Beautifully written cute book, with all the feels of rom com. Execution of character development and plot was done beautifully and overall easy happy read

I wanted to love this one but just didn't get there. I loved the premise but I found myself wanting to skim especially spicy scenes. The characters never got to the point of feeling real to me.

Unfortunately I did not finish this one. It was okay in the beginning, but then I completely lost interest and had no desire to pick up this book. I potentially will revisit this one closer to the publication date and give it another go, but I have no many books I want to read that I just don't have time to waste with books that are not entertaining me.

Hoping to still read from Charlotte Stein, but this was not the best one to start with.

Alfie is a former football player known for his grumpy demeanor. Mabel is a ray of sunshine to those around her. When they are paired up as Mabel is set to ghostwrite Allie’s book, chaos ensues as they try to navigate the job.

This book had some great parts but was a struggle to get through. I enjoyed the extras it had at the end of each chapter. There was too much banter and some was difficult to follow. This book never really pulled me in the way that short romance books tend to do.

So while I love a good grumpy sunshine book this one just didn't do it for me. I felt that the banter was alittle much and had to reread parts because I was getting lost in the banter. I also thought that it was pretty unlikely that a professional football player would have no idea about social media and how it works. And how he had an old phone and didn't know how to do much. I would get it if he was like a rancher and spent his days working but I professional athlete seems like that was alittle odd. I loved the quarky plus size FMC. The MMC was good but it was hard to connect with the Characters! I did laugh at a few parts.

If you’re looking for a brooding leading man retired from football to grunt and raise his bushy dark eyebrows through London you’ve found the right book. If that character sounds familiar to you then you better BELIEVE (maybe even put it on a sign above your office door) this book is for you. This grumpy man has a FOUL mouth in a variety of ways (IYKYK) and truly uses it to the best of his ability.

The pacing of this book is a little off and I felt like I was getting a direct line to the characters internal monologue which at times was hard to follow. I valued the representation of a plus size FMC and at times her anxieties felt so incredibly honest, almost too much for the romcom I was expecting.

Overall this book was reminiscent to me of the stories I loved when I discovered fanfic websites in the best way.

The plot has promise. I love a good misunderstood grump and lovable sunshine. I love a good “forced proximity” (made to work together) or “fake relationship”
It was just hard to get into the book. The intro to the characters was not well formed. Something felt rushed or not planned out

I received an advance copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine in exchange for my honest review. My honest review is that this book was not a winner. It had all the makings of a cute rom com with a very Roy Kent like main character, but it just never really got off the ground. It felt very surface level (with an unnecessary/uncomfortable amount of spiciness). Almost DNF’d since I never got particularly invested or interested in the characters or the outcome - although I made it through and the ending was as predictable as expected. Pass on this one.

I wanted to love this. I'm a big fan of the grumpy x sunshine trop, and I love a good love story about a plus sized gal, but this kinda dragged on a bit.

While I did quite enjoy some of their banter, it felt like there was more than necessary. It went on and on and on. In the beginning, I wasn't sure how I felt about the writing style, but it kind of grew on me. I found it more unique than most books I read, and I read a lot of contemporary romance/rom-coms.

It was a fun read, and the dirty talk and smut was pretty fantastic, but otherwise, it was just a bit too repetitive with their conversations/banter taking up so much or the story.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's press for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The writing isn’t the most polished, and it doesn't feel like they were choices done for voice. I wasn’t the particularly gripped and stopped after chapter 2 (4%). I can see this being a “liked it” with the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t happen unfortunately. It just missed the mark. I couldn’t really get into it and found Mabel a bit irritating

I loved every second of this book! It was sweet, funny, and loving. Watching Alfie and Mabel fall for each is hilarious and painful at points because it's so obvious to everyone but them. They are both conditioned to believe certain things about themself and it gets in the way of how they feel about each other. I think the story is written in a way that is as realistic as a fictional love story can be.

I love it when an author really loves their characters and has a great time writing about them together. However when the writer cannot edit it down, even the best banter becomes stale and stalls the pacing of the story. Unfortunately it feels as if that is what happened here.. I went from charmed and chuckling to skimming to see if anything would ever happen. There is a cute story in here but the telling of it didn’t work for me.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

I loved so much about this book. I could relate so much to Mabel's feelings of inadequacy. Alfie was one of my favorite male characters in a long time. The only things I didn't like were 1) translating English into American. I'm pretty fluent in English, but there were some slang and pop culture references that left me stumped. 2) The spice level was a little more than I like. Still, I loved the story, although sometimes the whole miscommunication trope gets on my nerves! "Just say what you're thinking!"

Anyhow, thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Grumpy-sunshine is probably one of my all-time favorite tropes. Alfie and Mabel are opposites in that regard, but discover they have way more in common than you would think for a famous footballer and a shy writer.

Absolutely loved their banter! There were moments I actually laughed out loud during this book. So funny. Also, pretty steamy, if you are looking for a sexy read.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for When Grumpy Met Sunshine to come out February 6, 2024.

I freaking loved this book. I could not stop laughing and raving about it. The scenarios that these characters get into is absolutely relatable and yet completely ridiculous at the same time. This book has it all smut wise.....👀 and yet it just makes this book even better. Definitely going on my top reads of the year.
 
Tropes: grumpy-sunshine, fake dating, banter, one bed, Rom-Com, plus size FMC

I liked the funny moments. I struggled a bit because most of it came off a bit jumbled and confusing.

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC*

This was such a fun and steamy read. I devoured it in one sitting. I loved the grumpy/sunshine characters but at points the dialogue was a bit too much for me.

I really wanted to LOVE this book, it had so much potential to me. And while I enjoyed it well enough, I didn’t love it. Mabel came off irritating to me and I just wanted to smack her through like 80% of the book.

This is a slow-burn, super steamy, heartfelt novel about two good people who’ve been hurt by others finding the love and acceptance they desperately seek. It has brilliant character development. Charlotte Stein absolutely nails the characters of Mabel and Alfie (so much voice!) and they are perfect for each other! Heck, Alfie is the perfect book boyfriend with some hilarious lines. But this is not a novel for those who like action because it is just the two of them talking to each other for the majority of the book. For me, I like a little more action and plot development, but I still enjoyed hanging out with Mabel and Alfie.