Retired Footballer Alfie Harding (soccer for us American folks) hires a ghost writer for his memoirs. He goes through over a dozen before settling on Mabel Willicker.

Mabel whose real dream is to write novels under her own name agrees to the ghost writing gig and signs a NDA. After being caught coming and going from Alfie’s secluded bachelor pad, Mabel gets tagged as Alfie’s mystery girlfriend.
Due to the NDA, Mabel and Alfie engage in a beloved trope: fake dating.

Through Mabel’s interviewing process with Alfie will her fake feelings turn real?

I received this ARC for an honest review. This story is about Mabel and Alfie. Mabel is ghost writer and Alfie is a footballer. Alfie is interviewing Mabel to be his ghost writer, but he was rude and mean to Mabel. So, she said no with working with Alfie. Alfie didn’t take no for an answer, and wanted Mabel to change her mind.
She agreed to work with him, and see a different side to him.
For me, the story was ok. Some of the “funny” things that happened fell flat for me. Just because I didn’t connect with the story, doesn’t mean you won’t. Give it a try and see how you like it.

I’ve been in quite the reading slump for a month or so now. Saw this book and it’s synopsis and said ‘sure’

Best. Decision. I’ve. Made.
Mabel is absolutely loveable- as the title suggests ‘sunshine’. Some people may not like her personality but I enjoyed it. It’s my personality. I felt like I could relate to her in so many ways. From her outfits to her quips she is just wonderful. And who would love a hunk like Alfie? Grumps are fun, but the ones that are utter cinnamon roll golden retrievers make my heart melt.
I found having to tear myself away from this to be an adult (ugh amirite?) was HARD. The whole development of the story was just- smooth. I do find myself wanting a sequel with her best friend- I feel like we didn’t get enough time with her and I hope it’s because of a sequel. Maybe even around the same time as all of this is happening or towards the end of it. Maybe even starting at Alfie and Mabel’s wedding? I am left wanting more of this universe. Which is a feat to get me to that point.

I love Charlotte Stein's work SO MUCH that there was no way I wasn't going to dive into her first trad pub romcom with no floaties on. Even tho I had to step over my aversion to Roy Kent to find the hero hot. This has so many of the hallmarks of Stein's works that has made her one of my must-buy authors for the last 15 years.

Such a fun, quirky read! Not my usual genre, but found it very engaging and wanted to read more and more.

This was such a cute, funny, and very sweet love story. These characters were so endearing. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Slow paced and secondhand embarrassment galore. I read a review for a different book this morning saying a book "was too quippy. Sometimes your partner just asks 'hey homey we need milk'" and I thought that described this book perfectly.
Would be an adorable movie, again if it were 2 hours, I'd enjoy it, but I got 4 more hours left and I'm not looking forward to it

Loved this one!! When real life, sweet as can be, cupcake personified Mabel is paired up with rough exterior and grumpy Alfie I was just waiting for sparks to fly. Delightful dialogue and witty banter helped move this romantic comedy right along.

TW: Parental abuse, poverty, alcoholism mentioned, fatphobia

Retired footballer, Alfie Harding is ready to write his memoirs but after rejecting 17 ghostwriters who are supposed to help him write it, Mable Willicker is next in line. Only she does the unexpected and rejects the job due to Alfie's rude and grumpy attitude. Eventually Alfie convinces her to help him and along the way they become friends and something more though neither of them have the balls to come out and say it. Throw in loads of banter, fake dating and a one bed trope and this book is a winner in my opinion!

I really liked Mabel and Alfie. She was easy to identify with regarding her introversion and the way she used being sweet and "fluffy" as a self defense mechanism. I felt terrible for them both in how they grew up with their dads being alcoholics and the worst sorts of people. And don't even get me started on how Alfie felt he just annoyed every girl he ever dated...how freaking sad, I just wanted to hug the big lug! Alfie and Mabel's banter was hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing at them! I will admit the author does go heavy on the banter so if you're not into mostly dialogue between the characters as a good chunk of the book I could see where that could bother you. But I loved it, their personalities really shined through all of their quips. Also, Charlotte Stein can write some smut, good lord! Alfie and Mabel both have a knack for dirty talk and they don't shy away from it lol. Also the ending oh wow I just knew Alfie was going to bring out those writing skills at some point and he did in in such a beautiful way, my heart was goo!

