Read if you love…
Ex-footballer (soccer)
Ghostwriter
Forced proximity
Only one bed
Dirty talk - if this is your kink, enjoy!
Words of affirmation
Top tier banter
British humor

TW: fatphobia, alcoholism

Ugh. Sucker for a British accent. I loved the narration. I have to imagine this could be a difficult read based on the UK culture and phrases alone throughout the book. I however, loved it. I found myself laughing out loud throughout this book due to the British humor.

Mabel is so easy to fall in love with. She shows up as herself over and over. She is authentic and can’t help but love her quirks. Mabel’s struggle with her body image hits home. Being a short curvy gal among thin average to tall height friends always made me feel self conscious. I don’t love how the author explored her body image. I hated how Mabel put herself down frequently based on her body size. Her inner and outer critic took away from this story for me. My new cute curvy overlord: Mabel.
There are so many other aspects of this story that made up for this.

Alfie fucking Harding is Roy Kent. You cannot convince me otherwise. Right down to the pronunciation and elongated fucks weaved into his dialogues.
The “coincidental” stalking (not in a dark/thriller way) scenes were incredible.

Random musings and moments that had me laughing and then sighing at their connection:
From pepper spray to Peppa Pig. Just picturing Alfie drinking out of a Peppa Pig mug at Mabel’s house.
Like an angel had farted.
The way Mabel throws Alfie off and into circles and forces this tight lipped, stoic man into an expressive one.
A man who can manage curly hair?! And plait your hair like Princess Leia?
Alfie describing Mabel like a Renaissance painting, it was like feeling the sun on your face for the first time. My lanta.
Love language of gift giving. Getting Mabel a lil loveseat and end table the benefited her writing.
Fucking cinnamon roll.
I’m sorry. Post Beyoncé concert?
A lusty octopus.
The dirty talk needs not one, but two call outs here because 🥵
Just going to crash and burn… a ‘just get it out of our systems’. Oh Mabel, Mabel, Mabel.
Like Mabel, I am a weird neurotic gremlin.
Alfie cutting off all communication from Mabel and finishing his memoir alone… gutted. I really despise a miscommunication trope.
“The only other person at the school assembly.” 😭

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has it all! The title will tell you the biggest trope in the book, Grumpy/Sunshine Trope. This book also has one of the sweetest compliments I've ever read (read it and let me know if you think you can figure out which one).

The story follows Mabel, our plus size female main character, who is navigating the ghost writing world. She gets contracted to write for a grumpy ex-footballer, Alfie, who is notoriously hard to work with. As they begin to write a memoir the paparazzi seem to misunderstand the dynamic and rumors fly.

This book has a misunderstood grumpy man, a plus size sweet woman, fake dating, and self discovery. I LOVED this book. By far it was one of the best books I've read in a while. I could not put it down. You root for the couple and want them to be happy. This is the perfect book to pick up during this Valentines Day time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a sweet feel good romance novel. Thank you so much NetGalley for the ability to read this story.

I was quite looking forward to this storyline - but it wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping… it was about a 3.5 star (rounded up to 4). I found I was left wanting for so much more as I read and listened, but it was ok.

I liked it well enough but did not love Mabel and Alfie’s story about a ghost writer who was forced into writing the autobiography about a reclusive, grumpy former footballer… seen together and forced into a public relationship so that her role in his life as the author wasn’t found out. As a plus sized woman, her character and image were torn apart online and in the media - which really rubbed me the wrong way.

She started out sunshine and he was very grumpy and their relationship made them both more neutral, until the writing relationship (and friendship) just ended…. Unsatisfying as a reader when the “miscommunication” is just completely cutting ties like this to pick up way down the road.

The audio was narrated by Emily Spowage, who was a new voice to me. She did a fine job, but could have made some more distinction between characters and more inflection. Otherwise, she was fine. She couldn’t save the story, sadly.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin) and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

I adore the grumpy sunshine trope so I had to listen to this one! I did really enjoy reading about Alfie's grumpy moments. There were times this book had me laughing hysterically!

I will start by saying this book is very British. I have read a lot of books set in the UK and usually, I don't feel like it isn't meant for me as a US reader, but in this case, I got that feeling a bit. There were some jokes and references to regional differences I didn't fully get.

I did like Alfie and Mable's connection. They were both people who were often misunderstood and I liked watching them open up to each other. I do have a soft spot for heroes who come off as grumpy but are actually really sweet. Alfie is totally this! His inability the understand technology was especially funny. This book was also steamy and the spice is well written!

What didn't fully work for me was the miscommunication. Mable had such low self-esteem that it constantly got in the way of her realizing Alfie might have feelings for her. It also caused her to be mean to him when trying to hide her feelings. I would have also liked to know a bit more about both of their pasts.

I recommend this one if you are a fan of British humor and don't mind a couple that is a bit awkward and unable to communicate their feelings.

🌶️🌶️🌶️- There are several detailed spicy scenes in this one as well as a lot of sexual tension.

🎧🎧🎧 - I thought Emily Spowage did a fine job with the narration. There wasn't a lot of distinction between different characters and the spicy scenes were a little underacted for my taste at times. She is a new to me narrator and doesn't seem to have experience with other romance titles.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I listened to it as an audiobook and made it 85% through before I decided I just could not finish it. While I enjoyed the premise at the beginning, it just felt never ending and could not keep me engaged. The dialogue between the main characters seemed a bit over the top and immature and the characters were just not intriguing. Based on the description of the book, I thought I’d really enjoy it and I tried but was unsuccessful.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story, but not my favorite. The miscommunication trope is not my favorite and I think it is over used in a lot of romance books today, but overall I liked the story and can't wait to see more from this author.

