This was new to me author and I adored her! I will be going back to read other books from her! I just loved the characters in this story! I loved that our MC Mabel is plus sized too! I think her and Alfie were a fun, cute match! The whole story was fun, sweet, and steamy! All in all enjoyably cute!

When Grumpy Met Sunshine was a slog. There were some very cute elements, but it got pretty repetitive. Grumpy ex-footballer Alfie and sunshine ghostwriter Mabel get caught in the same discussions over and over, so it feels like there is no forward momentum.

I really enjoyed this book and I loved that the Mabel was plus size. With all her insecurities, it just made her more real and raw. Alfie was the grumpy ex-football player, but I think people just didn’t understand him. He forced himself to be smaller because of so many reasons, but he lights up whenever he is with Mabel. The banter was good and also some good steamy moments. The conversations between the two were bizarre and had me laughing out loud at points.

Some points were a little slower, but it was all worth it in the end! I gave this book 4 stars only because the UK slang is different than US writing.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alfie Harding is a grumpy ex-football player and begins selling his memoirs. He realizes it's difficult to write about yourself, and he does not want to share his feelings.

Ghostwriter Mabel Willicker will help. She has a sunny demeanor. They fight. They bicker.

Their business arrangement is mistaken for a new romance, and the two of them must pretend to be a couple. This slow burn turns into a true romance.

Mabel is so cute, like a cupcake. She makes people feel at ease. Alfie is angry and has a chip on his shoulder. They realize they both have a lot in common when they put their walls down.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine
Charlotte Stein
3⭐️

I so wanted to love this one. It’s got a great title, a fun premise, and several of my favorite tropes. Plus how cute is that cover! Unfortunately in the end, this one just wasn’t for me.

It might just be a me thing, so I would say give it a try and decide for yourself.

Pub Date 2/6/24. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I liked this book. There were some phrasing of sentences that I found that lost me a little when reading. I enjoyed that a real size woman was the MFC. I would have really enjoyed Alfie's POV, but we can't always have it the way we want.
Thank you to #SMP and #Netgalley for the ARC.

Cute rom/com entertaining read with likeable main characters. This was a quick read my main complaint was the miscommunication between the main characters which lead to way more drama than was necessary. Overall a good read and would recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

A Cute grumpy sunshine romance story

It was an okay read, too much internal dialogue and banter for my taste...instead of good communication about their feelings dialogue. sometimes I got lost in what this book was all about, it didn't personally resonate with me. While it may not have been a perfect match for my preferences, I believe it could certainly appeal to others...

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC.

After starting and stopping multiple times, it just wasn’t for me. Lots of dialogue , the random articles/interviews threw off the pacing for me and honestly I felt lost through most of the beginning of the book. I really wanted to like this book given the title, summary and the FMC but it just didn’t click for me.

This was a really fun read! I loved the Roy Kent-esque Alfie and Mabel together. The banter was enjoyable, and I genuinely laughed out loud at some parts. I also loved the chapter titles! Alfie and Mabel were so real and I liked how they immediately clicked (although it was a bit insta-lovey if that’s something you don’t like). I wish that we could’ve gotten more depth to the characters and the side characters because I felt like it was missing a little bit of that. It also took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did, I got really into it. I’m a sucker for a celebrity romance and I really enjoyed this one! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolute delight to read! Everything was just SPOT on. The dialogue was epically good, felt both real and fantastical (as it should) in a romance novel, and really contributed to the overall vibe between our two leading characters who really dominate the novel / plot.

Large casts are fun but this focus on the duo was really well done and perfect for this fake dating / forced proximity / forbidden??? / celebrity romance. It has it all ladies and gents - step right up and get yourself some!

You might think it starts out slow but it's 100% worth the build up and the last 40% is just action (sexy and otherwise) packed.

Our heroine is Mabel and she's a ghostwriter. Just like in her work work, Mabel clings to ideas about what she's worth and worthy of in her personal life. Well ALL of that changes throughout the course of the book and we get a glimpse into how you might set yourself free from society's ideals and expectations and really just be you. And if that you is part of a fantastic duo - well all for the better!

For fans of Roy Kent, Chloe Liese and Notting Hill (for the British celeb bits).

I'm always glad to see a plus size fmc and mmc on the cover of a romcom! There definitely are not enough of them out there. I really liked for Alfie was stylized and personalized. I like that he was like a big version of Roy Kent, with just a touch more sweetness. I also liked Mabel most of the time. She was really cute, but I found her slightly annoying sometimes in her dialogue. Maybe it was because I felt like the banter was being forced a lot of the time. It just didn't seem like the most natural of relationships to me. Overall, I think the story could have used a bit more polishing.

DNF at 30%. The style of writing was a bit too stream of consciousness for me. Each scene went on for page after page. I felt like I wasn’t getting to know the mmc hardly at all. It was almost all the fmc, very little even from supportive characters. Maybe all that happens later in the book. After deciding to dnf, I did skip to the end and found out the third act breakup was due to lack of communication which is my least favorite plot device.
However, the writing is perfectly edited, and the story has a great premise. I know other readers will absolutely love it, which is why I’m going to go ahead and give it 4 stars. For my personal reading preferences, however, this book just isn’t for me.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This was cute but I did find the banter to bee too much at times. I think if you are a fan of Ted Lasso's Roy Kent, this is perfect for you.

It was enjoyable and I would recommend it. I didn't love it but I know a few of my fiends would. Overall it hits all the notes for this trope, but it's not too deep and the connection to both characters always seemed a bit out of reach.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein
I'm not sure there are words to describe how much I loved this book!!!!!! I received an ARC from NetGalley, but this has already been added to my to be purchased list, and I will be investigating the author’s back catalog!

