I absolutely ADORED this book. Meryl Wilsner never misses. This book was everything I needed and everything I could want in a sapphic romance. I loved the characters and I found myself sad when it was over because I just wanted to keep reading and hear more about the character's future. I would love to go back into this universe one day if Meryl Wilsner ever decides to write a sequel (Or make it a series). I have never given a Meryl Wilsner book less than 5 stars, and I don't plan to anytime soon.

After loving Mistakes Were Made, I’m sad to say that this fell flat for me. Phoebe was a bit obnoxious even for my taste and Grace’s storyline just felt so forced with the autism answer thrown in at the last minute ? I’ll give whatever Meryl writes next a try, but this one wasn’t for me!

sporty sapphics have a lot of sex and play soccer. I am still compiling thoughts but overall enjoyed though it's not a favorite

I feel very down-the-middle with this book! There were aspects that I enjoyed, like the ADHD and Autism rep, the relationships/dynamic our main characters have with the side characters, and the soccer moments throughout. But there were also aspects that were very frustrating to me, like the fact this romance was basically one massive miscommunication trope. I also felt like the relationship between Phoebe and Grace, although sweet at times, was quite surface level. I would have liked to see more on page depth to their relationship.

This book was one of my most anticipated romances of the entire year, and it lived up to expectations on most accounts, although not quite as much as I might have liked. Meryl Wilsner is always really good at creating two characters that seem very different and making them fall in love, and that’s usually a pretty enjoyable process. I don’t know if it’s getting repetitive or if this one just felt more focused on emphasizing how different the characters are, but it felt more focused on two characters having sex so much as falling love. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading most of this book, but it wasn’t the kind of overwhelmingly enjoyable read that MISTAKES WERE MADE was for me. I think if you want a fairly fun and light sapphic romance with a dash of heavier content, it’s worth the read, but I can’t promise anything life-changing.

I’m a simple person, I love sports gays, so this book already has that going for them. We have the sort of golden retriever rookie and the closed off veteran player, put on the same team, somewhat wanting the same things. It feels repeatedly emphasized that these two characters are very different. There are what I would consider a lot of sports-related scenes, seemingly equally intermixed with the exploration of New Orleans, and then once they get together, a somewhat significant amount of in-detail sex for a tradpub romance. Some of the best scenes in the entire book were individual character moments, especially with Grace’s introspection on her own life and what she wants to do. At the same time, I felt like more emphasis was done on juxtaposing the characters than making me believe that they’re a romance that can last.

Maybe I’m spoiled by incredibly good romances, but I want to feel like the two characters are truly falling in love and that their romance will actually last longer than a year. This book is somewhat on that path, but the frustrating thing that happens once they start to get together is the focus of their time together is having sex, or how hot the person is, or when they’re having a serious discussion apparently interrupting to have sex. This might be a bonus for you! But it just made the book a little bit less enjoyable for me. I don’t mind two adult characters having a lot of sex, but I also want them to be able to have important conversations without a sex scene being made a priority.

All in all, I largely enjoyed my time reading this book. It was fun to see a bunch of sports gays and have basically every supporting and cameo character be queer. There are snippets of important conversations sprinkled throughout. I was able to read it in a single day once I decided that was my priority. Some of my qualms might be positives for other people, but I still wish I had enjoyed this book even more than I did. I would recommend it but I’m still much more of a ride-or-die for MISTAKES WERE MADE.

This was smut with a side of soccer. These two were going at it 25% in. Too insta-<s>love</s> lust for me. And Pheobe . . . she seemed more like a teenager than an adult. I think this would have worked better if the two were enemies to lovers rather than friends to lovers from the get go.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

As someone who DNF'd Meryl Wilsner's previous book, I was really skeptical going into this one, but wow did it surprise me. This romance does a much better job of balancing the smut with the love story, weaving in convincing character arcs against the backdrop of women's professional sports. It was such a delightful, fast-paced, grumpy/sunshine read that has made me eager to see what this author will do next.

this was so much fun! and so steamy. i'll definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a sapphic read. i actually appreciated that it wasn't too angsty. the mental health rep was also a breath of fresh air.

