Trope
Clean Grumpy Sunshine Romance Books
I've lived this one. I'm the sunshine, my husband is sometimes the grumpy. What I love about it on the page is the way each one helps the other. Sunshine pulls the grump out of himself, and the grump helps sunshine stay grounded when she needs it. The trope works on a simple promise: one of them is going to break, and it's not going to be the sunshine.
These are all no spice, closed door at the very furthest. The grumpy character isn't actually mean in these. He's tired and keeps to himself, used to being alone. She's the first person willing to push back without flinching. That's where the chemistry starts and it pays off slowly. The softening reads as real because the walls come down through actual conversation, not bedroom scenes.
The list covers the prickly small town boss and the new hire who calls him on his nonsense, the gruff widower with the kid who adores the new neighbor, and a few "he's like that with everyone but her" moments that earned every page they took to set up.

Eloise and the Grump Next Door
#1 in Oakley Island





Romancing the Grump
#4 in Appies Hockey Romance

Falling for Your Brother's Best Friend

Madeleine's Mistletoe Meet Cute
#4 in Christmas Kisses & Cookie Crumbs


Deck the Hills
#6 in The Peppermint Playbook


How to Kiss on Christmas Morning

Perfectly Complicated Christmas Romance
#4 in Perfect Crush Hockey Romance

Movers and Fakers
#3 in RomCom University

Miracle on 30 Woof Street
#1 in Holiday Rivals

Booked for Love
#7 in It Happened Up North


The Perfect Rom-Com


Checking Mr. Wrong
#3 in Love in Maple Falls


Serving Scrooge
#2 in The Peppermint Playbook

Tied Up for Love
#1 in For Love

Date Yourself a Grinch
#3 in Have Yourself a Merry Little Romance


Once Upon a Fall
#5 in Falling for Autumn

Our Marry Little Christmas

Goalie and the Girl Next Door
#5 in Love in Maple Falls

Love in Overtime
#4 in Love on Thin Ice

New Beginning

But He's My Grumpy Neighbor
#1 in But He's a Carter Brother

Charlie Takes a Chance
#2 in Pine Ridge Ranch

Road to Gingerbread Grove
#2 in Holiday Rivals

Stay with Me
#3 in Cypress Valley Sweethearts



En Route to Romance

Margo and the Faux Good Luck Beau
#4 in Nebraska Knights

Stuck With My Christmas Crush
#4 in Sweet Christmas Kisses

In Every Chapter
#2 in The Reluctant Romantics




My Merry Mistake
#3 in Holidays With Hart


A Heart Creek Christmas
#1 in Return to Heart Creek

Love on the Ropes

Off the Bench
#2 in Sports in the Sunshine State
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