A surly soccer player ready to write his memoir bickers with his cheerful ghostwriter in a book full of romance tropes that charms you with his sweet characters. Fake dating mishaps and emotional outbursts are written endearingly in this breezy book full of chemistry and banter. A fun read and one I’ll be sure to recommend!

Based on the writing style and wording, I don't think this is the right book for me. However, if you are not impacted heavily by writing style or phrasing, this has the potential to be a greatly enjoyable book for you, and I hope you enjoy it! This just wasn't right for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This was a miss for me. Too much banter? I'm not sure what it was but it just wasn't for me. I wanted to DNF but I pushed through. It was a bit boring.

So I suppose I’ll start at the beginning: "...You think I'm a big hairy manimal who's never gonna be able to work well with this here human cupcake," he said...”
okay who TF is going to get the reference to an obscure, short-lived TV show from the late 70s or early 80s? Then the FMC jumps to the conclusion - WHILE WEARING HEAD TO TOE SHADES OF PINK - that the MMC is insulting her weight.
We're not off to a great start in this here book, pardner.
Next, after him hiding behind a potted fern in a pub, then running out, he’s just followed her out of a Starbucks (emphasis on brand placement here, for unknown reasons) and into a dark alley approaching an even more frightening park where she’s pepper sprayed him out of panic:
(Alfie) "Just imagine you're talking to an incredibly serious five-year-old." (Mabel) "That makes it sound like you think you're a child ghost in a horror movie."
"Because I am... Miserable, only capable of doing the same thing... terrifying to... anybody...”
This exchange is apparently meant to be insightful, about a former professional footballer she's tasked to work with as a ghostwriter.
This book just isn’t working for me.
"...you put their dead bodies in the Thames, so people will just think they were drunk and fell in. Though of course now I've said that I feel like I probably shouldn't have to a woman who already believes I'm a maniac... I've never dropped a person in a river,"
“At which point, she had to concede:
He was a lot more reasonable than she had initially thought.”
What the ever loving hell? Just dreadful.
"Lord, he was so practical about things.
So literal and straight down the line.
Like somebody's grandad from a mining town where everybody was miserable, she thought. But weirdly, not in a way that felt mean. She didn't hate that about him, apparently.
Instead, she had the thought, and then got a little weird bloom of warmth through her.
She was starting to like him."
So basically it's a very curvy Keely meets Roy Kent?
Except bad, really badly done.
"Once during a match he'd kicked the ball and his boot had somehow come off and smacked the goalie in the face. But he hadn't so much as cracked a smile over it. In fact, he'd angrily told everybody to stop laughing about the whole business, during his post-game interview. And then threatened the crowd during his next match because they'd started singing SHOE me the way to go home."
This man reacts angrily, stares angrily, stews angrily, stomps angrily, frowns angrily - FFS he's angry, folks!
The author wants you to know if he's doing something it's ANGRILY!! and he's Alfie effing Harding, lest you forget, the FMC will remind you of that fact in short order, repeatedly.
Yikes.
"They were completely unguarded, in a way that made him look strange and different. Calm, her brain threw up,..."
Ah yes, my brain threw up as well.
Repeatedly, while trying to slog my way through this book.
On a positive note, it’s not riddled with typos and while contextually vapid, it’s technically grammatically correct overall.
I can sincerely recommend this for anyone who thinks Love Actually isn’t problematic and is Great Britain’s greatest romantic comedy gift to cinema.
I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

✨3 stars✨

When Grumpy Met Sunshine was a sweet and quippy story about Mabel, the sweet and in-tune ghostwriter, writing a memoir for famous, private and sarcastic footballer Alfie Harding. Alfie is the ultimate alpha male jock, at least according to the tabloids. It is up to Mabel to uncover who Alfie really is for his memoir, a job that she’s just a ~little~ too good at.

I did absolutely enjoy reading this book and found Mabel and Alfie’s interactions absolutely so charming and funny. I would be lying if I said Alfie didn’t have me swooning for him at some parts. I mean who could say no to fake-dating him? The moments of discovery and the incorporations of different media clippings in the book were also really strong moments for me while reading.

However, I did find myself skimming at some points because it felt like some scenes just dragged. Some chapters felt really repetitive with Mabel trying to ask a question, Alfie refusing to answer, her figuring it out, and so far and so forth. There was also one point in which Alfie referred to Mabel as a “small little bean” that absolutely just threw me out of the story. The ending also did not work for me. I found it incredibly hard to believe they both waited so long to speak again.

I do see a lot of potential in this story however and I know readers who love the fake-dating and grumpy/sunshine trope would eat this up.

