Sweet and fun, the trigger warnings from the author were immensely helpful, and it’s so lovely to see a lived experience handled with such care.

If you're looking for a cute romcom, then this is perfect. Grumpy/Sunshine and fake-dating are just the most obvious reasons for wanting to read this. What I didn't see coming was the care the author took to portray these characters and their supposed flaws.

Mabel thinks she is prepared to spend time with the gruff, sexy and famous footballer Alfie, but is definitely not prepared for the real person beneath these characteristics. It also seems that Alfie is not at all prepared for her. This is one of the reasons this story is so cute, but another is the sweet way they have with each other. And then there's the spice!

I had a lot of fun reading this one!

Out February 6, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

This book was kind of middle-of-the-road for me. I really like this type of story, but some parts really seemed to drag on for too long and just went a little too far for what I felt was realistic.

I am not reviewing this title -
An employee within the marketing department of Wednesday Books, an imprint of St Martins Press, which is an imprint of Macmillan, made several concerning statements including using an Islamophobic stereotype (specifically a harmful overgeneralization regarding Muslim beliefs about queerness), racism towards Palestinians, and sharing Prager “university” material that perpetuated harmful misinformation. We are concerned that, based on these posts, this employee may hold prejudice against Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian influencers and authors who they work with and interact with. We are asking that the publisher work with us to ensure the safety of the people who work with this employee to market further St. Martins Press titles, so that no prejudice is weaponized against anyone.

We are only asking for three things:

1. Address and denounce the Islamophobic and racist remarks from their employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian influencers, authors and readers, in addition to supporting their BIPOC influencers, authors, and readers.

I finally gave up at 61%. The internal monologue is so overdone, the Roy Kent Fanfic was too obvious to be enjoyable, and the banal dialogue and story is way too long. The profanities add nothing to the story other than being jarring and seemingly out of character for Sunshine Mabel. This book is in serious need of editing.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein falls short of its promise despite the intriguing premise of a grumpy ex-footballer and a bubbly ghostwriter finding unexpected chemistry. The narrative lacks depth, and the characters remain one-dimensional throughout. Alfie's grumpiness is portrayed in clichéd ways, and Mabel's cheerfulness becomes grating rather than endearing.

The supposed banter and bickering feel forced, failing to create authentic tension or connection between the protagonists. The transition from a fake relationship to a genuine one lacks emotional resonance, leaving the reader unconvinced about the authenticity of their feelings. The steamy elements, touted as a highlight, come off as formulaic and fail to elevate the story.

Despite occasional moments of humor, the overall execution feels predictable and uninspired. "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" struggles to deliver on the promise of a captivating opposites-attract romance, resulting in a forgettable read with missed opportunities for emotional depth and character development.

I wanted to like this one so bad because I love grumpy sunshine romances but this one fell flat for me.

I couldn’t get through this one. There was way too much banter and I felt like I was slogging through.

I did not finish this book. I couldn’t really get into it but I loved the idea of it and the cover is so cute! it just wasn’t the book for me personally!

UGH. OKAY. Let me take a second. I need to calm my heart. I loved it. Shot to a high spot on my list of favorite reads!

First time reading a book by Charlotte Stein and I was so pleasently surprised. I absolutely love a grumpy/sunshine trope and thought it was such a cute story with incredible characters and banter. Romance lovers, you'll love this book! Four stars!

I will post my review once St. Martin's Press addresses the racist actions of their employee and their action plan for the future. Until then, I am joining my fellow reviewers in withholding reviews and any other promo for St. Martin’s Press. No backlash against the author of this book, it is simply due to the ongoing boycott of the publishing company.

Grumpy/sunshine books are my favorite. This one was no exception. I love the cover, and I love the book.

This book had such a promising premise but it ended up not being the book for me and I did DNF.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is beautifully written. this is the first book by Charlotte I've ever read; she has dozens, but I'm absolutely in awe of and in love with the way she writes. she's so verbose and wordy in a way that makes you gobble up every sentence she writes. and she's funny too! god is she funny. never before have I laughed so much reading a romance book. I find myself snickering and giggling at nearly every other page turn, and it's such a fun, lighthearted swoony read that makes me kick my feet with delight and grin like a maniac. I sincerely hope this book makes it onto every romance lover's shelf because it is honest to God one of my favorite reads this year.

There were a few things from the get go that confused me while reading this book. I'll admit, I'm not up to code on British terms yet. I have, though, consumed quite a lot of British novels, as of late. possibly around 15-20 of my 100+ books I've read this year were set in Britain. But I'm still learning, and with that comes my confusion, and then subsequent disappointment when I thought Alfie was a thick ass Football player, only to find out that Football was actually soccer.

On par with my confusion, I was confused as to how those two spent so long bickering and bickering without realizing they were head over heels in love. it drove me up the wall in the most satisfying of ways! oh I loved their bickering banter and how it was oh so clear that Alfie had a thing for her for quite a long time. She really brought him out of his shell from the get go and it was so sweet just how much of a gentleman he really truly was. he was so beaten down over his life that when people started making assumptions about him he just let them be true, because, why would people want him for him when all they did was tell him how much they hated the way he was? even though the way he was, was simply wonderful, and anyone would be a right fool to not see the beauty in him. he's a big, protective, silly, beautiful werewolf of a man and I think maybe I fell in love with him, and their witty banter throughout this whole book. I'd read this again and again, and hand it off to anyone who would read it too.

3⭐️

Will read this soon. Saw lots of reviews of Roy Kent but lots of internal dialogue and going on and on.

Looks like people liked the spice but not so much the characters.

Another book that got me by the cartoon cover!?

This unfortunately fell flat for me. At least the parts of it i read, as i had to dnf 50% in. The characters were not interesting and the storyline was not as captivating as I would have liked. The banter, after a while, was truly a bit exhausting and I wanted to see more from our characters but alas it didn’t deliver.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this arc.

I love the overall story as a whole, but getting there was a lot. The self loathing the MFC feels for herself was upsetting at times, and the MMC was always telling her how perfect she was, but she never believed it with all of the banter. And the banter was a lot, but in the end I loved the story over all.

This book was great! It made me giggle out loud and I love when books do that! I went from laughing to getting tear eye sometimes, I really enjoyed this story!

This was truly adorable with a great amount of spice included. Even though the title would lead you to believe differently, this is a fresh take on grumpy-sunshine and I ate it up! An easy, light binge. Will definitely be recommending to friends.