As the title suggests, this is a standalone romance of the grumpy-sunshine variety, following standoffish ex-footballer Alfie Harding as he’s paired up with the curvy, cheery Mabel Willicker, assigned to ghostwrite his memoir. After an initial misunderstanding, they banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds . . . until a compromising paparazzi moment leads them into faking a relationship for the press. As they get closer, they start wondering if the sizzling chemistry is really just for show, or if whatever is between them is the real-deal.

If you love banter in rom-coms, hooooo boy, this one has heaps. (Likely bordering on way too damn much, for some, though I liked it for the most part.) Sure, it’s breezy and cute (and 🌶spicy🌶), though it must be said that I’m personally not really a fan-fiction-to-mainstream-fiction kinda girl, which is a key factor in my rating of When Grumpy Met Sunshine. The Roy Kent/Ted Lasso inspirations here ended up being wildly distracting at best, and incredibly cringe at worst.

To be fair, Charlotte Stein does nail her Roy Kent impersonation in Alfie, who is just as grumpily endearing in the book as the character is in the Apple TV series. But to me, it’s just, like . . . obviously you’re a good writer! Clearly you can write fun, dynamic characters! So why not create someone original? I don’t get it, and that’s fine, because clearly there’s a massive audience out there who adores this type of stuff and I’m genuinely happy for them. That aside, I did really enjoy the ups and downs of Mabel and Alfie’s relationship (which has shades of Rose Matafeo’s Starstruck on HBO Max, a criminally underrated series) riiiiight up until the ending. I’ll just say that I’m NOT a fan of the time skip that happens. To the point it almost tanked the book for me. (It didn’t, but it almost did.)

When Grumpy Met Sunshine

Mabel was asked by her agent to collaborate with a famous ex-footballer to write a book. They immediately get off on the wrong foot and Mabel walks out of the meeting. He tries to make amends and ends up with pepper spray in hiseyes.
They slowly start a working relationship and it is the beginning of a real friendship. They get each other. I enjoyed the humor in this book but it was SLOW. I wondered if they were ever going to get together.
I had a hard time getting into this book. I didn’t think Mabel was very sunshiny. She was so mean to Alfie at first.

The dialogue on this story is a bit much. The main character is quite daft (as she once refers to herself) and lets her imagination run wild. While reading the beginning chapters I’m hoping that the inner thoughts would not continue in this manner, but they did.

I looked forward to seeing the perspective of the MMC as it could balance everything out. Alas I will try this again someday. It seemed quite promising from the description and the beautiful cover

I was super excited about this book but it ended up being a miss for me. I just couldn’t get into it which is sad to say. But in my final thoughts on this book was that I really liked how the main character was plus sized since some books don’t show that a lot. It made her character have insecurities which is a nice change to see the realness.

I appreciate the ARC of When Grumpy Met Sunshine, but I struggled with getting into this story. The banter was a little too much for my liking.

Thank you to net galley, and Saint martins press for the E arc of when grumpy met sunshine.
Cute, funny, with sad ending. Definitely recommend this book.

Plus size FMC and a book all about my favorite trope, grumpy/sunshine. I am OBSESSED. This book was so good and it hit all the feel good spots. This was also a really freaking hilarious book.

Charlotte Stein's writing is hysterically funny and scorching hot. This Roy Kent-reminiscent hero, Alfie, only looks like tough as nails, and watching his bubbly ghostwriter Mabel tease out his secrets is incredibly fun. This book is full of laugh-out-loud banter, usually followed up with shocking moments of intimacy and kindness that cut to the bone. The bulk of the book is conversations between the two main characters as they discuss the book they're writing and then navigate fake dating, but if you like two clever people making each other laugh, it's excellent.

Shared history and in this case trauma gave these two the same kind of upbringing, but different reactions to it. He was unhappy and she was so pleasant. She brought out the best in him though. It was great to see them together. He wanted to make her happy.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

I… truly did not like this book and had to struggle to not DNF it.

I was so excited by the premise — grumpy/sunshine is one of my favorite tropes and I loved the idea of Mabel ghostwriting the memoir of grumpy footballer Alfie.

I never thought there could be a thing as too much banter but these two really tested the boundaries of my patience. Something about the writing style just was not clicking with me.

Neither one of these characters could be honest with one another for an insanely frustrating amount of time for two people well into their 30s. I was hoping for more of a bright personality from Mabel but that very soon got lost in the midst of her insecurities and doubts, and as we only had her POV it started to feel repetitive very quickly.

Not to mention the entire plot was supposed to be based on this shared writing project but actual work on the book took up maybe ten total pages of the entire book. No spoilers but the way the his memoir ended getting finished actually pissed me all the way off and almost had me tossing the Kindle.

It just felt very clunky and awkward and both characters went from charmingly quirky to emotionally immature (and blind) so, so fast. A miss for me.

