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WORK TITLE: My Big Fat Fake Marriage
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://charlottestein.net/
CITY: Leeds
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COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Guest speaker at events.
WRITINGS
Contributor to anthologies.
SIDELIGHTS
[open new]Charlotte Stein is a British author of unapologetically steamy romances. The first story she can remember reading as a child was the Ladybird edition of Sleeping Beauty. She was writing stories by age six and would be especially proud of a tale of two vampire brothers that she wrote at age thirteen, filling up an entire notebook. As she told Elise Dumpleton of the Nerd Daily, that was when her “thirst for the written word really took off.” She credits L.J. Smith’s “Vampire Diaries” series with making her want to become an author, but the genre she gravitated toward was romance. She explained to Dumpleton: “I love love. Even when I thought as a teenager that I wanted to write other things, like horror—it was always ultimately about love. And desire! And lust! And passion! So I just stopped resisting that. I wrote what I truly wanted to, wholly and completely.” Stein lives with her family in Leeds, England.
Control, one of Stein’s early novels, follows Madison Morris as she manages her erotic bookstore with an eye to acting out a few scenes of her own. She happens to be intimately engaged with the dominant Andy Yarrow when shy Gabriel Kauffman walks in to apply for an assistant position. Eager to induct him into the milieu, Madison obliges him to circle his favorite passages, work from home (hers) in the nude, and perform other salient tasks on the way to launching a love story. A Publishers Weekly reviewer enjoyed the “sizzling combination of BDSM and voyeurism” and asserted that readers will race through the book “in anticipation of the next scorching sex scene.”
Stein opens her “Under the Skin” series with Intrusion, which finds Beth disconcerted, to say the least, when her neighbor across the street—strange, reclusive, and mysterious Noah—appears in her backyard late at night. When she realizes he has been sleepwalking, a regular occurrence he copes with, she invites him inside, and soon they discover that each is burdened by a past that makes moving forward a major challenge. Erotic language becomes the key as they open their hearts, minds, and bodies to each other. Vicky Coffin of Xpress Reviews hailed Beth as a “survivor and a worthy heroine” and remarked that the protagonists’ dynamic “is very raw and intense, creating strong sexual and emotional tension.” Admitting that, between strands of suspense and horror, the “amped-up anticipation is both organic and beguilingly arousing,” a Publishers Weekly reviewer hailed Intrusion as a “radiant ode to the mind—the biggest erogenous zone of all.”
Stein secured a mainstream publisher in featuring a plus-sized woman as the protagonist of When Grumpy Met Sunshine, which was partly inspired by the romantic tension between a pair of characters in the Ted Lasso TV show. Ghostwriter Mabel Willicker is enlisted for the challenge of helping retired football pro Alfie Harding write his memoirs. Alfie rejected the prior sixteen enlistees, but Mabel proves a self-assured match for his irascible attitude. The ghostwriting is meant to be clandestine, so when Mabel gets spotted leaving Alfie’s house, they elect to start a fake relationship—one that gradually elicits a romantic reality. Approving of Alfie’s evolution into “the ultimate cinnamon-roll hero,” Heather Miller Cover of Library Journal hailed this novel as “upbeat, engaging, witty, and funny.”
Opening Stein’s “Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures” series is How to Help a Hungry Werewolf. Former best friends Cassandra Camberwell and Seth Brubaker had a high-school falling out when he publicly called her fat, but their paths recross when she returns to Hollow Brook after her grandmother’s death. Seth, it turns out, is a werewolf, and the grandmother used to make potions to help him deal with the transformations. Hoping Cassandra—who is lusting against her will—has witchy talents of her own, Seth aims to help her work some magic with him. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that readers will “delight in Cassie’s gleeful discovery of the magical world, populated with zany, inventive details such as flying vacuum cleaners, fairies riding caterpillars …, and a sentient microwave oven.” In Library Journal, Cover proclaimed that this “delightful, steamy romance is full of surprises that will keep readers guessing.”
