This book was everything I've wanted. At times the chapter end articles didn't give as well. But overall, I adored Alfie, my consent king. I need this book physically in my hands today.

There are parts of this book that actively made me laugh, the wittiness of their banter was off the charts. But Alfie is so very similar to Roy Kent on the show Ted Lasso, it did take me out of the book at times because I kept expecting other characters on the show to appear and they never did. A lot of the Alfie dialogue in the book, I kept hearing Roy Kent's gruff and growly voice in my head and I don't know if that was necessarily a good thing. I wish there had been some clear delineation between the two that didn't muddy the water so much for me. Likewise, I've read this author before and I've enjoyed her books and writing style. I feel like this book was kind of softened to appeal to a broader audience and while there's nothing wrong with that, I missed the acerbic wit she's known for. Also, did not expect this level of slow burn, and I felt like a lot of the first half of the book was missing that sexual tension. It was a very very slow build up. But A+ for the very last "one year later" part, that was extremely well done. I just wish the first half of the book had offered more by way of spelling out the attraction.

Content Notes: alcoholic and abusive fathers (in past); fat phobic commentary from strangers

ARC from publisher, opinions are all mine;

Mabel Willicker is sunshine on the outside but she is full of self doubt in the inside. She is a ghost writer who has no confidence she can write as herself. Alfie Harding is a famous footballer. Since he can no longer play, his agent has tried acting, commercials and talk shows. He is not good at any of them. So they want a memoir and has run through several ghost writers. Now they are going to work together, they are like oil and water. Also let the hilarity begin. Fake dating and their antics just had me laughing out loud. Underneath is all, both are afraid to speak their mind. It take his memoir to bring everything out in the open. I just loved reading this book.

When Grump Mey Sunshine - Charlotte Stein had all the elements I thought I would love; unfortunately, there were shockingly some areas I didn't love.

The cover is super cute and had me wanting to read this more than the description of a grumpy man and a sunshine woman, especially a plus-size woman - This is right up my alley. However, the problem that I ran into was something I never thought I would say

There was way too much banter - with the desire to keep the dialogue engaging; we lost the story and the cuteness of the storyline.

The banter between Mable and Alfie started on their banter - the plot was so lost I missed the spicy scene, which could have been good. Mainly because time stood still

This made me realize that. If we were to reduce the chatter about what happened in this book - not much - we would have a smaller book.

I did enjoy the fake dating part of this book. However, I wish they played up more on the antics while they were dating.

This book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it didn't do it for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book which has been happening a lot lately. I was excited about this, especially when seeing the cover with some plus sized representation but it found it too dialogue heavy, and too childish/immature in the writing for my tastes.

Been disappointed with a lot of books lately and have been getting my hopes up going into them. Loved the concept of this, was excited to read but did not enjoy.

We all know by now that fake dating isn’t my favorite trope, but I didn’t mind it this time. I do have to say, the title was a little misleading. Alfie wasn’t really grumpy, especially not around Mabel. And with basically no secondary characters in this story, that means he really wasn’t grumpy at all. But I still enjoyed the story. It felt like it had a natural progression in the relationship and it wasn’t full of unnecessary drama and miscommunication. Overall it was cute and I felt like the characters were very genuine.

Mabel Willicker is curvy, caring and cute combined with the perfect amount of sunshine and sass. Alfie Harding, a retired footballer, is just the opposite with his grumpy disposition and aversion to sharing any kind of emotion. When Alfie is pressured into writing a memoir of his life, Mable becomes his ghost writer. The pair are complete different, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. The big question is, will this chemistry fizzle out or turn into a happily ever after?

I was so excited for his book because it had everything I love! It’s an opposites attract romance with undeniable chemistry, a sports romance in a sense, a grumpy/sunshine trope and I absolutely loved the cover. It seemed to have everything I was looking for in a book, but this one fell way short for me. The story was well written, but I didn’t have any feelings for the characters. I couldn’t get into them or find myself rooting for them. The book was very dialogue heavy in a way that definitely took away from the overall romance for me. A lot of the what the characters talked about and did seemed almost childish for the ages that they supposedly are. I really, really wanted to love this book but I just couldn’t get into it and found myself having to force myself through so that I could see how it ended because I can’t admit defeat and DNF. Maybe this book is for you, but it wasn’t for me.

