I really struggled with this one! I wanted to DNF so many times but I pushed through. The writing felt a bit clunky so it was so hard for me to get into. The romance was okay but it didn’t really do much for me. The audio was pretty good but I do wish there would have been more of a difference in each character’s voice. This was one of my most anticipated releases so I’m bummed that I didn’t love it!

I definitely liked the audiobook better than the physical book. The narrator did a great job and made all the dialogue flow better than when I was the one reading it. I will definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and fake dating.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
When Grumpy Met Sunshine was the story of a retired footballer who hires Mabel as a secret ghostwriter for his memoir. When she is photographed leaving his home by paparazzi, they begin fake dating to keep her actual role in his life under wraps.
I thought this book was pretty cute! It gave me big Roy Kent and Keeley Jones vibes which I loved. It was a little hard to follow sometimes, but I really loved watching them fall in love. I didn’t feel like there was a ton of substance to this book, but I still had a good time! I didn’t love the time jump at the end, but I did like the way it wrapped up.
3.5⭐️

Well, that was freaking adorable! I absolutely flew through this, it’s a breeze of a read. The pacing was perfect—no slow, slogged down parts but doesn’t feel like it’s TOO fast either. It’s mostly light-hearted, really cute and funny (I literally laughed out loud SO many times), with what I’d say was mid-level spice (the spicy scenes are plenty spicy, but there’s only a small handful of scenes so it doesn’t overwhelm the story). I just loved Mabel and Alfie, the ease and naturalness of their interactions, their banter and just total sweetness together…it made for a fully enjoyable read and I will def be keeping an eye out for future books from Charlotte!

The audiobook was really enjoyable, too. The narration was good, kept me in the story, and suited the vibe….which is pretty much all you can ask for!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ALC. I loved the banter between the two characters and the curvy representation by the FMC. That's about all I liked though. The story was lacking for me. Not a ton happened overall and it was just boring. Plus i'm not a huge spice fan so just wasn't my cup of tea. I liked the narrators once I got used to the accents.

Overall, this book was enjoyable, but would’ve been much better if it was shorter. There was too much of Mabel’s thoughts and just anything that crossed her brain thrown on the pages and a bit more filtered out would’ve been less distracting. It was really slow to start, probably because Mabel’s stream of thoughts, and I would’ve appreciated some of the banter and fun earlier on. The dialogue was fantastic and I loved how witty it was. I pictured Alfie as Roy Kent the entire time I read this book but Alfie had a few more romance character traits to him than Roy. I hated the third act breakup and the time jump because it didn’t feel necessary. It was rather abrupt way of concluding and I think it could’ve been better. The spice was very concentrated once ~70% mark hit, and I wasn’t quite expecting it to continue at the high level of spice until ~90% when the third act breakup happened. Overall, the banter and dialogue are the best parts of this book and I just wish it had been edited a bit more. I did listen to the audiobook for this and while the narrator was good, it was really hard to understand what was dialogue and what was inner thoughts. The narrator didn’t have different voices for Alfie and Mabel so their banter was hard to follow at times. The (presumed) texts, articles, headlines, and tweets, were also hard to understand between chapters. Still pleasant to listen to, but the lack of different voices was a let down. 3.5⭐️, 3🌶

I had to set this book down multiple times and scream into my pillow, I absolutely loved their banter and Alfie is my new favorite book boyfriend. Everything he did had me fully swooning. While the characters could be insanely frustrating at times, there was depth to them that made me understand why they were acting and feeling the way they were. It was clear that the past had influenced them greatly, and despite that, they were trying to find happiness in their own way. It was one of the funniest books I have read recently, and I could not put it down. I listened to the audiobook version of this book and while I greatly enjoyed the narrators voice, it was hard to differentiate which characters were talking at times, which is just something to be aware of. Overall, I thought this book was adorable and hilarious and totally swoonworthy.

This steamy rom-com by Charlotte Stein exceeded my expectations. Mabel Willicker, a curvy ghostwriter, is hired to write the memoir of Alfie Harding, a grumpy retired footballer. Mabel is sassy and smart, and slowly charms her way into Alfie's heart as she gets him to reveal more about himself than anyone ever has. They quickly form a close friendship.