Another affirmative protagonist graces the pages of My Big Fat Fake Marriage, in which thirty-one-year-old writer Connie has been trying to get a bead on neighbor Beck, who is tall, burly, and mustachioed and keeps leaving baked treats in their hallway. The catch is that he has no relationship experience whatsoever, but he has been telling his publishing-house coworkers he is married. When one of them starts bullying Beck at a party, Connie impulsively steps in to proclaim herself his wife. When a writing retreat rolls around, keeping up the facade means not just staying together but sleeping in the same bed. In Library Journal, Cover noted that “familiar tropes pull the protagonists together, and excellent writing makes them feel new and exciting.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer found the heart of My Big Fat Fake Marriage to lie in Connie’s emotional growth “as she unlearns the toxic femininity she was taught as a child and embraces her truest self.” A Kirkus Reviews writer declared that “the characters’ strong introspection and emotional vulnerability make the book impossible to put down.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2024, review of How to Help a Hungry Werewolf; March 1, 2025, review of My Big Fat Fake Marriage.
Library Journal, November, 2023, Heather Miller Cover, review of When Grumpy Met Sunshine, p. 52; August, 2024, Heather Miller Cover, review of How To Help a Hungry Werewolf, p. 82; January, 2025, Heather Miller Cover, review of My Big Fat Fake Marriage, p. 61.
Publishers Weekly, November 11, 2013, review of Control, p. 56; September 22, 2014, review of Intrusion, p. 55; January 20, 2025, review of My Big Fat Fake Marriage, p. 41.
Xpress Reviews, November 21, 2014, Vicky Coffin, review of Intrusion.
ONLINE
Charlotte Stein website, https://charlottestein.net (September 22, 2025).
Nerd Daily, https://thenerddaily.com/ (February 4, 2024), Elise Dumpleton, “Q&A: Charlotte Stein, Author of ‘When Grumpy Met Sunshine.’”
United by Pop, https://www.unitedbypop.com/ (March 1, 2024), Charlotte Stein, “For the Love of Romance Tropes.”
Charlotte Stein
UK flag
Charlotte Stein has written over thirty short stories, novellas and novels, including entries in The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance and Best New Erotica 10. Her latest work, Run To You, was recently a DABWAHA finalist. When not writing deeply emotional and intensely sexy books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, watching terrible sitcoms and occasionally lusting after hunks.
New and upcoming books
October 2025
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Dealing with a Desperate Demon
(Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures, book 2)April 2026
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While You Were Seething
Series
More Than Menage
All Other Things (2011)
Doubled (2012)
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An Away We Go
1. Curve Ball (2013)
2. Restraint: Away We Go, Book Two (2015)
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Under the Skin
1. Intrusion (2014)
2. Forbidden (2015)
3. Taken (2015)
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Dark Obsession
1. Never Loved (2015)
2. Never Sweeter (2016)
Never Better (2017)
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Cold Hearts
1. Sweet Agony (2015)
2. The Professor (2015)
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Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures
1. How to Help a Hungry Werewolf (2024)
2. Dealing with a Desperate Demon (2025)
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Novels
The Things That Make Me Give In (2009)
Control (2011)
Reawakening (2011)
Telling Tales (2012)
Power Play (2012)
Sheltered (2012)
Make Me (2012)
Addicted (2013)
Run To You (2013)
Beyond Repair (2014)
Way Down Deep (2017) (with Cara McKenna)
When Grumpy Met Sunshine (2024)
My Big Fat Fake Marriage (2025)
While You Were Seething (2026)
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Collections
My Secret Life (2012) (with others)
Captivated (2012) (with others)
The Ultimate Erotica Collection (2013) (with Indigo Bloome and Primula Bond)
You Already Know (2016)
Singing Electricity (2017)
Four Erotic Novellas (2017)
Pleasure Keeper (2017)
Tigerlily: And Other Tales Of Erotic Fantasy (2021)
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Novellas and Short Stories
Deep Desires (2012)
Frostbitten (2016)
Not Safe for Work (2017)
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Series contributed to
Secret Library
8. Ahead of the Curve (2013) (with Kay Jaybee and Maxine Marsh)
Charlotte Stein is the RT and DABWAHA nominated author of over fifty short stories, novellas and novels, including the Library Journal starred When Grumpy Met Sunshine. When not writing deeply emotional and intensely sexy books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, getting way too excited over a million movies and TV shows, and occasionally lusting after moustaches. She lives in Leeds with her family.
