I am sorry to say I DNF this book. I just found it so ridiculous. The so called dialog was so cheesy I almost gave myself an injury rolling my eyes,

Folks who have lived through trauma typically come out of it with one of two facades for the world- Grumpy or Sunshine. When Sunshine suddenly finds herself ghost writing a memoir for Grumpy (a famous footballer), she realizes that if she pokes a little and peels back his layers that Grumpy is just another hurt kid trying to live past all of the crap that happen before he had control of his life. Then they both lose control of their lives as paparazzi decide that they're the new "it" couple. Chaos, spice, and a whole lot of emotion follow. I went into this expecting a cute, fluffy, romcom, only to find a pretty deep and hard hitting exploration of love after trauma.

[iI was really excited for this book, especially becuase it was giving massive Ted Lasso, Roy Kent vibes, but I was unfortunately really dissapointed and had to end up DNFing at like 15%. I don't usually do that but I just couldn't move past the character interactions. Usually by 15% in a book you can sort of grasp a character's energy and what they're about or have something to hold onto in understanding. But, I really felt like there wasn't much for me as the reader because anytime Mable or Alfie would interact they'd have banter where it felt like her whole point was to outwit him, and he would just like take it to make himself seem like idk a moody chinchilla. I've seen some other reviews bring this up, but it really felt like to me the only interactions in this book were so the MCs could talk to each other and then move on, like an NPC interaction in Skyrim. I was super sad about that because it genuinely did sound like it would be a fun book and I hope other people like it but I couldn't get over that.

Thank you so much Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher for this arc!

It is more of 3.75.
Honestly, this is my first book by Charlotte Stein so I did not know what to expect from her. I saw a tiktoker talking about her backlist and that is why I really want to read this book.

So we are following Mabel as she is a ghostwriter and her next book will be focusing on Alfie Harding. Alfie Harding is an ex-footballer. When their professional relationship is mistaken for a romantic relationship, they decide to fake-date.

It was an okay book. There were many heartfelt moments and I definitely teared up a little. The reveals about Alfie were so fun and cute. Mabel was really that girl when it came to figuring him out. The smut!? OKAYYYY

Now I just found out the author is British and I did not know the book was set in England? Britain? Do not drag me okayyyyy. So I did not know why my brain was taking so long to like the lingo from the book.
I think I will read this author's backlist tho.

I loved this book! It was a story that felt so cozy and intimate as it progressed, being told just from Mabel’s perspective and with very few side characters it really makes you feel you’re a fly on the wall throughout Mabel and Alfie’s relationship. I loved their banter and their friendship. I loved and recognized myself in Mabel’s thought process as a plus size women. If you love Roy Kent you’ll love Alfie - he is definitely in my top three favourite MMC this year. I normally don’t love the miscommunication trope but this really worked for me in this book because it all felt genuine.

I will also say the spice was also fantastic in this book!

This book was an absolute delight and one I have a feeling I’ll revisit in the future. It felt like the Romcoms that Alfie loves to much, entirely re-readable!

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author Charlotte Stein for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

This was everything I wanted from this title, and then more. Just a hugely satisfying read that just happened to tick almost all of my boxes! The banter is cute, the characters are fun, the romance is hot, and the drama feels realistic but not dire. I'll be digging into more Charlotte Stein in the future!

This book was a little slow for me at the beginning. Then all of a sudden things started to pick up at a fast rate within their relationship. Overall, it was a very enjoyable book but when things picked up, it picked up a little too quick for my personal preference. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested! It was a very cute read!

"When Grumpy Met Sunshine" starts by telling you the primary trope that it is playing into. Though this is the primary trope of the book there are a couple more that feature alongside our grumpy sunshine. We also will see fake dating and the one-bed trope. Now that we know what the tropes are let us dive in.

There are some really awkward scenes as well that involve mutual self-love in a car, while not looking at each other. Then pretending it didn't happen because that's awkward. Also, Mabel is a ghostwriter for Alfie and none of their encounters involved her doing any actual work with Alfie, outside the first few initial visits, which is strange since this is literally the job you're being paid to do.

Now, with all that being said, I found the story overall enjoyable. I found that Alfie and Mabel were great together and brought out the best qualities in one another. The spicy scenes were okay, though a bit awkward. I believe there is a lot of potential in this story to be amazing if we just cut out some of the repetitive self-loathing.

