a delight to read, featuring a well-rounded cast of characters who are impossible not to fall for.
The characters felt so real and I couldn't stop myself from loving them!
Mabel and Alfie had the absolute best banter. I was hanging onto their every word.
This warm, witty, laugh-out-loud, opposites-attract rom-com was everything I was hoping for.
Overall: perfect chemistry, so smart, so humorous, so entertaining, so heartfelt!

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The grumpy/sunshine trope is my absolute favorite trope so I was so very excited for this one! But so much of this book fell flat for me. Both main characters were so immature which made the banter between them cringy. The writing style was unbearable.. Mabel's inner monologue was so so annoying along with alll her inner thoughts. All around, this was a total miss for me.

Alfie is a grumpy retired footballer, Mabel is a bubbly ghostwriter hired to write his memoir. At first glance, it looks like a recipe for disaster but Alfie and Mabel have more in common than you would think. This was cute and I enjoyed reading it. There were some spicy bits, but some of them were cringy to read which is why I gave it three stars.

The perfect balance of swoony to steamy in this Grumpy Sunshine fate-dating novel by Charlotte Stein. The contrast between Alfie and Mabel was terrific, and the banter for the day made me smile. I loved that it gave me Ted Lasso vibes with the dry humor. Fake dating with the touch of sports is becoming really popular, and Charlotte did a fantastic job with this one. I recommend this one to anyone currently in the romance sports era.

Tropes:
-Grumpy/Sunshine
-Close Proximity
-Fake Dating
-One Bed
-Slow Burn
-Plus Size Heroine


I was provided an ARC from the publisher but have purchased my own copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I thought it started really slow, almost didn’t want to keep going. Sometimes I find it difficult to read something that is from Europe because their language and slang is so different, but before long the story picked up and I was loving it. Glad for the happy little ending and now I want to visit Europe even more!

Quick Synopsis:
Ex-soccer player Alfie requests that the main character, Mabel, be the ghostwriter for his memoir. Alfie is known for his fierce, antisocial tendencies, and Mabel is initially reluctant towards the project. Quickly, the two discover their similarities far outweigh their differences, which thrusts them into a friendship and, eventually, a fake relationship.

Characters:
I'm a sucker for curmudgeon characters, so I was excited to request When Grumpy Met Sunshine from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. Alfie, our grumpy character, is more than a curmudgeon. He’s quirky with a dark sense of humor and a sweet soul. At times it appears that he’s more misunderstood than he is miserly. Regardless, I adored his character and loved how he interacted with the MC, Mabel, who is equally endearing. Their kindred understanding of one another’s upbringing added a lovely dimension to their relationship, and their evolution was entertaining to watch. The narrative holds tons of dialogue, which usually throws me off, but the characters are so lovable that I ate up all their banter. It’s a rarity when I laugh out loud at a book, and this one had me giggling audibly multiple times.

Storyline/Pacing:
I wasn’t invested in the narrative of When Grumpy Met Sunshine until I had finished a quarter of the book. Once technology-averse Alfie signed up for Twitter for Mabel’s sake, I was hooked. If you haven’t gotten there yet, keep reading, especially if you like spicy books. It initially reads as a closed-door romance, but it is not that. 😂

Overall:
I recommend this one to readers who love Tessa Bailey, Meghan Quinn, and grumpy/quirky characters. If you love fake relationship tropes, this is one to pick up. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Disclosure:
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the Digital Review Copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine. All opinions are my own.

I tried and tried to love this. I've picked it up two separate times to try and read it and I just keep getting lost in the weeds and losing interest.

What I've read has great plus sized representation, but I just can't get into this one!

I'm DNFing at 50%

This book had a slow start for me, because it was zanier than I like. But once we got past that into the more emotional encounters between our two leads, I was all in. The level of insecurity/inability to communicate does strain credulity a bit, but I forgave it. Especially because celebrity romances are my weakness, as are single POV romances where the non-POV character is very easily read by the reader if not the narrator. And yes, this is obviously inspired by Ted Lasso's Roy Kent, but I'm happy to see a similar character get a whole romance to themselves.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you SMP Romance for my #gifted copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine! #WhenGrumpyMetSunshine #CharlotteStein #SMPRomance #SMPInfluencers

I love the premise of this book, and I’m always down to read an opposites-attract romance! What could be better than a grumpy ex-football player and cheery ghost writer? I found the banter between Alfie and Mabel to be so good and really enjoyed many aspects of this book. I did find the dialogues to be a bit lengthy for my liking, but I would definitely give this one a try if you love a cute grumpy x sunshine novel and enjoy British humor!

💜Grumpy x Sunshine
💜Fake Dating
💜One Bed
💜Opposites attract
💜Miscommunication
💜Plus Size Representation

Posted on Goodreads on February 8, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around February 10, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on February 8, 2024
**-will post on designated date