DNF

There wasn’t anything wrong with this book, per se, I think it just wasn’t a good fit for me. A little too OTT for the sake of comedy. But I think for someone who loves a slightly-farcical rom-com then this book would be perfect.

The premise of this book is delicious, and I am absolutely here for all the Roy Kent inspired books that have been coming out recently. This book was unabashed fan fiction (there’s even a Ted Lasso character) and I really enjoyed how gleeful it was - the author was obviously having a blast and so was I. Full of brilliantly funny lines and simmering romantic tension, this was a great read.

As others have mentioned, this draft was seriously under-served editorially. There were quite a few places where I found myself having to go back to try and work out what was being said (sometimes realising it didn’t actually make sense at all), and who was saying it. Hopefully this is just an issue with the early proof draft, I won’t hesitate to recommend the finished thing to readers looking for a funny slice of escapism.

This was a new author to me and I will definitely be looking at her back book list.
I loved this book, Alfie and Mabel were wonderful characters full of quirky traits and awful self esteem issues.
Mabel, because of her body shape and career choices and Alfie because of other peoples perception of him.
They book manages to be a slow burn, whilst being filthy in parts, ( all in a good way!)
Loved it and everybody should read it immediately.

The story of Alfie and Mabel. She is the ghostwrite hired to help him, a former footballer, write his memoir. They don't get off to the best start, but will they give each other a chance? A great read, I love a grumpy and sunshine romance.

Absolutely fantastic characters, and a book for anyone who watched Ted Lasso and wanted to see more Roy Kent (in every way). With a fat heroine who, and a hero who falls first and HARD, this was definitely a fun read. I will say, it's a lot spicier than I anticipated, so definitely watch out for that!

Mabel is a ghostwriter who has been chosen to write a biography for notoriously grumpy ex-footballer, Alfie. They don't get off to a good start and Mabel doubts the arrangement will work since Alfie seems to hate everything about her. But she has no choice, so she teases him and starts to find him opening up to her.

It took me ages to read this one as I couldn't get into it. I enjoyed the sexy scenes to an extent but there was a lot of use of the words hairy and meaty. Which is just cringe. And constantly referring to one another as mate? Just plain weird!

Alfie's "kink" that he can't really get into it unless his partner is gagging for it, isn't really a kink. It's just normal surely? Don't we all want a sexual partner who wants us with the same intensity and desperation we want them???

The writing wasn't great, the story didn't flow very well and half the time I had to reread parts as it didn't make sense, but the rereading did nothing to clear anything up. It's like sentences were removed that would have gone a long way to link one piece to the next.

I enjoy the plus size romances and I liked that it didn't harp on about Mabel being bigger. It was mentioned a few times but not in a weird way. Alfie and Mabel's lack of communication frustrated me, as always, people should just talk to each other so there is no confusion rather than just assuming. But I can also see why Mabel thought the way she did about Alfie, her past experience with lovers wasn't great.

I wanted to like this story, I really did, but it just didn't hit the mark.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I must admit I wasn’t sure about this book at first - the plot felt a bit silly and unbelievable and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief, but I kept reading because the main characters, Mabel and Alfie, had such great chemistry. When I found myself thinking “I can’t wait til they kiss 🔥” I knew I was all in.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine reads like fanfic (specifically Roy Kent fanfic) in all the best ways: light on plot, heavy on feelings (repressed and expressed) and yearning and banter and smut.

It made me laugh out loud and wriggle with glee. Plus I welled up a bit towards the end. I loved it.

A national treasure footballer needs a ghost writer to right his life story. Unfortunately he has a reputation for being a man of few words and an explosive temper. After turning down various ghost writers., Mabel is drafted in. Giving back as good as she gets, a deal is struck. Not only will she write his life story but be his pretend love interest so no one knows she's writing his life story.
Of course it's picked up by the press and internet.
Confusion, lust and what's really real abounds. Enjoy I did, light hearted romance

Well, this one was just okay for me
I am not really a fan when the book is in 3rd persone. And just could not completly enjoy this book. For me 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'When Grumpy Met Sunshine' by Charlotte Stein.

Oh I wolfed this book up like it was a cake. 'When Grumpy Met Sunshine' was a sports star x writer romance and it was so cute!! It also mixed in with the reality of footballers and just how obsessed the public eye get with celebrities and their private history. The amount of fatshaming our darling MC received was disgusting and its honestly disgusting that this is how life is. All that aside - I felt like it was a point I needed to bring up in case you thought this love was an easy ride - I did absolutely enjoy this story and I would read another Charlotte Stein book in the future.

I liked this book. It was nice having a plus size FMC. I did struggle a bit with all the dialogue to begin with and it did take me a while to get into the story, however once I did I liked the characters and how quirky they were.

A nice feel good book.

I was really looking forward to this book and I enjoyed the blurb and the whole idea of the book. However, once I started reading, it felt as if the author just took the already established character of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso and stuck him in a book.

I love Roy Kent but it was as if there was no original ideas for this character and, because of this, I found it hard to lose myself on the story.

DNF @ 27%

Thank you NetGalley for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the plot of this book, a ghost writer and famous footballer have to fake date while she writes his memoir, however i just couldn’t get into the story - the dialogue felt like it went on for ages and was cringy/quirky. Same for the characters, didn’t feel like they had much depth to them.

4.25 🌟
From the get-go, it's very obvious the path this book will take but surprisingly it's not an issue. I picked it up knowing that it would be the grumpy/sunshine trope (obviously!) And was pleasantly surprised. The characters embody their personality traits brilliantly and are detailed and well set up to interact with each other. It doesn't feel like they butt heads, but instead it feels like they engage with each other and allow the other one to thrive and open up some more.

For those who like slow burn elements to stories, with some 🌶 as well, I'd say this book has all of that!

As the title suggests, this book is a grumpy sunshine, Roy Kent inspired novel about an ex footballer and his ghost writer who end up fake dating.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, but there was something about the characters that didn’t quite do it for me. I think partly it was the dialogue and the way they kept calling each other mate.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for the arc.

I'm very sad to say this really didn't work for me. It was all to do with the writing. This really needed an editor. There was never a calm sentence, never a sentence that wasn't trying to do something funny. Each thing that gets talked about is dragged out by endless run on sentences. And since this read as Roy Kent fanfiction, it's sort of annoying that all the writers who take on that trend don't seem to understand the character they're basing their love interest on.

Plot wise this book sounds perfect.

But the writing...well, it wasn't great. And on top of that I really didn't vibe with Alfie as a love interest.

So this was unfortunately a DNF

What’s not to love! This was such a fantastic slow burn, opposites attract romance. My favourite part was definitely the dialogue and the banter, and how relatable the FMC was.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the articles and notes in between each chapter as it somewhat disrupted the flow.