Obsessed with Charlotte Stein's sense of humor. Also this was super spicy with great fat rep. Where those aspects excelled, the pacing was odd to me and the miscommunication trope was used too heavily.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for the advanced copy of this book.
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I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it left a lot to be desired for me. The beginning started out great, with as the title suggests, grumpy Alfie meeting sunshine-filled Mabel. Mabel is tasked with ghostwriting Alfie's memoir, but the former footballer (soccer for the Americans) hates revealing even the most trivial of facts about himself. As she tries to peel back the layers to him, the press desperately wants to know who this mysterious new woman in his life is. Why not fake a relationship, and hook up as friends-with-benefits while trying to finish the book.
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The first half of the book played out alright, but the second half dragged its feet. Mabel can't get past thinking about her own weight, and her spirals were endless making her not quite the sunshine heroine of the title, and Alfie could be frankly obnoxious in his refusal to speak. At some point, I just wanted to ask him why he even had any interest in writing a book if he would rather everyone just left him alone. Ultimately, I wanted to like these characters, but it was hard to root for either of them.

I’m sorry, but I really disliked this book. I tried to read this contemporary after reading her paranormal, but both books were really hard for me to get through.

DNF@ 24%

This is just poorly written Roy Kent fanfiction. It's repetitive and the dialogue is ridiculous. Maybe if it was edited better, it could have been good.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a bit like watching a classic football match—plenty of banter, a few unexpected goals, and a fair share of offsides. Charlotte Stein’s romantic comedy brings together Mabel Willicker, a curvy, bubbly ghostwriter, and Alfie Harding, a retired footballer who’s more grumpy than a manager at half-time. As Alfie reluctantly agrees to have his memoir written, Mabel refuses to be intimidated by his scowls—much like a midfielder who’s not afraid to take a tackle from a centre-back.

The chemistry between Mabel and Alfie is the real star of this show. Their witty banter flows like a perfectly executed counter-attack, and the contrast between Mabel’s sunshine personality and Alfie’s gruff exterior creates an engaging dynamic that keeps you on your toes. As they fake date to quash rumours, the romance slowly heats up—much like a penalty shootout where you can’t quite guess who’s going to score first.

However, the story occasionally feels like it’s offside—some moments were a bit too exaggerated, with Alfie’s grumpiness and Mabel’s bubbly charm at times dialled up to the point of being more red card than red hot. Their larger-than-life personalities could have used a bit of a tactical rethink. And while the comedic timing is often spot on, the pacing sometimes dribbles out of control, leaving you wanting more in certain places while dragging in others.

Despite these quirks, When Grumpy Met Sunshine is still a solid match. It delivers a feel-good romance with plenty of laughs, heart, and enough sizzling tension to keep you in the game. While it didn’t quite score a full five stars, it’s still a goal worth celebrating for fans of witty, opposites-attract rom-coms. A fun read that leaves you cheering for the characters

I have been a Charlotte Stein fan for a few years, she writes these intense, delicious, and sometimes heartbreaking short stories and novellas about flawed people finding love, connection and lots of very good sex. Her descriptions are rich and evocative and I was bummed that she hadn't released anything new in a awhile. But then I saw she was releasing a traditionally published full length Romance and I was so there for it!

The banter between Alfie and Mabel was everything I want, Mabel never backed down but was still sweet and supportive. Alfie was honest, caring and just so careful with Mabel. Agaon, love how the author describes things. An Example: "Seriously, she'd never seen him look so incensed. And she'd once pepper sprayed him in the face."

The only thing I was on the fence about was the third act break up, I just knew it would involve a Big Misunderstanding, which I usually hate, but didn't bother me so much here.

Sweet fun story that was so readable I could not put it down. Loved all the characters, the writing and especially the ending. Very well written. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

Loved the Roy Kent coded MMC. The banter had me laughing with my whole chest. Charlotte never fails to tickle my funny bone and get me in the feels. I love everything she writes.

If you give me a grumpy sunshine I will eat it up! Mabel is a bright spot and seeing a plus size woman so happy helps me as a plus size woman get a little perk in my step. Her relationship with Alfie is great and overall I really enjoyed this book.

I'm not usually a romcom girlie, but this was a great read. Huge Ted Lasso vibes. This one's for the Roy Kent girls.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I wanted to love this so badly! A plus size FMC and a Roy Kent inspired MMC… yes, inject it into my veins please but the end product however is an over written mess which had me skimming through more than half of it. If the author focused more on the characters and their back stories and less on he’s so grumpy/I’m so sunshine I would have liked this way better.

For me….this book was the perfect amount of comedy, romance, & spice. The chemistry between Mabel & Alfie was so entertaining I couldn’t put this book down. Well executed. Well written.

This really is a hilarious RomCom - the perfect opposites attract AND steamy romance for sports romance fans.

i loved this!! grumpy x sunshine is one of my very favorite romance tropes and this book really delivered! highly recommend!

A very interesting read. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this book. It wasn't really for me, but I am sure that it will be loved by the right audience.

Sadly this book just didn't do it for me. It felt like I was reading the same sentence over and over again. I DNFed it after 60% which sucked but it couldn't hold my attention.

Finally got to this one and I felt like overall it was an okay book. Like sometimes, actually most of the time, I was bored. It's not bad, just there. I did enjoy it.

Instantly pulled in with the cover. I love me some plus size protagonist! I will say overall this was such a fun comedy read. Although I ended up feeling like the story kinda dragged at the end. Like maybe if it had ended a bit sooner it would have been perfect. Since I felt like it dragged I ended up losing track of what was happening. It didn't keep my attention.

This cover and title drew me in right away. The story was super fun and I definitely enjoyed my time reading it. I'll be seeking out more from the author!

Opposites attract? Grumpy sunshine? A book about writing a book? Yes, yes and yes! Charlotte Stein has another winner with this one. The witty banter and steamy chemistry made for a fantastic romance and I loved the character growth along the way.

Thanks to St. Martin's for the copy to review.