I went into this really looking forward to reading it and left pretty disappointed. There were too many hijinks and not enough character information or development. I realized when I was like ten chapters in that I still knew nothing about either of the main characters or where they were living or anything else about the world they inhabit in the way that a good author should write in order to hook a reader. I just felt very uninvested emotionally. Sorry, but it just wasn’t for me!

I want to say thank you to St. Martin's Press and Charlotte Stein for my eARC copy via NetGalley.

Alfie, the steamy-yet-grumpy former footballer, is tasked with publishing a memoir he knows he is going to need the help of a ghostwriter. In comes Mabel, the bubbly and curvy women who is up to the task of unraveling Alfie like an onion to get what is needed for the memoir. What neither expect is that they'd get on so well, and the connection they'd form along the way.

This book was so sweet. I loved the way you could tell Alfie was absolutely gone for Mabel from the start, and how her feelings grew even though she was fearful. As a larger woman myself, the insecurities Mabel felt and the incredulity at the idea that Alfie could reciprocate her feelings were written/addressed so well, and felt very comparable to how it has felt in my experience at least.

Once aspect I struggled with was the flow of the dialogue/banter. I am wondering if it's because I am from the US, so it may just be an issue of dialect, but I found myself often jumping back because I couldn't follow the line of speech.

Overall I liked this read and would recommend it to anyone looking for a grumpy/sunshine romance that has a lot of deep conversations and witty banter.

Ahhh, such a great story! It really played out like I was watching a show. Beautiful characters. This was my first book from this author and I loved the author’s writing style.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine
Rating: 1 star
DNF at 19 percent
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

Sadly the grumpy man meeting and falling in love with the sunshine did not work out for me. I really tried to get into the story but those inner monologues just went on too long. Once I started skimming and hoping she would get to the point is when I knew it was not going to work out for me.
Also, I don't know if it's because it's an e-book but the articles at the end of the chapter felt weird. Maybe a different font might have helped to make them stand out differently from the actual story.
Sad to say this didn't work for me.

I am still in denial over not enjoying this book. The premise is right up my alley and based off of that alone, this book would have been an easy five stars. There were two main issues that could sum up my lack of enjoyment for this novel.

1. While I, like many others who enjoyed Ted Lasso, adore Roy Kent, I think the reason he is so amusing is because he is grumpy and quietly funny without it feeling like a farce. In this instance, Alfie felt too over the top. While I did laugh during a few scenes, the best example I can point to for this instance would be the interview clip included where his answers were so short and just somewhat silly. This in conjunction with the excessive amount of dialogue made me a little sour towards these two otherwise perfect human beings. I think cutting just a small amount of the grump part would make Alfie's character more believable to me.

2. This one is the big one. Why are there so many sentence fragments? Please please please edit this book! This is very. Distracting as a reader. To keep seeing sentences written. This way. That honestly took the rating of this book down for me and is the reason I will not be recommending it on my social media. The story is there. The characters are there (although need a little work as mentioned above) but the grammar was such a distraction that it was a chore reading this novel.

My opinions are in no way meant to offend. Rather I am just providing honest feedback from my reading experience.

I don't give 5 star ratings to contemporary romance novels very often. I usually see them as kind of junk food palette cleansers between more serious reads. And I don't mean to sound like a book snob that's just how I feel okay? But I absolutely loved this book. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that the title is kinda lame lol. I have not had so much fun or laughed so much reading a book in a LONG time. It was so refreshing. I also read the book super fast. I loved Alfie omg he is the sweetest person ever I wish I knew someone like that in real life. The little bits of social media and news articles in between chapters were always fun. The chapter names were great too, I just love when chapters actually have titles. And I have to say I also really liked that this was just from one POV. I know most people prefer dual POV for romance but I think it ruins the magic a bit when you know what both people are thinking. Anyways, this is a great read and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes romcoms.

"You just don't get it. You don't get how you seem to other people. How dazzling you are, the way you walk into a room and light it up.

Alfie Harding is a grumpy ex-footballer who's working on writing his memoirs, but his team is working on hiring him a ghostwriter. In walks Mabel Willicker: curvy, cheerful, and cute. They're total opposites forced to work together when their arrangement gets mistaken for a real relationship and they decided to play it up for the public. It's only a matter of time before their real feelings boil over.

