This book looked promising and while it did have bits and pieces that were good the overall book was just not it for me. During about 75% of the book I was confused and the writing style just wasn’t doing it for me. I enjoyed the tropes but I feel that the focus of the MC was just all over the place. Thank you netgalley and Charlotte Stein for giving my honest opinion on this book!

I was so so excited to read this book! The blurb sounded great and even the title listed it as one of my favourite tropes. It was cute, feel good, had me laughing out loud and a plus size FMC as a bonus.

The characters were lovable, and I loved watching their relationship grow. Their banter was great and had me snickering at times however some parts I admittedly had to skim through because there was just a bit too much.. which is something I didn't think was possible until this book. While the plot remained engaging, I feel like parts were just stretched out a bit too much with unnecessary banter between the characters. Some readers may enjoy that, I'm just very much a 'time and place and situation' reader.

Overall I enjoyed this book! It was a good quick read that gives all the happy feels. 3.5 rating for me but rounded up to 4.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read an advanced copy of WHEN GRUMPY MEETS SUNSHINE by Charlotte Stein.

This is a Steamy romance about a grumpy retired footballer (soccer to Americans) and a Ghostwriter with a sunshine outlook. This is a story about Opposites attract romance.

Though I loved the characters and the story, I had to give a lower star rating because there were too Many F*bombs in the reading.

Recommended for fans of ripping romances.

DNF

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is best described if Roy Kent from Ted Lasso retired and a Keely-type was assigned to be his ghostwriter. This was written like two extremes who are caricatures of themselves fall into instalove with way too much dialogue and overthinking. I am usually very much into dialogue-heavy books, but the number of backtracks the dialogue took to get somewhere became exhausting. I hope the author/editor can take this feedback and edit down the dialogue to be a lot more straightforward. Not only does it get tiring to read as a reader, but it undermines the female MC and makes her seem even more insecure than she already is.

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

I wanted to love this book, I really did. It has a lot of my favorite tropes/themes (grumpy sunshine, one bed, fake dating, curvy FMC), but the writing style did not do it for me. The banter was fun but there wasn't enough meat to the story to pull me in. Also, I really don't like miscommunication tropes and that was basically the entire premise of this story. I am still giving in 2 stars because I did enjoy the ending, but it was hard for me to push through this story.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital copy prior to release.

Unfortunately for me it was a DNF at 40%. The banter was too much, and I'm a gal who's always down for the best banter. It made me want to skip chunks just to get back to the main plot

It took me a while to get into the story, but when I did OH how I loved it! I laughed out loud many times and hugged the book when it was done.
THIS is how grumpy-sunshine and fake dating trope is done!
My copy was pretty rough, editing-wise, which is obviously to be expected for an unedited galley. Too many F words, the first few chapters need a little tweaking, and some cleanup is needed here and there. I cannot wait to see the finished, polished edition!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Ghostwriter Mabel Willicker is tasked with helping notorious football brute Alfie Harding write his memoirs. Neither's outward facing facade tells the whole story. I read this with Brett Goldstein and Nicola Coughlan in mind, and the narrator as Emma Thompson. I enjoyed the banter, humor and the friendship between Alfie and Mabel a lot, but their road to romance was riddled with SO much miscommunication, denial and self doubt. The narrative was a series of short witty conversations followed by PAGES of disecting the meaning behind the conversations. It made it difficult to accurately track the passage of time. I wish more time was spent with H and h in their regular lives with the side characters, rather than so much internal debate and reflection. As an American reader, I did get a bit lost in the British-isms and slang (and my kindle definitions were of little help). The bones of this story are fantastic, but details need some fleshing out.

I tried to like this book. On the surface it had so many qualities that I usually enjoy, but it fell short and dragged on.
It definitely took me awhile to get used to the way it was written and I'm sure that some of the UK slang went over my head.

The book is about Alfie, a misunderstood and very private retired footballer looking for a ghostwriter for his memoir and bubbly Mablel, the writer he chooses. They move from grumpy/sunshine to fake dating to a lust filled workplace romance in this opposites-attract cliché filled story. There was so much banter and somehow also not enough because by the end of the book I was not convinced these two had formed any sort of lasting connection.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and title drew my eye to this book. I started reading it and it took me a bit, but then I was invested in the characters. It was a cute funny romance, for a bit. And then, I got really tired of the main character's low self esteem. She kept saying there was no way that this footballer (soccer player to Americans) could like her since she was a curvier woman and unlike previous girlfriends. I get that mentality at the beginning perhaps, but he went out of his way to show her he didn't care about her size and still it was an issue for pretty much the whole book. No patience for that. So 2 stars for me.

I received this advanced reader copy from the publisher for my honest review.

Wow.
4,5/5
This book was incredible! '
I would say this is a steamy yet cute story of a retired football player and ghostwriter. It has fun inclusivity that I really enjoyed.
It was definitely a slower-burn novel, which I typically don't prefer, was written beautifully and held my attention the entire time. I also LOVED the grumpy sunshine trope which was done great in this book.
Would for sure recommend it to my friends and followers! Cant wait for this to release.

