The plot is cute and the story flowed well with lots of inclusion.
Why did I rate it 3 stars then?
I hated Grace.
I hated her inner monologues, her general personality and her trying to tell Phoebe who Phoebe is.
She just rubbed me the wrong way in every single thing she said or did.
Loved Phoebe, and the sexytimes were hella hawt, so I would still recommend it, especially since I think I hated Grace so much because she reminded me of an ex.
Much love to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my ARC.

I read this 2 months ago when I first got the ARC and I already want to reread it again!

Cleat Cute is amazing and Meryl Wilsner can write no wrong. I absolutely loved this book and the two MCs Grace and Phoebe. It has a great cast of supporting characters and if you're into soccer, you might associate some of the characters to NWSL players. That was fun!

And the tropes: enemies to friends with benefit to lovers, a sprinkle of miscommunication and great mental health representation <3 All my faves. Impossible not to enjoy this book!

Women, Soccer, rivals to lovers....

Meryl Wilsner wowed me with Mistakes Were Made and I looked forward to reading another one of Wilsner's books. In Cleat Cute, Grace, has been the star of the US women's national team for ten years. She has made a name for herself and is anxious to compete in the World Cup. But an injury sidelines her, and her spot is taken by Phoebe Matthews, a new member of the team and a huge fan of Grace's skills. Phoebe is outgoing, loud and a jokester; basically, all the things that Grace is not. The last thing they expected was to be friends with benefits.

I had both the book and audiobook for Cleat Cute. I thought the narrators did a great job. You do not need to be a fan of soccer to enjoy this book. There is not a lot about it in terms of terminology or game play (but there is some). This book is more about the characters and the journey they both are on individually and together.

This was a fast read/listen and my one beef is that it felt like a steamy YA book at times to me. Like most romance books, there is an issue with communication and over thinking. Talk, talk, talk, I wanted to tell them. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book and the journey that both characters went on.

This book was such a cute read and perfect for the end of summer/start of fall. As someone who is a huge fan of soccer and the USWNT, I loved how the author took a lot of care to make that aspect of the story as accurate as possible. I read a lot of sports romance, and I feel like so many times, there is not this level of attention to detail. In addition to this, I loved the characters. Grace had my whole heart. The way she and Phoebe learned how to grow together and be together was so heartwarming. The book was fun while still being able to deal with more serious topics, such as Grace's struggles with anxiety and Phoebe's ADHD. Another little detail I loved was the attention to finances in the book. It sounds like a weird point, but the book demonstrated the lack of glamour that exists in women's sports in a good way. It drew attention to how much of a problem it is that female athletes at the highest level barely get paid a livable wage and addressed it in a way that was both delicate and strong. Finally, as a sapphic story, I feel like the romance was represented so well, without being caricaturized or overly sexualized. It was written really well, which made me happy, as I feel like I rarely find sapphic stories in the first place, much less ones that are written this well. Other than a few writing issues and being annoyed at the miscommunication that would happen in the book, I really had no issues with it. I would definitely recommend it.

I love anything meryl writes and this book did not disappoint! I couldn’t get enough of this story! I loved the premise and can see many readers enjoying this book! I can’t wait to read it again once it’s published

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me! I love sapphic romances but there’s something about the way the author writes that feels like fanfic to me. Also I can’t stand the miscommunication trope so that’s a no in my book. Swing and a miss!

This was a fun, quick read! I didn’t connect with either of the main characters necessarily, so that took me a bit out of the story. But overall, it was an enjoyable and very steamy read.

I realliy enjoyed this book! It was nice to see a cute female led sports story. This is the first time I've read Meryl Wilsner, and I will definitely be reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of Cleat Cute.

Loved this books so much!!!! There is never any good pro female sports book and this gave me everything I wanted. Loved the story so much I will be checking out the other stories by this author .

