When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a funny and spicy romance with lots of potential.

I wanted to love this book more than I did. I stumbled upon it when browsing NetGalley's catalogue and instantly fell in love with the synopsis. I am a huge fan of grumpy sunshine romances and knew this book was going to be chalked full of grumpy sunshine goodness because the title is Grumpy Met Sunshine. First, I want to say that this book has tons of potential. The characters are wonderful, and the story is interesting. The problem I had with it was that the story often felt disjointed, and reading it was often jarring. This is because Mabel's internal dialogue is far too excessive in the story. Often, I couldn't keep track of what was going on or what was happening in conversations because Mabel's internal monologue often went on and on and on to the point where I couldn't remember what happened. I think if the internal dialogue were cut in half, readers would have a more pleasant reading experience. This is a much slower-paced rom-com. There is a lot of external and internal dialogue and only a little movement. If you like your rom-coms with more things happening and have a slightly faster pace, you should give this book a pass.

There are a lot of great things going on in this book. As I said before, the premise is interesting and has the potential for a lot of romantic fun. I adored Alfie with every fibre in my body. He comes across as this grumpy, abrupt, and violent athlete who hates the world. But the reality is that he is so shy and socially awkward that he doesn't know how to act around people, which causes him to come across as an asshole. Alfie's character could have gone terribly wrong because Charlotte made his social awkwardness so extreme that it could have come across as being distasteful or unbelievable. But it didn't. I think it is because there is this child-like innocence that is woven into his character that just makes his character feel human and real. Alfie has no idea how to interact with people and has a hard time reading social cues. Think Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory. I loved being around this man; he was a complete mystery, and all I wanted to do was peel back those layers so I could learn more about him. He also made me laugh all the time, which I adored.

Mabel is that typical sunshine heroine who is struggling to make her dreams come true. She often lets those around her take advantage of her and just rolls with the punches. The only time she seems to stand up for herself is when she is around Alfie. There is just something about that man that brings out that sassy, rebellious spark in her. I like Mabel; her character is relatable and fun. I loved watching her befuddle Alfie.

The romance starts out sweet and then goes right to spicy. There is some faking dating thrown into the story as well. Most of their relationship or interactions is dialogue. They are just sitting and talking to each other. If you remove a lot of the internal dialogue, then what you get is fun and witty banter. I loved their conversations. It was captivating watching them learn to interact with each other. What surprised me most about their relationship was how Alfie, this socially awkward man, became this dirty-talking sex machine about ¾ of the way through the book. I'm not saying it was a bad surprise; it was just surprising. When it gets spicy, it gets really spicy. In terms of their chemistry, I liked them together. It felt like they balanced each other out.

Oh my goodness. I am in love with Alfie effing Harding. That grump is such a surprise. Lucky Mabel is the sunshine of the title and has a real talent for pulling impossible personal stories out of her subjects. Alfie and Mabel fight their attraction by hurling teasing snark at one another and it is so funny! I love these characters and their stories.

The writing in this book makes it feel like word vomit (that was severely under edited) and the characters are so surface level it hurts

I loved the premise of this book. Famous grumpy footballer works with sunshiny ghostwriter on his memoirs. However, there was so much telling and not much showing. The story is from Mabel’s POV, and rather than dialogue with other characters, her internal monologue continuously describes what’s going on. Which is a shame because the banter between Mabel and Alfie was the best part of the book! Both their humor and angst had such distinct voices in dialogue, but it wasn’t used nearly enough.

I received a copy of this book from SMP.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get past the writing style of this book. It felt very choppy. I ended up stopping my read about 25% thru.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Unfortunately, this read just wasn’t for me. The story felt choppy and I couldn’t get on board with the characters. This is one of my favorite tropes and I was really hoping to love this one.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine
Thank you so much @netgalley and @stmartinspress for sending me an arc.
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Grumpy Met sunshine is a book about an ex soccer player Alfie and a ghost writer Mabel. When Alfie gets pushed into writing a memoir he knows he will not be able to write them so when he meet Mabel a ghost writer they make a business arrangement.
But then the public mistakes there arrangement for a secret romance. So to please the public they pretend to be an item. But when the lines between fake and real are blurred you never know what could happen.
Review: I liked the plot of this book and the chemistry with the characters but I didn't like the miscommunication between the characters. I loved the way the author painted a picture in your mind. I think this book had good pacing to. Over all I gave it 3 stars because I liked It, I just didn't love it because I could not connect with the characters.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a banter-filled romcom following Mabel, a bubbly and bright ghostwriter, and Aflie a famous retired footballer in need of help writing his memoir. When the two get close while detailing Alfie's life, they find themselves falling for each other further when their relationship is discovered by the public and the two are forced to pretend to be a couple.
My Roy Kent loving heart is conflicted! While I enjoyed every minute of this charming romcom, the writing was so lengthy yet choppy; I couldn't follow what was being said half the time. Their banter and honest relationship kept me invested the whole time, but, I couldn't overlook the writing. While I had a great time reading this, I think it needed a whole lot more editing and proofreading. I also found issue with the one-year separation and time skip in the last 10% of the book; the ending was rushed and completely out of character with the story and plot. Despite my issues with the writing and ending, I did very much enjoy the story and will absolutely be on the lookout for more from Charlotte Stein!

let's take a moment for the cover... AMAZING!!

