I've read from Meryl Wilsner in the past and absolutely loved their book, Mistakes Were Made. While I enjoyed Cleat Cute as well, it didn't quite hold my attention or hit me as hard as their other book did. I liked both of our characters - Phoebe and Grace - but thought that their shift from hesitant friends into friends with benefits happened so quickly that it felt unexpected to me. One minute they were playing soccer and the next they were on top of each other - the timeline of it all was choppy to me! I do think this book holds a lot of important themes regarding coming out, family dynamics, and financial situations that athletes can find themselves in, all of which I appreciated seeing. Cleat Cute made me smile a couple of times, and I'm so glad the characters got their happy ever after. I look forward to seeing what Wilsner writes in the future!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner.

Loved this book! The team sounds like the USWNT and the pace of the novel was great. It kept me engaged the whole time.

I absolutely adored this. Cleat Cute was a fun, sexy queer romp on the soccer field and I was 100% here for it. I will absolutely be reading more from Meryl Wilsner!

A fine sapphic sports romance. It has adhd and autism representation. The age difference was not that large but seemed to at times take center stage for no reason. They acted like 26 was one foot in the grave. I don’t generally love sports and I know nothing about soccer outside of this book but it was enjoyable. I prefer some of wilsners other novels more

Another outstanding story from this author. Great neurodivergent representation, spicy, sweet, and funny.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. First I want to say, YAY SPORTS! This book was written for sports fans, if you're not into soccer, you probably won't get it. I'm a huge women's soccer fan, so this book was right up my alley. I giggled and kicked my feet the whole time I read Cleat Cute, I found the book to be the perfect combo of fluffy and spicy. I have already encouraged a handful of patrons and friends to pick up this title.

So cute. I loved this story and was immediately invested in the main love story. I like the dynamics of the contrasting personalities for the two mains, and the conflict of figuring out their relationship personally and professionally.

Sports romances are sort of hit and miss for me, but I was intrigued by the Ted Lasso comparison, so here we are.

I really liked Phoebe and Grace. They're both loyal and loving and passionate about soccer. I enjoyed reading their differences mesh and smooth out as they worked through the chemistry they had. The team is pretty rad and I loved how supportive everyone was.

Plot wise, it was okay. There is a lot of inner monologue and a good amount of telling, not showing. For me, that is a struggle to get through and I did find myself skimming in parts.

Overall, it was a good story and had characters who were easy to root for.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Really cute! Wilsner has a cutting wit, and I enjoyed this break from more serious fantasy books. There was more soccer than I was expecting - I always hope for a Ted Lasso esque amount of sport - just enough to add stakes! But I liked both Grace and Phoebe, so this is already the best romance I've read this month!

A charming and heartwarming sports romance with plenty of chemistry between the main characters. The story balances humor and emotional depth, making it an enjoyable, feel-good read. While it follows familiar romance tropes, the fun dynamics and well-written characters keep it fresh and engaging.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Mistakes Were Made, but it was fun!

Soccer isn’t a sport I know much about, but that didn’t matter here. I enjoyed the ADHD representation, queer representation, and the relationship between the characters. There was some spice and I enjoyed it.

I love grumpy sunshine! Overall enjoyable!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I loved Phoebe and Grace’s story! Sports romances have such a big place in my heart and the dynamics of this was so good. The grumpy/sunshine was perfectly executed and I never once dreaded a third act breakup. I knew from the get-go they would be together and it would be perfect. Meryl Wilsner’s best love story yet!

I really enjoyed Meryl Wilsner’s Mistakes Were Made, but had a hard time accepting the age difference trope (or maybe it was the best friend’s mom piece that really made me uncomfortable). Either way, I struggled with it. So I was excited to jump into another book by her that was a bit more in my comfort zone.

I’m not a huge sports fan, but this book had me so excited about soccer.

This book had a great amount of smut, and was very sexy. Romance-wise, the lack of communication trope is not my favorite. Yes, it ups the tension, but I find it so incredibly frustrating. Overall, great book with some mental and physical health representation.

This was a cute book. I liked the characters and the storyline was intriguing. The neurodivergent rep was nice and I thought the characters had good chemistry. I liked all the soccer too!

I absolutely loved this book!!! A fantastic little sapphic romance! And the LGBTQ+ representation was phenomenal! I’ve honestly not had the chance to read a lot of sapphic romance but this book may have just pushed me into that era!
The only thing I’m sad about is I don’t get to read more of grace and phoebes story!! I also would love to have a chance to know more about teddys story as well!!!

*I received a free ARC from NetGalley*

DNF @ 28%

There were so many things that I didn’t connect with in this story. First was the premise - I personally know nothing about soccer nor does it interest me with the explanation of the rules. Second was the two FMCs - two young women (early 20s) talking to each other and having internal monologues using language of someone about 5 years younger than they are. Third was the first make out/sex scene - a little too in depth in description for people who I’ve come to see as little more than children (based on their communications with each other).

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Meryl Wilsner for this arc!

Cleat Cute follows soccer players Phoebe and Grace, beginning when star Grace Henderson is sidelined due to an injury and Phoebe is brought in to take her spot. Phoebe idolizes Grace, but is met with a grumpy player who lives in fear of what this injury means for her future.

Overall, I had a good time reading this book. The characters were fun, the dialog was snappy, and the setting was exciting. The primary issue with this work was the amount of internal monologue and introspection. Personally, I love a character that is able to look inward, but there was a lot of very repetitive monologuing for Phoebe, and Grace's character felt a little inconsistent in the way she would respond to different situations. All of this combined with the miscommunication made it a bit of a hard read. These pieces being cut down, and more soccer scenes being added in would've made the book more compelling and fast-paced.

This book is a fun rivals-to-lovers romcom that's worth a read. 3/5.

Book includes
- professional women's soccer
- drama
- sapphic romance

Our main characters of Grace and Phoebe are characters that are very realistic which was so nice to see in a romance book. No one was perfect and no one just came in and saved the day, instead the romance was real and messy and I loved it because of that. We have Phoebe who is kind of the golden retriever and just full of energy and the life of the party, and then we have Grace who is more serious and does not like to party at all it seems. One of my favorite things about this book is how these two balance each other out and help the other see things that they had missed.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was fun, and a nice romance that had a ton of soccer information that was explained so well. One of my favorite things about this book is how it touched on the fact that just because you love something so much and you've always done it and you've put everything towards it doesn't mean you have to stick with it. If you want to move on and trying something else you can and thats okay. I think thats something important that we all need to remember and hear at times and I'm so glad one of the characters heard that and was able to make a choice about something that she had previously felt stuck in.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and it certainly won’t be my last! I loved a good sapphic romance, and Meryl always delivers!