A sapphic soccer romance perfect for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own? SAY LESS. Grace Henderson is a famous soccer star, she's on the US Women's National Team and has been for 10 years despite being only 26 years old. Phoebe Matthews is a rookie 22 year old soccer player who has just been recruited into the team, and she absolutely adores Grace. Phoebe was recruited to be Grace's replacement, but things are about to get steamy. Grace is serious, she's determined to be the best captain for her team, and she's kept people at a distance and hasn't really dated anyone since the last bad breakup. Phoebe is a ball of energy, smirky smiles, jokes, and the exact opposite of Grace, and her favorite thing to do is tease Grace. Grace and Phoebe end up kissing during a bet and soon neither can keep their hands off each other, yet Grace isn't looking for a serious relationship and doesn't know if she's ready to open her heart up again and Phoebe has to deal with her own growing pains as she tries to find a place on the team and figure out where she stands with Grace. I had a blast with this one, I love Grace and Phoebe and they were so funny and cute. Phoebe loves to tease Grace and they both want to take care of the other so much and it was just so sweet. Seriously, this was peak rom com sports romance and I had so much fun!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was such a fun read and I enjoyed basically every moment of it. Grumpyxsunshine books hold a special place in my heart, throw in some anxiety driven misunderstandings and I'm in heaven. Normally I don't enjoy misunderstandings in a book, they make it weird and are things that get blown out of proportion while taking ages to resolve. This isn't the case between Grace and Phoebe, their misunderstandings are basically resolved within a chapter or two! And they're very relatable ones as well, not blown out over the top misunderstandings, but simple ones that come about from typical overthinking.

Their dynamic was wonderful and just so cute. I enjoyed how they both bettered each other in their own ways while not even realizing it for most the book. The whole thing was just very wholesome, and gave a look at people who potentially have common things (ADHD and autism). All in all I just genuinely enjoyed this book.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is a sapphic soccer romance and the story of Grace and Phoebe.
 
After the recent women’s soccer World Cup, this book felt like the perfect book to read afterwards. Grace has been a star of the US Women's National Team since she was 16 and she lives and breathes soccer. In this book she must face, and injury and it was really devastating for her.
 
Phoebe is the newbie on the team and her dream of becoming a professional soccer player is about to become true. I was totally rooting for her, and she is such a fiery person, who totally deserved this chance.
 
Grace was also the idol of Phoebe, and she was always striving to be like her. So, their first meeting was quite interesting and it’s a bit hate to love. They are playing on the same position and that immediately provides some tension. But the two quickly realize that they actually like each other. And I absolutely loved everything that happened afterwards.
 
If you like sapphic romances or soccer romances, look no further than this book!
4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Another steamy sapphic slam dunk for Meryl Wilsner!
Mistakes Were Made is one of my favorite steamy romances of all time and Cleat Cute gave me so much more of all the things I loved about Mistakes Were Made.
This coming out so soon after the women’s World Cup is *chefs kiss*
I loved the tension, I loved the soccer and I especially loved the spice.
This was so easy to get through and I enjoyed every second!

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. It started slow and really struggled to hold my attention. I really didn't care about either of the characters and found them more annoying then endearing. Once the story picked up a little, I liked them a little more, but still felt mostly indifferent to them, not really feeling invested in their budding romance. There was so much inner dialogue, it was distracting so the point my attention wandered and it was easy to put the book down and walk away.

Two things the book did well were incorporating the sports aspect and the spicy scenes. Sometimes sports romances go a little heavy into the sport scenes and, for someone like me who honestly couldn't care less about sport, it gets boring. Or, sometimes, they assume the reader knows everything about the sport and I'm left feeling a little loss. This book didn't do that, finding a good balance between "sports" and "romance." And when I tell you the spicy scenes were *chef's kiss* perfection, I mean it. Honestly, the spice in this book saved it, in my opinion, bringing the book up from a mediocre 3 star to a 4 star.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher

“Cleat Cute” is my second Meryl Wilsner book - I previously read “Something to Talk About” a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. “Cleat Cute” didn’t resonate with me in the same way that “Something to Talk About” did. I was disappointed by how little I cared about what happened to the main characters in this book and what difficulties they faced, especially when I was so invested in Jo and Emma’s story.

Cleat Cute feels disorganized and the climax just fell flat, when it finally came. The relationship between the two main characters feels forced and the book was somewhat of a struggle to finish.

One thing I enjoyed in Cleat Cute was the fact that the author discusses the real-life way that people experience sex and difficulty with sexual responses, and also that sex can be anything for anyone, and doesn’t necessarily need to center around one’s climax. Reading about mental illness and disabilities was also refreshing in the context that the author discusses them.