Not to be dramatic but... give me all the sports romance plots and I will be happy for the rest of my days! To start- I know absolutely nothing about soccer, but I dived into this story with no plans of looking back. Grace and Phoebe had my heart from the start. It was cute. It was spicy. It was funny. It was adventurous. It was real. We obviously love a LGBTQ+ rep, but a big round of applause to the author for representing my ADHD girlies and those with autism. I enjoyed the writing style and think that the author perfectly depicted the sweet spots of New Orleans. I did wish there would have been more soccer moments and tension/competition between the two players, but I loved their sunshine/shy dynamic. Definitely the perfect sports romance read with representation!

This story was a cute read. It was fun reading in a soccer setting and getting immersed in the world. New Orleans has such character but I didn’t feel much of the city in the story. I think I was looking for more outside of the inner monologues (more about soccer, more about the city, more info on the characters, etc.)

The characters were interesting and fun. I enjoyed the story and felt it was cute, light and fun. I just wanted more. I enjoyed the characters but wanted more depth to them. I felt as if I only scratched the surface with both of them. I got some complexity but was looking to delve deeper. I did appreciate the neurodivergent representation, which I think we definitely need more of in books. I appreciated the lesbian representation as well. It was fun seeing the grumpy/ sunshine dynamic. I enjoyed seeing them become friends and then have a deeper relationship. The spicy moments were definitely fun!

Overall I had fun reading the book! It was a cute fun romance!

A raunchy, utter delight. It was so fun to spend a few hours reading this book and I would highly recommend it to ANYONE who had a thing for that hot sports girl in high school. You know who you are. What a fun read!!

Cleat Cute is just as adorable as the name suggests. Its a sports romance focused around women's soccer. It has romcom vibes but still has good serious moments. Phoebe is a rookie who ends up on the same team as her idol Grace, whom she definitely has the hots for. They are opposites and start out rocky they slowly grow on each other. While not slow burn in the sheets, the actual relationship definitely is. This is a must for sport romance fans!

I absolutely adored Grace and Phoebe. Their dynamic reminds me much of my own relationship. The chemistry is off the chart. I especially connected with Grace, being autistic and female this was one of the very few characters I have recognized and connected with on that level. I will be reading more by Meryl Wilsner.

I received an arc and reviewed this of my own volition.

I was really excited when I got sent an eARC of Cleat Cute because I read Mistakes Were Made last year and it was 🔥🔥🔥 I really enjoyed the soccer/workplace romance, but wish it had been written in first person alternating POVs between Phoebe and Grace. The internal monologues were a bit much for me. The romance and spice were perfect and I thought the discussion around ADHD was great. One thing I wish we could have gotten less of was the miscommunication on if they were dating or not. One person thinks they’re friends with benefits and the other thinks they’re in an exclusive relationship. I just don’t enjoy a miscommunication trope but it ended up working out well for the book. The ending did seem a bit rushed to me but that might have been because the semi-third act breakup came so late in the storyline. I recommend this if you’re wanting a steamy, sapphic romance and you enjoy soccer ⚽️

Cute, fun and spicy rom com for the soccer lovers! I love a good lesbian romcom and this one hit the spot with the sports elements

I really liked this! I thought it was pretty cute and spicy all in one. Mostly I just felt like this lacked a little something and I’m not really sure what it was but I liked mistakes were made more.

This was a super cute romcom. Phoebe has been drafted to play for a professional soccer team in New Orleans. She is also invited to the National Team camp. All her dreams are coming true. And she gets to meet her soccer idol, Grace, who she has been crushing on since she was a teenager. This book was adorable and I really enjoyed it!

