“When Grumpy Met Sunshine” presents a steamy narrative, exploring the dynamic between the grumpy retired footballer Alfie Harding and the lively ghostwriter Mabel Willicker. The story hinges on their undeniable chemistry as they navigate the challenges of revealing Alfie’s life story. While the premise is promising, my overall experience with the book left me with mixed feelings.

The novel delves into the opposites-attract trope, injecting humor and banter into the interactions between Alfie and Mabel. The narrative cleverly employs the fake dating scenario, adding an entertaining twist to the plot. Emily Spowage’s narration, with its raspy quality, contributes a raw and engaging element that complements the story’s tone.

However, my main concern lies in the execution of the romance. Despite the numerous steamy scenes, the connection between Mabel and Alfie felt somewhat underdeveloped. The focus on intimate moments seemed to overshadow the emotional depth needed to convincingly portray a romantic relationship. This imbalance gave the impression of a narrative leaning more towards a developing friendship rather than a couple in the throes of love.

The limited backstories for both characters contributed to this lack of emotional investment. A more comprehensive exploration of their pasts could have enriched the narrative, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the protagonists and enhancing the authenticity of their connection.

On a positive note, the banter between Mabel and Alfie was a highlight. Mabel’s ability to coax Alfie into revealing the necessary details for his memoir added a layer of charm to their interactions. The fake dating aspect was also enjoyable, injecting a dose of humor and intrigue into the storyline.

In conclusion, “When Grumpy Met Sunshine” offers a mix of entertaining elements, from witty banter to a cleverly implemented fake dating plot. However, the lack of a compelling romantic connection and limited character backstories left the overall impression somewhat flat. Despite these shortcomings, Emily Spowage’s narration adds a unique dimension to the audiobook, enhancing the raw and engaging quality of the story.

I received a DRC of this book from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was everything. If you love a good slow-burn, grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract, steamy, work romance, then this one is for you!

I have to gush over the MMC Alfie, who is a former athlete selling his memoirs (but he’s not a writer) and the FMC Mabel, who is a ghostwriter. This duo was just thoroughly enjoyable in all regards. For me, there was so much laughter and delight—absolute pure satisfaction from this story. 10/10 highly recommend!

#GrumpySunshine #Romance #OppositesAttract #SlowBurn #Spicy #CharlotteStein #WhenGrumpyMetSunshine #WorkRomance #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

I love a good grumpy sunshine plus this one has fake dating sprinkled in, which I also enjoyed. I love the connection Alfie and Mabel found as she was working on ghosting writing his book. Their banter was wonderful, something happened in this book that hasn't happened in any other book. I love certain pages and then the next page I didn't love. Overall I liked it, I wish it was a dual pot but with the ending it makes sense why it wasn't written that way,

Unfortunately due to the current SMP boycott, I will not post my review until the concerns are addressed..

****3.5 stars****

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is romcom following our sunshine character Mabel Willicker, a cutesy, talkative professional ghostwriter who has been tasked with the writing of a memoir for the very famously grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding. (Aflie fucking Harding). Alfie has a reputation for being quick to anger, irritable when asked questions, and for being the best footballer. Oh and he dates posh super models. So when Mabel comes in all thick and curvy and cutesy and very much not posh or a super model, she is ready to come up against a condescending bully and not get the job. Except she does, to her surprise and she is going to find out that Alfie isn’t at all what everyone else believes, and he may just be a danger for her heart.

I generally don’t go for romances that involve sports or fame because I don’t like the premise of either of those things, however, when I saw the cute cover and the grumpy/sunshine and fake dating tropes I gave in and decided to give it a try. The fame aspect is the biggest part that comes into play in the plot of this. The “sports” romance part of this is merely a mention of the former profession that made him famous and rich. So if you are like me and are afraid there might be too much sporting involved, don’t worry. The story is told solely from Mabel’s POV, and you follow her as she gets to know Alfie, who right away, isn’t all that grumpy, not really really. Actually, Alfie is kind of weird and babbly just Mabel. Though maybe in a more grumpy way, and only because she brings it out of him. And it’s cute.

