There was a lot of good things happening in this book - fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, awesome banter. I loved every time the main characters were interacting with each other. I can't wait until February to get a physical copy for my collection! It was also really interesting having the heroine be a ghostwriter - I really enjoyed that.

It was such a cute Rom com read! Thank you for letting me have this ARC and truly enjoy the characters. The characters were lovable, the story was adorable. My biggest complain would have to be pacing

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. Though I appreciated that the two characters had a shared background that made a perfect starting connection point for their romance, that was the highlight. The prose is very British, as in I really was clueless on a lot of the lingo and had to infer from the context. Which is fine really, just not my cup of tea, and British readers won't have that issue.

The big drawback for me was that this story relies *very* strongly on the miscommunication trope and it's my least favorite thing in romance. It was driving me absolutely batty. I understood intellectually why it would be the case for these two characters but that didn't make it more enjoyable to read so I struggled to get to the end of it. All in all, it was fine but it won't make my list of contemporary romances I recommend to friends.

Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is the first book I've read from Charlotte Stein. The title caught my eye, as I love a good "grumpy vs sunshine" trope. This book centers around Mabel, an author who has been contracted to be the ghostwriter for Alfie. Alfie is a recently retired athlete who has been convinced to write his memoir. While Mabel has heard about his famously grumpy attitude, she's unprepared for just how curt he can actually be. When their business partnership is mistaken for a personal relationship, they lean into it in order to boost sales for their future book.

While I understood what the author was going for with this storyline, the "grump" was actually flat-out rude and I just couldn't root for him. Overall, the chemistry between Mabel and Alfie fell flat and I found myself skimming through the rest of the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I had a really hard time getting through this book. The MMC definitely gave me Roy Kent vibes which I was all for. But the banter was really weird and juvenile to me. It was a cute book but I just couldn’t really get into it, the plot seemed like it changed quickly from the ghost writer into being all about the fake relationship.I receive this book and am ARC in exchange for a honestly review.

This book was a miss for me. The characters fell flat, the dialogue between the 30-something leads felt immature, and the narrative style removed me from the story. This was a struggle to read, and the last 40% reads like a completely different book which didn’t help.

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

These two were absolute magic! They had me giggling right away, I guffawed, and had burst of laughter at what they said and did. They also had ridiculous chemistry, and a slow burn that takes most of the story to ignite. Wow, make plans for some “time outs” when reading, you’ll need them once things do take off, because it is scorching hot! While all this is happening, you get to know them, you get to see beyond what they present, and you fall so deeply in love with them, they break your heart, while filling you with hope. That ending, oh, that epilogue, it was everything and the perfect ending to their love story <3

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book and I was pleasantly surprised! I have never read anything by the author but found the style to be amusing and relatable. Alfie is just dryly hilarious and so quirky and out there but at the same time endearing and boy does he have a way with words—especially the dirty ones! Holy heck! And then we have our leading lady Mabel—so sweet and so oblivious in a completely understandable way. The banter was so fun, the steam was so hot, and the tropes were so right! What a fun and times frustrating (in a good way—like hellooooo why don’t you see what’s happening?!) read! And the end. The end was just so sweet and surprising and adorable and so Alfie and Mabel like, I just ate it up! Plus, who else doesn’t adore the fact that it has total Roy Kent and Kelley Jones from Ted Lasso vibes?!

This book was very repetitive, I felt like some chapters were the exact same as ones before it made it very hard to stay engaged with the writing.I found the characters to be very annoying and the banter between the main characters to be annoying as well.
The random articles and tweets at the end of each chapter were strangely laid out and most of them added nothing to the story, those could probably all be removed and it would improve the book. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this book or the writing style.

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

(I know, I know, I've been a critic of the gigantic-grumpy-man/sweetheart-sunshine-woman trope in the past, but!! in my defense!! the cover was cute)

⭐️=2.25 | 😘=5 | 🤬=5 | 18+

Summary: she’s a sunshine ghost writer assigned to write the memoir of a infamously grumpy ex-footballer and then a fake dating scheme happens and oops they fall in love

Thoughts: this was weird—like, there were no other significant characters except for the two MCs?? not a singular strong established female friendship. there were no motivations (at least, not really any compelling motivations I was invested in) aside from “let’s fall in love” and SPEAKING of love the love interest says she’s the love of his life after they meet like four times?? and barely speak?? admittedly there were a few cute, swoony moments, but overall this feels like a draft that needed a lotttttt of fleshing out.

