When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein: Book Review

Some books are just plain fun. You open them up, start reading, and before you know it, you’ve devoured half the book with a ridiculous grin on your face. That was me with When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein. I had so much fun reading this.

A spoiler-free verdict: As I mentioned, I had tons of fun reading this. It’s by no means a perfect book and it has many issues, but it’s a light, entertaining read that’s sure to get you out of a reading slump or serve as an excellent pallete cleanser.

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• My rating: 4 ⭐
• Is it spicy? Yes, but nothing too wild.
• Standalone or series? Standalone, though there are other books set in this world.
• Read if: You want a fun, enjoyable little read you can finish in one afternoon or have a few laughs. And, more specifically, if you like Ted Lasso the TV show, because this hero is heavily based on Roy Kent (though I didn’t watch Ted Lasso before reading this, it was only later that I figured it out).

Thoughts and Feelings

Charlotte Stein is hilarious. The prose is peak British humor—dry, self-aware, and full of wit. There’s a playfulness to the way she writes that makes the story feel fresh, even though it leans heavily into familiar romance tropes. And speaking of tropes, this book doesn’t shy away from them. It names them outright, which is something I usually don’t like. But here it worked. Because once you get into it, you realize these characters are more than just “grumpy” and “sunshine.” There’s a real depth to them, and that’s what makes the story shine.

Let’s talk about Alfie, our grump of the hour. He’s a retired footballer but what really makes him stand out is how awkward and completely endearing he is. He’s soft and unsure and just so lovable. Every time he fumbled through a conversation, I wanted to wrap him up in a blanket. His dynamic with Mabel, our ray of sunshine, is everything you want from this trope: banter, frustration, and slowly melting walls.

The spice was not so bad either. A little weird at the beginning, sure, but ultimately, it worked.

Now, onto the things that didn’t quite work. This book is over 300 pages, but it feels like a novella, and to me it felt like it happened too quick and there was something missing. The focus is almost exclusively on Alfie and Mabel, which makes sense in a romance novel, but here, it’s a bit too narrow. We don’t really get a sense of their lives outside of the relationship, what they do, who they hang out with, what their world looks like. It makes everything feel a little underdeveloped, especially when compared to other romance books that give you a fuller picture of the characters.

And then there’s the year-long gap. Why? Genuinely, why? Mabel takes a whole year to read Alfie’s manuscript, and I just don’t buy it. A month or two? Sure. But a year is a long time for two people who had just started catching feelings for each other. It felt like an unnecessary time jump that didn’t really add anything to the story.

But despite that, I’d still absolutely recommend this book. It’s fun, it’s light, and it’s the perfect pick-me-up if you’re in a reading slump. Sometimes, you just need a book that makes you laugh and swoon without making you work too hard for it. And When Grumpy Met Sunshine delivers exactly that.