This book would have been so much better if it had been dual POV. The FMC’s POV was increasingly annoying to be. She never stopped with her internal monologue which made any interaction she had with other characters hard to follow.

This was an enjoyable romance read! Loved the characters in this book! There personalities were great and they were really easy to connect with and root for early on. I also really loved the story line for a good chunk on the book but it went from a fun laugh filled storyline to physical romance focused book loosing a bit of the lighter elements that were in the beginning of the story that made the romance feel believable and enjoyable. Overall it was a fun romance read that I would recommend if you enjoy a mix of spice and laughs.

Tried on audio and the narration is too monotone. Will pick up the ebook at a later date. Thank you for my copy

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy!

When I first saw the cover of this book I was SO excited! It had a cute plus size female character and a broody male soccer player - what more could you ask for?! Welp, I learned I need to lower my expectations and not go by the cute cover because I had attempted to read this prior to the pub date and I got 10% in and had to pause to revisit at a later time. And now it is the later time.

I ended up waited to listen via audio and I will be honest and am not sure what about this book I found difficult to follow but it was hard to follow. I had my book next to me to reference and perhaps if I followed both at the same time I wouldn't have been as confused but just listening I was. The book came more together for me in the second half when they were pretending to fake date.

One trope that I am not a fan of was the when the female main character is so blind to how the male character feels about her when he has been very obvious on his feelings. Even UNTIL THE END she was still denying that he had feelings for her.

I will say though I have never read the author's prior books before but had heard she wrote really spicy books and I will say the spicy times were excellent. I thought all the scenes were well done and the way it was written just made it feel really sexy. THOUGH I will say for the one intimate moment, I was trying to imagine the logistics of it and it was very hard to picture what they were doing in the backseat of a car?

I thought the grand gesture at the end was really sweet but even still as I mentioned above the FMC still couldn't believe that he wanted her. He even alluded to something they talked about and I can confidently say that I had no idea when that was mentioned. Perhaps it just wasn't memorable to recall back.

This didn't work for me but it may work for you!
I am glad I read this but I don't think I will be running to other books from the author anytime soon.

A very generous 3 star read.

First, I am grateful to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC of this book through NetGalley, and to my local library system to access to the audio of this book! These are my honest thoughts!

This was a great British rom-com, which I seem to be reading quite a few of these days. I really enjoyed the story and thought it had unique elements. While the story wasn't totally new, it was fresh. I loved the plus sized rep with the hunky and thick athlete.

There were so many things I loved about the grumpy MMC, Alfie. He was kind of shy, reserved, obviously grumpy, but also quick to defend. He was tongue-tied around the FMC, Mabel, which I just found so endearing, and once the two found their footing around each other, they were snarky and sassy and it was a lot of fun to be along for the ride.

It was a little slow at the beginning, but once the pace picked up, I loved the banter and some of the adventures the couple went on.

Solid read, but not totally memorable. I finished it yesterday and I've already forgotten a lot of the details... but I enjoyed the read while I was in it.... going to give this one 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars here!

I think I just read this book at the wrong time. The premise was everything I was looking for but I just never got into the story! I could see where the author was going with making Alfie similar to Roy Kent (who I LOVE in Ted Lasso) — so that is a plus! While it wasn't for me, I wouldn't discourage you from checking it out yourself.

I finished this book, but I didn't want to. The entire book lacked depth and relatability. The characters and the storyline felt very flat and drawn out. I was so excited from grumpy/sunshine but it just fell really flat for me. I will not be recommending this to my audience. Thank you for the opportunity.

I love grumpy/sunshine books. When they are done with the perfect amount of chemistry and overall vibes and banter but I just did not enjoy this one. It felt like I was struggling the whole way to finish. I almost DNF’d. The banter was good here and there but overall the writing style was not the best and that affected the overall book for me.

