Thanks to NetGalley for this arc!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I honestly don’t think the title does it justice — I thought this was just going to be too cute and trope-y, but it was more than that.

Alfie is so Roy Kent coded that I was picturing him the entire time (and hello Beck, also known as Ted Lasso). When I first started reading it, I thought the writing style was strange and hard to get used to, but I ended up loving it once I pushed past the beginning. I loved the banter and laughed out loud multiple times. It was a solid slow burn, and the end result was very rewarding! I really enjoyed this book!

This wasn't my favorite book. One of the main things for me was that this was written in UK english, and I'm American. It was a bit confusing at times trying to figure out what something meant. I also felt like there was too much description. Things were just described to death if I'm honest. I found myself just skipping a few pages here and there just to get past the descriptors. Now I love the plot. I'm a huge fam of the grumpy/sunshine trope. But overall, I just didn't find myself excited to jump back into this book after a long day...

I would say 3/5 stars, I liked the plot and the banter when it was there, but the descriptors were too much for me.

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

This book is very tropey (grumpy x sunshine obviously, celebrity romance, and fake dating) which can be fun however I felt like the beginning of the book had too much banter and the plot kind of fell through for me. It was not a bad book by any means but I didn't love it either. Thank you net galley and St. Matins Press for an e-arc in return for my honest review

While the plot of When Grumpy Met Sunshine has great potential (grumpy ex-footballer hires sunny ghostwriter, shenanigans cause fake dating scenario, will they/won't they), the writing just didn't work for me. Too often, I found myself rereading sentences to make sense of what was actually happening, and I often had trouble differentiating between inner monologues and actual dialogue. I'm sad to say that this fell flat for me.

Oh my gosh I loved this! it was cute as heck, and totally engaging. I hadn't been hoping for more than just a fun read, so I really appreciated HOW fun it was. It kept me reading until way too late at night.

I will never not love the grumpy/sunshine trope, and when you make one of them basically Roy Kent I'm basically sold already. This was just impossibly charming and I was routing for them the entire time. I loved it!

This book was not for me. I didn’t like the voice of the female main character and I found the dialogue to be a little too much. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

—What you’ll get🤍: grumpy/sunshine trope, famous millionaire footballer, plus sized FMC.
—Spice level🌶: 3/5 slow burn with such a delicious payoff! The chemistry is palpable.

Fans of Roy Kent are in for a treat with this slow burn romantic comedy!

A gruff, growly, retired footballer ends up with a fluffy, bubbly, pastel-loving ghostwriter to help him with his memoir. She gets him to open up to her slowly, seeing him for who he really is rather than for who he shows the world. A beautiful friendship full of delicious banter blossoms between them. And when they are forced into a fake dating situation, things only get better (and steamier!).

I’m normally not a fan of slow burn romance but this story was just too fun not to love. The banter, the sharing, and the understanding between the main characters was so well done. The chemistry build up between them was executed beautifully. The steamy scenes were hot and fun and definitely paid off by the time they rolled around.

Stein clearly has a distinct writing style. It’s great in the way that she has a clear voice. The only downside was a lot of repeated elements through the story that distracted me after seeing them many times (a high amount of colon usage, characters lettering their thoughts [a. b. c.] repeatedly, etc.). But really, these are very small stylistic choices that I’m sure some people will love! Not a big issue in any way, but noticeable elements for sure.

Finally, the epilogue being one year later felt too far on the future to me. A few months-half a year would make more sense. But I was so happy with the epilogue, it didn’t really matter in the end!

Overall, this was a fun and easy read that anyone who loves romance and the grumpy/sunshine trope will surely enjoy.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine was a heartwarming romance that definitely could have been better titled, IMO, Right off the bat, I'll say that I enjoyed the last 3rd of the novel so much more than the first 2/3rds. I unfortunately could not vibe with the writing style at all--between the paragraph breaks at every other sentence, the hard-to-follow along banter, and the awkward pacing of the novel, it was a struggle to get through Alfie and Mabel's story.

I constantly felt like we were jumping back and forth between the current scene on page and Mabel's unrelated inner monologues or background info dumps. This made me have a hard time keeping track of what was going on in the scene. It felt like my brain was getting distracted on every page. I think if even half of these inner monologues and info dumps had been removed, we could have had more room for better development between Alfie and Mabel.

The British slang and sentence structure was also surprisingly hard to understand, which was strange considering I've read several romance novels by British authors who use various dialects and slang and never had any trouble understanding what the characters were saying.

I did really enjoy Alfie and Mabel as characters, however. I love that Mabel is a plus-sized heroine! I've also heard that Charlotte Stein's male love interests are very tender and caring, and that was very evident through Alfie's character. Both he and Mabel were so sweet to each other. I would have really liked to see more about Alfie's backstory, especially more tidbits of what he decided to include in his memoir. The blooming romance in the latter half of the novel was probably the only aspect of the story that I enjoyed.

The cover of this book is adorable, and the premise sounds right up my alley. I was so excited to read it. I expected to love it. However, I’m disappointed to say the execution didn’t work for me and neither did the writing style. It was all telling and no showing and seemed kind of all over the place. By chapter five I still didn’t feel like I was getting to know the characters. Neither had any internal or external goals, motivations, or conflicts, and they seem to exist in a vacuum without any friends or family.

