This book was very hard to read. I am not sure if it was just the style of writing for me or what, but the stream of consciousness and the formatting was difficult to parse sometimes what was happening. I could not get past how the sentences were structured either- it felt like things were ended before there was a complete thought, etc. I liked the concept and the plot- the romance was lovely and I LOVE when characters have that kind of banter. Overall, it was just hard for my brain to compute the way all the info was presented.

I wanted to like this, I REALLY did, but it just... Fell flat. I really wish that the author had used forced proximity and had Mabel move in with Alfie and complete the memoir rather than keep making her the focus of tabloid fodder by turning up at her house all the time. Yet it's also the perfect explanation of why I couldn't fully get on board. Every time Mabel and Alfie's conversation reaches a point where it makes sense to delve deeper, it veers left into insensible with a quip or joke that is never quite funny enough to tear away from the idea that something else would have been better.

I did thoroughly appreciate Alfie's kink being enthusiastically consenting women though.

Thank you to @netgalley and publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy
Release date: February 2024


Alfie, a grumpy ex-football star hires bubbly writer, Mabel, to ghostwrite his memoir. The problem? When social media mistakes them for a couple, they must go along with the lie. Alfie doesn’t like to share anything and Mabel knows just how to get what she needs out of him, so after a lot of bickering, one wonders, are they pretending after all?

I loved the idea of this one, it had all my favourite tropes, including fake dating. But it fell a little short. Overall, this was okay, but dragged a little and I lost interest often because nothing ever really happened other than the interaction between the two main characters. I was constantly in the head of Mabel and Alfie with little side character development and little propelling the story along. I’ve often said that if I can fall in love with the characters, they could literally do anything, and I would follow them anywhere. So, I think the problem here was that I didn’t fall in love with either of the mains, and there wasn’t enough of an enticing plot or major storyline to compensate. You might enjoy this more if you like slower paced, dialogue heavy books.

I really liked the start of the book, but I sadly did not finish it. I got to 24% and got tired of the constant banter between Mabel and Alfie. I felt like the story line was dragging, there was too much of Mabel questioning if Alfie could feel anything for her.

I really liked the titles of the chapters and the little blurbs at the ends of the chapters. I hope to pick this book up again and finish it. If I do, I will be revising my review.

Thanks for allowing me to read this book. I can see the potential.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a DRC of this title!

As the title suggests, When Grumpy Met Sunshine follows a grumpy footballer teaming up with a sunshine-y ghostwriter to compose his memoirs. Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with this one. It felt a bit banter-heavy and, despite learning facts about these characters, I never really felt like I knew them as fully-formed characters. It didn’t work for me, but might still be a fun read for some die-hard Roy Kent fans. 2.5/5

This was a cute read. The pacing was super speedy, but it was entertaining as all get out. The story telling felt a little spastic, but was hilarious and the dialogue is golden. I’m constantly laughing out loud. The spice was good (3🌶️), but it was a bit of slow burn. There seemed to be more dirty talk than anything else. The character development and relationship building was so sweet though because they GOT each other. They'd been in each others shoes, even if where they currently were was completely different. Ended on a sweet Happy Ever After, which is my favorite. <3

Tropes include: Fake Dating, Forced Proximity, Miscommunication, GrumpyxSunshine

Loved the story line, when grumpy met sunshine, but this definitely fell short for me. Too much banter and drawn out explanations of EVERYTHING. Just too much. I found myself skimming the story at times, but laughing at Alfie and Mabel at other times. It had great potential, but definitely needs to get to the point faster.

Opposites Attract/Forced Proximity/Grumpy+Sunshine- usually some of my favorite tropes!

The banter has been a real hit OR miss for people. It is A LOT. Is it corny? Is it cute? You decide.

10/10 Cover though <3

Lots of banter that was just repetitive. Did not like the fmc. I actually liked Alfie more than Mabel and I think I would've liked this book more if it was dual POV. I couldn't really even finish it because it was just too much. She went from hating Alfie to then when he explained why he did everything liking him immediately. I just didn't enjoy. Wish I could've though. Maybe when it actually comes out, I'll try to reread it again.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ff86b24f-a352-4f2b-87ed-d47aa1035dbd

I loved this book felt it was fluffy and I could perfectly see myself as the main character especially since I identified myself with her. I did have a couple of places that felt the jump between chapters felt there were chapters missing.