Q&A: Charlotte Stein, Author of ‘When Grumpy Met Sunshine’
Elise Dumpleton·Writers Corner·February 4, 2024·3 min read
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We chat with author Charlotte Stein about When Grumpy Met Sunshine, which is a steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.
Hi, Charlotte! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Absolutely! My name is Charlotte Stein, and I’m a writer of steamy Romance, and have been for the last fifteen years. I started out writing for lines like Black Lace and many digital presses, and then finally managed to make the leap to a Big Five publisher with my Romcom series, which is all about fabulous fat heroines and the grumps, cinnamon rolls and weirdos they love. It starts with When Grumpy Met Sunshine, which is out 6th of February in the US and 15th February in the UK.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I first discovered my love of writing about age six, apparently—my Mum recently found one of the first stories I ever wrote, as a little girl. Though my thirst for the written word really took off around thirteen, when I filled a whole notebook with a tale of two vampire brothers, and assumed that was long enough to be a complete novel.
Spoiler alert: it was not!
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
The first book you ever remember reading: The Ladybird edition of Sleeping Beauty.
The one that made you want to become an author: The Vampire Diaries, by LJ Smith.
The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Currently, it’s Murderbot!
Your latest novel, When Grumpy Met Sunshine, is out February 6th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Hilarious, hot, heartfelt, voicey, fat-positive.
What can readers expect?
A grumpy Roy Kent-ish hero, lots of banter, fake dating, and a connection between two people that makes them more themselves than they’ve ever been.
Where did the inspiration for When Grumpy Met Sunshine come from?
I’d say mostly from my love of romcoms, and sitcoms – specifically, in this case, Ted Lasso. But also just the places I grew up, in Leeds, England. What it is to be a fat girl and woman, navigating that world in particular.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Oh, I just adored writing both Mabel and Alfie. I have such a love for depicting one character wholly through another’s eyes. And Alfie just sung to me, through Mabel’s. His gruffness, his old man habits, his heart of gold. All the signs of his love that she can’t see, but the reader can. Pure joy to me.
What led you to writing within the romance genre?
Love. I love love. Even when I thought as a teenager that I wanted to write other things, like horror – it was always ultimately about love. And desire! And lust! And passion! So I just stopped resisting that. I wrote what I truly wanted to, wholly and completely.
What’s next for you?
Next up, I have a paranormal romance coming out! How To Help A Hungry Werewolf, which releases October 1st 2024. It’s got an accidental witch and a horny werewolf – who was her friend turned enemy in high school. And f*ck or die mating bond shenanigans ensue!
Lastly, are there any 2024 book releases that you’re looking forward to?
Oh gosh yes! At First Spite by Olivia Dade, Canadian Boyfriend by Jennifer Holiday, Wild Life by Opal Wei, Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan, The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck by Kylie Scott, Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne, When I Think Of You by Myah Ariel, The Frame Up by Gwenda Bonda, Do Me A Favor by Cathy Yardley, Bad Reputation by Emma Barry, How You Get The Girl by Anita Kelly, Girls With Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod, The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa, and Not Your Crush’s Cauldron by April Asher.
Charlotte Stein on romance tropes and her new rom-com, When Grumpy Met Sunshine
"Even before I knew what romance tropes were, I loved them."
By Kate Oldfield Last updated Mar 1, 2024
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This post was written by Charlotte Stein, author of When Grumpy Met Sunshine.
For the love of Romance Tropes by Charlotte Stein
Even before I knew what romance tropes were, I loved them. I didn’t fully understand what it was that I was responding to, but that’s the thing with romance tropes: you don’t have to perceive them intellectually. You feel them. When they’re done right, they hit you hard in the heart and the guts.
