Very thankful that I got to read an arc of this. One of the biggest strengths of this story was the banter. It felt really organic and it flowed, both the MMC and FMC were great when it came to this. However, I believe that one of the biggest weaknesses of this story was that perhaps there was too much dialogue and not enough emphasis on desire. Lastly, I don’t like how the third act breakup occurred. I’m not anti-third act break up. I love them but I just think this one was poorly executed.

This was a delightful, actually funny, and surprisingly horny romcom. I loved that the characters were in their thirties. I loved how sweet and gentle they were while also being teasing and protective. All of that was phenomenal. What wasn't great was the fact that they were incapable of telling each other that they had feelings, even though, again, they were older characters. They weren't together at all in this book. Then, the thing that really killed me, was instead of saying that they loved each other, they were separated for a YEAR for no reason other than that they never told each other that they cared. Then turns out they did love each other the entire time, and than bam, the book was over. Really ended on a frustrating note for me because there was absolutely no legitimate reason that two adults had to break up for a year over less than nothing. While that really soured the book for me, the writing was great, and the majority of the book was exactly what I wanted, so the rating is still high over all, but not as a high as it would have been if there wasn't a dumb break up at the final hour.

The grump sunshine trope has me in a chokehold and this book is no different. OOFFFF. I loved this book so much!

I originally received When Grumpy Met Sunshine from NetGalley before the St. Martin’s Press boycott. I am thankful to Charlotte Stein for the opportunity to read her 2024 book; however, I will not be posting a full review until the SMP Boycott’s conditions are met.

The grumpy was center stage from page one, very enjoyable. There was teasing humor throughout the book that I enjoyed. The chemistry between Alfie and Mabel was a big thirst trap.

Stein's writing style is engaging, and the characters are well-developed although the MMC was clearly inspired by Roy from Ted Lasso. While some readers may find the premise predictable, others will appreciate the charming dynamics between the characters. Overall, a light and enjoyable read that will appeal to romcom lovers.

Give me a cute cover, fun title and an interesting sounding blurb and I'll be requesting the book all day. Unfortunately this one fell short for me.

Mabel is a ghost writer who meets grumpy, ex-footballer Alfie and is tasked with writing his memoir. For a book title using the trope grumpy sunshine, he doesn't seem grumpy for all that long. Also, I love a good banter between characters, but at what point is it too much?

The first 60% was cute enough, but once they start banging, where did the plot go? I didn't realize there was so much of that.

Another thing, I LOVED the tv show, Ted Lasso. I've even rewatched it a few times. And I love the character, Roy Kent, but I am so over fictional characters written with inspiration of him.

*Thank you to the St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review! *

This is the story of Mabel and Alfie and it was delightfully fun and steamy. Alfie is a professional (footballer) soccer player in the UK and he wants to write his memoir. Mabel gets hired to be his ghostwriter.

There is a definite attraction between them but Mabel is wary of Alfie given her plus size body. While she’s not ashamed of herself, she is careful with her heart because of the way the world works. And Alfie gets a lesson in this when the press mistakenly assume that Mabel is his new girlfriend and start to talk about her in less than positive terms.

There is really good relationship development between the two of them. There is great banter and sweet and funny scenes, as well as some pretty decent spice. This was a humorous and romantic read!

I was super excited to listen to this book as the cover is adorable and the title is one of my favorite tropes. How cute are these two on the cover?

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 liked the narrator though. She had a very calming presence with a British accent, however I also wonder if her reading made the story feel slow?

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Charlotte Stein for a copy of this audio arc.

Read if you enjoy
💕Grumpy x Sunshine
💕Fake Dating
💕Workplace Romance
💕Opposites Attract
💕Plus Size FMC
💕Forced Proximity
💕 Sports Romance

I really really wanted to like this book. I think the idea of the book is great, it sounded like it would be such a good read but honestly I really struggled not to DNF this book, and I do not believe in DNFING. With that being said, just because I don’t like this book, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try. You still may like it.

This book started off with great promise. I feel like there was a lot of information that didn’t need to be in it and a lot of things that should have been talked about more. I wish this book had a lot more detail in the surroundings,and things that were happening. This book would switch between first and third person , which isn’t a complete bad thing. One of the things that bothered me the most was how often the same sentence would be repeated just with a couple word changes. There was a time the FMC thought the same thing three times in a row with just different wording. The MMC honestly just didn’t seem realistic to me at all. I could not even pretend he was real with how he was just gullible and the way certain things went over his head or the way he spoke I just couldn’t grasp the story.