I liked both of the characters and found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of their situation and the things they got themselves into. I think Mabel can easily be the kind of character you either relate to or get annoyed by, she can be babbly, silly, ridiculous and pretty self-conscious especially being a bigger girl who is now in the public eye being criticized by fans of a famous guy. I personally related because honestly? I too would not believe for a fucking second a hot rich famous dude wanted me of all people.

The things that bring my rating down were mostly the writing of this was different than I am used to. The characters talk A LOT, and it long drawn out babbling sentences that go on for a long time. Both of them. I got used to it after a while, but it was something I noticed immediately. And the majority of this book is just talking. Lots of banter and jokes babbling to each other to get information, which in its own way is cute. It made for a weird sense of time passing though. I had no idea how much time had passed between the start of their fake relationship to the end. At some point I think it had mentioned months? But it felt like three days. Because, Mabel and Alfie barely did anything but meet up and talk and eventually meet up and get naked. I think I would have liked to see more of them going out on fake dates and having more run-ins with paparazzi and stuff like that to make it feel like they were doing stuff and give Alfie more room to show the protective and angry side of himself. Because when he is alone with Mabel, he isn’t the grump, he’s just a cinnamon roll and that’s the majority of what we see since they never get the opportunity to be in the places that bring out the grumpiness that he is supposedly known for. And the ending, to this was also not my favorite, *** not to spoil***, it wasn’t the worst, but I don’t like it when things take that long to resolve even if its off page.

Overall, I thought this was a fun book. I thought the characters were cute and if you want a silly romcom that’s pretty low stakes and has a lot of over-the-top silly conversations, this could be fun for you too.

3.5 rounded to 4

I adored a lot of the banter in this romcom. I also liked the opposites attract.

Unfortunately, while there were many wonderfully funny moments, the dialogue did tend to get lengthy--without managing to delve deeply into character, motivation, and especially connections with the past. So many questions left unanswered, while superficials got repetition. And the ending felt forced.

Will look for this writer's next, though!

This has a slow start it is a grumpy sunshine hence the title. But what I really loved was the main charters and the interactions. Yes they had miss communications but Alfie was so much more than a grump and I loved him. Once you get into it it really picks up and is really funny and steamy.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for thus E arc in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I wanted to like this story, I think it just started off strange to me, like I was playing catch up or something. Honestly it wasn't until over halfway through and the ending that I liked. Loved the body positivity aspect and that he does love her, but this just wasn't it for me.

3.5/5 stars. I enjoyed this book. The writing style was different than I’m used to (third person pov) and there were some things that happened that I didn’t agree with; but I did grow attached and relate to both main characters. I felt seen by both Alfie and Mabel, which I wasn’t expecting. It feels like they both have pieces of me sewn into them. Plus, the Smut in this is way better than I thought it would be.

While they’re fake dating to appease the public, Mabel brings out the hidden parts of Alfie, the things he’s never shown or told anyone, and they start to fall for each other. The last few chapters definitely took me by surprise. I feel like if they communicated even a little bit it wouldn’t have happened like that but it did give us his memoir which was a pleasant surprise and really got me in my feels. I would recommend this book to people, I would just make sure to let them know the tropes first.

I loved this book.. really starting to enjoying the ROM -coms. Great characters and story line. Would highly recommend

2.5 stars

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a pretty standard rom-com retelling of Cinderella/Pride and Prejudice, and I thought Charlotte Stein’s take on these stories showed a lot of promise but ultimately fell short. Mabel and Alfie both have a bit of their backstories explained—they grew up in similarly trying circumstances in the north of England—but it feels like significant parts of their histories get left out, so I wasn’t completely sure how both got to where we meet them. I also thought this was a book that would have benefitted from dual-perspective narration, as the reader sees everything entirely through Mabel’s eyes and doesn’t get much insight into what Alfie thinks. The whole “she’s his ghostwriter” setup falls apart pretty quickly, and overall I just had too many small nitpicks to overlook how they added up into a book that wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped it would be.