This book has literally everything going for it. Some of my all time fav tropes and the promise of a Roy Jent character?? I'm sold.

While, I did like the banter and quick-wit of the heroine Mabel, I find the extra dialogue and lack of plot stopped my overall enjoyment of the book. It felt like I was skimming through dialogue just to get to the plot point and to move forward with the story.

I will say, I can't stop thinking fo the hero LOL because Roy Kent, but unfortunately, not my fav!


NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC!

The easiest way for me to describe my experience reading this book is baffled amusement. Half the time I was lost on what was happening because it felt like we were bouncing all over the place, but the other half had me snorting from some of the banter. It was a strange feeling indeed.

I didn’t think I was a fan of the random text inserted at the end of every chapter—in fact, I know I pretty much wasn’t—at least until the tossed notes from Mabel that Alfie responded to. I thought that particular inclusion was cute and helped build their characters slightly. Was I still completely confused for a majority of the time? Yes. Did I at least semi-enjoy said confusion when the banter got to bantering? Also yes.

Now about the halfway point, things started really picking up for the story. Maybe it was because the fake dating finally came into play for our grumpy/sunshine chaotic duo but whatever it was, it helped ease some of the confusion a bit. Things flowed smoother. Was it still chaos at times? Why yes, yes it was. But honestly, at this point I kinda felt that fit for the characters.

While this romance may not have been one too hook me from the first chapter and carve out its own space in my heart, I can say I did enjoy the adorable chaos that was Mabel and Alfie becoming friends and falling for one another.

Great many thanks to the author and publisher for the chance to read an early copy. All thoughts are my own.

Mabel and Alfie are a great couple who are a bit star crossed. Their journey together is amazing and keeps you turning pages.

this was adorable! a really sweet romance worthy of your time!! esp if u love grumpy/sunshine trope as the title suggests

A typical grumpy sunshine plot but so weirdly written. I also can understand and appreciate the need for an overweight character -- but why is it always the female lead??? Can it ever be the male? This boot basically followed Mabel and Alfie. Mabel was going to be Alfie's ghost writer. I will say I was intrigued at the beginning when Alfie was "stalking" Mabel but then the book got boring quickly. I love a good grumpy sunshine but this one just didn't do it for me.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein is a hilarious romantic comedy featuring opposites attract romance between ghostwriter Mabel Willicker and retired footballer Alfie Harding. Mabel is hired to ghostwrite his memoir after 17 others have been rejected. Alfie doesn’t want to do this but has been badgered into doing it. After their business arrangement is mistaken for a romance, they decide to pretend to be a couple. Is their chemistry real or fake?

Mabel is curvy, bubbly, warm, kind, and cute. She also blushes easily and can get elicit thoughts and feelings from others that work well in a memoir. Alfie is known to be grumpy, blunt, and hates revealing anything about himself. He easily gets annoyed, cranky, and indignant. However, he is also perceptive, practical, and intense. Their dynamic is great, if a little over-the-top at times.

For the first 60 percent or so of this book, I was thoroughly enjoying the story line. It was funny with several laugh-out-loud moments. For the next 30 percent it was only steamy spice. I don’t dislike steamy spice in a book, but this was only that without advancing the plot. The last 8-10 percent was back to giving readers a story they could fully appreciate. My other quibble with the book was the excessive swearing that occurred.

Overall, this was a story that quickly drew me into Alfie and Mabel’s world and their journey together. It was an engaging and cute read with plenty of witty banter. The characterization was excellent and the descriptions gave readers an appreciation for their living conditions.

St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin and Charlotte Stein provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for February 6, 2024.

im currently participating in the publicity boycott of st martins press and all it’s imprints. therefore, i will not review this book until smp speaks up and reassures the concerns and safety of all it’s readers

I had a really hard time getting into this book, and for me, it just felt like too much banter and didn’t drive me to read. I really love the grumpy/sunshine trope and was so excited to read, but this one wasn’t for me.

Super cute romance. I found the characters likeable. I’d give this a 3. It took me a bit to really commit to the book. It was a little slow for me at first but ultimately I enjoyed it and found it to be super sweet

When Grumpy Met Sunshine was such a sweet romance that I enjoyed for the most part, some of the descriptions or banter sessions went on for longer than I needed, but I still enjoyed it

Everything was so clearly explained and described, which is normally great. However, I feel like there was an overabundance of description that sometimes made specific moments harder to understand.

The dynamic between the two main characters was fun, sometimes a bit over the top, but still enjoyable for me.

Overall, I liked this book. It did everything the title and description promised; I just wish it would've left a bit more to the reader's imagination.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for letting me read this title early in exchange for my honest review.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine seemed right up my alley, but I struggled to get through it. Everything between Alfie and Mabel felt so forced and disingenuous, and I just couldn't connect with their story because of that.

I DNF'd this book at 34%. I tried so hard to finish it. I came back after some time hoping that it was a reading slump but it was not. This book feels very forced. The banter, the chemistry, even the character's personalities. I feel that it is very bland and I also had difficulty with all of the British terminology. It would be really helpful to maybe put a page with some relevant phrases so that readers can understand better. This was a highly anticipated read, but I couldn't get through it.