This was cute. I enjoyed the dynamic and the grumpy to sunshine romance aspect. The characters had good chemistry. I would read more by this author.

This book was a DNF for me at around 20%. I just didn't vibe with the writing style and didn't feel invested in the characters. The banter just wasn't for me and I just didn't feel pulled in by the characters.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the eARC; all opinions are my own.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine - Charlotte Stein

Romance novels are admittedly hit and miss for me. This one, unfortunately, was mostly a miss for me.

Alfiee - gumpy, reclusive, successful, celebrtiy, handsome, ex football player Alfie - meets sunny, “not size 2” and curvy but cute, very normal ghostwriter Mabel are paired together to make Alfie’s memoir a success. Of course baring his soul and revealing anything about himself sounds like torture to Alfie so, as you can imagine, he doesn’t anticipate this being a good time.

The grumpy sunshine trope quickly and accidentally turns into a fake dating situation and I’ll fully admit, there was a section of the book that was quite delightful as their banter and bickering and just plain ridiculousness had me laughing out loud more than once.

I wanted more.

And perhaps this is where it went sideways for me because instead of getting more personality, more mishaps, more hilarious banter, it moved into an over the top (in my mind) steamy section that became all about the steam and subsequent miscommunications and lost the plot…for me, anyway.

I say that fully knowing that if you love a steamy fake dating, grumpy sunshine novel, it’s likely this one will 100% be the icing on your cupcake.

Now, I should add that Stein’s inclusion of a curvy MC was a thoughtful decision. Mabel is not a size 2, she’s self conscious of her shape and media makes sure to point out that her size is a reason why the Alfie-Mabel connection is doomed showing that we really aren’t passed our assumptions about size. That said, it did get a little monotonous at times…we get it, you know? Mabel is a delight. Alfie is wonderful and I love that that he saw her beauty just as she is.

Kicking myself in the pants for not reading this sooner.
This book was absolutely everything to me.
It had great banter, All the tropes i love. spice. Great storyline. It was quick and fun to read this.

This will forever haunt me as the book I should have absolutely read when I first got an ARC but then waited so long and finally got to it. I did end up listening to this on audio and what a fun time it was. I love a man who is so head over heels for the FMC and we obviously know it but she can't come to terms with it. It was sweet, spicy, tender, and funny.

Many thanks to whoever granted me this arc eons ago. You're the bees knees.

Grumpy meets sunshine is one of my favorite tropes in romance. Alfie is the gorgeous man with a heart of gold but is socially awkward with anger management issues. Mabel is a plus size, witty ghostwriter who shines like the sun. I love the idea of a plus sized heroine, and this one is well done. However, the romance gets bogged down in excessively lengthy, repetitive dialogues that slows the action to a crawl. As a result, I found myself skimming long passages. This book has great promise with the workplace, opposites attract romance potential, however; it loses momentum in the long-drawn-out dialogues lowering my rating to a 3 at best.

Thank you to St. Martins Griffin for the free early review copy..

Omggggg. This book was almost an immediate 5 stars. Like, within the first chapter. Whyyy did I let this arc languish on my kindle for the last year? Anyway, it was perfect for me. A true rom-com. I laughed out loud multiple times. Actually laughed. This was my first book by Charlotte and I loved her voice and writing style. The characters were both such quirky, made-for-each-other weirdos, I couldn’t help but fall in love with them. The basic premise is that the MMC is a retired footballer (soccer in the US) who’s been linked up with a ghostwriter, to pen his memoir (the FMC). He’s a grumpy, reclusive muppet of a person… in other words, he’s Roy Kent. And it was perfection.

Expect:

-M/F
-plus-size sunshine FMC
-grumpy, growly muppet Roy Kent-esque footballer MMC
-deliciously British
-extreme idiots to lovers
-real good spice
-accidentally going viral and having to fake date because of it
-a love letter to classic 90’s + 00’s rom-coms

I did a mix of ebook and audio and the narration by Emily Spowage was wonderful!

The worst part about tropes sometimes is that you can end up enjoying half of the dynamic more than the other and the grumpy character can grind your gears and not live up to your expectations.

This grumpy sunshine romance is banter filled and fun but just didn’t hit home for me. The writing style just wasn’t my jam and I struggled with the FMC.

When a sunshine ghost writer takes a gig to write a memoir for a grumpy retired footballer, it has the makings of quite the love story. However, this story was missing a certain spark and chemistry between the two characters. I loved their interactions, the premise of the story, and ultimately the ending. What didn’t work for me were the in-between moments - there was an overabundance of internal dialogue that took away from the story, and the banter which probably meant to move the story forward felt like it was repetitive and delayed the next scene. Overall it was a charming story, and has potential for you to enjoy it!

I'm not sure why I ended up waiting so long to read this but once I started it I absolutely fell in love with the characters. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, though was quickly immersed in fantastic banter, hilarious fake dating and a character dealing with the public scrutiny of women's bodies.

Mabel was so endearing and I loved how she was so feisty with Alfie and how she really stood up for herself with him. I can find it hard when a character is constantly taken advantage of but her strength and refusal to take Alfie's grumpiness to heart. Her and Alfie had so much chemistry from the moment they were brought together. I loved how they interacted and the way they both brought out the best in each other, knowingly or not.. Alfie was such a teddy bear underneath all that angry exterior. He was so loving and cared so much for Mabel regardless of their fake dating arrangement.