Things I am here for:
Mable is a confident, happy, plus-sized heroine. Yes!!!!!
Alfi is a grumpy gorgeous footballer a la Roy Kent, but Alfie is his own character and so very wonderful!
The internal and external dialogue is absolutely hilarious!
Steamiest sex scenes ever! Alfie is all like, you need to masturbate, we all do it, just do it, you'll feel better.
Alfie's dirty talk. Swoon!
How Alfie makes Mabel is number one priority in so many ways.
A Fax Machine!

I have so many wonderful highlights in this book. And it was and advanced copy, so this might not be in the final book, but I love it so much.
“Like it was so ridiculous, it was. But somehow at the same time it was all the ways people almost lost each other, over everything they couldn’t say. This is the way the world ends, she thought. Not with a fight, but with a single word left unsaid.”

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First, let me thank the publisher and author for allowing my the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.
Grumpy met Sunshine is the story of Alfie, a footballer, and Mabel, an author. Delighted to read a rom-com, I found the book enjoyable with some great lines and plot, until I didn’t. While I tried to enjoy reading this book, it fell flat in many respects. The dialogue alternated between being fun and easy to read to unrealistic and tripe. There are some great moments in the book, but really Mabel, tell the man you love him. Alfie was rather stereotypical of a sports icon, dumb jock, which was rather a turn-off.
The book has promise, but needs some serious editing.

Actual Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed this book overall. It was fast-paced, and the characters were adorable.

Tropes:
Grumpy/Sunshine (duh)
Fake Dating
Forced Proximity 🛏️

What I loved:
The spice - it was super fun, but not excessive, and there was obviously chemistry between the two main characters
FMC - super cute, super sunshine-y, curvy
Pacing - super fast-paced and easy to read. I didn’t experience any dull moments within the book, and almost everything that happens is relevant to the progression of the book.

What I didn’t love:
The beginning - this story starts very suddenly and without a lot of background. The relationship goes from 0-100 super fast.
Side characters - I wish they had been more relevant to the story. The FMC’s best friend occasionally pops in to text a few times, but other than that, we hardly ever see any characters other than the MC’s
Repetitiveness (?) - we hear the FMC dwell on her size over and over again when almost no one else in the book comments on it. I enjoyed reading about a plus-sized FMC, but I felt that it was overemphasized by the FMC as being a bad thing, even when the MMC clearly doesn’t even consider this.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC. I did enjoy it overall!

This book was exhausting, and despite my best efforts, I could not finish it.

The basics? Alfie, a gruff ex-footballer (think Roy Kent with the body of a linebacker), is paired with twee ghostwriter Mabel to draft his memoirs. Seems basic enough, plot-wise. Only it's not. Just to get to the part where she agrees to partner with him, we have to endure an aborted business meeting, a strange phone call, accidental stalking in a restaurant and coffee shop, and then a pepper spraying. Never has "well, that escalated quickly" felt more appropriate.

And if it wasn't enough that the plot wasn't making a whole lot of sense, the dialogue was <i>bad</i>, both because it felt it was banter from two different conversations spliced together and because the banter was regularly interrupted by Mabel's convoluted thoughts. Her internal logic didn't make a lot of sense and he didn't sound like a real human. Instead of being as clever and snappy as the author might have intended them to be, their exchanges were laborious.

I gave it the ol' college try, but when I remembered that romance novels are supposed to be fun and not such hard work, I called it a day. This author's style is just not for me.

I recently finished reading "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" by Charlotte Stein, and overall, it was a mixed experience for me. The premise of opposites attracting is always a hook, and Stein does a commendable job of creating characters that are both relatable and unique.

The story follows the classic pattern of a grumpy character meeting someone bubbly and full of sunshine. The dynamic between the two main characters, their banter, and the slow-burn romance were definitely highlights of the book. Stein's writing style is engaging and easy to get lost in, making it a quick and enjoyable read.

However, there were moments when the plot felt a bit predictable, and the character development seemed a tad rushed at times. While I appreciated the chemistry between the protagonists, I wished for a bit more depth in their individual backstories.

On the bright side, the book had its fair share of laugh-out-loud moments and heartwarming scenes that kept me invested. Stein's ability to infuse humor into the story is definitely a plus point.

Overall, "When Grumpy Met Sunshine" is a decent read if you're looking for a light-hearted romance with entertaining characters. It may not be groundbreaking, but it certainly has its charming moments that make it worth picking up if you're a fan of romantic comedies!

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlotte Stein, and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy of “When Grumpy Met Sunshine” in return for an honest review.

Alfie, a retired footballer, of giant stature and surly attitude meets Maybel, a ghostwriter, when he is set to write some memoir. He is “grumpy” from the get go and she is purported to be sunshine in a bottle. So this would be something akin to enemies to lovers romance.

Pros:
Main female character is “larger than a size 0”
Both characters have childhoods less than perfect that continue to affect them into adulthood
Some of the banter is witty

Cons:
The plot seems to get lost amid the banter
I didn’t feel that it propelled the story forward
I felt the reactions of the main character were way over the top and I was unable to suspect reality and enjoy the story

This story may appeal to a younger crowd than a middle aged one. The author has talent and I see what she is trying to do with the banter between the main characters, but there was far to much tell than show. Much of the story occurs in the main female character’s head. I feel this could have been edited into a much tighter story. I look forward to reading the next story by this writer.