Mable Willicker is a ghostwriter who lands a ghostwriting contract for Alfie Harding, an ex-footballer (or ex-soccer player if you are American). It appears that Alfie and Mable grew up similarly, but Mable is the epitome of plus sized sunshine and bubbly while Alfie is stoic and prone to weird incidents -- like hiding behind a potted plant at a restaurant, appearing randomly at the Starbucks that she frequents, for being said to be a "Duracell Bunny" in bed, and now he has shouted at paparazzi that she is one true love. Can Mable keep her heart to herself while she helps Alfie with his memoir?

The banter in this book is *chef's kiss*. I felt the characters grow closer together with each conversation that they had. Every time, Alfie opened his mouth just the most honest things come out! It was just precious and heartwarming.

The spice was so perfect for this book -- adequately spicy but not losing the characters in the spice (except for when Mable literally lost her thoughts for a hot minute).

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a digital review copy for my honest review!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me a copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein in exchange for my honest review.

Sunshine is Mabel Willicker, who is a happy, curvy, ghostwriter. Grumpy is Alfie Harding, who is an ex-footballer known for his temper on and off the pitch. Mabel has been contracted as Alfie’s ghostwriter on his memoirs. The first meeting sees our sunshine experiencing a stormy forecast in the form of Alfie. She is unsure if this working relationship will bear an actual book especially when everything he says is off the record. But tides turn, and the working tension becomes something more.

I enjoyed this book, but the end felt choppy and a little forced. The character buildup was so wonderful in the beginning. You really got to know both main characters, and rooted for them. But the side characters did not really add to the story.

Overall, a fun read.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for this ARC. This was a fun read, I enjoyed that our Characters were a little unusual and wacky. Mabel is a bigger girl and Struggles with feeling worthy of love due to her looks. Alfie is a famous footballer that hates his fame and also is a bit socially awkward. They are thrown together to write his memoir and of course they both fall hard but neither tells the other one. I would say this book is a great representation of the “if they just talked to each other” or miscommunication trope. The end of the story felt a little rushed. But it worked out well for the characters. Definitely was frustrating that the characters could have avoided their own downfall if they were just
Honest with each other, but again a very real life feeling. The author succeeded in writing a story that I believe does and could happen to real life people.

Moving past the absolute absurdity of the title as well as the fact that these are the most sex-crazed characters I've ever read, that ending was sweet enough to make it worthwhile.

I started this when it was featured on the “Read Now;” one because it was the first book I was able to read on her, and two because the cover is super cute!

After reading some of the other reviews I feel a little better about my thoughts. This is my first “not stellar” review. I love the idea of the book and the MCs. This has to be one of my favorite type of books, he falls immediately! But the writing style, 3rd person POV, and narration made it difficult to feel connected to the story.

I had to DNF. The characters were 100% caricatures and not characters that a reader can connect to. It was very messy and tried too hard to be funny without letting it happen naturally. And, no one is that inept with a phone these days.

I'm a fan of the opposites attract trope. Unfortunately, I just didn't love this story. It felt forced and hard to get into. The characters seemed immature and I was hopeful for more. But it may have just been the mood I was in - some witty lines and and banter but not my fave!

I very much enjoyed moments of this, and some of the banter was absolutely hilarious. But I have to agree with other reviewers that occasionally there was just too much bantering. Especially when the two are originally talking. There’s so much, and the author is telling us exactly why they’re saying what they’re saying. It just got to be a lot.
Otherwise, it was extremely enjoyable. I’d give to fans of Talia Hibbert and anyone who is looking for more Roy Kent from Ted Lasso.

Mabel Willicker is sunshine personified, with bright fashion and a brighter personality. Former footballer, Alfie Harding, is as grumpy as it gets. In fact, aside from his stellar skills on the pitch, that's about all he's known for. When the pair teams up to write Harding's memoir, however, we learn that Alfie has a much better, funnier, and charming personality than one would ever expect. When pictures of the two make the tabloids, they decide fake dating is better than bursting Willicker's ghostwriting contract. But, could it be that there's nothing fake in what the two are feeling for each other?

I'll be honest, this was a challenging book to review because I feel like there is a lot to like and a lot to dislike. I'm a sucker for a grump who's a secret softie, and that's definitely Alfie. There is some great banter, though the book is aggressively British in its dialogue (at least for this American reader). The ending is very sweet, as well!

However, I feel like the rest of the book is a bit all over the place. The memoir/writing plot is important in both the first and third acts, but it all but disappears in the second, which means that you sort of forget why the two of them are spending time together. Second, the miscommunication is really popping here and it's just...frustrating. The older I get, the less patience I have for not talking to each other. And these characters are not in their 20s, they are solidly in their 30s! There are also these touches of going deeper into both characters' pasts (they share a history of alcoholic fathers and growing up poor, Mabel struggles with thinking anyone would want her because she's fat), but they aren't fully fleshed out or really explored. I think that's what I ultimately came down on with this book, I was frustrated for most of it. There are flashes of a really lovely story throughout, but it just doesn't come together for me.

* Thank you to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review! *