Overall, 2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars.

Well, that was certainly a choice both my decision to continue listening to this book despite not liking it and the decision to write the book at all. I mean really? Can you really consider a book rivals to lovers if the characters are on the same team and they're not rivals at any point in the entire book? They're not even enemies? Hell they don't even dislike each other. In what world does this classify as a rivals to lovers?

All right all right all right let me set the scene. We have Phoebe Matthews who is a rookie and has just been drafted for some level of professional soccer playing. Do I understand what level? Absolutely not because they switch between code names for these different teams so many times and have so many teammates but that's a different section. Phoebe starts and she is overeager and chaotic and loud and oh yeah, she absolutely idolizes one of her teammates Grace. Grace despite only being 26 has been playing professionally for 10 years and Phoebe has a massive crush on her. Grace finds Phoebe annoying to start with but she doesn't dislike her. She respects her skills and even though she wishes she would be on time and that she would shut up every once in awhile, there's no active dislike. Even knowing that they play the same position and Phoebe could replace Grace, that's never an actual serious contender of a situation for it to qualify as a rival situation.

Moving on. This book is a mess because I could not tell you the time frame that it takes place over. They start out in a training camp and then then they're in New Orleans and then they're starting for one team but then there's so many discussions of playing world cup or nationals or whatever and as someone who is not a sportsball person, I was so confused the entire time because there's no underlying explanation of the fact that these are different teams. There are people that are in the training camp that are not in New Orleans and then there are people that are in the Nationals that are not in either and then some are in all of them and without a freaking flow chart of which teammate belongs to which team and where each team is located I was lost. The teammates also all blend together. I know that there's a couple with the baby, there's the asshole ex-girlfriend, and there's a non-binary goalie but that's it. I couldn't tell you what their names are or what they look like or anything about them. All of the teammates could have been either not existent or replaced and it wouldn't have made a difference. That's how little character development there is.

Let's talk briefly about the secondary characters. I think the one thing that this book got right was inclusivity in its secondary characters kind of. There's a trans masc sibling, there is a pansexual sibling with adhd, there is a non-binary / genderqueer aroace coworker, and there's a lot of sapphics. And then our main characters are both lesbians one with undiagnosed and unresearched autism and one with undiagnosed ADHD. I mentioned the unresearched autism because it's really clear that the character is autistic to me who is an autistic reader and knowing that this book was marketed as having both autistic and ADHD representation. The book does not reflect that. The character shows traits of being autistic but the only actual labeling that's on page is when she is researching ADHD for her friend with benefits and makes a comment about how she should look more into autism. That's it. The undiagnosed ADHD is discussed more and I think that that was better representation but even that wasn't stellar for me. I think labels are great and I think that literature is a way to show people the power of labels but also you don't have to have a label or a formal diagnosis for that matter for your disability or neurodivergence or queerness or literally whatever to be valid.

Let's get into where this book went wrong. One of the things I loved about this author's debut was the slow burn. I think that it spent so much time on character development and character communication and didn't allow sex to be a filler for those really important parts of the book. The author's second book which is quoted as the MILF book was okay and I liked it enough but it wasn't as good. This one is the worst. Instead of communicating at any point in this book The characters have sex. And like, if that's your jam that's your jam whatever, but I'm going to need some actual plot and/or character development or communication or talking. I don't even need plot to be completely honest but I do need likable and interesting characters. This book does not have those.

Both Grace and Phoebe are so annoying and they're not annoying because of their autism or their ADHD. They're annoying because they're freaking wishy-washy. This book starts okay with Phoebe flirting really really hard and after Grace says that she's not interested in sex or relationship, Phoebe immediately backs off. I love that I thought it was great and I thought that they were going to develop a friendship that would lead into more. But no, they go out to a Mardi gras pride float thingamabob of some sort and Phoebe flirts with someone else and Grace has the absolute audacity to be mad. Like actually upset that Phoebe wasn't flirting with her anymore and was showing someone else attention. Like girl, you just told her you're not interested anymore and what, she's just supposed to ignore that and continue flirting with you? You set a boundary and it was respected and you're mad about that? That was the beginning of the end for me. I was shocked at why she would be so upset.