I absolutely loved the fake dating romcom When Grumpy Met Sunshine by @charlotte.stein. It came out last week and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, steamy romance. I’m so grateful to @stmartinspress for an advanced e-copy and to @macmillan.audio for an ALC.

Ghost writer Mabel Willicker isn’t sure she’s the right person to write grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding’s memoir, and their first meeting doesn’t go well. He calls her a cupcake, and as a plus-sized woman she doesn’t take it well. But after rejecting lots of ghostwriters, Alfie wants Mabel. No one can know what they’re working on—since he’s supposed to be writing the book—so when they’re photographed together the press screams Cinderella story romance. The only logical thing for them to do is pretend the relationship is real, right? But the more time Mable spends with Alfie, the more she realizes there’s a lot more to him than he shows the world.

Okay, this one did have the miscommunication trope. Or more specifically, the not communicating trope, but I understand why it happened and even though it was frustrating to watch, I bought it. The most important thing was I loved both these characters. They were incredibly endearing, easy to root for, and so, so funny. When they did communicate with each other—because they had a lot of amazing conversations—it was insanely swoony.

I was really surprised by the steam in this book. It wasn’t a five eggplant book (I don’t even know what that means), but there was a lot of dirty talk and definitely an open door. I think I’ve become so used to books set in England being more closed door. Is that even true? I feel like there are a ton of very sweet British romcoms that I’ve loved, and so the first time this one crossed over the sweet, closed door line, I wasn’t expecting it. But the steamy scenes were really well done.

I loved listening to this book. The narrator did a fabulous job immersing me in the setting. I absolutely got into Mabel’s head and it’s always more fun to listen to books set in England in a British accent. This was the exact book I needed and it would be a great February listen.

Summary
Mabel is a ghost writer. Somehow she ended up being selected by footballer Alfie Harding to write his memoir, despite the fact he seemed annoyed with her and incredibly grumpy and opposite of her sunshiney self. When Mabel is spotted leaving his house, it is presumed that they are in a relationship, and since they can't let the world know Alfie has a ghostwriter, fake-dating it is. As Mabel and Alfie spend more time together, they begin opening up to each other and a friendship develops, along with chemistry. Do they have a chance at happily ever after, or is fake-dating all it will be?

Review
I really wanted to love this. I love a grumpy-sunshine. And I did enjoy it, especially after we started getting into the book.
I pictured a bigger Roy Kent as Alfie.I think the third person narration took away from the story a bit. It was third person but from Mabel's perspective. I would have loved to see inside Alfie's mind in a Dual POV. The story definitely had heart and the characters were well developed and you could feel the connection, but for some reason the start was slow for me.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

DNF at 30% - I will not be reviewing on social platforms since I didn't finish it.

I'm sorry, I really tried to like this one. The cover is super cute and really drew me in, and I liked that the FMC is plus sized.

My main complaints that ultimately lead to my putting it down with no intention of picking back up:
One-dimensional and stereotypical characterization. I was so tired of hearing Mabel thinking she was unworthy of any happiness because she's overweight.
A LOT of miscommunication.

I tried both reading the e-arc and an audio version.

2 stars for what I did read.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. This book gave me mixed feelings - the beginning was slow, with lots of dialogue to establish the main character's relationship and about halfway through, it turned into a very steamy book with a spicy scene in every chapter. It was a like a switch flipped, which took me aback. It was also full of miscommunication that could've been avoided if they had just been honest with each other at any point in the book. When it got spicier, I enjoyed it a bit more if only because something was actually happening. I would overall give this a 2.5/5

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Charlotte Stein book, so I was super excited for this release.

This is a forced proximity, fake dating, opposites attract romance featuring a grumpy footballer and the ghost writer he has hired to write his life story. It’s funny, and kept me smiling, often laughing out loud at the dialogue between this couple.