But when their business arrangement is mistaken for something romantic, the tabloids and social media have a field day because Mabel is unlike every other girl Alfie has dated. As they pretend to act like a couple, they both start to question whether they have caught feelings for one-another.

The banter between Mabel and Alfie had me laughing out loud, and the slow-burn was definitely worth the wait.

This book started off slow, but then ended with a big bang! (And quite literally, too! ) High level of spice and dirty talk.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I would recommend for lovers of the following tropes: grumpy-sunshine, fake-dating, opposites-attract, slow-burn

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is an opposites attract novel where the main characters find they actually have a lot in common. The book was a bit slow to start, but I really enjoyed the personality of the two main characters, they are kind, likable characters with heart and chemistry.

This was a quick and fun read! It did take me a little bit to get into it but once I did I couldn’t put it down. Alfie is such a grump and I loved him! Mabel was funny and full of sunshine. I loved the banter between these two and the slow burn build of their relationship. There were a few things that I didn’t care for, such as the miscommunication between them, the storyline lagged in some places, and I wish that we would have had an epilogue or a little more story in the end. Overall this was an enjoyable read for anyone that likes the grumpy sunshine trope and lots of banter (which I love).

I also was able to listen to the audio thanks to an ALC from @macmillanaudio I feel like Emily Spowage did a great job bringing these characters to life. The only thing that would have made it better is if it was dual narration.

I originally read this book on my Kindle, but when I found out there was an audio option available, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The narrator did such a great job. Hearing her voice allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story in a way that I wasn't able to do with just reading it. Her accent was amazing and her voice was butter. I enjoyed this book the first time, but I loved it the second time. I'm so glad they decided to make an audio version of it. I still got the push and pull of the slow burn, but the spice was even better this time which surprised me because I knew it was going to happen. I'm so very happy that I decided to revisit this book.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've got some strong mixed feelings on this one. I love a good opposites attract and grumpy vs sunshine trope. Pair it with a ghost-writer tasked with writing a grouchy sport star's memoir and I thought surely this was going to be a golden read that just absolutely hit it out of the park- pun intended. So here's the good, the bad, the meh.

With a pitch of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso vibes, man I was stoked. Yet, I really didn't get those vibes from Alfie. I mean, he was smitten with Mabel fairly immediately and just didn't give off those yelling at everyone vibe. The humor is laced throughout and while they do mesh well and the chemistry is present, I really wanted Mabel to quiet down with the constant, and I mean constant, "we'll never work because of our differences". It started to distract from the chemistry that was happening.

The heroine is plus sized and read in a very real, raw, and vulnerable way. I appreciated her character arc, even with the minor annoyances of the constant denial that they could work out. She did have moments that I'd argue would qualify her as the grump in this one and I almost wish they played on that harder.

This was a cute listen. I don’t love 3rd person books so it made it difficult for me to get invested. I feel like there was a lot of potential with this but it just felt a little lacking to me. A little sweet a little spice.

DNF @ 25%. I couldn't get into this book at all. I didn't love the narrator or the characters other than the MMC giving Roy Kent vibes. Thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press & MacMillan Audio for an advance copy.

Thank you SMPRomance and Netgalley for my gifted audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story, but I wasn’t super invested. There is plenty of steam and fun moments. The audiobook was done well, and I enjoyed the narrator. The representation in this book was good. Overall not a bad romcom, but nothing memorable.

