Maybe?

I feel like there were so many <s>horny</s> words in this but nothing more than that superficial storyline. I read it all in one day, so it’s definitely a bingeable read if you’re looking for one.

I knew by 14% that this book was… not what I expected. He’s in love, she’s in love, so I thought “oh maybe I got it wrong and it’s more literary fiction not particularly romance” but then it kind of just starts over and they have a secret crush on each other while they’re fake dating (as thirty something adults) until the <i>thing</i> happens and it starts over AGAIN just before the end.

I am a huge fan of fake dating. I think the tension it creates between the two MCs is amazing. I also thought the headlines/tweets/bloggers interjecting between the chapters was genius and hilarious. I got a lot of good laughs, no doubt. I just wish the FMC would have been a little less in her own narrative the whole time and open to his a bit. I did appreciate that he called her out on it at the end, though.

Thanks so much to the publisher for my arc copy of this book.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an advance reader copy of "When Grumpy Met Sunshine." Unfortunately, this book just didn't work for me. I couldn't connect with the writing style, and found myself putting it down repeatedly in favor of other books. Sad to say I did DNF this title but would be willing to give it another try in the future.

The book presents a unique spin on the classic opposites-attract romance trope with Mabel Willicker, a lively ghostwriter, and Alfie Harding, a retired footballer known for his gruff demeanor. Initially reluctant, Mabel agrees to ghostwrite Alfie's memoir, leading to humorous moments and steamy encounters as their professional arrangement evolves into fake dating. While the banter between them aims for wit and entertainment, it sometimes falls short, not quite hitting the mark for me personally.

The plot blends humor, romance, and emotional depth effectively, particularly in the engaging first half where Mabel and Alfie navigate their evolving relationship. The comedic elements are well-executed, eliciting laughter and creating an enjoyable reading experience.

However, the story loses momentum in the middle section, where steamy scenes overshadow plot development. This shift in focus detracts from the characters' growth and emotional complexity established earlier.

Additionally, while the banter is engaging, it occasionally disrupts the flow of dialogue and overshadows genuine character interactions.

Despite these drawbacks, the evolution of Mabel and Alfie's relationship feels authentic as they gradually reveal vulnerabilities and insecurities. The novel explores themes of self-discovery and personal growth, offering insight into modern relationship dynamics.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" offers a mixed reading experience—brimming with humor, heartfelt moments, and character-driven storytelling, but hindered by pacing and language issues. It will appeal to fans of quirky rom-coms and slow-burn romances, particularly those who appreciate witty banter and nuanced character dynamics. Despite its flaws, the book delivers charm and entertainment, making it a suitable choice for readers seeking a light-hearted escape into the unconventional romance of Mabel and Alfie's world.

I love a good grumpy/sunshine story! The characters were great. I loved all the banter and humor. Mabel was a standout character for me. I loved her so much!

4.5/5 Stars

When ex-footballer Alfie Harding is asked to write a memoir he hires a ghost writer named Mabel. When rumours of a budding relationship begin, they decide to fake date for the public. As sweet and curvy Mabel gets to know Alfie, she starts to chip away at his grumpy exterior and discovers there is much more to him then meets the eye.

In love with the grumpy-sunshine trope, and I love me a good fake dating story, so I ate this up! Both these characters were so much fun to get to know, especially when Alfie started to open up to Mabel. Alfie reminded me so much of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso, which is why I think I loved him so much. Mabel is sunshine personified, she has such a positive, uplifting personality and I couldn't help but love her. I loved the banter between these two, but this is definitely very dialogue heavy if that is not your thing. Their chemistry was off the charts, even though it was very slow burn. I was surprised at how spicy this was, but I loved it!

3.5⭐️ When a retired footballer meets up with a ghostwriter to write his book, media gets a hold of the pairing and a fake relationship ensues.

I listened to the audiobook format and love that the narration had fun dialogue and banter, and British accents.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-grumpy x sunshine
-sports romance
-one bed
-a light read
-fake relationship
❌miscommunication trope (not my fave)

*many thanks to St Martin’s Press/Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

Rating: 2.9

When I saw this story on NetGalley's Read Now section, I was excited to read it. A larger girl ghostwriting a famous sportsman's (Soccer or Football? I was confused because I'm American facepalm) biography—sign me up! Unfortunately, I wanted this story to be more than it was. Often, it felt like it was trying to fit into several different tropes that just missed the mark. Also, I'm not normally a romance reader, so when the spice goes beyond simple, I realize I'm definitely not a romance reader.

Mabel is a larger-than-life ghostwriter who strives for more in life with her writing, but she's found her niche. So much so that when grumpy Alfie Harding, a famous footballer (see above), needed to find a writer for himself, he went through several (more than ten) before he found Mabel, who had really made a name for herself. After being spotted together, the grumpy man and the sunshine-filled girl decide they are going to fake date to squash any rumors... or are they?

As they learn more about each other, they realize neither is quite what they seem, but they certainly have things in common: their childhoods were filled with drunk parents. While diving into Alfie's life, they connect with each other and learn about each other's quirks. But will their fake dating change their relationship? Will their inability to 'cool off' when they touch each other impact them? Will they get their Happily Ever After and make it through publishing his biography?

I'll be honest—I really wanted this story to land for me. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, it just fell flat, and I struggled to get into the story. However, I did really like how Stein incorporated different types of information at the end of chapters (e.g., emails, text streams, newspaper articles). It provided a unique way to learn more about the depth of her characters without having to hear full stories or experiences within the story itself. I would pick up another book by this author to give it a chance because there were parts of her writing that I enjoyed, but overall this book just wasn't for me. It's not that the book or the writing was bad, it just didn't resonate with my personal tastes and types of romances I gravitate towards (which is reflective in my rating). It might absolutely be perfect for you - Give it a shot!

