When Grumpy Met Sunshine was such a fun and sexy read! Mabel and Alfie were such sweet characters. I love that the hot footballer went for a beautiful, but realistic woman. Many of the chapters had spicy scenes and sometimes I forgot the overarching plot, but overall it was a great story.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein is a novel that effortlessly weaves humor, heart, and romance into an unexpectedly delightful narrative. From the first page, I found myself drawn into the world of two contrasting characters whose interactions promised a journey filled with laughter and warmth.

The story revolves around the chance encounter of two individuals whose personalities couldn't be more different. The titular characters, Grumpy and Sunshine, are wonderfully unique in their own ways. Grumpy, with his pessimistic outlook on life, stands in stark contrast to the ever-optimistic and effervescent Sunshine. The author's skill in portraying their differing perspectives creates an engaging dynamic that adds depth and complexity to their developing relationship.

What truly sets this book apart is the witty and clever dialogue that flows effortlessly between Grumpy and Sunshine. Their banter is not only entertaining but also serves as a vehicle for them to gradually understand and appreciate each other's quirks. The gradual shift from irritation to fondness is depicted with a touch of realism, making their connection feel authentic and heartwarming.

Amidst the lighthearted moments, the novel also delves into more serious themes such as personal growth and the power of perception. Through the characters' evolving relationship, the author explores how the presence of someone different can challenge preconceived notions and open one's heart to new experiences.

Charlotte Stein's writing style is both engaging and immersive. She has a knack for creating relatable characters that evoke genuine emotions from the reader. The pacing of the story is well-balanced, allowing the relationship to develop naturally while also keeping the reader invested in the outcome.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is a book that exemplifies the transformative nature of human connections. It's a tale that celebrates the beauty of finding common ground despite apparent differences. With its blend of humor, heart, and romance, this novel is a delightful escape that leaves a lasting impression, reminding us that sometimes, unexpected encounters can lead to the most meaningful relationships.

If you loved Roy Kent in Ted Lasso, you’re going to love grumpy retired footballer (soccer player) Alfie as he tries to interact with his ghostwriter, the curvy, sunshiney Mabel. To the rest of the world, Alfie is acerbic, angry, and downright asocial. But as Mabel tries to find things to share in his memoirs, she sees beneath the facade he’s presented to the world and realizes how much their histories have in common. This book gets five stars from me because it did a lovely job with the titular trope (plus several others), Alfie offers some incredibly deep perspectives on life and love, and there were moments in this book where I literally laughed out loud (which rarely happens).

Opposites attract in this romance involving a very kind plus-size woman who is a ghostwriter, and a very gruff, old fashioned professional athlete who is so inept at life, except I suppose his sport, that he can't even figure out how to use a phone or what social media is. Most of the story is Mabel (seriously?) telling us what is happening, and the pace is really slow. Not for me, but thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.

Im so sorry I wasn’t able to read it due to it being a 3rd person book. The cover is gorgeous & the blurb sounds really good.

It’s a super cute, fun romp! I was starting to get mad that Mabel was putting herself down so much and thinking he didn’t want her. Both Alfie and Mabel are wonderful characters. Highly recommend everyone read this sweet, fun romance.

title: When Grumpy Met Sunshine

author: Charlotte Stein

publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

publication date: February 26, 2024

pages: 336

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: fatphobia, dead parents, some meanness

summary: When Mabel gets the job of ghostwriting former soccer star's memoir, she ends up having to fake-date him to explain why they're always together. It felts like Roy Kent was dating Bridget Jones.

tropes:

grumpy-sunshine
one bed
fake dating
famous person with regular person
he's more into her than she knows


what I liked seeing the Roy Kent and Bridget Jones characters in this scenario. Both are good people whom others misunderstand for various reasons. The author did a good job with his attraction to her and with the spicy scenes. The book got better as it went.

what I didn’t like: the book got off to a slow start; the author tries too hard to be funny at the beginning and keeps the main characters in their misunderstanding too long. 

overall rating: 3 (of 5 stars)

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein is absolutely a swoon worthy romantic comedy. Stein had me at the first page with a female character I could immediately relate to and like. Mabel, the protagonist, is employed to be the ghostwriter for a grumpy soccer star. However, when we meet Alfie, the player, it is impossible not to like him too. Although this may sound like a familiar trope, the author makes it unique and fresh.

There is loads of sexy banter and, with the intelligent writing, the reader can see why the two characters are attracted to each other even if he is a babe magnet and Mabel is a self-described overweight nobody. There are layers to each of the main characters that get peeled away as they get to know each other. Oh, and the comedy part of the romantic comedy description is dead on. I found myself laughing out loud more times than I can count.