And that was the way it was for me.
Every time a movie or show or book had a healthy dose of enemies to lovers or fake dating or forced proximity, I was left dazed. Seeing grumpy/sunshine and marriage of convenience and second chances made me kick my feet with glee. I’ve cheesed hard over all of them, in all kinds of different ways.
And few things will make me devour a piece of media faster.
Especially when so much media simply isn’t interested in going hard on that sort of deliciousness—despite how amazing it can be. And how much it can elevate something from great, to completely addictive. Take the TV show New Girl. Perfectly good sitcom, very funny, loveable characters.
Then the opposites attract beats start hitting, between Nick and Jess, and suddenly you’re buzzing. It becomes must watch TV.
And it’s the same thing in many other shows that seem on the surface to be no more than a comedy. But underneath are seething with those romantic tropes that get you right in the feels. There’s Abbott Elementary, with the yummy will-they-won’t-they of Janine and Gregory. Friends to lovers beats abound, and everybody on social media is screaming about them.
Just kiss becomes the battle cry.
And the satisfaction when they do is fantastic.
Though of course that comes with pitfalls. What if you drag an audience in with your use of these tropes, but then don’t pay them off? Which of course was the case very recently, with Ted Lasso. Everybody and their dog was rooting for grumpy footballer Roy Kent and sunshiny PR maven Keeley Jones to finally and definitively just be together. And when the third season ended with them apart—well.
It was armageddon for the show’s audience.
Anyone invested in that relationship and those romance tropes declared the show a dismal failure, for that alone. Arguments raged between the people who wanted them to be together, and the people who didn’t. There were huge debates about how important it is to pay off what was set up, and insistence that nothing was set up at all. Loving romance, and romantic tropes—it can shape so much of how and why and what we value in media.
For me personally?
I felt the show stood perfectly fine on its own, without the happy ending for our grumpy/sunshine pair. But oh, what I wouldn’t have given for it to actually go there. I always want shows with wonderful romantic tropes and beats to go there, and stay for good.
It’s why I love Romance novels. Why I go to delicious books by Talia Hibbert, and Olivia Dade, and Suleikha Snyder, for what other media holds back.
And why I write it myself. In particular, it’s why I wrote When Grumpy Met Sunshine. Because when you do, you don’t have to anxiously wait to see if a trope is going to be taken to its most satisfying conclusion. You know it is. Not always perfectly, not always the way everyone might like.
But the promise is made.
And nothing goes back on it.
I love fake dating, so my central couple Mabel and Alfie find themselves having to pretend to be together for a public addicted to their love story. I adore grumpy/sunshine, and that’s just what Mabel and Alfie are. Alfie is a grouchy ex-footballer, much like Roy Kent. And Mabel is a curvy, loveable sunshiny ghostwriter. And then opposites attract and pretending-we-don’t-want-to-kiss-for- the-cameras shenanigans abound.
All of which was a blast for me to write.
It was blast for me just to dream up.
What can I say?
I love romance tropes.
And I’m not afraid to say it!
Get your copy of When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein here.
Control
Charlotte Stein. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $12.99 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-40228956-9
Stein (Deep Desires) serves up a sizzling combination of BDSM and voyeurism. Madison Morris owns a bookstore dedicated to titillating fiction. She's looking for a shop assistant, and not just one who can fulfill the usual retail duties. When straitlaced Gabriel Kauffman walks in the door and catches Madison in flagrante with forceful Andy Yarrow, Madison knows she's found her newest employee--not Andy, who would never take direction, but Gabriel, who longs for a firm hand on the reins. At first, Madison enjoys teasing shy Gabriel, trying to see how quickly she can fluster him with naughty tasks such as circling his favorite bits in the erotica lining her store's shelves and staying naked in her apartment. Then something altogether unexpected happens: she falls for Gabriel, despite still lusting after Andy. While the plot is a bit flimsy and Stein often skims the surface of deep emotion in favor of graphic description, readers will tear through the book in anticipation of the next scorching sex scene. (Jan.)