Thanks to NetGalley and Charlotte Stein, in collaboration with St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy so that I could provide an honest review prior to the publish date (even if I read it and published it after I found the copy in the library reminding me I had this!).

I sadly did not love this one, i found myself not excited about picking it up. Hence, it being 5 months later. I found that Mabel and Albie were more infatuated with one and other then being in love. It just didnt feel believable to me.

I skimmed the last 50%, I did not feel connected to the characters and found some sections so tedious and long.

I was not a fan of this one, too slow of a build up. I also had a chance to listen to the audio and was not a fan of the narrators.

DNF'd at 25%

Did Not Finish.
I thought this would be a cute "Roy Kent-esque" hero plus curvy FMC story. But I didn't really feel the sunshine from the FMC. The cover is super cute though, and I think this could be enjoyable for someone else. Just not me.

Tropes and Representation:

-grumpy x sunshine
-opposites attract
-banter
-curvy FMC
-he falls first
-fake dating
-retired celebrity soccer star x his ghost writer

Y'all can not convince me that these two would be forever in love.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine follows Mabel, a writer, and Alfie, an ex-sports player, that begin working together on writing Alfie's memoir. The task starts off with doubts due to Alfie's initial behaviors frightening Mabel and Alfie having little believe that he could write a memoir, let alone feel comfortable revealing intimate information about himself. They banter and bicker working together and are one day accidentally mistaken for being in a relationship. Soon, paparazzi and online fans are buzzing about the pair, pushing them to fake a relationship to promote the book and keep good looks. However, Mabel and Alfie's pretend relationship proves to be difficult as they develop an attraction for each other. Their hookups and work relationship becomes complicated as they question their feelings for each other, questioning whether it was all for show or could be something real.

I am rating When Grumpy Met Sunshine 2.5 stars, maybe rounding up to 3 stars, due to my torn feelings about the book. While reading, I was not invested or feeling excited to pick up the book and return to the characters. I found myself frustrated with Mabel and her strong disbelief that Alfie could never be interested in her romantically or sexually, <spoiler>despite him repeatedly complimenting her, flirting with her, and sleeping with her</spoiler>. Here he is, maybe not clearly and loudly stating "I'm into you" telling her he likes her. Continuing off that, Mabel and Alfie seemed more in lust than in love resulting in me not believing their happily ever after. I just don't believe Mabel's mindset around Alfie liking her has had a significant turn around for them to be together long-term. Then, their banter started off as cute but started to feel forced and choppy, not the most connected or making sense with the characters. The writing overall I think could have had another editor because some sections felt long and wordy when they could've been simplified. Overall, I was just disappointed with this book. Charlotte Stein has a few upcoming releases that I am interested in and will read but will go in cautiously now knowing that her writing style may not mesh well with me.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin and Charlotte Stein for this e-arc to read and review. Receiving this arc does not impact my thoughts on the book, all thoughts are my own.

Imagine a book about Roy Kent and a modestly curvier woman falling in love. I couldn't help imagine Roy as Alfie and I loved it. I am not your usual romance reader but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the Mabel character and the message that the ending of this book sends is amazing. The main reason my star rating wasn't higher is that I absolutely loathe the miscommunication trope and wish it wasn't present here because these characters were amazing. Overall, solid read with a whole sauna full of steam!!

The idea behind this story was cute but I think it fell a little flat. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the articles at the end of each chapter. I felt like they weren’t really important to the story and took away from it.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein
3/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

A bit of a meh read for me with characters and interactions. There is a lot of miscommunication which is not my favorite but I did enjoy Mable and the idea of her being a ghostwriter. Both characters’ awkwardness transferred well to the page and if you LOVE the grumpiest of grumpy characters, this one may be for you!

Read this book if you like:
-grumpy x sunshine
-pro-footballer x writer
-humor filled situations

Really fun book that lives up to the title! It also reads as a sort of follow-up/alternative story about Keeley and Roy (Ted Lasso) and the football/soccer-isms are great! I could've spent less time in the FMC's head but that is more of a "me" thing (some of her anxieties were giving me anxiety!) and the witty banter, the back and forth-ness reminded me why rom coms are good fun.

Absolutely adorable. This felt like a Ted Lasso inspired romance and Alfie has a very Roy Kent personality. I loved it!

read this book containen my review until smp speaks up! we need smp to speak up so I am able to talk about the books I love please!

I could not for the life of me get into this. Even though I love the grumpy x sunshine trope, I was not feeling the dynamic going on here. I wasn’t very interested in the characters, I felt like their inner monologues and conversations dragged on and on and I couldn’t get into it so I finally decided to DNF at the 25% mark.

This was a hard one for me. I loved the premise of this book but I had a hard time getting into it. I think I expected a sweet love story and it felt not believable amd the language seemed a little crass. I did like the way they figured out how they felt about one another but it just didn't do it for me. I would have a hard time recommending it based on the content.

This was in one word, squishy.
It was adorable, laugh out loud silly, hot when it promised to be, and had me doing the anticipation wiggle. That giggling and kicking of the feet? I did that as well. It was tender and hilarious and just really made me happy to read.
Alfie is perhaps my favorite rendition of the grumpy in a grumpy/sunshine trope. Where the grumpy character is just unhappy and no filtered ready to defend Mabel to anyone and everyone even herself. But secretly he is the warmest, sweetest person in the room. A cute, silly homage to Roy Kent. I have never seen Ted lasso, but being a romance girly I have heard gushing reviews nonstop.
The shared history of Alfie and Mabel is quiet and healing. Just a lovely layer to their dynamic. I cannot wait to read other works by Charlotte Stein!