Grumpy Darling

Grumpy Darling by Alexandra Moody

5⭐️ | 0🌶️ (young adult)

Paige has one item left on her senior year bucket list—her first kiss. The problem? Her best friend Grayson, the hockey team's enforcer, has been scaring off every guy who so much as looks her way. When she finally confronts him about it, he offers her a deal: he'll be her dating coach and help her land the perfect guy. What Paige doesn't realize is that Grayson has been in love with her since they were kids, and coaching her might be his last chance to show her that the right guy has been standing next to her all along 🏒💔

My thoughts

If you read Rival Darling and thought "I need more Darling brothers immediately", yeah, same. And Grumpy Darling did not disappoint 🩷🏒

We got glimpses of Grayson's feelings for Paige throughout book one, and let me tell you, the yearning was already painful then. But getting a full book of it? Absolutely devastating in the best way 💔

But lets start from the beginning. I adored Paige in Rival Darling. Her 'take no shit' attitude won over my heart right away, together with her huge smile and the vivid colors she likes to dress in. She lights up every room she walks into (and every page I read). I just want the best for her, and let's not forget, that so does Grayson, while he also wants her for himself. But this massive grump, is too shy to say so (is there anything more high school than that? Haha, I think not 👀

So he gets a whiff of her plans to get her first kiss, which he obviously doesn't want anyone else to give her but him, but he's so deeply stuck in the friend zone, he's pretty much 0 chance of being the one to kiss her. But surprise surprise, no matter what Paige does she can't find another guy to kiss. They all seem eager enough until they all scatter (enter the massive hockey player staring daggers at them from the corner 😂)

So Paige, who won't back down from her goal, realizes she needs to fins a guy who isn't aftraid of Grayson... Enter the new guy, an excellent hockey player, and Grayson and Paige's childhood friend who just moved back into town. He's grown up, he's fine, and he doesn't give a damn if Grayson stares at him. Hence, he's a perfect candidate for Paige to kiss, which of course had me absolutely howling with laughter.

But what really got me was the way this book handles teenage insecurity. They're in high school and the way high school is portrayed in this book, is so on point (IMO)! And then there's Grayson's injury... As someone who suffered from a knee injury myself at 18, right after winning the national championship, crushing my dreams of competing in European Championship the next year, this got me on a completely different level... I felt with him, I felt for him, it was all there in the back of my mind! Whenever he was in pain, gritting his teeth, praying for his knee to hold just one more game, I felt it. Teenage me was right there on the ice with him (despite me never playing hockey) rooting for him, hoping he'd get some good insights from adults around him. It was such a massive flashback for me, and I guess that particular thing won't mean as much to some of you, but to me, it explained so much about his character, his flaws, his fears. I've been, I get it...

As you've already figured, I adores this book and totally recommend it!

For once I actually read this series in the correct order 😄 So my review for book 1, Rival Darling, is already up. If you haven't read it yet, make sure you read them in order.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

© 2026 Vendy Emberfield. All rights reserved.

NAVIGATE

Contact

About

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Explore

The library

Bonus content

Community