Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. The cover was cute, and I’m a sucker for a grumpy x sunshine trope. However, the writing in this book reads more like a stream of consciousness. It feels a bit all over the place, and I never really because invested in the story or the characters. Where it lacks in setting the scene and really developing the characters, it makes up in banter. And the banter does not feel like that between two 30 somethings.

2.5/5 stars

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book read like Roy Kent fan fiction, which I was okay with. Alfie and Mabel had a very cute relationship and their banter was fun. My one complaint seemed like their relationship went from literally 0 to 100.

I have no idea what it is but this book felt like it was missing something in the middle. Maybe more relationship building in the middle? I'm not sure.

3.5 stars rounded up

Unfortunately, this was just not for me. There was no flow, nothing felt like a part of a whole. Every time I got a feel for the characters they seemed to do something that felt entirely out of character.

Overall, I think the foundation of the characters and story are great and have so much potential. With significant refining, I think this could be a great book. For me, as is, it wasn’t.

I loved this rom com! The humor between the two characters had me laughing out loud and the spicy was off the charts!

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a cute rom-com between a grumpy retired soccer player and the curvy, bubbly, charming ghost writer that he has been paired with to help with his memoir. So many tropes in this book, fake dating, grumpy guy, and opposites attract. It's a quick read, perfect for a snowy day.
Thanks to NetGalley and St, Martins's Press for my advanced reader copy of this book.

I really wanted to like this. I DNF a few pages in. I could not stand the main male character at all. What a jerk!! I liked the premise of this but the writing style and characters just weren’t for me!

thank you to netgalley and SMP for this arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

First thought: Cute story concept with fun banter back and forth between the characters. This has a lot of great tropes, plus size FMC, football superstar MMC and English humor so if that’s your thing you can’t go wrong.

Alfie is a retired soccer superstar who has a very specific reputation, and it’s as the grump. He is putting out a memoir as his team has hired a ghost writer to help him. But Alfie is a private person he doesn’t share anything about himself with anyone, so this should be interesting. He lives in the 1990s when it comes to technology and is just an old school guy.

Mabel is a ray of sunshine, she is easy to talk to and lights up a room with her warmth. Taking on ghost writing for Alfie is going to be a challenge for her as she will have to slowly breakdown the walls he surrounded himself with. One part of this contract is her role must be kept a secret so no one can know she’s helping him write his book.

However the paparazzi catch a mystery women leaving Alfie’s house and before she knows it he’s telling the world that they are dating! So not able to break her contract she agrees to go along with story. Things really heat up as she gets him to breakdown his walls and let her in and man oh man do the sexual tensions fly off the pages.

One disclaimer is this book switches between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspectives at times and that did make those parts a bit harder for me to track. Which is why I gave it 3 and not 4 stars, as I found myself having to go back and reread to figure out what’s going on.

Tropes you’ll find:

* Grumpy / Sunshine
* Forced Proximity
* Celebrity Soccer MMC
* Plus Size FMC
* Fake Dating
* One Bed
* High Sexual Tension 🔥

A good rom com between a grumpy retired soccer player and the curvy, bubbly, charming ghost writer that he has been paired with to help with his memoir.
Alfie and Mabel go through all the tropes. Fake dating, grumpy/sunshine (obviously), and opposites attract.
I love that this book has a real sized character and I see this more and more in recent years.
The release date will be perfect for Valentine’s Day.
My only complaint is that the witty banter (that I typically love) seems to go on and on. Just a bit too much for me.

