the thing about me is when i see a leni kauffman cover, i’m going to read the book! i’m obsessed with everything she does!!

the book wasn’t bad! there was a plot but it wasn’t plotty, if that makes sense. i’m a big ted lasso girlie and alfie & mabel we’re very roy x keeley coded which was a lot of fun!! alfie might’ve been more like s1 roy kent than s1 roy kent was

the last chapter, though, was EVERYTHING to me! i know that might sound bad but it wrapped up everything so perfectly and it made me cry and i just loved it so much. such a perfect end to alfie & mabel’s story <3

DNF at 56%


Maybe I wasn’t in the romance mood like I had thought I was, I don’t know. I just really did not enjoy this book. The cover is cute, the storyline had so much potential, it just ultimately fell completely flat for me and I couldn’t force myself to finish it.

I’m with the rest of you: this novel is like a sun-kissed day at the beach! It’s warm, inviting, and impossible to put down. "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein is a delightful yet steamy romance pairing two seemingly mismatched souls in a tableau of wit, banter, and undeniable chemistry.

Meet Alfie Harding. He’s a retired footballer and the epitome of grumpy: allergic to emotions, reluctant to reveal anything about himself, and convinced he can never write his memoirs.

Meet Mabel Willicker. She’s a curvy, sunshine-outta-her-bottom ghostwriter with sass and determination. (She’s kinda my girl! I love her.) Mabel knows how to coax every little detail out of Alfie, even if it means navigating his prickly exterior. Until their business arrangement takes an unexpected turn.

Stein's writing is sharp, witty, and infused with heart. To me, she captures the push-and-pull of Alfie and Mabel's dynamic and the pacing kept me turning pages, eager to devour the next chapter.

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is a charming escape from the day-to-day. This tale of opposites attracting, secrets unraveling, and love blooming unexpectedly is the perfect choice if you are craving a feel-good read. This book delivers - you won't regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a book that surprised me. I fully admit I went into this a little uncertain; there is goofy cheeky banter straight from the beginning, and the male MC is not my usual flavor in what I read. I was hesitant that maybe this wouldn't be a romcom I would enjoy. I am happy to be proven wrong, especially by that ending.

There are definitely some rocky patches for me as a reader; sometimes the lightheartedness and quick banter felt like it was too much, and I wanted more time to breathe and let the characters breathe too. But it does make sense for these two MCs to be this way; talkative, anxious, both their own worst enemies at times. Its a really fascinating dynamic, more than just grumpy meets sunshine, although the grumpy was VERY grumpy at first!

This is a book of inner lives and surprises. The MCs have to go through growth to realize their own secret inner selves, and how to express them, AND also learn about each other's and how to respect and care for them. The structure of the book is interesting too; I feel like it doesn't quite fit the (now standard) plot beat pacing of romcoms and I actually really enjoyed that. There's a time skip that will surprise you, but the outcome of it is AMAZING? I wasn't sold, and then oh my gosh was I on board.

The ending of the whole book is worth it to read, even if you're uncertain of the tropes or writing style within. You need to get to the ending. Its so romantic and emotional, and so believable. Truly my heart ahhhhhhhhhh a lovely ending.

A total departure from what I’m used to from Charlotte Stein, but honestly, she could write the phone book and I’d read it! This was a LOT of fun and wonderfully romantic! I loved it!

ALL THE STARS.

This was such a DELICIOUS AND DELIGHTFUL slow burn. I can see this being one of my best reads of 2024 because it has lived rent free in my brain for months.

Also, if we could please get Brett Goldstein to narrate, it would make my life since it was Roy Kent’s voice I heard as I read, please and thank you.

I wanted to like this, the cover is adorable and the synopsis intrigued me. But the writing didn’t work for me at all and it could have used more editing.

This is my first Charlotte Stein book, and while the title can tell you the trope, it was a cute and sweet story with small town antics. I loved reading about the characters and finding their why behind their motives. Great book championing the small town and local kiddos while they traverse the path to love!

I really want authors to have original ideas. I was so looking forward to a Roy Kent-Esq MMC but I’ve learned that no one and nothing can compare to the original. Overall I was disappointed in this story and felt like I couldn’t connect to or enjoy any of it.

I wanted to like this -- the characters are likable! But the writing wasn't really there for me. It's overwritten at parts, and the end feels extremely rushed.

- Fake Dating
- Forced Proximity
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Plus Size FMC
- Spice (1/5 🌶️)

Mable is a Ghostwriter who is plus size and happy living in the background after her trauma filled childhood.

Alfie is a retired footballer attempting to write his memoir but is struggling because its only a career, he took due to his alcoholic father’s pushing.

After series of hilarious but absurd events Mable has taken on the task of getting the cold exterior footballer to open up.

When they have to start “fake dating” so word doesn’t get out that he’s using a ghost writer lines get blurred.

Mis-communication always causes heartbreak.

The way the came back together is beautiful.