I love a good grumpy/ sunshine opposites attract trope. Unfortunately, this just fell a little flat for me. There was some fun banter between the main characters. Overall a little rambling and not as well developed as I would like.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC In exchange for my honest review.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine was a quick, entertaining, laugh-out-loud read. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the insertion of news clippings or social media posts in between chapters, and the quick wit present throughout the novel. Alfie and Mabel were so cute together, and I loved watching them get to know one another. My only real criticism is that I strongly dislike the miscommunication/lack of communication trope. Alfie was so obviously into Mabel that I sometimes just wanted to smack her over the head for being oblivious, or having low self esteem, or whatever other ways she got in her own head about things. I think I may have liked this more if it had been a dual POV so we could see what Alfie was thinking as well. I also would have liked to see some time with the two of them actually together rather than pretending and trying to talk themselves out of actually letting things happen. Overall, it was an enjoyable book.

Always always remember that reviews are based off of one's own opinion so while this book didn't work for me it could be your all time favorite book!

With that being said, I really wanted to love this one, but it was just so very boring to me. The dialogue never stopped and I honestly couldn't care less for the characters!

While this had its laugh out loud moments and cute moments, it had more bad than good for me.

I absolutely loved the premise of this novel - grumpy sunshine, curvy FMC, Roy from Ted Lasso vibes - all of that pulled me in.

But sadly I had to DNF. And it’s dude to the overly overthinking, ranting, almost self loathing way the FMC was written. I could skim almost the entire chapter and not miss important plot because her inner workings and monologues felt overdone.

Unfortunately, I will be withholding all feedback on its title until St. Martin's Press and its imprints decide that they want to engage with the very reasonable demands of the marketing boycott, and address the racism, islamophobia, and zionism that they are enabling through their continued silence.

This book was very enjoyable! The banter was great and I was very excited by the curvy representation in this novel. I did find the character to be a bit cliche and felt like they could have benefited from more authentic personal growth throughout the novel.

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley from the publisher. Thank you for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own*

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

I was really excited to read this one, based on the adorable cover and the premise of the story about a plus sized FMC who is adorable and the sunshine, and an ex-football player that is the grumpy MMC. With tropes that I love, such as opposites attract, when grumpy met sunshine, and fake dating, this romance sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.

I feel like the potential was there, but maybe the book could have used some more editing. I just couldn’t get over the never-ending dialogues between the two main characters, and waiting for something exciting to happen, that just never did. I also felt that some of the sexy scenes and excessive language were cringe. I also wanted to mention that there weren’t really any side characters that we truly got to know either.

As you can tell, I just wasn’t a fan. All books can’t be for everyone, so maybe someone else will enjoy this one.

The wittiest dialogue and situations! Delightful! I went and purchased the audiobook after reading, and I did find the narrator's accent hard to follow at times.

I really wanted to like this book, but I was unable to finish this book because of the writing style. While there were good aspects to the story and I wanted to see how the story unfolded, the writing felt like it was rambling and difficult to follow since it was so wordy.

I wanted to love this more than I did, I had a very very difficult time getting into the story. The tropes felt like they were forced to be there instead of adding to the plot.

In "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" Charlotte Stein offers a refreshing take on the enemies-to-lovers trope with its quirky characters and unique premise. Stein's writing style is engaging and her dialogue crackles with wit, making for an entertaining read.

The dynamic between the grumpy hero and the sunshiney heroine is both amusing and endearing, and their banter provides plenty of laughs along the way. However, at times, the characterization feels a bit one-dimensional, with the grumpiness of one character and the sunshiney disposition of the other verging on cliché.

While the romantic tension is palpable, the pacing of the plot can feel uneven, with some scenes dragging while others rush by too quickly. Additionally, the resolution of the conflict feels somewhat predictable, lacking the depth and complexity needed to fully satisfy.

Overall, "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is a fun and light-hearted romance that will appeal to fans of the genre. While it may not break new ground, it offers an enjoyable escape for readers looking for a charming love story with a twist.

I truly hate to give a negative review because I know how difficult it is to write a book and get it published, but this one just was not at all for me. I could not get through it, I could not get past the style and the confusing POV. The characters are not capturing me and none of their actions make sense. I think the book will appeal to some people sure, just unfortunately not me