🥰Enjoyment: This was a cute little palate cleanser. It felt a bit repetitive at parts but I thought the tropes were cute and the narrator did a nice job. Would recommend if you need a quick light read to recover from something heavier.

🎭Mood Reader Classification: Probably do not need to own or re-read, open to trying other releases from this author.

When grumpy met sunshine by Charlotte Stein

3.5/5 Stars

Main Characters: Mable and Alfie

Mable is contracted to ghostwrite for Alfie a famous retired footballer where many others tried and failed. The two become close and their business arrangement is mistaken for romance, they decide to go with it and pretend to be a couple.

Mable is a cute and curvy. Alfie is a total cinnamon roll, grumpy but a heart of gold.

So I really wanted to like this book and was very excited to read this one but this just didn’t do it for me. The banter was almost there between the two characters but just wasn’t quite there. The book just felt like it was dragging. There just didn’t feel like much of a plot either.

Many thanks to Netgally and St Martins press for providing me with a ARC to review.

This book started off strong. Fun banter! I love fake dating and grumpy/sunshine tropes. The cover and description promise me an adorable read.

On audio, it was confusing. There was so much dialogue I got lost not being able to follow who was saying what. There were also text messages, emails, and news articles or twitter entries that weren't always clearly distinguished. I think the book would make more sense in paper, so, I won't knock it for that specifically, but I don't recommend the audio. The narrator's accent was also difficult for me to understand at times (probably not a problem if you are British), but I had to replay a few scenes/give up on ever figuring out what she was saying on a few of them, no matter how slow I made it.

I mostly enjoyed this story. It got REAL spicy about 2/3s of the way in, which I wasn't prepared for given the innocent banter that lead to it. And the spice was a bit dirty. If you don't like the c word (my least favorite) be warned.

Frankly, the ending didn't make sense. This is a spoiler, so close your eyeballs if you don't want it. A full year passed before they sorted out their miscommunication? Nope, no, no. It should have been a day. Or a week at most. He just totally changed his entire personality to confess his love to her through a book she supposedly ghost wrote and she asked no questions/read none of the drafts until the book party? No, not buying it. Go back and rewrite that.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC!

When grumpy met sunshine. I would not consider the female character sunshine. She is obnoxious and a snob. I did not like her at all

This was light story with good banter, steam and a sweet ending. It missed a little for me because of all the inner monologue and the extremely slow story progression only to feel like it hit fast forward during the last third or so. Grumpy/sunshine tends to be one of my favorite tropes, but this one just didn’t fully work for me.

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillian.audio for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The whole time I listened or read this book, I could only picture the MMC as Roy Kent from Ted Lasso. Now maybe that is what the author was going for. But I like Roy. I did not care for Alfie. The relationship seemed very disjointed and unnatural. The banter felt immature. Also, I can’t stand unnecessary miscommunication.

The spiciness of the book and the narrator were the saving graces here.

2.5 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #stmartinspress #macmillianaudio #netgalley #goodreads #ltbreaderteam

I enjoyed this so much! I loved that the main character was plus sized! She seemed more real and raw, insecurities and all. The male main character is suppose to be the grumpy one, but I think he's just misunderstood. The female main character had more push back and grumpy moments than he had. I loved how this was a fake relationship trope, it beautifully played out. Some bits seemed to slow roll by but keep pushing through it's a worthy read!

I received this ARC from NetGalley to read and review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading it.

DNF at 20%. I felt the plot was repetitive and overall kept me disinterested.

The narrator wasn’t the worst I’ve ever listened to, but also did leave much to be desired.

Super bummed because I was looking forward to this one.

This was a feel good romcom and I had such a good time. It took me a few chapter to find the groove, but once I did I finished it rather quickly. The only negative thing I have to say is I wanted them to just LOVE EACH OTHER, but you know how it goes. The banter between the main characters had me rolling, it was honestly super realistic types of conversation that I really don't often read in romance books
This book is great if you like:
grumpy/sunshine
fake dating
billionaire/bookworm
slow burn
stranger to friends to lovers

I will also say, the narrator did a lovely job! She had a great tone and I loved the inflections she put into the dialogue!

