5 stars

I received this book as an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Roy Kent + Keeley Jones vibes abounding in this novel.

This freaking book. This book is going to resonate with anyone who’s ever been considered a weirdo. Imagine two weirdos finding each other and falling in love, mixed with a little “fake dating” and of course hidden feelings. We’ve got a heroine who doesn’t fit the typical mold, and a hero who absolutely does but then he opens his mouth and says just the most batshit ridiculous things. There are layers of undertones of being hurt in the past, trying to protect themselves while being with someone who immediately busts through those barriers. Watching these two bumble their way through what they think is just pretend, but of course really isn’t, was just awesome. I devoured this book in 24 hours and laughed out loud multiple times. There are some pretty spicy open door scenes, just fyi.

This one is a hard one.
sunshine/grumpy is a favorite trope but this book was soooo hard to get into. I didn’t have a problem w the dialogue but it felt so juvenile and the MMC felt stereotypical TV character. FMC was sassy for sassy’s sake.

A very famous ⚽️ player hires a ghost writer to help write his memoirs.

✅grumpy-sunshine
✅ celeb- normie and both are very awkward for different reasons
✅ laugh out loud funny
✅ curvy (plus sized?) FMC (her lack of confidence does get a little repetitive)
✅fake dating
✅ makeover montage
✅ only one bed
✅ Makes all your Roy Kent dreams come true
🌶️: there’s a whole thing with a Beyonce concert…that you should probably just read yourself

It is very bantery and yet I was screaming “JUST USE YOUR DAMN WORDS” the whole time, which you will understand when you read this book.

Sadly this book was a mis for me. The characters were not relatable and the banter and storyline was hard to follow .Everything just fell short

Thank you for the ARC copy. I'm sorry I did not find this one more enjoyable. It has potential but needs a good editor.

I was given the opportunity to read this e-ARC from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press.
While I was extremely excited for this book as it is one of my favorite tropes of sunshine/grumpy.
Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. I had difficulties getting absorbed into the story.
The amount of dialogue was hard to follow and made it difficult to read.
The female main character was sassy and didn't seem to put up with any nonsense but the male main character who gave off a "Roy Kent Ted Lasso" vibe was just too grumpy right off the hop with no real reason why.

She is sunshine…cute…bubbly…

He is grumpy…antisocial…miss-understood…

She is now his ghostwriter for a memoir that he really does want share with the world and she really doesn’t want to write.

Along the way they find themselves fake dating…you can guess what happens next!

It’s got some really sweet moments. The spicy was too much for me but I’m sure others will love it! It’s a cute one.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an arc.

3.75/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

This was cute! The FMC Mabel was funny, witty, and relatable for so many reasons. I loved the banter between Alfie and Mabel, and Mabel’s inner dialogue was hilarious.

As sad as it is to say, most stories do not center around mid/plus-size characters- they’re oftentimes described as beings with luscious hair, glass skin, slender (yet perfectly defined) bodies, and the curveball is their “quirky” personalities that don’t match their outwardly perfect appearance.

Mabel on the other hand, is exactly opposite of those things and this story felt exceptionally refreshing and real because of that. She doesn’t have the perfectly pretty face, she’s not great with cosmetics, and she struggles with feeling “fat” due to her curves.

I liked the vulnerability of our FMC because it felt relatable as well as a bit eye opening at times; something that I feel we don’t get to see as much of as we should in romances today. There’s something fun and alluring about romances that are impossibly perfect and whisk us away, don’t get me wrong. But it’s nice to read about the romances surrounding characters who struggle with real insecurities that real people can relate to.

Huge thanks to the Author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

Was this the most amazing thing I have ever read? No not really. Did it pass the time and was fairly enjoyable? Sure! Average plot with average characters. The romance was okay. I don’t think I will remember this book in a couple of days.

I enjoyed this so much! I loved that the main character was plus sized! She seemed more real and raw, insecurities and all. The male main character is suppose to be the grumpy one, but I think he's just misunderstood. The female main character had more push back and grumpy moments than he had. I loved how this was a fake relationship trope, it beautifully played out. Some bits seemed to slow roll by but keep pushing through it's a worthy read!

I received this ARC from NetGalley to read and review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this ebook.

Mabel is a ghostwriter who uses her bright, bubbly charm and her quirky fashion as an armor to protect her soft heart. Alfie is an ex-footballer known by all for being anti-social, grumpy, and having the technology skills of an octogenarian. This unlikely pair is brought together to work on a memoir about life as a footballer. When the couple are caught working together by paparazzi, they must pretend to be dating or else chance the public knowing Alfie's memoir was not written by him.

Okay so... I almost didn't finish this. At about 15% I felt so lost and uninterested that I really wanted to put it down. But I also wanted to provide a full and honest review of the whole book, so I kept going. I'm glad I did, because it does get better. Not grand, but better.
Let me start out by saying that I love love LOVE contemporary romance novels. All the tropes! All the feels! All the spice! I am also the kind of person who usually goes easy on book reviews because I feel like authors put a lot of themselves out there for us when they write a book.
Perhaps the reason why I'm going a little hard on this book is because I really wanted to like it, and I can see that it has a whole lot of potential to be great.