✨Thank you to Charlotte Stein, Netgalley, and St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!✨

Alfie Harding, a world renown football player, reputation veers way beyond grumpy to irrational anger. In order to combat his bad rap, Alfie is ordered to write a memoir with a ghost rider to help him craft his moving autobiography. In walks Mabel. Sunlight and glitter are her main stay.

After the first meeting goes terribly wrong, Mable can't imagine Alfie wanting her work with her. Blown away by her candor, Alfie decides that she is the writer for him. Craziness ensues with this seemingly mismatched pair.

I enjoyed Mabel and Alfie as characters who defied some common stereotypes. Many side characters either needed more development or less. I did enjoy the slang of England but was surprised when it showed up since it didn't flow throughout the novel and it was a bit choppy. Romance was definitely there and the tension was top notch. I absolutely loved the ending, but will not give it away.

One thing I loved about this book was the way it describes the plus sized main character. A lot of plus sized MCs end up being so self deprecating but while the MC was insecure about her weight at times, it wasn't over done and annoying. It was nice to see a MC who didn't completely hate herself. A lot of the novel was the two MCs banter and after a while it got to be too much especially when it was conversation after conversation of nothing substantial.

it is a good book but just wasnt for me i do like spice and things but i just cant say i loved it. thanks for letting me read this book.

this was a good concept but i was hoping for more from this book. i love grumpy sunshine so so much and i had really high hopes, but it just fell a little flat for me.

I loved the way this started. Charlotte Stein did a great job of hooking you in and Introducing characters.

However, the hardest parts was those characters because very repetitive with their inner monologue thoughts.

I would high recommend this book to you 1) if you like spice. This has a lot of it and it is pretty well done. 2) you like the miscommunication trope.

Be warned. To me the ending was frustrating but i ultimately understood.

A lovely and funny romance. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced read.

I loved it! Mabel and Alfie are absolutely it! I loved having the FMC not be a tiny little stick for once because hello being skinny doesn’t make you pretty! Just enjoyed that it broke a beauty standard norm! But either way, this was so so so funny! Mabel had me cracking up through the whole book and Alfie, jeez what a cinnamon roll once you get to know him. I loved reading their love story! Definitely a new favorite that I will be recommending!

I haven't read good banter in like a year, thank goodness for this book!

This book is wish fulfillment on two levels: Roy Kent stand-in and that reticent dude you dated turning out to NOT be a jerk who desperately needs therapy.

My first Charlotte Stein book, but won't be my last.

Absolutely delightful! One of my top romcoms of the year. Give me Ted Lasso-inspired characters, quick banter, super steamy spice and dirty talk, and laugh-out-loud moments, and I'll be singing your praises forever. I really can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book so I'll rein it in and just say: read it.

This book has great banter and great representation of different size bodies that we don't see often enough in romance novel. Mabel's sunny personality helps her to get along with everyone she is even able to turn Alfie's grumpy personality around. The tension and banter is strong they are both able to pretend to date and the sparks fly. I liked the way Charlotte Stein was able to write a contemporary romance with plus size which was real, raw and exposed all Mabel's insecurities well.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of When Grumpy Met Sunshine. Alfie is a grump and Mabel is bowl of sunshine. Alfie is looking for a ghost writer and with his personality it is a difficult task.
Unfortunately the 3rd Person POV writing style made it difficult to push through this novel.

Unfortunately, I ended up dnfing this book. The mc seemed way too childish for my liking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have such mixed feelings about the book. On the one hand, the writing is good. Some of the scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, and I generally enjoyed the characters' banter.

On the other hand--it makes no sense. Alfie is so antisocial at the beginning, it doesn't make any sense that he would want to publish a memoir (he doesn't need the money) or that anyone would want to read it. The descriptions of his behavior are so over-the-top grumpy that it makes him look like a cartoon character, not a romantic hero.

Then there's the fact that Alfie and Mabel have to be the dumbest people alive. They have multiple (excruciatingly dull) conversations about needing to masturbate because they're so turned on...yet each refuses to even consider the possibility that the other finds them attractive. It takes 300 pages for them to have an honest conversation about anything.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a smart and quirky rom-com! I love a rom-com that engages my mind as well as my heart and this one fit the bill. The dialogue between the main characters is witty and I really enjoyed how their personalities developed and were revealed over the course of the book. If you enjoy your steam with a serving of angst then you will probably enjoy this book too.

I sped through this book in a just a few sittings and found the storyline engrossing.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the premise of the book, and I wish I could say it was great, however for me the execution just did not do it for me I thought the female main character was dull and the banter forced and faked, I feel the male lead was not interesting, i love a good rom com and iit sounded so good unfortunately it maybe a favorite for someone else but it was not it for me