I really wanted to like this At this point, the Roy Kent inspirations are overdone and not everyone can capture everything that made him so lovable. Alfie doesn't have many qualities that make him likable, except that he immediately catches feelings for Mabel. He is so grumpy and gruff, and really keeps himself hidden from Mabel. It takes until the literal end of the book for him to admit any other feeling than indifference. It's also incredibly frustrating to see them have these almost intimate moments and still pretend that neither of them have feelings for the other.

I really liked Mabel as a character. I love a plus-size heroine, especially when she gets the guy. But there is no real development for her. She doesn't feel well fleshed out and sometimes feels flat on the page. We never get enough of her backstory to really connect to her, and there is this line about being hit as a child that feels like a throwaway line. It's mentioned once and doesn't come up again. It certainly feels out of place, and it feels like a cheap insert to show that Alfie is protective of her.

They do have chemistry and their steamy scenes were enjoyable. But overall, this is a frustrating romance with two characters who really needed more development.

*Note: As SMP has not addressed the racist actions from one of their employees, I will be withholding any social media reviews until the publisher speaks up.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. The writing was too chilidsh for me + I found it hard to connect with the characters. It felt a bit repetitive with the banter. I definitely want to try to read something else by this author but this one was just wasn't for me. If you like a lot of banter this book might be for you! for me, it was a bit too much.

This book had the cutest cover and I truly really wanted to love it. Unfortunately it just did not do it for me and it fell flat. I had to DNF as I just couldn't get through it.

I absolutely loved this book! Mabel and Alfie are relationship goals, honestly. Their chemistry was on point from their first interaction, and I laughed out loud multiple times at their back and forth banter. The tension in the book is written so beautifully. Who knew how sexy hair braiding and shoe tying could be? But the author really made me, as a reader, feel their chemistry and connection and I was rooting for Mabel and Alfie from the beginning. Alfie Harding is definitely one of my favorite book boyfriends.
There was excellent fat representation in this book, and I really appreciated how Mabel was proud of how she looked now, while also acknowledging that the trauma from years of fatphobia and bullying is not so easy to forget and just move past.
This book is definitely a must read for all romance readers!

I requested this book because I've enjoyed Charlotte's work in the past. Thank you to the publisher for the chance to review and offer my thoughts.

To be brutally honest, this book was not my favorite. I'm always down for a good grumpy/sunshine trope, and for a curvier heroine in my books, so I was looking forward to the premise of an author chick being the one that turns the grumpy sportsballer into mush. Only…this started off (for me) as a complete mess. It took probably 15-20% of slugging through boredom and confusion before I knew what was going on. I found the inserts of articles/letters/tweets/Instagram things completely unnecessary (I usually do unless they’re central to the story).

Once I finally dug in, the banter, the slow burn – it grabbed me. I was completely invested. I love when characters grow slowly and get to know each other. But it went on, and on, and onnnnnnn forever with no progression on these two being actual adults who share their feelings. It was tiresome, and after a bit I found myself skimming to get to the good parts just to see where this would lead, only to hit the page that said:

<center>ONE YEAR LATER</center>

Absolutely not.

I was immediately one hundred percent angry. Like, they supposedly spent all this time getting to know each other, sharing cute banter, commiserating over shared pasts and secrets, getting closer, the kissing, the UST, the eventual sex, only for her to find out she wasn’t writing his book any longer, and for him to WALK AWAY FOR A YEAR?

NO.

I need a heroine with some ladyballs who can communicate her feelings (aka show some growth), and when it was obvious to both Alfie, and me as the reader that Mabel was obviously not going to do it, why didn’t he? WHY DIDN’T HE? Who walks away from the “love of their life” like that, only to put it in a book that comes out a year later? What a disappointment as a reader to see zero growth in either of the MC’s, and then be forced to accept an unbelievable HEA.

While I appreciated the representation of a plus sized woman in this, I didn’t love this book. It was much slower than my preference and just hard to follow with so many outside sources through the book too.

Unfortunately I couldn’t click with the story. Being written in third person, makes it really hard for me to read.
At points the story fell flat and as a reader I was never engaged in wanting to know more about the characters.