This was my first Charlotte Stein book but I am eager to delve into her back catalogue with how much I loved this one. I'd recommend this to Tessa Bailey and Alexandria Bellefleur fans...the feel is pretty similar in my opinion. Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Where to even begin? This book has everything. Grumpy/sunshine dynamic, fake dating, one bed, banter (so much banter). I was hooked from the beginning and I loved watching the love story between a gruff ex-footballer and his ghostwriter evolve through. The sexual tension and eventual payoff was so deliciously good. If you need a fun, funny but ultimately really tender romance, this one will fit the bill. 4.25 stars

When I say this has healed a part of me I am being so, so serious.

Some may say that it's no longer revolutionary for a fat FMC to find and keep love in books like this, and I would have to blatantly disagree, as a fat girl myself. Mabel has been told her entire life that she needs to be less—less big, less dreary, less fun, less herself in every way that matters, and she's fought against that at every turn. You can see that in how defiant she is and how absolutely steadfast she is in her determination to be everything that makes her Mabel. And yet like the rest of us fat girls, she's internalized that, so much that being the sunshine means she doesn't let anyone see anything else.

Until, of course, she meets her Grumpy in Alfie Harding.

Alfie.

There are so many things I can say about Alfie Harding—I could talk about how too often the grump is either not actually grumpy or is just an actual asshat. I could talk about the way trauma and expectations have shaped him as a person, much like Mabel, to the point where they're two sides of the same coin. I could wax poetic about him, and him and Mabel, for weeks without end.

But I'll keep it to this: I knew from the moment we meet Alfie Harding that I would absolutely fucking love him, and I was proved right at every fucking turn. He is the ONLY man, as far as I care, and he is EVERYTHING to me in a way MMCs almost never are.

The relationship between him and Mabel will sit forever in my heart. They're SO real—we've all met and befriended and maybe even hated people exactly like them, every single day. Every misguided decision, every completely wrong assumption, every stray thought had me screaming at the page and begging for them to stop being such idiots—which is personally my absolutely favorite part of reading romances like this.

Ultimately, this has been an absolute highlight of my year, if not my life, and I cannot emphasize enough how much you NEED to read it.

Dnf @ 21%, because it really did just feel like Roy Kent x self insert fanfic. The way it’s written with such extended banter sequences and the FMC’s analysis of what was going on really felt like those fics where authors go in and write something to work out one character felt during a scene from a show. Except that was just the whole book.

Mabel’s personality is being plus size and magically getting someone who has never opened up to anyone spill all his secrets to her. Alfie’s personality is being renamed Roy Kent.

I gave up because 1/5 of the way through, next to nothing had happened; it was just the two MCs bantering about how they bantered.

Honestly, this was my first romcom and it took me by complete surprise! I laughed so hard I cried, and then I just cried. Definitely loved rhe FMC so much, but probably mostly because I saw myself in her. I loved alfie and his protectiveness of her and I can only hope tp see more of this style of book from the author.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so much while reading. This story is .... honestly, it's everything I could possibly want. Mabel is beautiful and wonderful and so good at her job and can't seem to stop making smart comments to this celebrity footballer. Alfie freaking Harding, my friends. My new favorite hero. I just...I love him. This man who has forced himself to be smaller because reasons, and he freaking lights up with Mabel. Brilliant. Also, some really great sexy scenes!! The banter is top notch. Basically this is my favorite book. Heading off to read it again now.

I really thought I'd love this one because the cover was so incredibly adorable, but it didn't end up working for me. The romance felt too much like insta-love and the banter was nonstop in the worst way. It just wasn't for me.

Reviews posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads on 8/6/2023. I will post my review to amazon upon release date 2/6/2024.

This book is everything! Mabel Willicker is a successful ghost writer who might have met her toughest client yet in retired football star Alfie Harding. All the press over his career and in his retirement paints Alfie as a brash, womanizing grump who should be avoided at all cost. Mabel is sugar, spice, and rays of sunshine shooting in a million directions. Reluctantly they start working together on Alfie’s memoir. When the pair are spotted by the paps and social media goes wild commenting on how a plus-sized woman like Mabel couldn’t possibly be with someone like Alfie, things change. The pair starts faking dating but can it remain fake for long?

There are so many things to love about this book. The banter in this book is the kind of banter that actually makes you guffaw laugh while reading it. Mabel and Alfie’s chemistry is scorching even when they’re trying to deny it. Mabel feels like the best friend that you want. She is funny, kind, thoughtful, and a powerhouse. Mabel’s moments of insecurity during this book felt so raw and real that I know I cried a few times. Alfie is just that good lad from down the way that is a secret softie. He’s tender and thoughtful and would move the universe for those he loves. The steam in this novel was top shelf. There were so many moments of “will it happen?” That when it does finally happen I feel like a puddle on the floor. I loved these two so much and already know a re-read is in my future.