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is exactly as it sounds - grumpy footballer meets bubbly ghostwriter. While the story was good, I think the narrator made it even more enjoyable. I absolutely loved listening to this book, it was so calming and put me in a good mood. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

I listened to the audiobook of this title, courtesy of NetGalley.I appreciated the "reader warning" at the beginning of the recording about some of the content, like abuse and fat shaming. , I liked the basic storyline and relationship between the two main characters-Alfie and Mabel. I found it really sweet that Alfie stood up for Mabel almost from the beginning. His protective nature came out as they talked about and started to connect through their pasts. It just felt like it was dragging to me. I found myself wishing I was further along in the story from time to time.

It is definitely an adult romance. I had a hard time slogging through their dialogs with so many "F" bombs dropping like a war zone. I try not to be a prude and don't mind the occasional bomb but it seemed like almost every sentence included one. I think I would have enjoyed it more with a lot less of that.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers for giving the opportunity to listen to this auidobook for in return for an honest review.

I think for what this book is, it is really good. I really enjoyed it and I would recommend this book to people that like romance.

Things that I like, as the banter that Grumpy vs Sunshine have, the plus size main character, and the the fact that they don't focus a lot on her weight.

Things I didn't like as much, it was a happy go lucky book until about 60% in and then boom smut. I like smut but I wasn't expecting it from this book when most of it was very relaxed. I also hate the 3rd act break up especially theirs.

Overall I think this was a fun and easy read for any romance reader

This was really fun, but it did that thing where one of the MCs couldn't fathom that the other could ever love them, all evidence to the contrary (and there was SO MUCH EVIDENCE HE LOVED HER), so I couldn't give it five stars. I understand that low self-esteem is a thing that happens IRL, but I feel like it should be more subtle than it was here, where it made the otherwise lovely MC seem kind of dumb. Other than that, this book was SO MUCH FUN. I loved that the two main characters actually talked to each other. I loved how weird Alfie was, and how gruff. I love how they kept surprising each other. This is one of those books that doesn't have much plot, and while I kind of wish it had more, the dynamic between the characters is what I love about romance, and here that was absolutely great. They were *funny* together.

I absolutely 100% pictured Roy Kent the entire time, as I was no doubt meant to.

Grumpy Alfie Harding meets sunshiny Mabel Williker when she is brought on as the newest in a string of tried and rejected ghostwriters for his memoir. Mabel of course is a perfect fit and so begins their story. As they navigate the ups and downs of writing and keeping it from the public, their business relationship is mistaken for a romantic relationship, causing no end of complications for them resulting in a pretend relationship to keep everyone in the dark about what was really happening.

Overall, this was a cute story. I enjoyed listening to the audio book. I think the narrator did a great job getting the awkwardness between the characters right. Unfortunately, I also felt like this made their romantic relationship feel a bit awkward as well. As they tried to determine what feelings were real and what were part of the pretending, the feelings they were describing felt clunky to me instead of natural. Part of that fit the characters really well, but to me their friendship and banter felt more authentic that their romance. This was a combination of both the self-doubt in their inner monologues as well as the narration not helping to correct that.

I also was a little surprised that as confident as Mabel is said to be with her size, she seems fixated on it in the sense that she doesn't view herself as worth much. She seems to have accepted it, but accepted it in the sense that she has given up and put herself in a box rather than in a way that is really positive and constructive.

I think this started to lose me a bit more towards the end. There were so many miscommunications that I just wanted to shake both of them. I feel like they just put themselves through so much for absolutely no reason at all. In some cases, it was so frustrating that the spicier scenes just seemed out of place and out of character. It was just not a healthy relationship (friendship or romantic) to just bypass any communication and ignore the issues. The time jump at the end was just the culmination of this frustration.

Overall, there were a lot of good parts to this story. I thought the characters were adorable and had a lot going for them. I generally enjoyed listening to this. However, my enjoyment was definitely colored by my frustrations and while I was rooting for Alfie and Mabel, I am not sure that I am content with where they ended up and how they got there.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a fun filled rombom about a ghost writer named Mabel and a retired football player named Alfie. They are forced to pretend to be a couple and find themselves falling for one another. 
While I liked the premise of this book and laughed at times, I thought it got long and hard to follow at times also.  I liked it enough to look for another Charlotte Stein book, and gave it a strong three stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Charlotte Stein for an ARC of this book which releases on February 6th.

•••𝘿𝙉𝙁 @32%•••

𝘼 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙮, 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨-𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚-𝙮 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧.

I really tried to get into this book, I even the audiobook going in hopes I could finish this. I got 32% into the audio and decided to call it a day - which was quite a disappointment.