Loved Roy Kent. I mean, Alfie. Had a really hard time following the prose a lot of the time. Thanks for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book. Who doesn’t like the akward curvy girl with self esteem issues get together with the handsome ex footballer. I just felt like their lines of communication were off. They seemed like their thought process of how they felt about one another was more of a teenage love than two 30+ year olds.Alfie was great opening up to Mabel about his past and his thoughts of his past life but was stoic when it came to their relationship. Mabel with her self esteem issues questioned herself about his feelings for her but never directed them at him. It’ was a fast love affair but when push came to shove miscommunication got in their way. When something was said by Mable … crickets. Fast forward to their long overdue reunion that led to them exchanging their true feelings felt like too much time had passed when they could’ve been together, one or the other should’ve reached out and not let a year go by if they truly loved one another. The premise was catchy but it was a miss for me personally.I just reviewed When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

There was so much potential for me in this book. I love the premise of it, but I just couldn’t get into it. There were too many different things going on…grumpy hero, sunshine heroine, takes them awhile to get together, mistaken to be a couple…just a lot going on. This was a well-written book, but I did not “get lost” in it. It was just a cute book.

I wanted to love this book... I really did! Grumpy/sunshine is one of my favorite tropes - but this one just missed the mark. The dialogue was confusing and I found myself reading, the re-reading just to clarify who said what... or did they think it? There was too much confusion. And the slow burn was non-existent in my opinion. This was a DNF for me - which I hate to do! But I just couldn't get into this story or find any love for the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this one and was very hopeful. I love the cover and the title. I also love the premise of the story overall. I have not read anything else by Charlotte Stein, but had seen that she is an author who writes spicy/steamy books, and I am all for those!

Unfortunately, this just fell very flat for me. I was confused for a lot of the book. It was not always clear where the story was going and what was going on. I felt like it jumped around quite a bit and the story just didn't flow well. I also kept waiting for this steamy romance, but it didn't come until towards the end. It wasn't even what I would consider a slow-burn. I really wanted to DNF this, but I made myself finish just to see if it would get better. I will say it did have a sweet, happy ending, so there's that.

I really loved the characters of this book- their banter during dialogue was great, but there was something off for me in the writing - mostly too much telling and not enough showing. I also really wanted something other than the miscommunication trope to be an issue, but truly the entire problem was both Mabel and Alfie were in their heads. I do like that the author gave a warning at the beginning about the fatphobicness, but I was sad so much of Mabel was her thinking people (Alfie) couldn’t love her. I also wanted a bit more from her friends - it seems like a good support system would have helped Mabel out quite a bit.

While the title leads you to believe you know exactly what you're getting, of course the layers upon layers of each character make the story so much more than a single trope. The banter between these two was outstanding - though somewhat of a soft warning for my fellow Americans that the slang is very authentically British. This is written solely from the FMC's perspective, but I was mostly fine with it and it was necessary for the conflict to play out organically. The only thing stopping it from being a no-questions 5-star for me was the ending/resolution ** SPOILERS ** the length of the time jump and how quickly all the misunderstandings were wrapped up and it was over was a little unsatisfying to me ** END SPOILERS **

Obviously this a grumpy x sunshine trope with fake dating and slow burn romance. I love them all! Alfie is the grumpy ex-footballer and Mable is the sunshine ghostwriter assigned to help Alfie write his memoir.

I love a book with good banter and the rom-com type feel I got from this book. It’s pretty clear early on how Alfie feels, but Mabel is constantly putting herself down for not being a size zero and thinking he wouldn’t want to be with someone who isn’t. On the surface, they are total opposites but later realize they share similar upbringings; however, Mabel lets her size get in her head a lot.

This author is British and a lot of the colloquialism is British; so at times it was a little difficult to understand the banter. But I adored the way he called her love. It’s giving me Alfie vibes from Emily in Paris! And the ending nearly had my heart broken, but we definitely get the HEA. I must have the happy ending!
All in all, this was a quick and easy read. The plot was good, I liked both characters, the steamy romance was top tier. The back of the car and kitchen scene – HOT!

I received a digital version from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of potential but was a disappointment for me. I like the grumpy/sunshine trope, it was steamy, and there was a good amount of character development and backstory. Unfortunately, the writing style made it difficult to enjoy. I had to concentrate way too hard and reread way too much to follow along.

The sentences were short.
And then long.
And then a summary of what was just said but in the form of a question?
And then restated but using slightly different words.

It was tough. I think there was banter but it wasn’t witty or light. I haven’t read anything else by this author but based on this book I wouldn’t, nor would I recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was so excited about this book when I first read the blurb and saw the cover. This is about a ghostwriter, Mabel, who is hired to write a biography on all time grumpy footballer Alfie Harding. Due to a misunderstanding with paparazzi, the world now thinks that Mabel and Alfie are together - which seems impossible to Mabel, since she is not his typical type of girlfriend. Through some convincing, they end up in a fake dating scenario that turns into more.

I never do this - and I hate to not finish a book - but I was not able to get past Chapter 17. I think the way it is written is very different and I kept getting confused on who was saying what. It was supposed to come out as quirky banter and clever side observations and inner dialogue, but it was hard to follow and I would lose who the narrator was.

I really, really wanted to love it. I think the premise is great and the characters in themselves are great, I just wish it would be easier for me to follow the storyline.