Mabel Willicker, ghostwriter and quirky sunshine girl, first meets famous ex-football player Alfie Harding during an interview and is immediately put off by his grouchiness and rude commentary. (Think Roy Kent) So, she walks out on him…but after a stalking misunderstanding and a pepper spray incident they agree that she will help him work on his book. There is an immediate connection, a spark shared over stories of their childhoods that are strikingly similar. He seems to be a softer version of himself around her and begrudgingly opens up and lets her see the real man inside. But it doesn’t take long for the paparazzi to realize Alfie has a new girlfriend, which is where the fake dating comes in.

I will say that this is a slow born romance with a lot of heat and build up. The entirety of the story is told from Mabel’s POV, and she’s obviously burning up alive for Alfie, even though she thinks she isn’t his type. These two are fun together, but sometimes it felt like the lively back and forth banter and inner musings of the heroine sometimes got in the way of the romance development. The misunderstanding trope is heavily leaned on, and I kind of wanted Alfie to be honest with Mabel instead of playing in to her belief that they were just friends who were getting it out of their systems and that she wasn’t his type. I think a couple of scenes from his POV during heated moments would have been nice.

I liked the ending and HEA; it was sweet and felt right for this couple. But readers should be aware that there is a one-year time skip between the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING and the reconciliation and all of it takes place in the last 10% or so. But all in all, this was a fun sexy read that I would recommend.

Final grade- B-

Content notes- mentions of parental alcoholism and neglect, fatphobia

The premise is a sure-fire attention getter for most romance readers -- opposites attract with fake relationship. Toss in a dead ringer for Ted Lasso's Roy Kent and a smart & funny woman and this title will pique interest. It has a slow burn start and spends time really focusing on the dialogue. The readers who get past the first half will be rewarded with a very fun and flirty read. Recommended for libraries with a large and varied adult romance collection. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Unfortunately, this was an ultimate no from me. I struggled to get through the excess of banter without loosing track of what they were actually talking about, usually finding that the entire conversation (if we can even call it that) did not accomplish anything. The glaring similarity of Alfie as Roy Kent was so overly blatant that it felt underdeveloped and a lazy pass at "creating" and interesting character. I had hope for Mabel at first but she also disappointed in the end. I found her narration more whiny that upbeat or optimistic. There was no development or growth from either character. It seemed like Alfie immediately had feelings for Mabel, with little to no explanation, yet it took 90% of the book for Mabel to even start to be convinced that he might actually like her (this during/after the fake dating that included very real kissing and physical intimacy).
The story itself was overly long, which just made me bored and frustrated at about the half way point. The dialogue, while also lengthy, was confusing and distracting and we never get any true backstory or answers to why Mabel is so hesitant to trust that he likes her. The theme of social media along with size is barely addressed and could have played a bigger role to help better understand Mabel. But, again, it ended up just being frustrating and left me with very little empathy for Mabel's "situation."
I think this could have been more enjoyable with a dual perspective.
IMO, this book needs some serious editing and help.
Don't even get me started on using the trope as the title.

It wasn't that this book is bad, and I'm more than positive that lots of people will enjoy this book, it just really wasn't for me. I didn't like the dynamic between the love interests and found the dialogue to be jarring.

I also despise miscommunication tropes, except if it's a situational thing, but this book was chalk full of it and I just couldn't get past it.

When grumpy and emotionally-challenged ex-footballer, Alfie Harding is paired with cute and bubbly ghostwriter, Mabel Willicker, the two opposites banter and bicker their way through the writing process of Alfie’s new memoir. As the pair meet up for multiple writing sessions, local paparazzi create a firestorm with the tabloids, insinuating curvy and cherry Mabel is Alfie’s latest flame. As the two pretend to be an item, their fake relationship brings out a sizzling chemistry neither can ignore. If you love a spicy, opposites attract novel, you’ll want to pick up this new novel by Charlotte Stein.