I usually am a fan of the Grumpy/Sunshine trope, but I didn’t care for it in this. There were so many inner thoughts that had me annoyed with these characters. The banter in this also didn’t work for me.

One of my goals this year is to start DNF’ing books I’m just not vibing with. I usually struggle what that part as for some reason I just have the urge to finish every book, but there’s not enough time to be doing that.

I don’t think I’ll pick this one back up at a later time, it just wasn’t my kind of read.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Sexual Content, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Child Abuse

3.5 stars

Alfie is the heartthrob ex-football (soccer) star. Mabel has been partnered with him to ghostwrite his memoir. He’s reluctant, and a big bear of a man, and all things grumpy, while she wears flowery dresses and doesn’t swear and is the epitome of sunshine. But when they’re seen together and rumors start, they obviously can’t say that she’s a ghostwriter. Obviously they should just pretend they’re dating!

I love a good grumpy/sunshine and fake relationship trope. But I don’t love an mis- or non-communication trope, and there was a lot of that in here as well. But I can appreciate the way things came together at the end, and the explanations for the miscommunication.

Otherwise, this book was spectacularly spicy even with mostly just talk and not a lot of physical action. But Alfie’s mouth is filthy, and it doesn’t take much for Mabel’s sunny personality to start meeting him word for dirty word.

Overall it was a fun romp, and I enjoyed the characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook!

“When Grumpy Met Sunshine” presents a steamy narrative, exploring the dynamic between the grumpy retired footballer Alfie Harding and the lively ghostwriter Mabel Willicker. The story hinges on their undeniable chemistry as they navigate the challenges of revealing Alfie’s life story. While the premise is promising, my overall experience with the book left me with mixed feelings.

The novel delves into the opposites-attract trope, injecting humor and banter into the interactions between Alfie and Mabel. The narrative cleverly employs the fake dating scenario, adding an entertaining twist to the plot. Emily Spowage’s narration, with its raspy quality, contributes a raw and engaging element that complements the story’s tone.

However, my main concern lies in the execution of the romance. Despite the numerous steamy scenes, the connection between Mabel and Alfie felt somewhat underdeveloped. The focus on intimate moments seemed to overshadow the emotional depth needed to convincingly portray a romantic relationship. This imbalance gave the impression of a narrative leaning more towards a developing friendship rather than a couple in the throes of love.

The limited backstories for both characters contributed to this lack of emotional investment. A more comprehensive exploration of their pasts could have enriched the narrative, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the protagonists and enhancing the authenticity of their connection.

On a positive note, the banter between Mabel and Alfie was a highlight. Mabel’s ability to coax Alfie into revealing the necessary details for his memoir added a layer of charm to their interactions. The fake dating aspect was also enjoyable, injecting a dose of humor and intrigue into the storyline.

In conclusion, “When Grumpy Met Sunshine” offers a mix of entertaining elements, from witty banter to a cleverly implemented fake dating plot. However, the lack of a compelling romantic connection and limited character backstories left the overall impression somewhat flat. Despite these shortcomings, Emily Spowage’s narration adds a unique dimension to the audiobook, enhancing the raw and engaging quality of the story.

I received a DRC of this audiobook from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions are my own.

this is such a cute, fun, & steamy book! I loved every single part of it— it was hilarious all throughout, dealt with some of the hardships life can force on us, painted a realistic picture of the overwhelming thoughts plus-sized women can face day-to-day, and gave the most beautiful love story!

Alfie & Mabel have both known some trauma in their lives, and I loved the candid humor with which they discussed it with each other. I also loved how they then were able to continue growing their connection with such care & tenderness & love. their whole story here is filled with so much acceptance & reverence of the other as they value each part— insecurities and all— of the other. I loved Alfie’s charming grumpiness & shyness as it fit with Mabel’s hilarious sunshine personality.

they both gave each other so much tender love & care right from the start, it made their lighter, funnier moments even more joyful and their loving, tender moments more heartfelt. just a truly lovely, hilarious story! thank you for the ALC!

This book is so much fun! The banter is incredible, and the twist of grumpy/sunshine was fresh and entertaining. I love a silly grump!

The only thing that kept taking me out of the story was the number of times her weight was brought up. As a plus-sized woman, I think it's great to have inclusive stories, but I found it hard to believe that it would come up quite that often. In addition, she is a character that is supposed to love her body and be comfortable in it, and yet she thinks about it at all times.

Overall this book made me actually laugh out loud. The narrator was great and brought a lot of warmth to their interactions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me listen!