While I was initially excited to dive into a grumpy sunshine trope this book went right into a relationship before we even met any of the characters. As a result I felt very disconnected from the main protagonists. We begin with a board meeting and a very high profile athlete has been searching for a ghostwriter for his novel. All we know about him is that is he is apparently the worst… which as we read the book I certainly agree with this. our female lead is apparently insulted during this meeting because a comment is made about her weight. She storms out of the meeting, And from there, romance ensues… this story read like a preteen fan fic written about a crush. And the worst part of all is Alfie (our main dream boat) doesn’t understand technology! He complains about cell phone and computers. This is not cute this is a red flag. The third act plot twist was odd and the resolution felt unearned and out of left field. Unfortunately this book was just not for me.

I’m so excited to say that Alfie and Mabel have found a place in my heart. Although the title states “Grumpy,” there wasn’t much grumpiness to Alfie after the first chapter. I’m glad that Mabel and Alfie became comfortable around each other quite quickly after the many misunderstandings that lead up to them eventually working together. The fact they could help each other relax during a serious situation through joking around with each other was amazing! It broke my heart into pieces towards the end of the book when they separate due to more misunderstandings and miscommunication, but Alfie and Mabel put my heart back together when they confess to each other that they’re both in love with the other. And the spice was *chef’s kiss*

I picked this one up because the premise of the story seemed quite interesting, and it definitely takes enemies-to-lovers to a different level than I'm used to seeing. But, we do love a good grumpy-meets-sunshine trope, don't we?

When I first encountered Mabel, I was intrigued by her inner monologue and her interesting descriptions of Alfie. Once Alfie was on the scene, I was pretty excited to see how their dynamic would play out.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I'm all for some good banter, but in this case, it wound up feeling excessive and repetitive, without the plot actually moving forward or developing in any way. I've never been one to dislike a lot of dialogue, but in this case, it got almost tiring to read through.

I would've much preferred to understand their feelings, their thoughts, their opinions than see them go on and on with their back-and-forth.

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

3 ⭐️

Ghostwriter Mabel Willicker has been tasked with the impossible. She’s been hired to write the memoir of ex-football legend Alfie Harding, one of the most private, grumpy and taciturn people she has ever met. After a series of disasters, Mabel is ready to give up on the project when Alfie himself convinces her to stay on. As they work closely together, Mabel gets the tight lipped Alfie to open up to her and they form a friendship based on their similar bad childhoods. When a paparazzi photo of them gets misinterpreted, Alfie and Mable find themselves having to fake date, changing the dynamics of their fledgling friendship. Now things between them are heating up, but will it lead them to form an even stronger relationship or blow their friendship apart?

Charlotte Stein is hilarious! When Grumpy Met Sunshine had me belly laughing on multiple occasions. The situations Mabel and Alfie keep finding themselves in were just so outrageously funny. All I can say is pepper spray! Stein did some excellent character development. Mabel is perma sunshine…smart, quick witted and not willing to give up. Alfie is the grumpiest of grumpies, but so hard working and kind with a quirky sense of humor. Both of them are scarred by their childhoods, but they understood each other, really listened to what the other was saying, and encouraged each other to go after their dreams. Obviously this was a very British book with tons of British slang and jargon, which this American found so fun and descriptive. The writing was strong and clear, the story sweet and exceptionally dirty, dirty, dirty! The chemistry was fan your face hot. Loved it all!

I enjoyed the unique style of the author and the banter of the characters. Warning that there is a good chunk of more graphic sex, which isn't my thing. I could have done without quite this much. But overall I liked the story.

This book was very hard to read. I am not sure if it was just the style of writing for me or what, but the stream of consciousness and the formatting was difficult to parse sometimes what was happening. I could not get past how the sentences were structured either- it felt like things were ended before there was a complete thought, etc. I liked the concept and the plot- the romance was lovely and I LOVE when characters have that kind of banter. Overall, it was just hard for my brain to compute the way all the info was presented.

I wanted to like this, I REALLY did, but it just... Fell flat. I really wish that the author had used forced proximity and had Mabel move in with Alfie and complete the memoir rather than keep making her the focus of tabloid fodder by turning up at her house all the time. Yet it's also the perfect explanation of why I couldn't fully get on board. Every time Mabel and Alfie's conversation reaches a point where it makes sense to delve deeper, it veers left into insensible with a quip or joke that is never quite funny enough to tear away from the idea that something else would have been better.

I did thoroughly appreciate Alfie's kink being enthusiastically consenting women though.

Thank you to @netgalley and publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy
Release date: February 2024


Alfie, a grumpy ex-football star hires bubbly writer, Mabel, to ghostwrite his memoir. The problem? When social media mistakes them for a couple, they must go along with the lie. Alfie doesn’t like to share anything and Mabel knows just how to get what she needs out of him, so after a lot of bickering, one wonders, are they pretending after all?