(also the love interest—dark-haired bearded ex-footballer who swears a lot—gives sooo much Roy Kent energy and convinces me that this is Ted Lasso fanfiction, so there's that.)

I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded right up my alley and (even though you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover) I'll admit I'm a sucker for a good cover and this one drew me in. But sadly, I've made it through 30% of the book and finally have to just DNF it. Even though Mabel's inner dialogue and the banter between Mabel and Alfie had me laughing I felt bored as I was reading this and couldn't connect with the main characters.

Have you ever read a romance and wished there was more time for the... romance? This book delivers a-plot payload, to the point that I almost felt guilty for getting to enjoy so much of the good stuff. Total comfort read and delightfully steamy. I look forward to re-reading the published version.

This book was wonderfully hilarious, spicy, and incredibly sweet. It made me laugh so hard at times I had to put it down, it also pulled on my heartstrings until tears emerged as well. I really enjoyed the characters of Alfie and Mabel, the absurdity of some of the interactions made me snort with laughter.

The only thing that threw me off slightly was that when the spice began, the banter and hilarity dropped off (which I was loving so much). Overall, I was highly entertained by the story and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I was so excited to read this and I went in with high hopes. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book.

I was expecting a grumpy MMC and I feel like we didn’t get that. Like he was slightly grumpy or gave off the vibe he was but he talked a lot especially in the beginning. (I thought grumpy characters were supposed to keep to themselves a lot for a good amount of the book?)
Of course, Mabel definitely exuded sunshine vibes.

There was also way too much banter, which I now know is a thing. I love some good banter as much as the next person, but I feel like there was too much in this.

Basically, it did not meet my expectations or exceed them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF. The MMC was so unlikable and weird I just couldn’t keep up with it. The storyline just didn’t keep my interest. I’m a romcom lover and love this trope but this book just didn’t work.

This book was provided to me as an ARC from NetGalley. I really wanted to love this book based on the premise, but it just fell a bit short. It felt slow and overall I did not end up caring about the characters that much. I absolutely loved the plus sized MC rep though.

I really wanted to like this, but the sentence structure (maybe intended to be British banter?) was hard to follow for me and it detracted from the story. The steamy parts were HOT; but I couldn’t come to love the characters like other books.

This was such a fun, delicious read! Grabbed me from the first chapters, the main characters were so fantastic to follow. The banter between them is delightful and witty. I laughed out loud several times, this story is reminiscent of rom-coms of old. I read this book in one sitting, it was so engaging. Do not sleep on this one!

This was definitely a solid 3 star read. Alfie and Mabel were so stupid and I loved them! Their banter was ridiculous and I had a cheesy smile throughout the book because of them. I loved how clueless but wholesome they both were and how they championed one another throughout the book. I think my favorite part, without giving too much away, is Alfie's "scripted" phone call to Mabel. Absolutely hilarious and just so adorable.

I did think the writing style was a bit confusing, it was she didn't finish a full thought before jumping into something else and I was a bit confused and had to reread things to figure out what was going on. I'll admit if I didn't like the characters of Mabel and Alfie as much I would have DNF this book because of the writing style. Luckily, I got used to the jumping around and the book made much more sense.

Thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Griffin for letting me enjoy this title early in exchange for my honest review.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine: 3/5 ⭐️
💛 Grumpy/Sunshine (obvi)
💛 Fake Dating
💛 Workplace Romance
💛 Opposites Attract
💛 Sports Romance

This is a fun quirky book following a ( plus size!!! yay fmc inclusivity!! ) bubbly writer from Leeds and a grumpy ex-footballer from Manchester. While their personalities seem to clash in the beginning, a connection immediately sparks between them. If you enjoy grumpy x sunshine, fake dating, and a ruthlessly sarcastic couple, this is the book for you!!

I really enjoyed the slow burn between Mabel and Alfie!! The tension that kept building up ( that hair braiding scene though ) kept me on toes and hoping for more in the next chapter. It was a pretty quick read for me, and something that I look forward to suggesting to my local book club once it releases.

As always, Please research and read TW before reading.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the awesome opportunity!!