I've never read anything by this author before and for this to be my first experience with her made it that much better. I thought the book was extremely cute and found myself laughing through a large portion of it. I loved the grumpy athlete and how he was so oblivious to the things he was saying and how everyone else would take those words. While I loved Mabel it did feel like the character unfortunately fell under the same umbrella that most plus sized characters fall under. She was overly sweet with an eccentric sense of style that just made her seem more cute than beautiful or sexy. I don't think that was in any way the authors intention but that's sort of how it came across as I was reading it.

Its all there in the title – When Grumpy met Sunshine. This is a delightfully funny and steamy romance of a ray of sunshine woman who meets up with the biggest grumpy guy on the planet.

At their first meeting sparks fly as she hits a tipping point of always being friendly in the face of fire and starts shoveling back at him the snark he’s handing out. She was supposed to be auditioning to be his ghost writer for his memoir about being a super famous footballer (soccer, for other Americans in the audience like me), and, thinking she tanked the meeting, is surprised he wants to work with her – mostly because she didn’t run away screaming in terror like all the other writers.

There is a hilarious comedy of errors involving some accidental stalking (no, really!) and some very appropriate pepper spray, and then they settle into a working relationship in which she pries into his life and pulls out a surprising amount of emotion, intelligence and pain underneath his stoic façade.

I loved how the issue of wealth was handled – he obsessively saved and invested every penny, knowing athletes have a short shelf life, and, surprise, he now has more money than he can ever spend – and he is embarrassed about it. His actions make sense and Stein actually does make you feel realistically sorry for him rather than sneering at ‘poor little rich boy’.

Then the British paparazzi get involved and, middle, middle, middle, we get a classic FakeDating! plot. And I loved every minute of it as all sorts of chaotic comedy ensues in between a rapidly increasing heat index.

Overall a funny and sexy romance that left me both laughing and turned on as I rooted on these two crazy kids.

Two criticisms:

One - we get snippets in between chapters of his career and how he’s portrayed in social media. However, we don’t see any clips of her career – either the bad memoirs she did for money or examples of other writing, which was such a missed opportunity to round out both characters.

Two – the “Can’t Use Cell Phones” Trope. It needs to be retired. We are more than two decades in of everyone using cell phones. Children are figuring out cell phones before they are even toilet trained. It doesn’t make sense that someone “can’t” use cell phones. Especially here, when, push comes to shove, he figures it out just fine despite his protests. Urgh.

But other than those two things – this book was delightful!

I tried to get into this, but couldn’t get past the 10% mark. The characters were unlikeable and the I didn’t love the writing.

4.5/5 (rounded up to 5)

CW: parental abuse, poverty, alcoholism, fatmisia

Closed Door Modifications: Chapter 21 (some parts), Chapters 23-25 (some parts)

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When retired pro footballer Alfie Harding is asked to finally pick a ghostwriter for his upcoming memoir, he never suspected to wind up working with the very cheerful Mabel Willicker and having to talk about his feelings about his life to her. When their arrangement and dynamic banter is mistaken as a new relationship, Alfie and Mabel decide to fake-date in order to get the press off their backs. Though, as their fake relationship continues, the lines between what’s fake and what’s real begins to blur and Mabel and Alfie wonder if there’s something more to their relationship.

I personally loved When Grumpy Met Sunshine and I think it’s a new release to keep your eye on this winter.

Perfect for fans of By the Book, Yours Truly, and Things We Never Got Over, When Grumpy Met Sunshine has the perfect blend of grumpy x sunshine and fake dating. With an adorable FMC and a grumpy MMC that can rival Knox Morgan, their dynamics make for a delightful rom-com read that will make you laugh out loud and tug at your heartstrings.

Stein’s writing style also adds a unique layer to the book’s plot and really makes it engaging to read. I personally like the voice she gives to Mabel and Alfie in this book and I feel that it really makes them relatable. The outside commentary bits at the end of each chapter (though I feel like some of them weren’t totally necessary) offers insight into Alfie’s life and overall character development. Though, I wish Stein took some more time into writing more of Mabel’s character growth since we don’t often get to read into it as much compared to Alfie’s.

Other than that as well as some work on plot structure, I have little complaints on When Grumpy Met Sunshine and I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fresh voice in rom-coms with great use of the grumpy x sunshine trope.