Love the cover and the feature of a romance with a plus-size character, but there seemed to be something missing. Too much dialogue that was nonsense and added nothing to the storyline, in fact it was a distraction. Given the premise of this book, I think that there was a missed opportunity for something a bit more clever and intriguing. I had high hopes for this rom-com, but could not get into this book. It was just okay. Many thanks to #netgalley #charlottestein #whengrumpymetsunshine for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I would love to give this a full length review . I love and adore this author very much. However, SMP needs to take accountability for the harmful things that were said by an employee. I will still be reading this book and sharing it privately with those who want to read it

I didn’t think there was such a thing as too much banter, but apparently there is. I love a good grumpy sunshine trope, but when nothing is happening for several chapters but just continuous banter, it’s a little too much for me. I did appreciate the author listing the trigger warnings at the beginning, which is something every author should be doing now, but unfortunately this book was not for me.

Cute! This felt fresh among a lot of romance novels releasing lately. I liked the representation and thought the banter was excellent and the romance swoony. I will be looking for more from this author in the future.

This was a very enjoyable contemporary romance! I loved the plus size rep, and our heroine was fantastic. The banter was great!

Unpopular opinion, so take it for what it's worth, this book was not for me. It felt like it was book two or more in a series, that I was missing details or a backstory that would make things tie together but it doesn't seem to be. The writing was a little disjointed and all over the place to me and the antics were cringey; the drawn-out scene of him in the Starbucks and following her was when I decided this would be a DNF for me. I hope this is more enjoyable and popular for other readers, it has potential to be a fun read.

📝⚽💙☀️

Thank you St. Martin Press and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fake dating slow burn and let me tell you.. The burn was SLLLOOOOOWWW. But once they finally got together, after the will they or won't they, it was worth it. I'll be honest, this book is not my favourite. I thought that there was a bit too much inner dialogue, it kind of dragged on for me. I wanted to like this book so bad but it fell short unfortunately. I'd love to read other books by Charlotte, but this one didn't; really hit for me.

Id love for others to give this book a try! If you love a grumpy x sunshine, fake dating, workplace romance book, you should check this one out!

When Grumpy Met Sunshine: ★★★☆☆ (2.5)

Pub date: Feb 6, 2024 - preorder your copy now!

DNF @ 15%

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I think the writing/narrative style is just not for me. I love the idea of a sports star + his ghostwriter romance, but the constant side tangents in between dialgoue made this really hard for me to follow and ultimately made me not want to pick the book back up.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine starts with Alfie Harding, a retired footballer who is badgered into selling a memoir of his life. However, he is not keen on the idea and that's how we meet Mabel Willicker, his new ghostwriter. She's cute, bubbly, and sunshine personified, the exact opposite of grumpy, allergic to emotions Alfie. After they are mistaken for a new couple, they must keep up the fake dating act to not blow their cover.

After hearing from some early readers that When Grumpy Met Sunshine has some Ted Lasso / Roy Kent vibes, I couldn't wait to read it. Sadly, it did not live up to the hype for me personally. While Alfie and Roy Kent have some general similarities as "grumpy" ex-footballers who are really just misunderstood, Alfie is not fleshed out enough and therefore does not have the charm that Ted Lasso revealed Roy Kent to have over show's three season run.

In my opinion, this book was too focused on having the banter typical in grumpyxsunshine romances and failed to show the actual development of feelings between the two main characters. The conversations felt forced and unnatural, more like writing than an actual conversation between two people. Additionally, there is a lot of Mabel's inner dialogue in this book. Honestly, I think this book would've benefitted greatly from including less banter and inner dialogue and spending more time fleshing out the romance and/or some chapters from Alfie's POV.

Read if you like:
- fake dating
- workplace romance
- *lots* of banter
- grumpy x sunshine

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 rounded up.

I DNFed this at 20%. Unfortunately this book was just not for me, and I struggled to pick it back up and get into it. I’m giving it two stars liked the premise and the cover is adorable, but in the end I just couldn’t finish this. I think this story has potential but I didn’t connect with the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley for this free read in return for my review.

#NetGalleyARC This was a fun read and a great one to start the year. I love a good grumpy-sunshine romance and this one did not disappoint. The characters were lovable and believable and the setting choice was perfect. There was a LOT of banter in the book but I didn't mind it, a good fun read.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.