The 52 Book Club: 2026 Challenge discussion

23 -- Grumpy Sunshine Trope

The grumpy sunshine trope is a popular pairing in romance novels where one character is moody, surly, and cynical (grumpy) and the other is cheerful, bubbly, and upbeat (sunshine). This is a subset of the “opposites attract” dynamic and follows along as the sunshine character slowly softens the rough edges of the grumpy character.

While this trope is most commonly found within the romance genre, it can also be found within other genres like fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and contemporary fiction.

It does not have to be a romantic pairing and may feature a cynical character paired with an upbeat character as platonic friends, co-workers, individuals on a quest, etc. (For example: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is a grumpy/sunshine friendship). This trope may also be part of the main plot (romance) or simply a secondary plot point like in Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.



Here is our Goodreads List for this prompt

I'll probably go with The Love Hypothesis for this prompt

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

The Heart of Winter According to Google this book works and it is on my TBR so I planning on reading it.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I'm planning on Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore

All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata

How to Honeymoon Alone was on the listopia, and I really enjoyed that pick for this.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis

I would love some help with this one. I need creativity. I don't enjoy romance or fantasy. I love A Man Called Ove, so something similar would be great. Any ideas?

BTW, I loved The Heart of Winter by Evison.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin made me think a lot of A Man Called Ove.

The Story of AJ Fikry was a good read. I'm reading A Man Called Ove for this prompt.

Thanks for the idea, Megan.

I decided I would go with a Romance as that isn't a genre I read a lot of and I will be reading ~ The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Frank and Red This one is good if you don't want a romance

Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws
By A Thread by Lucy Score

The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady by Sharon J Mondragon

The Love Haters - Katherine Center
The Shippers - Katherine Center
The Suite Spot - Trish Doller

I read The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore, one of her Dream Harbor Series books. Free on Kindle Unlimited, and although not my cup of tea, it breaks up the more heavy selections on my list.
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The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh

Does anyone have any mystery/thriller suggestions for this prompt? I am not feeling a romance book.

I don't know if this will work, but based on the description I'm going to try this book on my Kindle: Last on the List. If it doesn't work once I read it I'll find something else

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I chose Five Brothers by Penelope Douglas. Let's just say I wasn't a fan of this one.