So then like the next day or something they're in the locker room and Grace initiates physical contact and then all of a sudden they're fucking in the locker room. And when I say fucking I mean a legitimate 30 minute audiobook sex scene. I didn't look up the actual page count of the scene but I do know that it is 5% of the book in one spot. And there are multiple other sex scenes that are not quite as long but take up a big chunk.

So then they're just casually having sex. And I mean, whatever. But it turns into a situation where anytime there could have been drama or angst or an opportunity for a conversation, one of them is horny and they have sex. This was so frustrating.

There's the moment where Grace is injured and she doesn't want to tell the trainer / physical therapist that she's injured because she knows it's going to bench her and even though Phoebe pressures grace to tell the trainer she is going to let Grace do it herself supposedly. She does withhold sex until Grace talks to the trainer. Then when Phoebe is upset about something talking to the trainer she casually lets it slip that Grace is the one who really should be talking to them about her own injury. And I get that this was a moment of ADHD impulsivity but it was wild to me that there's never an apology. Phoebe also just lets grace think that the trainer noticed her injury instead of telling her that she was the one who let it slip. That is until they're arguing over text one night and Phoebe said she's glad she did it. Grace is obviously upset about this and stops responding. Instead of waiting to talk in person or waiting until the next day or literally anything else, Phoebe shows up outside of Grace's house at 10:00 p.m. at night after getting off the flight with her fully packed suitcase and forces Grace to talk about it. Do they talk about it? Not really. They have some vague conversation about exclusivity which Phoebe takes as they're dating and Grace takes as they're clear for STIs and then they fuck. And then they go on about their lives. Phoebe thinking they're dating and Grace thinking they're friends with benefits. Again an opportunity that could have been solved with one conversation instead of sex.

They continue on in this fashion of willful ignorance because they never talk about anything until after a game when Grace makes a comment about Phoebe struggling with meds or something assuming that Phoebe has ADHD and that Phoebe knows about said ADHD. This results into what they consider their first fight and then somehow winds up with Grace making a doctor's appointment for Phoebe like her damn mother and Phoebe taking it as a sign of affection. This was a super weird thing for me because had they talked about it more maybe I can see that as someone who hates making appointments but to do that out of the blue for a friend with benefits who you have no defined serious relationship with, platonic or romantic, was insane to me. The fact that this was talked about with a secondary character and they were like yeah sure go ahead they're just going to know how much you care about them. Making a doctor's appointment for someone that you are not in some sort of serious relationship with seems like such a boundary crossing thing to me. I don't know.

Then of course there's the iconic line of "how could I have ADHD when I can focus on eating your pussy for so long ". That was a decision and it was a bad decision to write that line. Not only is it crass and in poor taste, It was just not a good look for anyone.

So yeah you could say that I don't like this book. I have some serious and legitimate issues with some of the problematic moments but I do think some of it is just me personally not liking it. I wouldn't necessarily say this is outright problematic in terms of any of the representation and if you're someone that likes a lot of sex in books You might be able to get over the lack of communication. I like a good smutty read I just need our characters to discuss what's going on too. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I don't think that I would outwardly recommend this one but I also wouldn't outwardly say people shouldn't read it or give it a shot. I do think it's going to be one that is up to the individual on whether or not it's in their taste. I also think that people who know and understand soccer are going to be able to like it a little bit more too. Not even because soccer is a big part of it (it is a big part but not the point) but because you'll understand more of the dynamics that go under explained. This one was just not it for me and I don't know if I'm going to continue to read this author's books.

⚽Sapphic
⚽Soccer romance
⚽Opposites attract
⚽Friends with benefits

This story follows Phoebe and Grace as they juggle their pro soccer careers at different stages, all the while exploring their romantic feelings, handling personal challenges, and getting ready for an upcoming World Cup.

I enjoyed this one especially as I read it while the Women's Soccer World Cup was on. I loved the queer representation and the chemistry between the FMCs was excellent. There was tension and spice, but the progression of their relationship was my favorite.

While I did enjoy reading about soccer and their internal dialogues, I would have liked to see the neurodivergent aspects introduced earlier. The ending felt rushed, and that didn’t give enough time to go deeper into these very important topics, but overall this was a fun read.

