Review: When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein*

  *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: When Grumpy Met Sunshine
Author: Charlotte Stein
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Parental Abuse, Childhood Poverty, Parental Alcoholism, Fatphobia

Rating: ★★★★ 

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Explicit Open Door)

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Finding love was not the only goal . . .

When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can't imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.

And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute-as-hell ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.

But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item to satisfy a public ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. And now they have to decide: is their fake relationship all for show or something so real it might just give them their fairy-tale ending?

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is the latest novel from romance author Charlotte Stein and the (you guessed it!) grumpy x sunshine romance between grumpy retired footballer Alfie Harding and his sunshine-personified memoir ghostwriter Mabel Willicker.

This book is packed full of all of your favourite romance tropes. Our grumpy x sunshine pair end up in a fake-dating scenario after Mabel is caught by the paparazzi leaving Alfie’s house and this was really well executed. If you like the ‘Hates Everyone But You’ and ‘Touch Her and You Die’ tropes you will LOVE Alfie Harding as a swoon-worthy MMC who was fiercely protective over Mabel, even when they were ‘just friends’. BookTok is going to absolutely love this pair!

The narrative is packed full of witty-banter between Mabel and Alfie which had me laughing out loud. It did take me the first five chapters or so to settle into the story and get used to how fast paced the story was, particularly during conversations between Mabel and Alfie, but once I was there I was HOOKED.

This is a slow-burn romance but boy is it worth the wait. If you like a spicy romance with lots of sexual tension and great dirty talk, this is the book for you. I’d rate this as a 4 out of 5 on the spice scale as there are multiple open-door intimate scenes (and in a variety of locations – car and kitchen counter included!).

Mabel and Alfie were brilliant protagonists and their relationship felt really genuine, which is not always the case with celebrity romances. I love plus-size representation within romance books and Mabel was an absolute queen who was unapologetically her sunshine self. Alfie was a really complex character who I fell completely in love with. The chapters are interspersed with extracts from articles, social media posts and press interviews which add further detail to both our present-day story and Alfie’s backstory. It was really interesting to see how Alfie’s famous footballer public persona differed to his true self and this was well written. The shared childhood trauma Alfie and Mabel have was also well and respectfully written.

This book does have a HEA despite a third act breakup. I’m never a massive fan of third act breakups, especially ones linked to miscommunication, but it resolved itself well with a grand gesture that melted my heart.

Overall, When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a gorgeous romance read, perfect for reading around Valentines Day. I’ve been absolutely hooked on Charlotte Stein’s writing and can’t wait to read more of her books.