Again I really wish I liked this book, but that just wasn’t in the cards for me. I hope you still give this book a try. Even though I am giving a bad review for it, it still deserves a chance.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is, you guessed it, a "grumpy x sunshine", "fake dating" romance. While the premise and story itself are cute, I didn't love the writing style. Personally, I found everything to be a little too blunt and spelt out. This didn't necessarily make it a bad story, it just wasn't what I was looking to read right now. If you are looking for a light, tropey romance though, you might really enjoy this!

I struggled with this one at the beginning because the writing style would jump back and forth between dialogue and inner monologue. Even though there were some funny moments, I had a difficult time trying to keep things straight. It wasn't until about halfway through that I started to enjoy it.

Alfie is the grump and hides much of his personality behind grunts and gruff replies. Mabel's patient and understanding nature helps tease out his softer side. Their conversations display how well-suited they are to each other even if Mabel believes he could never feel the same about her.

Be forewarned this is a slow burn. I thought the end was worth my initial struggles with it. It's really sweet. I did wish there was more interaction between Mabel and her friends. They just appear here and there and mostly through text. The book relies heavily on Mabel and Alfie, and at times I needed to hear other voices and interactions to break things up.

Readers who enjoy grumpy x sunshine will enjoy this one. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

I absolutely adored this book!! I picked it out thinking it would be your basic grumpy/sunshine but it really wasn’t. The fake dating aspect was great but it seemed a little too real for both of them the whole time. I also loved how there wasn’t a specific grumpy or sunshine. Mabel and Alfie played both parts perfectly.

I struggled to get into this one. The characters were extremely lovable. Think Roy Kent from Ted Lasso. Their dynamic was sweet and had me rooting for them. The pace was just too slow for me.

More like 4.25 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read my first Charlotte Stein book. This story is about ex-footballer, Alfie Harding, and the ghostwriter he's hired, Mabel Willicker. Alfie has a reputation for being a grump, while Mabel shoots sunshine wherever she goes. And the story devolves into both characters sharing their true selves with each other, while skirting social media speculation of their relationship, which got very emotional due to the very harsh descriptions of Mabel's curvy self. It took me a while to get used to the narrative style Stein used for this story: a somewhat choppy prose, all from Mabel's POV, with each chapter ending with either social media excerpts on the goings on from the chapter, or text messages with Mabel's friends. But once I got used to the narrative, after a couple of chapters, I really enjoyed the story. It had a lot of funny banter between Alfie and Mabel, and the sex got very steamy once the characters succumbed to their attraction to each other. Very steamy. Very steamy. Charlotte Stein can write steam. Woo..... I loved the ending, and I will definitely be reading more Charlotte Stein.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review “When Grumpy Met Sunshine.” Not every book is for every reader and this book did not work for me, unfortunately. I liked Mabel and Allie as characters - I did not enjoy the narrative style. It felt like the characters never said what they meant and it got old really fast reading pages and pages of their non-communication. I also did not enjoy the interludes between the chapters (seemed like filler) and I don't understand why Mabel never did any actual writing? Anyway, the cover is adorable and fans of sports romances or fake dating tropes may find this works better for them.

As someone who is a huge grumpy/sunshine trope fan, I was instantly drawn to this book based on the name! I liked both of the MCs, even if they were infuriating to me sometimes! (but who isnt??) Overall this was a fun read and I will read more by this author in the future!

I read this in both ebook and audiobook format and liked both a lot! The audiobook narrator was great!

I struggled with this one a lot because the writing style was not working for me. It felt choppy and disconnected, which made it difficult to get into a reading flow. There also were many moments where it felt like information was missing or just poorly described, which took me out of it. I liked the idea of the plot, but the characters themselves felt too immature for their supposed ages. I'm still giving it 3 stars, because I think this will appeal to, and work for, some people, it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

I had to DNF this book after a few chapters.

The writing style was not for me. It felt like one big run-on sentence. I'm no editor or English professor, but I felt that way because 75% of the sentences started with conjunctions (And, Or, So, and But were common ones). It was rambling to me.

Additionally, the characters weren't really introduced. It just jumps into a situation and I was left wondering, who are these people and why do I care?

Let me start by saying that I LOVED the cover art. I was immediately drawn to it and clicked "Request" before even reading the blurb. Then I read the blurb, and I was still super excited to read it. Enemies to lovers - what's not to love?!

But then I started reading and it was just...awkward. Alfie Harding's character was so caveman meets cringe. I just didn't feel any chemistry and the plot was lacking. Maybe next time, Charlotte Stein.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.