For everyone currently getting excited about women’s soccer, Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner, out September 19, is a cute romance between two teammates during the leadup to a World Cup year. I would like to thank the publisher for providing The Lesbrary with an ARC for review. I honestly enjoyed this story a lot—it’s a fun romance between two highly competitive people and features plenty of steamy action and on field dramatics.

Grace Henderson is a veteran star on both the US Women’s National Team and her National Women’s Soccer League team in New Orleans. She’s a consummate professional and deals with the intense pressure that comes at playing at her level and being in the spotlight by intensely cultivating her privacy even among teammates. But when rookie Phoebe Matthews is invited to National Team training camp, she manages to throw Grace off her stride almost instantly, and Grace is somewhat dismayed to realize that she will also be Phoebe’s captain back for the regular season in New Orleans. Phoebe Matthews is approaching her first season as a professional soccer player with her usual boundless enthusiasm and energy and a willingness to work hard and do whatever it takes to succeed. Her invitation to be considered for the National team juices her determination even more, as she realizes she could be competing for a spot on the World Cup Team. Gregarious and friendly, Phoebe has never bothered with not being out or with team politics. When sparks fly between them as the professional stakes mount, will they be able to find common ground between walls Grace has built around herself and Phoebe’s need for openness?

I really enjoyed this romance. As someone who has read her fair share of het or m/m athletic romances, I greatly enjoyed this foray into wlw sports. I’m on board. Let’s make lesbian soccer romances the next thing. You get all the cuteness of a romance combined with all the hyper competitiveness of professional athletes. Neither Grace nor Phoebe have taken it easy in their entire lives, or they wouldn’t be playing at an elite level, and that tension on the field translates so well into their romantic tension. Even if they’re not competing against each other, every time they help each other get better they get all hot and bothered. It’s great. I especially enjoyed their dynamic, with Grace taking the lead on the team as Captain and also showing Phoebe around New Orleans, but Phoebe being the more experienced one with feelings and communication. I loved it; it was exactly the level of fun and hi-jinx I want from a romance, but the difficulties introduced for tension did not feel forced or unlikely as sometimes romance problems do.

In conclusion, if you’re still jonesing for some quality soccer content in September, you should look up Cleat Cute, out September 19th. It’s fun and flirty with a heaping helping of sports feelings on top as an extra treat. I really felt like Phoebe and Grace fit together and worked well together. It was the perfect fast paced romance I wanted to get me pumped up for reading again. Definitely check it out: you won’t regret it.

I was really interested at first but it got really dry and boring for me towards the middle, The characters felt a little flat and the plot wasn't super exciting. There was so much potential for the romance that I felt at the beginning but lost the thrill of that pretty quickly.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is another classic lesbian rom-com from the expert. Professional Women’s soccer players Phoebe and Grace navigate a changing dynamic as the season progresses 😏. This book is steamy, emotional, and exciting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. Cleat Cute is out now!

Cleat Cute is perfect, in theory.

Soccer players, rivals to lovers, and steamy sapphic romance all sound like a dream. But in practice, it was a figment of unmet expectations.

Now, this isn't to say there weren't parts that hit it right on the nail. I adored the representation brought on by each character and I adored being able to see myself and others in them as well. One specific instance was when Grace explained she needed to "think" her way into an orgasm. This was an underrated representation of how some people experience and/or struggle with sex that felt meaningful (at least to me).

The sex was great, it was not the tiresome hair-braiding/implied sort of sex that is all too common with sapphic romance. For that, I am profoundly grateful to Meryl Wilsner.

One of my greatest heartbreaks with Cleat Cute was being led to expect the rival-to-lovers aspect. There was little to no rivalry as Grace and Phoebe developed some sort of friendship from the start which kind of voids the rivalry part. I don't think I needed a whirlwind romance but I did expect a higher level of passion between them. These characters were intentionally polarized personalities and while I usually love that, this dynamic felt nearly impossible.

I also have a personal vendetta against Phoebe's use of the words baby girl and cunt. Physically recoiled.

All in all, I will keep up with Meryl Wilsner's future work this one just wasn't meant for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!