3 stars.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein boasts one of my favorite tropes, grumpy x sunshine, with a (obviously) Roy Kent-inspired slant to the main male character. I loved "Ted Lasso," so I was excited to see what Charlotte Stein could drum up with a Roy Kent-y sound-alike and a plus-sized female character. While Alfie f**kin' Harding is sufficiently grumpy, and Mabel Willicker is a fat ray of sunshine, unfortunately, the ball (heh) gets dropped when it comes to this story's execution. Mabel is interviewing Alfie so she can ghostwrite his memoir, and in the process, they banter their way from "enemies" to friends to "ehh, let's just bang and get it out of our systems" to "oopsie, I fell in love." This is all well and good, but there's only so many ways an author can say the same thing over and over before it gets boring. Alfie is hesitant to tell her the truth about his life, and Mabel uses her sunshine-y ways to extract information from him, even though he says she can't use it in the book (but we, the readers, know that this won't be the case at the end because it's *so* *freaking* *obvious*). I should mention that I really did love the banter between the two characters. This book is full of British humor and wit. I like how Mabel and Alfie bond over their shared childhood traumas. I liked the level of spice, which I did not expect (not sure why I thought there might not be any, but I was pleasantly surprised to see several sexy scenes). I love how Alfie always says he likes Mabel's body just as it is, even though Mabel assumes she is too fat for him because.... why?? Because he's famous? Because of who he has dated in the past? Yuck! You can't expect to have a positive plus-size representation and then have the fat character make assumptions about how people hate her/judge her/don't like her simply because she's fat! The two do not mix! So, while we're here, here are my other complaints. First, this book feels way too long and is much too repetitive. Second, I don't like how many miscommunications there are between Mabel and Alfie, especially when the miscommunications are rooted in Mabel's own "insert opinion here." It feels like they don't communicate about anything *at all,* and when they do, their conversations are riddled with ERROR 404. I am not the type of reader who *needs* to see a dual POV, but this is the kind of book that could have benefitted from two points of view. We only get to see things from Mabel's perspective, and she is constantly proven to be someone who blows things out of proportion or sees things negatively (which, same sometimes!), but that makes Alfie seem almost worse because of it?? *spoilers* I also hate the one-year time jump at the end of the book. Alfie literally ghosts Mabel with little to no fanfare and never reaches out! I was so angry about this! It feels like the author didn't know how to end her book, so she inserted a massive time jump instead of coming up with any other discernable plot. Yikes! I really did not like this. We eventually got an explanation for what happened, but it didn't feel good enough for me, and it didn't make me feel good. We're just supposed to root for them as a couple after that?! Uhhh, no thanks. Anywho, this book was a mixed bag for me. I did like Emily Spowage's narration. I especially think she brings the banter to life with her narration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlotte Stein, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I got tired of her making comments about how different they were and how rich he was and how they have such different lives. I think the shining part of Roy Kent was that Keeley was also rich and famous on her own merit and could take everything he gave without flinching, while sending it right back.

There was also wayyyyy less buildup to him actually being a nice guy, which destroyed the tension for me. He liked the heroine from the start, was a little bumbling and misguided, and seemed like a decent person. Roy Kent was scary and yelly and unapologetic lmao. The hero apologized several times within the first few chapters! I get that he’s “different” around the heroine, but I want to work for that a little.

The book itself, for the twenty percent I read, felt repetitive and didn’t hold my attention. And frankly, the constant Roy Kent comparisons in my brain were detrimental. I’m focusing a lot on Roy Kent because this book was literally pitched in Publisher’s Weekly as Roy Kent inspired!

I liked the narrator, but she didn’t really differentiate between voices. The hero and heroine’s speaking voices sounded the same.

I DNFed because I just don’t think this book was ever going to surpass 3 stars for me and I just didn’t want to waste my time. I was reading for an hour and couldn’t even remember the heroine’s name.

Thanks so much to the publisher for an ALC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

This one started out strong for me but then about 75% through I started to lose interest. The story line started to get a bit repetitive and felt like it was dragging on. I think if the book were a bit shorter I could have rated it higher.

I usually enjoy this type of trope love/hate, grumpy/happy but this just did not do it for me. The banter between the characters Mabel and Alfie was clever but not as funny as it could have been. I just did not fall in love with them and could not root for their romance. The premise was a good one, ghost writer for a famous athlete but it just fell flat. Others might enjoy it more. I do really like the cover art, very cute.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to listen to the audio book version of When Grumpy Met Sunshine.

This book had a lot of tropes I love, like fake dating and one bed. Plus it had little news snippets, emails, twitter messages in between some of the chapters which I adore! So from the start it had a lot going for it. I liked the story of bubbly Mabel being a ghost writer for a grumpy former soccer player Alfie. While the ghost writing has to be kept under wraps and they are seen out together, fake dating ensues! This one definitely had some spicy to it and I think I have decided I am more of a closed door romance gal. I’m not into reading the play by play of people’s love lives. Overall I enjoyed this one and recommend it you are looking for romance with some spice to it.