This was a such a hard read for me. I found it was choppy and almost confusing. I had to go back and reread pages because I just couldn't figure out what was happening...I even considered DNFing this book on multiple occasions

Here is what you need to do before you start this book: you need to picture Roy Kent in your brain or watch a few Roy Kent vids on TikTok or an episode or two of Ted Lasso. Now dive in and picture Alfie as exactly that. *Chefs Kiss!*

While this book could have used some editing and doesn’t need to be quite as long - I felt it was a very enjoyable listen on audio.

I am SO happy I decided not to let goodreads scare me away from this book! Maybe it's a curvy sunshine. Maybe it's a misunderstood grumpy. Maybe it's that my mind goes 900 mph in the same way that hers does as she talks herself out of believing that she is so easy to like and love. And a curvy lead that is sexual. Hello bad boy, it's me Bubbly curvy slightly more grumpy than sunshiny sunshine.

Whatever it is, this book was a recipe for success for me. Did I see the ending coming? Obviously, but when has that stopped a Rom Com lover or a Hallmark movie watching binge? Once I started listening to this book I couldn't stop and honestly, I plan to read it on paper too.

#netgalley #MacMillanAudio #WhenGrumpyMetSunshine #charlottestein

The narrator of this book was delightful, and I wished I had enjoyed the story. Unfortunately, the narration couldn’t even save it for me. This started out interestingly enough, but the longer I spent with the story, the less I wanted to pick it up. I feel like the writing kept me distanced and I didn’t actually get to know these characters. I get the vibe the author was going for, but it just didn’t work for me.

This book was just not for me. It moves very slowly and the plot did not interest me. I could not connect with the characters. It was supposed to be a funny romantic comedy, but it wasn't funny at all.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was fine. The narration is the only reason this book gets three stars.

I enjoyed this story very much! I adore the FMC and her personality. The epilogue! A year... oh my goodness!
I was not a fan of the narrator. If I would not have also been lucky enough to have an ARC of the e-book, I would have gotten lost in all the banter. She had the same voice for everything. The characters quick exchanges made it very hard to know who was saying what.

The audio was done really well, and without it, I don’t think I would have finished. Bravo for a great narration!

Quick Summary: Grumpy footballer Alfie Harding enlists the help of ball-of-sunshine Mabel Willicker as a ghostwriter for his memoir. What happens when a wildly famous grump is seen with a pretty girl? The fans go wild! How do Alfie and Mabel respond? They decide to fake a relationship. Their journey is filled with highs and lows and will they or won’t theys


My thoughts: The incorporation of social media in this was so fun and added something really unique to the experience. The narrator also was wonderful - I’d definitely listen to more books read by her. The final chapter and epilogue were beautiful and honestly, completely brilliant.

The summary/description was super cute and had me really interested in reading this but I have a hard time with “miscommunication” in relationships and didn’t see it all coming until I was in it. Unfortunately, I was so stuck on all the miscommunication that I had trouble enjoying a lot of the ride. Overall a sweet fake-dating story with a HEA.


**will post to Goodreads as book instead of audio with appropriate information

If you know me, you know I love a book with a plus size FMC!❤️ So happy that I was able to get the audiobook for this. It gave me everything I was craving and more!

It's not often that I get to read (or, in this case, listen to) a novel with a plus size FMC. I appreciated that I could identify with this aspect of the character. Further, I love novels where the main characters have ties to sports, whether it be hockey, baseball, or futball. That being said, I don't know if it was the story or the narrator, but I overall found this book lacking. I didn't get as much grumpy/sunshine as I would have liked from the beginning. I got more mystery than grumpy. The book seemed mostly dialogue and left me wanting more descriptions of where and what the characters were doing/seeing. Further, the narrator didn't have the inflection that I hoped, and sometimes it was hard to tell what character the narrator was portraying. I find myself wondering if I would have liked this novel better had I read it instead of listened to the audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator’s accent hard to understand. I was looking forward to this one, I usually enjoy this trope and I love having a positive plus size main character but this wasn’t what I was expecting. Neither main character were particularly likable at all and I just didn’t find their romance very believable. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but it was a miss all the way around for me.

If you want a witty banter filled rom com with some decent spice this is a solid read.

I loved the characters and the general premise, but something was lacking in the delivery for me. The banter came across as too unrealistic and staged. The MMC felt all over the place, its marketed as grumpy/sunshine but he didnt come across as grumpy to me and so much about him just came across again as unrealistic.

🥰Enjoyment: This was a cute little palate cleanser. It felt a bit repetitive at parts but I thought the tropes were cute and the narrator did a nice job. Would recommend if you need a quick light read to recover from something heavier.

🎭Mood Reader Classification: Probably do not need to own or re-read, open to trying other releases from this author.

When grumpy met sunshine by Charlotte Stein

3.5/5 Stars

Main Characters: Mable and Alfie

Mable is contracted to ghostwrite for Alfie a famous retired footballer where many others tried and failed. The two become close and their business arrangement is mistaken for romance, they decide to go with it and pretend to be a couple.

Mable is a cute and curvy. Alfie is a total cinnamon roll, grumpy but a heart of gold.

So I really wanted to like this book and was very excited to read this one but this just didn’t do it for me. The banter was almost there between the two characters but just wasn’t quite there. The book just felt like it was dragging. There just didn’t feel like much of a plot either.

Many thanks to Netgally and St Martins press for providing me with a ARC to review.