This novel was an absolute delight!

As you can tell from the title, this book is a grumpy/sunshine romance between a former footballer and his memoir ghost writer. The heroine has been hired to help the hero write a memoir which he does not want to write, at least not truthfully. It starts off with him being unpleasant, all the time and her, pushing back with a spunky sunshiny attitude.
There is a ton of chemistry between the main characters, although they seem to want to fight it. And also so much humorous banter, almost too much. My only negative comment about the book is that sometimes it just seemed that all they did was banter and the story didn’t move along with some action.
All in all I enjoyed the book and the banter was a delight. I would recommend this book if you love this trope as much as I do.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a digital review copy and allowing me to give my honest review of the book

I wanted to like this one. I had read another book with a similar synopsis. But this one just wasn't as good. I liked that our characters weren't typical characters and I found some parts to be really funny, just didn't click with them.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

So I immediately jumped into this book because I needed a good rom-com after binge-watching thrillers on Netflix. But I just could not get into it at all.

The POV is all in the heroine. Stein makes out the hero Alfie to be some sort of monster, who everyone is afraid of, stumbles around, and doesn't know how to use a phone. Basically, Stein portrays him to be from the 1950's. And it's not even the hero, although he was the main problem since he was like...the hero. The secondary characters were not fleshed out, Stein had them frazzled and never explained why etc...

The worst part? I can see how the story could have been good, really good. But the POV was just wrong, Alfie Harding needed a voice and he never got one...not within my attention span anyway.

Maybe I'll go back and try and see if I can read it through. But there are so many other good books out there waiting for me to read!

good read and really enjoyed this one as well. I will read more and can't wait for more. Lets get more Charlotte Steinbooks.

First, thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to read When Grumpy Met Sunshine. I loved the book's cover and graphics. I loved that the main female heroine, Mabel, is a plus-size woman like me. Grumpy-sunshine is one of my favorite tropes ever; however, even though I like the banter between characters, this was too much, and I could not continue reading WGMS. I felt it was too much banter than actual chemistry, it didn't allow me to connect with either Alfie or Mabel, therefore, I had to DNF it. I won't post it on Goodreads because I know I'd give it a low rating.

Thank you for an advanced copy, however the writing and plot was not for me. The characters were hard to connect with.

With the cute cover, description of the book, and the tropes involved, I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn’t for me. Some parts made me laugh but I just had a hard time with the banter and the way the dialogue was written.

I think When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a great romance novel. It was like The Dead Romantics without the paranormal element. The whole premise was cute and tackled the issues plus size women face. I would rate it mid-tier in the list of plus size romances I've read and recommend. It wasn't the best I've ever read. Although this could completely be a me thing. I don't like spice all that much. Part of the reason I rate it 4 stars and not 5 is that I felt like the plot kind of fell apart in the middle. When the spice entered the scene, the plot fell away. I feel like the third act breakup could have had something more. While as a plus size woman I fundamentally understand the reasons Mabel had, I think it could have been better explained to the reader in her thoughts. I don't think it will translate to thin women as well as other plus size novels do. As a fat activist I think everyone needs to be able to understand the amount of second guessing and over analyzing that goes into every relationship. When Grumpy Met Sunshine just missed the mark for me there. It will still get a place on my list of plus size main character recommendation list though. It was still a great example for plus size daters. There is so much judgement that when you meet kindness, you wonder what the motive behind it is. So reading happily ever after's involving people who look like me is a validating experience. Plus if you're into spice, I can imagine that would also be validating. That plus size women can get it just as much as straight size women :D and y'all this was spicy with a bit of kink thrown in. I would say that it was about 2/3 plot and 1/3 spice, so a pretty good mix. Overall, this is a great cozy read to snuggle in with some tea and a good doc on the tv.

DNF

I do not take DNF lightly but When Grumpy Met Sunshine is just not for me. Flat and uninteresting banter that had me on the verge of eye-rolls, all I could do was think about is the next book I wanted to read rather than wanting to read this book. I took that as a sign to DNF and move on. Better luck to the next reader!

I thought the premise sounded interesting, but I just couldn't get into the book. I generally like the fake relationship trope, but it didn't work for me with this one. I was never able to connect with the characters. There was little plot/action, and the dialogue was a bit stilted. The writing style, overall, missed the mark for me.

I loved the opposites attract and romance in the workplace vibes of this book. At times, it was a little wordy, but I really enjoyed the story line.

I liked the premise of this book. Unfortunately this book did not work for me as I couldn't get past all the banter between the two characters it just went on and on and nothing else was happening and I just found myself bored and didn't want to read on. I did not finish this book.