When Grumpy Met Sunshine
by Charlotte Stein
Synopsis
A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.
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 heck 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 for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend―until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?
by Charlotte Stein
Synopsis
A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.
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 heck 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 for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend―until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?
I am a lover of romance novels. I started reading them one cold and dark December night many, many moons ago (it was a Christmas romance!), and it opened up my eyes to this genre I didn’t know anything about! Since that fateful night, I have read all kinds of romance. I’ve read closed door sweet love stories, spicy reads with not a lot of plot (they do wonders for a tired soul), and sexy love stories with a lot of heart. I’ve also read all across the board and inclusive stories (gay, sapphic, bisexual, polyamory, etc.). So, when I say that I know what I like, oh reader, I KNOW what I like.
That was a long introduction to this review, but I could not help myself 😂 This was all to let you know that I truly LOVED Charlotte Stein’s When Grumpy Met Sunshine. It had almost everything that I love (we will get to the almost part a little later).
Mabel is a ghostwriter, and she is the latest in line to “try out” for being Alfie’s, a famous and famously grumpy footballer, ghostwriter for his memoir. After much miscommunication at the beginning, Mabel is able to determine what works to work best with Alfie. This leads to a lovely and warm friendship between Mabel and Alfie.
What I appreciated from When Grumpy Met Sunshine was that Mabel and Alfie’s story had a lot of laughs, classic miscommunication, plenty of sweet moments, yes, but it had something so much deeper than what I’m used to reading in romance. Mabel and Alfie have different reactions to life, but they have many similar experiences from their formative years since both lived with alcoholic fathers. The experiences they each had with their fathers very much helped develop the way they feel and engage in their friendly and romantic relationships. This is something that plays out during their story and is a very important aspect. Knowing something this heavy from their backgrounds made me feel for Mable and Alfie. It had me scolding them that throughout (for different reasons that I won’t include here because that would lean more in spoiler territory) and wanting to hug them as well.
Another aspect I enjoyed about Mable and Alfie is that Mable is described (and her illustration on the cover portrays her to be) as “full figured” or “plus sized” or “fat”. Choose the label you feel most comfortable with, but know that Mabel’s size is not really focused on too much which is exactly what I liked about it. As a plus-sized woman myself, I enjoy representation, but do not feel the need to have the characters constantly reminded that they’re not, in fact, skinny. Likewise, Alfie is a grumpy man, but he is not portrayed as this lovable grumpy man who changes his ways. No, Alfie is unapologetically a grumpy man, but he is not cruel as I feel like most grumpy men are portrayed in books. As a lover of a particular grumpy man, I truly appreciated being shown a male character that is allowed to be grumpy.
My only real qualm about this story is a personal preference of mine - I truly wished this story had a dual POV. I loved Alfie so much that I wanted to hear his thoughts - about his experiences, about Mabel, and about life! I should have known that this story wouldn’t have a dual POV since I’ve read a previous book by Stein entitled Never Sweeter which also didn’t have a POV (and I so desperately wanted one). However, this did not take away from the story - I just really wanted it 😅
That was a long introduction to this review, but I could not help myself 😂 This was all to let you know that I truly LOVED Charlotte Stein’s When Grumpy Met Sunshine. It had almost everything that I love (we will get to the almost part a little later).
Mabel is a ghostwriter, and she is the latest in line to “try out” for being Alfie’s, a famous and famously grumpy footballer, ghostwriter for his memoir. After much miscommunication at the beginning, Mabel is able to determine what works to work best with Alfie. This leads to a lovely and warm friendship between Mabel and Alfie.
What I appreciated from When Grumpy Met Sunshine was that Mabel and Alfie’s story had a lot of laughs, classic miscommunication, plenty of sweet moments, yes, but it had something so much deeper than what I’m used to reading in romance. Mabel and Alfie have different reactions to life, but they have many similar experiences from their formative years since both lived with alcoholic fathers. The experiences they each had with their fathers very much helped develop the way they feel and engage in their friendly and romantic relationships. This is something that plays out during their story and is a very important aspect. Knowing something this heavy from their backgrounds made me feel for Mable and Alfie. It had me scolding them that throughout (for different reasons that I won’t include here because that would lean more in spoiler territory) and wanting to hug them as well.
Another aspect I enjoyed about Mable and Alfie is that Mable is described (and her illustration on the cover portrays her to be) as “full figured” or “plus sized” or “fat”. Choose the label you feel most comfortable with, but know that Mabel’s size is not really focused on too much which is exactly what I liked about it. As a plus-sized woman myself, I enjoy representation, but do not feel the need to have the characters constantly reminded that they’re not, in fact, skinny. Likewise, Alfie is a grumpy man, but he is not portrayed as this lovable grumpy man who changes his ways. No, Alfie is unapologetically a grumpy man, but he is not cruel as I feel like most grumpy men are portrayed in books. As a lover of a particular grumpy man, I truly appreciated being shown a male character that is allowed to be grumpy.
My only real qualm about this story is a personal preference of mine - I truly wished this story had a dual POV. I loved Alfie so much that I wanted to hear his thoughts - about his experiences, about Mabel, and about life! I should have known that this story wouldn’t have a dual POV since I’ve read a previous book by Stein entitled Never Sweeter which also didn’t have a POV (and I so desperately wanted one). However, this did not take away from the story - I just really wanted it 😅
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