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"Control." Publishers Weekly, vol. 260, no. 45, 11 Nov. 2013, p. 56. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A351611862/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5c610d62. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
[star]Stein, Charlotte. Intrusion: An Under the Skin Novel. Avon Red Impulse. Nov. 2014. 100p. ebk. ISBN 9780062365088. $2.99. EROTIC ROMANCE
He is the strange new neighbor across the street--the one whose window shades are always closed and who keeps to himself. When Beth finds him standing in her backyard late at night, she assumes he is some sort of voyeur but soon realizes that he is still sleeping. Overcoming her very real fears from past trauma, she wakes him and invites him into her home, out of the cold. Noah, a recluse and former criminal profiler, is used to waking up in strange places--a side effect of sleepwalking--but Beth's kindness and courage are far from the norm, and he finds himself drawn to her. As they grow closer, pain from past experiences intermingling with newfound pleasure collide and threaten to tear them apart.
Verdict Fans of the TV series Sherlock will be mesmerized by Noah's amazing intellect, social awkwardness, vicious inner strength, and palpable vulnerability in this latest from Stein (Beyond Repair). Readers will find themselves inwardly cheering for Beth--both a survivor and a worthy heroine. Although the relationship between these characters is a slow-build, their dynamic both in and out of bed is very raw and intense, creating strong sexual and emotional tension.--Vicky Coffin, Eastern Connecticut State Univ., Willimantic
Coffin, Vicky
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Library Journals, LLC
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Coffin, Vicky. "Stein, Charlotte. Intrusion: An Under the Skin Novel." Xpress Reviews, 21 Nov. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A393516346/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e96a06c3. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
* Intrusion
Charlotte Stein. Avon Red Impulse, $2.99 e-book (112p) ISBN 978-0-06-236508-8
An unexpectedly effective vulnerability simmers in the heart of Stein's novella of salvation through submission. The spookily not-cute meeting of unlikely protagonists Beth and Noah is loaded with sharp edges and taut emotions, and it becomes an unusual and effective launching point from which to navigate the emotional side of sexual communication. With suspense and even horror lurking at the edges, the amped-up anticipation is both organic and beguilingly arousing. Stein gives Beth a clever wit that helps to mitigate the undercurrents of physical and psychological trauma, and reclusive Noah's bluntness is both entertaining and endearing. The sex, when it arrives, does so in a torrent--and with a twist. Unable to physically express his desire, Noah talks about it while Beth enacts it. Her response to his words leads to the giddily disorienting passion that only a vivid imagination can provide, and a cathartic release from his self-imposed isolation. By seizing on the power of erotic language and allowing it to range from rhapsodic to raunchy, Stein (Beyond Repair) has written a radiant ode to the mind--the biggest erogenous zone of all. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Nov.)
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"Intrusion." Publishers Weekly, vol. 261, no. 38, 22 Sept. 2014, p. 55. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A383853886/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=472cc1c5. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
Stein, Charlotte. When Grumpy Met Sunshine. St. Martin's Griffin. Feb. 2024. 336p. ISBN 9781250867933. pap. $18. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Mabel Willicker is a ghostwriter, a good one. Her newest project is the memoir of ex-footballer Alfie Harding. She's the 17th writer they've tried--Alfie has rejected all of them so far. Then Mabel walks in and calls him on his behavior. Their chemistry and banter have Alfie opening up about things he never thought he'd reveal, but when a fan sees Mabel leaving Alfie's house--a house even his friends have never visited--everyone assumes she's his new girlfriend. To preserve the facade that Alfie is writing his own memoir, he and Mabel agree to a fake relationship until the book is released. Soon their friendship turns into something much steamier, and Mabel is no longer sure what's fake and what's real. This opposites-attract, fakerelationship romantic comedy features the ultimate cinnamon-roll hero. Alfie is short-tempered and belligerent with everyone except Mabel, who uncovers the lovable man underneath. With Mabel, he's different, but she's the only one who doesn't see it for what it is. VERDICT Upbeat, engaging, witty, and funny, this book from Stein (The Professor) will captivate readers. Highly recommended for all collections.--Heather Miller Cover