I loved the idea of this one, it had all my favourite tropes, including fake dating. But it fell a little short. Overall, this was okay, but dragged a little and I lost interest often because nothing ever really happened other than the interaction between the two main characters. I was constantly in the head of Mabel and Alfie with little side character development and little propelling the story along. I’ve often said that if I can fall in love with the characters, they could literally do anything, and I would follow them anywhere. So, I think the problem here was that I didn’t fall in love with either of the mains, and there wasn’t enough of an enticing plot or major storyline to compensate. You might enjoy this more if you like slower paced, dialogue heavy books.

I really liked the start of the book, but I sadly did not finish it. I got to 24% and got tired of the constant banter between Mabel and Alfie. I felt like the story line was dragging, there was too much of Mabel questioning if Alfie could feel anything for her.

I really liked the titles of the chapters and the little blurbs at the ends of the chapters. I hope to pick this book up again and finish it. If I do, I will be revising my review.

Thanks for allowing me to read this book. I can see the potential.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a DRC of this title!

As the title suggests, When Grumpy Met Sunshine follows a grumpy footballer teaming up with a sunshine-y ghostwriter to compose his memoirs. Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with this one. It felt a bit banter-heavy and, despite learning facts about these characters, I never really felt like I knew them as fully-formed characters. It didn’t work for me, but might still be a fun read for some die-hard Roy Kent fans. 2.5/5

This was a cute read. The pacing was super speedy, but it was entertaining as all get out. The story telling felt a little spastic, but was hilarious and the dialogue is golden. I’m constantly laughing out loud. The spice was good (3🌶️), but it was a bit of slow burn. There seemed to be more dirty talk than anything else. The character development and relationship building was so sweet though because they GOT each other. They'd been in each others shoes, even if where they currently were was completely different. Ended on a sweet Happy Ever After, which is my favorite. <3

Tropes include: Fake Dating, Forced Proximity, Miscommunication, GrumpyxSunshine

Loved the story line, when grumpy met sunshine, but this definitely fell short for me. Too much banter and drawn out explanations of EVERYTHING. Just too much. I found myself skimming the story at times, but laughing at Alfie and Mabel at other times. It had great potential, but definitely needs to get to the point faster.

Opposites Attract/Forced Proximity/Grumpy+Sunshine- usually some of my favorite tropes!

The banter has been a real hit OR miss for people. It is A LOT. Is it corny? Is it cute? You decide.

10/10 Cover though <3

Lots of banter that was just repetitive. Did not like the fmc. I actually liked Alfie more than Mabel and I think I would've liked this book more if it was dual POV. I couldn't really even finish it because it was just too much. She went from hating Alfie to then when he explained why he did everything liking him immediately. I just didn't enjoy. Wish I could've though. Maybe when it actually comes out, I'll try to reread it again.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ff86b24f-a352-4f2b-87ed-d47aa1035dbd

I loved this book felt it was fluffy and I could perfectly see myself as the main character especially since I identified myself with her. I did have a couple of places that felt the jump between chapters felt there were chapters missing.

Loved Roy Kent. I mean, Alfie. Had a really hard time following the prose a lot of the time. Thanks for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book. Who doesn’t like the akward curvy girl with self esteem issues get together with the handsome ex footballer. I just felt like their lines of communication were off. They seemed like their thought process of how they felt about one another was more of a teenage love than two 30+ year olds.Alfie was great opening up to Mabel about his past and his thoughts of his past life but was stoic when it came to their relationship. Mabel with her self esteem issues questioned herself about his feelings for her but never directed them at him. It’ was a fast love affair but when push came to shove miscommunication got in their way. When something was said by Mable … crickets. Fast forward to their long overdue reunion that led to them exchanging their true feelings felt like too much time had passed when they could’ve been together, one or the other should’ve reached out and not let a year go by if they truly loved one another. The premise was catchy but it was a miss for me personally.I just reviewed When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

There was so much potential for me in this book. I love the premise of it, but I just couldn’t get into it. There were too many different things going on…grumpy hero, sunshine heroine, takes them awhile to get together, mistaken to be a couple…just a lot going on. This was a well-written book, but I did not “get lost” in it. It was just a cute book.

I wanted to love this book... I really did! Grumpy/sunshine is one of my favorite tropes - but this one just missed the mark. The dialogue was confusing and I found myself reading, the re-reading just to clarify who said what... or did they think it? There was too much confusion. And the slow burn was non-existent in my opinion. This was a DNF for me - which I hate to do! But I just couldn't get into this story or find any love for the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this one and was very hopeful. I love the cover and the title. I also love the premise of the story overall. I have not read anything else by Charlotte Stein, but had seen that she is an author who writes spicy/steamy books, and I am all for those!

Unfortunately, this just fell very flat for me. I was confused for a lot of the book. It was not always clear where the story was going and what was going on. I felt like it jumped around quite a bit and the story just didn't flow well. I also kept waiting for this steamy romance, but it didn't come until towards the end. It wasn't even what I would consider a slow-burn. I really wanted to DNF this, but I made myself finish just to see if it would get better. I will say it did have a sweet, happy ending, so there's that.