Let's start with what I liked:
🌷 Grumpy/Sunshine pairing (although I felt this was a bit too on-the-nose, caricatures instead of characters)
🌷 Chubby FMC (but be prepared for a fair amount of negative self-talk about this from the FMC)
🌷 MCs in their 30s
🌷 Banter, so so much banter
🌷 Spice spice spice! Nicely done without feeling cringe-y
🌷 One Bed Trope (can't ever go wrong!)
🌷 Fake dating
🌷 He falls first/He falls harder

And on to the things that I think could be improved:

Pacing: I felt like the beginning had no direction. It was a lot of dialog and confusing interactions between the MCs and I didn't have a sense of where things were going. It gets better toward the middle, but then it seems like we lose the thread of the main story and the focus is fully on character banter and inner dialog. Then at the end, feelings and story come rushing in all at once and it feels a bit overwhelming. Things at the end are overexplained to the point where I felt like I was being beat over the head with plot and dialog. I think some more editing and subtle weaving of the main plot throughout the relationship exploration would help keep things tied together and get rid of the need to bluntly tie things up at the end.

Chemistry: The pairing of these characters feels a bit forced. And not just because of the fake dating or the unlikely pairing. I think something about the way the characters were shoved into their "grumpy" and "sunshine" boxes felt unnatural and further made their interactions feel awkward and unrealistic. There's so much smart and witty banter that the relationship gets lost in it. Of course, there are a couple scenes where the MCs actually talk about real-life stuff, but it's not enough for me to fully believe that they could possibly know enough to really love each other. I would have loved a more soulful exploration between the characters.

Overall, I think that this book has potential to be great. There will be (and already are) people who love it just the way it is, but I feel like it could be so much more!

This book was very reminiscent of another book I read where the female protagonist was a ghostwriter. I can't remember which one it was, but I wondered a few times whether I had read this one before. I loved that Mabel was a "normal" gal and Alfie was a "footballer' with some depth. There was a lot of chemistry between these two! Whew. I was definitely blushing at some parts. Overall, it was a fun story with a happy ending.

Alfie is a grumpy ex-footballer who is trying to finish his memoirs. Mabel is a cheerful and cute ghostwriter who tries to help him. They are mistaken as a couple and are forced to continue the pretense.... until it's not....

Love Mabel and Alfie together. Mabel is super cute. The banter is funny... I wish the relationship would build faster though! It's really sweet to see how they got to know each other though... A fun and cute rom-com.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Adorable! I loved the banter between Alfie and Mabel. You could see it all acting out in front of you and turning your head back and forth, like watching a tennis match. This book hit pretty much all my boxes for perfection. Comedy, romance, feels…. The one thing that I have always had an issue with is way too much inner dialogue, and there is a lot of that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Everything that was supposed to be cute and quirky about this book was nonsensical and borderline painful to read. The first few chapters seemed to have no consequences attached to the actions and the actions themselves seemed waaayyy too childish for our thirty-something protagonist. I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to human beings, please save yourself and read something, anything else.

As always, thank you to St. Martin's and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and SMP for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. I kept trying to read it and unfortunately couldnt get past the 20 page mark. I wanted to be sucked in by a book and be OBSESSED with it and i was nt. The cover is stunning love to see plus size rep in books and completely bummed this wasn't a 5 star book

2.5/5☆

This was a cute story! So swoon worthy and fun! It was so ridiculously funny, I found myself giggling and smiling quite often while reading it.
If there is a pride and prejudice quote in a book, it automatically wins me over:)
It did include a few “graphic” spicy scenes that I skipped right over.
(These happens closer to the middle-end) I still think the book was enjoyable without reading the 🌶️ parts.
🫶🏻💻📖⚽️
-slow burn
-fake dating
-opposites
-tension

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the arc in exchange for the honest review!

Mein Leseerlebnis

Die romance hörte sich durchaus frisch und unterhaltsam an, dass die beiden Hauptcharaktere recht eigen sein würden, vor allem der Held, war mir vor dem Lesen nicht bewusst. Aber gleich nach den ersten Kapiteln war mir das glasklar.

Um mit dem Roman eine gute Zeit zu haben, sollte man offen für einen Helden sein, dessen Verhalten teils etwas schroff ist und den man erst im Verlauf des Liebesromans so langsam zu verstehen lernt.

Ich fand beide Hauptcharaktere faszinierend und habe gerne mehr über sie erfahren. Gleichzeitig bin ich mit ihnen aber nicht komplett warm geworden.

Die romance ist flott geschrieben und so einige der humorvollen Szenen haben mich zum Lachen gebracht.

Die Dialoge hörten sich teils etwas unnatürlich an, gleichzeitig wirkten sie auf mich durchaus energiegeladen.

Der Liebesroman wird wahrscheinlich nicht für jede:n funktionieren, wenn es passt, könnte er für einen aber toll sein.

🖤🖤🖤 1/4

Für wen?

Wer frische Liebesromane mit etwas speziellen Hauptcharakteren mag, für den könnte das Buch eine gute Wahl sein.

DNF - why is he so angry just right from the first page? They’re *really* trying to show he’s angry angry angry for no reason. There’s soooo much banter. It’s a lot. I just feel like this book is pushing the grumpy / sunshine thing straight away and it comes off as fake.

I loved this book!!! The name speaks for itself. It was really great book. I loved the main characters and their chemistry.

This story takes place in the UK, England. It stars Mabel and Alfie, two very different people. He is a former football player who now is writing his story and he needs someone to help him put it down on paper. Mabel is who he hires to write his story. These two are like oil and water and they were a total laugh riot. They are both very quirky people, and it was fun watching them find each other.

This is a VERY slow burn book and while I laughed a lot while reading it. I wanted a little more heat, and I felt the book could have used a little more editing. It took a long time to get to where I wanted the book to go. I also felt the ending was super rushed and would have rather seen the book wrapped up in several chapters and kept to the same pace as the rest of the book.

That said I also really loved the characters and I really enjoyed some of the scenes, they were hysterical.