I gave it 50 pages, but I just couldn’t get into this book and DNFed. The story didn’t flow and it wasn’t enjoyable to read. As some other reviewers have said, it feels like an unedited draft.

This book had so much potential baked into its premise, but it just didn’t deliver. What a bummer.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I wanted to start off and say thank you to SMP and Netgalley for letting me read this book for an honest review. I really wanted to love this book. The plot sounded so interesting to me but I think ultimately the writing style was not for me. I usually love banter back and forth but there was way too much for me in this book to enjoy it. Interesting plot but the story fell flat to me.

ARC Review:

I want to start of by saying thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins press for providing this arc and allowing me to give my honest review. I really loved the synopsis of this book and the overall plot however it took me a while to get while to get into this book. The first half just didn’t move for me and I couldn’t tell what was really going on until about 25%. Overall I give this book a 3.5 and can see myself revisiting this book in the future. Thank you again for the ARC opportunity.

loved this romance about a footballer and someone writing his story. I loved that they slowly found their way to each other and loved the heat and romance. I loved that they were both able to help each other and along the way find love.

This was a rollicking fun, sexy book. The main characters, a ghostwriter and a gruff footballer end up having to fake date to save their reputations, and get more than they bargained for.

The banter was absolutely top-tier, and I’m in awe at how easy Stein made it look. So much of this book was dialogue, and it flowed so naturally. I laughed A LOT, and it also delicately and heartwarmingly handled childhood trauma and not feeling like enough. It also read like vaguely-inspired Roy Kent fan fiction which I would absolutely read more of. Also, the consent!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book.
I wanted to like this book so bad, the grumpy/sunshine trope is my absolute favorite and this book had a great premise. Unfortunately I had to DNF at 40%. I had a difficult time following along between the pages of internal monologues of the FMC and what was actually happening between the characters. on a positive note, there was some excellent and funny dialogue between the FMC and the MMC that had me cracking up. I just wish the book wasn't so difficult to follow.

I'm torn with this book. On one hand, I enjoyed it. On the other, it felt like it was missing something I just can't put my finger on.

I liked the characters and how they were thrown together. I had quite a few chuckles throughout the book. However, the author tried too hard to be finny for the first part of the book, and it fell flat. As the book progresses, she doesn't seem to try so hard and the funny just flows naturally.

The book was a little too long for the story being told. There are a few chapters that could be taken out of the book, and the book would be much better.

Overall, I wouldn't count the book out if you're looking for an opposites attraction book. At the same time, I don't see myself raving about this book.

3.5 rounded down.

It was cute and funny - I laughed a lot, it was genuinely hilarious - and though there was a bit too much banter, especially when things were serious and the characters needed to talk instead of joke back and forth - I didn't feel like the amount of banter was enough to dislike the book.

The writing style didn't mesh that well with me. Usually, the length of sentences doesn't matter all that much, even though when I write, my sentences are (too) long and seem to have no end, but this one felt very clunky. Mabel would think something. And then another sentence that relates is written. And another. It would have been easier for me to read if the sentences had just been connected every once in a while instead of start/stop/start/stop.

The voice in my head that I can hear when I read lowers in tone at the end of a sentence, so when a sentence that could be connected stops and starts, it sounds very weird. (Just me?)

If you consider a relationship only real when both characters know they aren't faking - and admit it to each other - then this is a slooooow-burn. As in, to the extremes. The time skip felt excessive, too - isn't that a bit too long?

But overall it was enjoyable and cute and very funny.

thank you Netgalley for the free copy

THIS BOOK HAS IT ALL. A slow burn romance of will they won't they type feelings. And I am HERE FOR IT. I loved this book and I look forward to adding it to my bookshelves. I just wish it was published sooner!!!

Somewhat difficult to review, because it's clearly a well-written book (it's Charlotte Stein, of course it is), but the banter is bantering a bit too much in every chapter so much that all of the chapters feel like they're too long. The banter is great, but just overloads the chapter and almost seems a little too cute (very unlike other Stein books). The actual writing of the memoirs of the Roy Kent-coded character falls away until the very end, which is where I thought the conflict was going to come from, and her career aspirations aren't really dealt with. It's quite low-angst, which I love, and Stein writes fantastic sex scenes. It's a fun read, but a little lacking in some places.

Thanks to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand: I laughed and highlighted so much of this book. The interactions and banter between Alfie and Mabel are all perfectly unhinged and hilarious. This whole book reads like the most ludicrus 80s romcom. But on the other hand: It's all from Mabel's POV which means there is SO MUCH of her internal monologue - sometimes paragraphs between his response to her next comment. It felt like what I assume living in a Gilmore Girls' head (but without all the selfish political incorrectness) must be like - just so much information. I also don't enjoy miscommunication and this entire book is just miscommunication layered on other miscommunications -- which I understand with fake dating there is always the assumed one of: Oh but they really do like each other and think the other isn't into them, but there was so so much miscommunication on top of that. I also found Alfie's complete lack of friends odd - I get that he's surly and grumpy, but over his 30+ years not one other person became his friend? Maybe we just didn't see any of them? But none of these are make or break problems, most just personal pet peeves as a whole it was a good book that I think just needs a bit more polish.

I think as this author grows as a writer their books are only going to get better so I will happy read whatever else they decide to write.