PICK OF THE MONTH
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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"When Grumpy Met Sunshine." Library Journal, vol. 148, no. 11, Nov. 2023, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A773380726/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eb45f18b. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
Stein, Charlotte. How To Help a Hungry Werewolf. St. Martin's. (Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures, Bk. 1). Oct. 2024. 368p. ISBN 9781250352330. pap. $18. PARANORMAL ROMANCE
When Cassandra's childhood best friend, Seth, called her fat in front of their whole high school, he forever sealed his status as sworn enemy, and Cassandra has never recovered from the embarrassment or from losing her best friend so traumatically. When she returns to her hometown of Hollow Brook as an adult to settle her beloved grandmother's estate, Seth is the first person to appear on her doorstep. It seems that Seth has become a werewolf, and Cassandra's grandmother used to make him a potion to help manage his hairy alter ego. He thinks Cassandra is also a witch who can help him with all of his wolfy needs in her grandmother's place. In return, he'll teach her about magic. But their time together inspires awkward situations and many feelings, and Cassandra doesn't want to have lusty thoughts about her enemy, even though he might not be her enemy anymore. VERDICT Stein's (When Grumpy Met Sunshine) delightful, steamy romance is full of surprises that will keep readers guessing. Give this one to romance fans who like their books hot and sweet.--Heather Miller Cover
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Cover, Heather Miller. "Stein, Charlotte. How To Help a Hungry Werewolf." Library Journal, vol. 149, no. 8, Aug. 2024, pp. 82+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804538423/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b2c60131. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
Stein, Charlotte HOW TO HELP A HUNGRY WEREWOLF St. Martin's Griffin (Fiction None) $18.00 10, 1 ISBN: 9781250352330
A woman returns to her New England hometown and discovers that she's part of the supernatural world.
Cassandra Camberwell had an idyllic childhood in the small town of Hollow Brook, but when she was in high school, her lifelong best friend, Seth Brubaker, started bullying her in an effort to fit in with the popular crowd of mean boys. Soured on the town, Cassie stayed away for a decade. Now she's returned to clean out the home she inherited after her grandmother's death and prepare it for sale. The first night she returns, Seth knocks on the door, insisting he needs one of her grandmother's journals. After Cassie witnesses him going through a shocking physical transformation, Seth reveals that he's a werewolf. He begs Cassie to try brewing the concoction her grandmother made to help him control his wolf. Cassie's potion is even more effective than her grandmother's was, and Seth realizes she must be a very powerful witch. Once she opens herself up to the possibility, Cassie discovers she can wield magical items and communicate with other magical creatures; she realizes she's been suppressing her innate powers her whole life. Seth offers to teach her and guide her through this new world in exchange for her continued potion-making efforts. Readers will delight in Cassie's gleeful discovery of the magical world, populated with zany, inventive details such as flying vacuum cleaners, fairies riding caterpillars who feed on thimbles full of honey, and a sentient microwave oven threatening legal action. Cassie's romance with Seth lacks the same vitality and energy. They dance around their painful past, unable to communicate their true feelings. Only after the return of her other high school bullies does Cassie realize that Seth feels more for her than friendship. Their romance is rushed and underdeveloped compared to the rich magical world they exist in.
A fun book worth reading for its inventive magical world.