This was 4.5 stars rounded up. First off, fantastic banter between the two characters that didn't feel like the author was trying hard. Alfie is a hoot and only Mabel understands him. Not sure if it was intentional, but Alfie felt very neurodivergent-coded which I LOVED. His explanations for his behavior was for realistic if this was the case. I will say I am not a fan of spice and this went from 0 to 100 where the first half was very cute and then was pretty open door. For those who like spice, I think they will love it. That is just simply not for me and I wanted to see more love grow first. I think most people will feel differently than I do though. I do feel like the ending was a little rushed, but was still beautiful. LOVED the snippets of articles and writing. Made me cry and their beauty.

I absolutely LOVED this book! the relationship between Alfie & Mabel was hilarious, sexy, steamy, ALL the greatest things I love the most when it comes to the main characters. This was definitely a slow burn, & while I wish we would have been able to see a little bit more into their relationship at the end, I really enjoyed the way they came back together in the end. They truly helped each other in ways they didn't even realize at first. Highly recommend, especially if you love the grumpy x sunshine trope (bc duh its the name ;))

As the title suggests, this is absolutely a Grumpy sunshine. But it is also more. It's a commentary on weight and social status. This is a fat girl romance triumph! This book has a surprisingly unique premise, she is his ghost writer, he is a famous footballer. Essentially, she is giving Jessica Day from new girl. He is grumpy .....but also a golden retriever? Is that a thing? If so, it is now!

I'm a little confused what the setting is tbh. Like geographically, where are we?
The author really hits on the gross tokenism that has resulted from the 'body positivity' movement. She talks about not feeling like she needs to be idolized as a fat icon because that feels like it's more about her body than about who she really is. And I loved reading that. He is so protective of women--especially Mabel. Truly, this a laugh out loud romantic comedy. And it is LONG and full of ADHD brain type banter. I like the menus, texts, tweets, articles and other little bits dispersed throughout the book!

I really loved the beginning and middle. When they were two awkward beans with self esteem issues....but didn't like how unsatisfying the ending was due to their total inability to communicate. Also I don't think the explicit description of sex added anything to this story. Usually I don't like fade to black, but it just felt so disjointed to jump into explicit sex from their weird little banter or as soon as she came in the door.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this one. It was engaging, fun, and kept me entertained. Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to do so!

Realized pretty quickly this one wasn't for me. I do like the grump/sunshine trope, but not when the "grump" is a jerk whose excuse for being awful to the FMC is that he's misunderstood. Not to mention that the male lead literally stalks the female main character? I realize it's supposed to be funny, but... nope, not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Thanks to Net Galley and SMP for my advanced copy.

I really wanted to love this book—the set up, the tropes, were great. But I found the inner monologue a bit of a slog, and their conversations were all fluff, no substance. It’s not bad writing, there’s just a lot of it? If that makes sense. The writing doesn’t flow well between thoughts, scenes, and dialogue.

I went in really excited about the premise of this one, but it ultimately fell a little flat for me. I struggled connecting to the characters and the style of dialogue writing.

This book frustrated me to no end because I loved it so much but I really wasn’t. Dan of how these two characters could be so INNATELY GOOD TOGETHER and yet not believe that the other could want them.

The banter, the slapstick humor, the swoon
ALL ON PAR!
But I found it wholly unbelievable that these characters could see the other so well, so clearly and yet not understand that they were totally and completely in love with the other…

That’s what I get for reading yet another miscommunication trope.
I really need to stop doing that -,-

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The characters fell flat for me and I did not feel connected to them. It was really slow and I was not a fan of the pacing.
I loved the idea but it was not my favorite.

I loved Mabel and Alfie! If you love the fake dating and opposites attract trope, this book is for you!

I loved the Ted Lasso vibes and I loved all the banter!

This slow burn, entertaining romcom has all the best tropes: sports romance, forced proximity, opposites attract, enemies to friends to lovers, and of course, the grumpy x sunshine trope. I couldn't help picturing Alfie as Roy Kent the entire time I was reading this novel. Honestly, Alfie and Mabel's dynamic reminded me so much of Roy Kent and Keeley Jones' relationship on "Ted Lasso." Mabel is my favorite kind of main character: a writer who doesn't let guys treat her like crap. I loved how she kept Alfie on his toes, but still brought out the best in him. As for Alfie, I definitely relate to his awkward, introverted personality. He was such a swoonworthy love interest! This quirky romance novel is ideal for fans of "The Spanish Love Deception" and "Icebreaker."

DNF @ 29%

Sadly, When Grumpy Met Sunshine felt messy. The characters were kind of unlikely, which is always a hard factor for me to overlook while trying to enjoy a story. On top of that, the banter read as juvenile at times. Despite the sweet cover, I couldn't get past these components to push through any further.