This book was so sweet and has made me want to read more by this author. The pace was quick, the characters were well fleshed out and the banter was top notch! I did struggle a bit with the miscommunication aspect of the plot line, but otherwise I highly recommend this book.

I really struggled with this one! I wanted to DNF so many times but I pushed through. The writing felt a bit clunky so it was so hard for me to get into. The romance was okay but it didn’t really do much for me. The audio was pretty good but I do wish there would have been more of a difference in each character’s voice. This was one of my most anticipated releases so I’m bummed that I didn’t love it!

Thank you to Griffen, Net Galley and Charlotte Stein for the ARC (I’m watching up on my arcs)

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein was spicy, and sweet at the same time. I didn’t know this was an interconnected stand alone to My Big Fat Fake Marriage. It was fun to see sneak peeks of Beck in this one! I thought that the characters definitely had intimate chemistry, but the romantic chemistry wasn’t very strong. I think the middle of this lost me a bit but I really liked the underlying messages about body positivity, sex positivity and how nasty paparazzi can be. 3/5

*When Grumpy Met Sunshine* by Charlotte Stein is a laugh-out-loud rom-com that gives you the best of opposites attract. The story pairs Mabel Willicker, a curvy, bubbly, warm, and *adorably* blush-prone ghostwriter, with Alfie Harding, a retired footballer who’s more grump than charm. Mabel’s hired to ghostwrite Alfie’s memoir after 17 failed attempts (I mean, how bad does one guy have to be at writing his own story?), and, spoiler alert: Alfie isn’t exactly thrilled about it. But after a few hilarious miscommunications and an accidental mix-up that makes everyone think they’re a couple, they decide to fake it until they make it. But here’s the real question—are they pretending, or is their chemistry the real deal?

Mabel is the kind of character you want to hug and be friends with. She's sweet, warm, and has the kind of charm that gets people to spill their guts—perfect for writing a juicy memoir. Alfie, on the other hand, is grumpy, blunt, and allergic to talking about himself. He’s basically a walking mood swing, but underneath all that crankiness, he’s sharp, practical, and somehow... intense? The dynamic between these two is gold, even if it sometimes feels a little over-the-top.

For the first 60% of the book, I was all in—laughing, rooting for them, and fully invested in their hilarious journey. But then the next 30% turned into an endless steam-fest. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to a little spice, but when the plot is put on pause just to steam things up without adding much to the story, I started to lose a little interest. Thankfully, the final 8-10% of the book picked things up again and ended on a high note.

My other tiny complaint? The swearing. Like, we get it, characters have *feelings*, but it felt a bit excessive at times.

All in all, this book sucked me right into Alfie and Mabel’s world. It was sweet, funny, and packed with witty banter that made me grin the entire time. The characters were perfectly fleshed out, and I loved the way their living situations were described—just really set the scene for their whole relationship. Would I recommend it? Heck yes, just maybe skip ahead when the spice gets a little too much.

I tried to get into this a few times, but it just wasn’t my vibe. I have recommended it to several people who really loved it!

I enoyed the set up of this one but there was just too much banter and dialogue. It actually took away from the way the romance was building for me. I was getting frustrated with their interactions instead of enjoying them.

This book was entertaining and fun. The inner dialogue was a bit hard to follow along with in the beginning. This book was cute and fluffy. The banter was great and the spice was spicing. I love a good grumpy sunshine story and this one was a hit.

I love a good grumpy-meets-sunshine romance, and Alfie Harding—basically a scorching-hot Roy Kent with a heart of gold—delivers on that front. Mabel Willicker, the sharp and observant ghostwriter, is equally compelling.

However, the endless banter bogs the story down, often feeling more like a Tarantino-esque dialogue marathon than natural conversation. With little action or plot momentum, I found myself skimming just to get to the end.

There’s real potential here, especially with the workplace romance and opposites-attract dynamic, but a tighter edit would have made for a much stronger read. Three stars.

Look, I love a good grumpy/sunshine romance as much as anyone. The idea of a ray of sunshine breaking through a broody, dark cloud? Yes, please! But "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" just didn't quite click for me, and honestly, it mostly came down to Mabel.
Alfie? I got him. I really got him. That man was a mood, and I was here for it. His grumpiness felt real, his vulnerability was touching, and I found myself wanting to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay. But Mabel? Oh, Mabel. I tried, I really did. I wanted to love her infectious positivity, but it felt… forced? Like she was trying too hard to be sunshiney, and it ended up feeling more like a relentless, blinding glare. I just couldn't connect with her, and that made it hard to care about her journey.
And let's talk about the "angel farts" thing. Seriously? I get it, it was supposed to be quirky and endearing, but it just made me cringe. It felt so out of place, so jarring, that it pulled me right out of the story. I kept thinking, "Did she really just write that?"
Honestly, I wanted to love this book. I wanted to swoon over Alfie and cheer for Mabel, but it just didn't happen. I think if Mabel's character had been a bit more nuanced, a bit less aggressively cheerful, I might have enjoyed it more. As it was, I felt like I was watching a play where one actor was giving an Oscar-worthy performance (Alfie), and the other was… well, let's just say they were trying very hard.
If you're a die-hard grumpy hero fan and you can handle a heroine who's basically a human sunbeam, you might enjoy this. But for me, it was a bit of a miss.

I like the characters. I think Miss Stein build the characters perfectly. And the hero who secretly wants to be a writer is adding the swoon effect.

What I miss is the writing. The book is full of cute banter. Somehow I can not connect with any of the banter.