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"Stein, Charlotte: HOW TO HELP A HUNGRY WEREWOLF." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A808343028/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4196cb45. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
* Stein, Charlotte. My Big Fat Fake Marriage. St. Martin's Griffin. Mar. 2025.304p. ISBN 9781250867971. pap. $18. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Connie doesn't believe nice guys exist. At least, that's been her experience so far. So when Beck moves in down the hall from her apartment, she's suspicious. Why is he always so cheerful, and why does he keep leaving baked goods in their shared hallway? Are the treats poisoned? Is he a serial killer?, Connie wonders. She's sure that no one could be that nice without an ulterior motive. But she's wrong. Burly, tall, incredibly well-mustachioed Beck is actually a sweet cinnamon roll of a man. He confesses to Connie that he told his coworkers that he's married, and it's getting difficult to keep up the lie. When a passive-aggressive colleague starts picking on Beck at a party, Connie is furious and comes to his rescue by claiming to be his wife, which complicates things even further when they have to keep up the pretense at a company retreat, surrounded by his coworkers--and there's only one bed. Familiar tropes pull the protagonists together, and excellent writing makes them feel new and exciting. VERDICT Beck and Connie are wonderful, delightful characters, and their romance will keep readers turning the pages of the latest from Stein (When Grumpy Met Sunshine).--Heather Miller Cover
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Cover, Heather Miller. "Stein, Charlotte. My Big Fat Fake Marriage." Library Journal, vol. 150, no. 1, Jan. 2025, p. 61. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A824165340/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=73aac291. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
My Big Fat Fake Marriage
Charlotte Stein. Griffin, $18 trade paper (304p)
ISBN 978-1-250-86797-1
Spicy scenes scorch the page in this high-heat rom-com from Stein (When Grumpy Met Sunshine). Thirty-one-year-old Londonite Connie, a writer, and her American neighbor, 37-year-old editor Beck, have been awkwardly dancing around each other for a while. Beck, who has never had sex or a lasting relationship, tells his officemates that he is married to get a bullying coworker off his back. When Connie learns of his lie, she offers to play the role of his wife at an upcoming writing retreat. The results of this deception are hilarious and, eventually, intensely steamy; Stein dives into the eroticism with gusto and the back half of the novel is jam-packed with sex scenes. The real heart of the story, however, lies in Connie's emotional growth as she unlearns the toxic femininity she was taught as a child and embraces her truest self. Cameos from the leads of Stein's previous book will please returning fans, as will the subtle grumpy/sunshine dynamic between Connie and Beck. There's more than enough here to entertain. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Mar.)
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"My Big Fat Fake Marriage." Publishers Weekly, vol. 272, no. 3, 20 Jan. 2025, p. 41. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828300089/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=be2073bd. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
Stein, Charlotte MY BIG FAT FAKE MARRIAGE St. Martin's Griffin (Fiction None) $18.00 3, 11 ISBN: 9781250867971
When two London neighbors decide to fake being husband and wife, they're not prepared for the true feelings that emerge in the process.
Thirty-one-year-old Connie, an aspiring writer, has never trusted self-proclaimed "nice guys," because her track record when it comes to dating them has been terrible. Either their niceness is a facade meant to cover up some big lie--like a wife at home--or they're just pretending to be decent to get into her bed. That's why she scrutinizes everything her American neighbor, Henry Samuel Beckett, does for her; there's no way anyone this cheery, well dressed, and all-around kind isn't hiding some deep, dark secret. To an extent, Connie's instincts are correct, since Beck does have a secret, but when he finally reveals the truth, she realizes her early skepticism may have been unfounded. At 37, Beck has always been single, but he may have told a teeny-tiny white lie about being married to save face with an irritating colleague at the publishing house where he works. Then, when Connie and Beck run into each other at a book party, she somehow tells his annoying coworker that she's the mystery wife. Now, the two of them are trapped having to preserve this lie, especially since they're both heading to a writing retreat where all eyes will be on them--so they'll need to get their stories straight, not to mention figure out how to sleep in the same bed. Despite her earlier reservations about Beck, Connie finds herself in the best position to learn who he really is, and the truth is that he isn't just any nice guy--he's way better. Stein's latest is a sweet rom-com with the kind of endearing, cinnamon-roll hero the genre can always use more of, as well as a heroine who's willing to lower her walls and trust someone who might actually be worth the effort. While it would have been nice to see Connie and Beck's romantic dynamic develop further outside the retreat setting, the characters' strong introspection and emotional vulnerability make the book impossible to put down.
A fake marriage leads to real feelings in this charming rom-com.
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Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Stein, Charlotte: MY BIG FAT FAKE MARRIAGE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828785250/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cbf383c0. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.