I typically don't gravitate toward sports romances, but this book has shifted my perspective, and what I found most enjoyable were the strong female athletes.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin, Meryl Wilsner, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .5 /5 (rounded up because I love this author)
Spice 🌶 🌶 🌶 /5

I absolutely love Meryl Wilsner's books and I will continue to read whatever they write!

I have been beyond excited to read this book since I heard about it. I absolutely love the characters that Meryl wrote. Phoebe was fantastic. I loved her personality and she reminded me of so many of my friends from playing competitive sports. I loved her drive and strength on the field but found I resonated with her even more as we got to know her insecurities and the more human side of her.

Grace was a force and I found I could really see myself in her. Her strict control and need to impress those around her, mixed with the pain from past betrayals made for a beautifully relatable character. I absolutely adored the two of them together and how they created such a safe place for each of them to be their authentic selves. The spice was fantastic but I found their relationship progression to be just wonderful. This book was everything I hoped it would be and I I will continue to sing Meryl Wilsner's praises!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy of this!

This is my 2nd Meryl Wilsner and I absolutely loved Mistakes Were Made that came out last year so I was excited when they announced that their next book was going to be a sapphic soccer romance.

I have gone to a couple of my nephew's soccer games so I am slowly learning about the rules of the game. I felt that Wilsner had just enough references that didn't feel overwhelming or confusing. Though I did for my own entertainment look up a beep test because I needed to know if it was as bad as it sounded (reminded me of running drills I used to do for basketball).

Though in my head I can't imagine going from admiring a figure whether is a celeb or a sports player, to then being a teammate and then DATING THEM! I definitely would not be able to handle that - I think HA! There had been a book I read previously that had a similar theme but it felt force.
This one was a gradual one in the sense that it was sexual first but then lead to more of an emotional relationship. Phoebe seemed just like a fun girl who was down for whatever and when it came to Grace she was just all in. Though I will say I thought going about their first kiss was a little off for me. But there is a moment where Phoebe thought her and Grace were dating; I think I re-read the lines multiple times because I kept thinking - did I miss something?!

One thing I learned after reading Mistakes Were Made was that Wilsner can write the hell out of a sex scene and this one brought the heat!!

It would've been nice to get more of the relationships with the teammates even though the point of the book is because of Phoebe and Grace.

I hope this book is a start of more adult sapphic sports romance books! We need more!

I picked this up not really know anything about soccer. Luckily, I didn't find knowledge of soccer to be necessary, but I think it would have added to my enjoyment of it. I liked both Phoebe and Grace and I had a fun time reading, but this probably won't be a book I think about a lot after reading. I liked that both characters were written to be neurodivergent, but I wished that was explored a lot more. Phoebe clearly has ADHD. I thought that was pretty obvious and that she was already diagnosed before the beginning of the book. Phoebe wasn't, which isn't an issue as people can get diagnosed at any point in their life. Phoebe's ADHD is diagnosed really late into the book and wasn't explored much. Phoebe's ADHD is used as the conflict that causes the third act breakup, which I found kind of frustrating. The third act break-up happens pretty late into the book, so there wasn't much time to deal with what caused it and that's unfortunate. Grace assumes that Phoebe knows she has ADHD and mentions something about Phoebe's family not understanding that there are certain things that are really difficult because of her disorder. Phoebe then gets upset, thinking Grace thinks there is something wrong with her. They don't speak for a bit and Grace, wanting to help Phoebe out, sets up an appointment for her to see a doctor about an ADHD diagnosis. (Setting up a doctor's appointment for someone without them knowing feels a little iffy, but Phoebe appreciated it, so whatever.) Her diagnosis happens between the end out of book and the beginning of the epilogue. This happened so late in the book that there was no time for Phoebe to use her ADHD diagnosis to help her understand herself. I think this would have been much better if Grace has told Phoebe that she though Phoebe has ADHD halfway through the book so we could have seen how she learns more about herself instead of using it as a third act conflict. Also, when Grace is researching ADHD, she comes across some videos by autistic people that she finds she relates to a lot. This is never mentioned again. We never see Grace tell this to Phoebe (she doesn't have to, but it was frustrating that this does not come up again at any point, not even in her internal monologue). Overall, this is a fun book, but it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been.