I was super excited for this cause grumpy/sunshine is one of my top tropes! But this one unfortunately fell flat for me. I tried reading it but it wasn’t for me. Thanks NetGalley, st martins press and Charlotte stein for letting me read before it’s 2024 release!

thank you to netgalley and st. martin’s press for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

i’m usually all for witty banter and funny talk, but this book took it WAY past the limit. it felt like the dialogue was a fill in for any actual plot.

if the dialogue was cut down, this book would probably be one of my favorites. instead, i choked down and skimmed through PAGES of banter.

however, on a positive note, this book was very cute. i love this trope, and while it was shoved in your face, it was executed well.

i also loved the inclusion in this book. finally some representation besides thin bleach blonde white chicks with no personality in romance!!!

overall: very cute book but there were some fundamental issues. the author definitely has potential, and when she gets more experienced i can definitely see myself becoming a fan of her work

There truly is much to like about WHEN GRUMPY MET SUNSHINE. The characters are delightful and their banter and affection for each other was so fun to read. I giggled like a crazy woman over and over again. In that, kudos to author Charlotte Stein because it takes a lot for me to laugh while reading a romcom.

But, I struggled with a few things. First, Alfie and Mabel were incredibly insular despite their public "fake" romance. At times I felt this book could have existed anywhere at anytime. I longed to hear more about both of them. We learn that Mabel has friends, but only meet Alfie's assistant. I would have loved more.

Eventually, the story dragged and I found myself frustrated with Mabel and skipping pages. While I understood her "how could he love me as a normal, overweight person", it got old. Mabel is clearly comfortable in her body and that should have reflected in her life and how she saw herself.

Note to author and publisher: the author's note with warnings is totally unnecessary. The things mentioned were matter of fact, part of the conflict of the story, and just life.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review! This is one of my favorite tropes but unfortunately I was just not a fan of this writing style and thought that it felt unnatural. I acknowledge that this is an arc but there were many short sentences that didn’t make sense on their own or longer sentences that should’ve been separated which made it difficult to read and comprehend at some parts. One thing for me that really ruined the illusion of this being two thirty-year-olds in a “relationship” was that while the grumpy mmc had no qualms with cursing, the fmc made it painfully obvious that she did not curse by using alternative swear words. While this didn’t affect the plot in any way it made the fmc seem almost childish in a way instead of “sunshiney” and bubbly. I also thought the ending was rushed as the last chapter jumps to a year later which leaves a lot of unanswered questions like why Mabel wouldn’t have pushed harder about the submission of the book‘s draft and why as the ghostwriter she didn’t have any clue what the book was actually about prior to the launch party. I also found the excerpts at the end of each chapter to be a cute addition although I did struggle with some of the formatting. Overall, the main characters have undeniable chemistry and I thought that the grumpy/sunshine trope was truly accomplished despite some formatting and style issues.

This book was fine, but not at the level I expect from Charlotte Stein. He was grumpy but she wasn't sunshine. I love banter but there was so much sustained banter that I had trouble keeping track of who was talking. It made the book very hard to get into. There were also a lot of mentions of side characters like her friends and her agents, but they weren't ever fleshed out enough for you to really care about them or even keep them straight. The best thing about the book was the spicy scenes. Charlotte Stein knows her business there!

Rated this book 4.5. The following is my honest opinion

ARC Review (Thank you NetGalley). I enjoyed this book so much! I loved that the main character is plus sized which makes books so relatable to people. The banter was chef's kiss. This book was such a perfect grumpy x sunshine and when I saw the title I just had to request it! I love the grumpy x sunshine trope and the title definitely matches the story.

Tropes : Grumpy x Sunshine (ofc), rom-com that's funny, fake dating, amazing banter, plus sized character
TW : parental abuse, poverty, alcoholism, fatmisia
Closed Door Modifications : Chapter 21 (some parts), 23 (some parts), 24 (some parts), 25 (some parts)

WHEN GRUMPY MET SUNSHINE by Charlotte Stein is a fun romcom with a Roy Kent-esque ex footballer and his sunny ghostwriter coming out in February.

I thought it was funny! I've seen some reviews that said the banter was too much, which is a rather silly thing to say. Do you complain that your bed is too comfortable? Your dinner too delicious?? The limit for banter does not exist.

Whilst I do not believe in love at first sight, I do think it does a good job of showing her growing feelings for him based off their interactions. It was cute and fun and funny!

Grumpy + sunshine is a very cute trope, but I felt like it missed the mark a little bit for me. There wasn’t much of a build-up to him warming up to her, which I thought was a disservice to the book. Also, I love banter but it was a bit much at some times. And I didn’t get why they were holding themselves back from being with each other for so long.

Thanks as usual to NetGalley for the ARC.

Is there such thing as too much banter? I say yes and this book is proof of that. I had very high hopes as Grumpy Sunshine is one of my favorite tropes, but it fell a bit short to for me. I did enjoy that the female MC was plus sized, we need more of that in books these days. Body positivity is where it's at! I did laugh out loud a few times while reading, and the book wasn't a total was for me. It was still a cute read overall, just not what I had hoped it would be.