The main character Afie reminded me of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso which is perfect for a grumpy meets sunshine. The dialogue at times felt excessively too long and/or forced banter which took away from the overall flow of the story and character development . Their year apart also felt unnecessary. Thank you Net Galley for a copy of the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

This story sounds so cute and has a few of my favorite tropes, but it was a little long-winded for me. The audiobook was a hard to follow despite listening to many British accented English audiobooks and I had to slow down the speed. The banter was somewhat immature and I couldn't get into the characters. It has a lot of potential just didn't work for me.

This book was so delightfully horny! An grumpy English soccer player who primarily communicates in grunts and growls (very Roy Kent from Ted Lasso!) and his cheery memoir ghost-writer--who has more going on under the surface than she likes to reveal--have off-the-charts chemistry! I read this in one massively frenzied sitting! A+

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a fun, banter-filled romance that fans of Ted Lasso will enjoy!

Mabel Willicker is a ghostwriter hired to write the memoir of Alfie Harding, a notoriously grumpy retired footballer, written in the image of Roy Kent. When images of the two together make their way to the British tabloids, they agree to pursue a fake relationship—and discover real feelings along the way.

Some of the more enjoyable elements of this book were the banter between the two leads, and Alfie's total appreciation and obsession with Mabel. The writing style was a bit odd; it leaned very heavily on dialogue and almost had too much banter. I really appreciated the representation of a plus-sized main character, though I wish that she had been less preoccupied with the idea that a sexy man would never be interested in her—even as Alfie showed his interest in a million ways!

Overall, this was a 3 star read for me but I recommend for Ted Lasso fans and those who enjoy British romcoms!

Alfie is an ex-footballer and Mabel is his ghost writer. The unlikely pair match up quite nicely actually even though it doesn’t seem like they would at first. Stein always comes up with the most unique characters who have their own quirks, so I enjoyed that aspect of the book a lot.

However, I did find the beginning to be quite slow. It took me a while to get back into her writing style since it’s so unique. As a result, I found that I didn’t immediately love this book as soon as I started it, but rather it grew on me slowly.

I think if you’re a fan of rooting for unlikely pairings, then I think you’ll enjoy this opposites-attract novel. Alfie definitely lightens up and we can see a great romance bloom between the two of them.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine seemed like it would be a sweet rom-com and there were elements that I really enjoyed about it. However, I'm a clean romance reader, and this had a spice level all its own!

That said, the banter was wonderful and I really enjoyed the characters who each felt unseen for different reasons. One was a famous footballer who hated the sport, and the other was the ghostwriter of his upcoming autobiography, sworn to secrecy by the very nature of her profession. While their lives seemed like polar opposites, as they started to get to know one another, they found all sorts of connections and similarities that drew them closer into each other's confidence.

Thanks to Charlotte Stein, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

In case you can’t quite tell from the title, When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein is new UK-set grumpy x sunshine romance! However, what I thought was going to be an opposites attract romance slowly turned into something different.


I feel deceived by the summary of this book. Not in that it’s inaccurate, but that I was so excited for this book and had such high hopes for a cute romcom and instead I started reading a book I was thoroughly confused by…

Ok so these two people who are supposed to be a ex-professional soccer player and a prolific ghost writer are having a conversation that’s giving off the same energy as two socially awkward chimpanzees interacting for the first time...?

And somehow cleaning someone’s eyes of the pepper spray that you sprayed them with is erotic??? Color me confused!

Additionally, the flow of this novel felt very disjointed. For example, some chapters were just 3-4 pages of Mabel’s thoughts during a 30 seconds moment and then the next sentence was like “and then we ate dinner for 3 hours and went home.” Why there were inconsequential moments being stretched out and major plot points being glossed over is beyond me and it made the flow of this novel very bizarre.

Aside from all of that, there were a few steamy scenes that I enjoyed and the last chapter/ending was kind of satisfying? But it just took so long to get to any good parts (no joke: I got to a fake dating trope at the 50% mark of this ebook) that I almost gave up on this book a few times.

I’m not sure I’d necessarily recommend this book to anyone, but you’re welcome to read this book if it strikes your fancy!

*I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest opinion.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein is an opposites-attract romance. This is the story of Mabel and Alfie.
 
Alfie was a professional soccer player, and he is rather closed off and a private person. We only get to see glimpses of him, and it was very difficult to connect to him and sometimes he was too grumpy. At the same time, it made people even more curious about him and a biography about him is being published. And that’s where Mabel comes into the picture.
 
Mabel is a ghost writer, and she has such a vibrant and creative personality. She is basically the opposite in every way and their writing process is quite the ride. Mabel is a lovely person and basically carried this story forward.
 
The concept and title immediately intrigued me, and it was definitely a cute story, but I wanted more from it. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel the romance in this story and there were too many hurdles for me.
 
Overall, if you like romcoms, this might be a story for you. 3 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Obviously Grumpy x Sunshine - YES

Roy Kent inspired MMC - YES

Fake Dating - YES

I just loved this. As a big fan of Ted Lasso (but weirdly not a soccer fan), I did love our grumpy MMC Alfie. He had that same Roy Kent-ish ability to deadpan the sweetest, most romantic thing and just say it like it’s a completely normal thing.

And our FMC is amazing as well ❤️ you know, gotta give a girl some love too.