4.5 rounded up

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an e arc of this one.

When Phoebe gets the chance to play soccer professionally after college, she also gets the chance to play with the amazing Grace Henderson...who Phoebe may or may not have a poster of in her childhood bedroom. And yeah, maybe they both find each other incredibly hot, but the focus is obviously soccer, not a relationship...right?

This was so stinking good I absolutely love the voices of both Phoebe and Grace. I love the neurodivergent rep (Grace is autistic and Phoebe has ADHD) and the discussions about that later in the book.

The relationship between the two feels like it develops really organically and the miscommunication is kind of good? Which I don't usually like but it was well done and funny.

This book did make me laugh out loud a few times and made me cry once, which I don't usually expect out of a romcom but I am also a bit of a baby.

I did think there was like a little too much of the sex scenes but that would probably not be a deterrent for most people!

CW: sexual content, unmanaged ADHD

This is my first Meryl Wilsner read, and it definitely won't be the last!

I knew I was going to like this book based on the premise alone. Grace is an established, professional soccer player, and Phoebe is just starting her professional career - and happens to have always been infatuated with Grace. Phoebe clearly looks up to her as a role model way before they're ever together on the field. I adored their characters. Grace is often timid, not very talkative, and is incredibly passionate about her career - often placing the needs of her teammates above her own. Phoebe is an excellent team player, she's extremely outgoing and not afraid to go after what she wants - she's wildly determined and headstrong.

Grace and Phoebe are complete opposites, and you'd never think to place them together, but it's so clear that they bring out the best in each other. It's evident throughout the story. Both characters are struggling to take care of themselves in different ways - but they both help each other in positive ways. I love how carefully these characters are written with all of their quirks, mannerisms and good and bad habits. I appreciate how Meryl discusses Phoebe and Grace being neurodivergent - and I really liked how Meryl incorporated the positive outcomes of using medication to help Phoebe. Introducing new medicine to improve my mental health is something that I personally struggled with for a long time, and to see it suggested in an informative and casual way by Grace was validating for me.

I've said in the past that third person narration can be difficult for me to read, but I flew through this book effortlessly. Even though it's in third person narration, you can distinctly tell that each chapter is a certain character's point of view. I loved being able to know what was going on in Phoebe's and Grace's heads at any given moment. The inner thoughts of the characters added so much depth and only made the characters seem more real. I think that's what I loved most about this book - all of the events and relationships between the characters were so real. Grace and Phoebe are very relatable characters, I know I saw myself in some of their habits.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Meryl's books! I love their writing style - and they write excellent spice too. I couldn't get enough of Grace and Phoebe's steamy scenes. Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received an uncorrected digital galley via netgalley.com in exchange for an unbiased review.
***Edited review. Originally posted as 3*, now rounding up from 3.5* ***

On paper I should love this book:
I'm a big fan of Meryl ever since listening to the audiobook for "Mistakes were Made".
I also enjoyed the audiobook for "Something to Talk About"
I played soccer, had undiagnosed adhd most of my life. Have dealt with soccer injuries at inopportune times, was briefly in the ODP pipeline, etc.

...I liked this book, but it wasn't satisfying. Like eating a donut (or a beignet?) It's at times sweet, but it's airy and you're still hungry, despite being over 300 pages.

I can only imagine how hard it would be to write a novel about characters on a soccer team due to the sheer numbers of players (11 per team play at a time), and at some times it was hard to differentiate players, some were completely forgotten about, and a few times, I forgot that Sorrell and Kayla were the same person. More than a few times I had to scroll back a few pages to re-orient.

There was something mentioned super close to the end of the book that seemed to come out of nowhere.
****editing review: since this isn't a secret (Meryl has literally shared this in promotional materials) both MCs are neurodivergent. Phoebe has ADHD and Grace while not officially diagnosed in the book was written as autistic. I spotted Phoebe as ADHD from a mile away for so many reasons that I can recognize and identify with... it wasn't subtle. Grace's Autism was less apparent to me, but after reading the book again with that in mind, I could see the threads as they were being woven in. From other reviews I've seen, self-identifying autists have seen themselves in her representation. After re-reading after my initial sprint through because I was very excited to devour it, I recognize that I was perhaps too harsh in my critique as a whole, so I wanted to update it****

I like Meryl and won't hesitate to read their future books, and I appreciated the chance to be in some ways represented by the characters of this story (Meryl always seems to represent a different part of my identity in each of their books), but narratively speaking this one didn't hit it for me. It's still worth reading if you find the premise interesting though!

i really loved this book. being a soccer girl my whole life, i really appreciated a lot of the shouts towards the game, its culture, and the atmosphere of being a womans soccer player and being on a womens soccer team. I really feel like the author hit that stuff on the head and it was very well executed. Other than loving the soccer aspect of this book, i really enjoyed Grace and Phoebe. Both are really interesting characters, in a sense of learning about them and their quirks as the reader was a rollercoaster. And i don't say this in a bad way, i think it gave us a realistic experience of when you meet someone new and you really have to get down to their roots to figure them out. This is how Grace and Phoebe both were for me, and it was because they were both working through some toughs things that they didn't want to share to themselves (internally) and each other. There really isn't an age gap here (4 years) but i think there is maturity wise. Think of who you were coming right out of college, and the person you were at 26. For me, those are two totally different people!! hahaha. So i really liked getting that reflective moment in this book too. Also, both Phoebe and Grace are neurodivergent, Phoebe with undiagnosed ADHD and Grace also wanting to learn more about being on the spectrum. I think the author did a great job showing how each character responded to the possibility of the diagnosis for themselves.

This book is a five star for me because everything i listed before just adds so much more depth to the book rather than the romance. Of course the spice is here and very well done, and i really enjoyed Phoebe and Grace's love story. So when the romance is great and the author gives us depth to the characters, has moments of reflection, and sparks the reader to educate themselves on topics covered in the book... thats a five star read for me.

Cleat Cute was a cute sapphic romance and a good way to bury my sadness over the end of the Women's World Cup. Two soccer players - one veteran and one rookie - are thrown together for club and country and find a growing attraction off the field.

While marketed as a rivals-to-lovers romcom, that's not really the trope here. The two characters, one a veteran player sick of the fame and one an excited rookie, are never truly rivals per se. I appreciated the two very different perspectives and experiences that each character was bringing to the story. I felt like the plot got a bit repetitive though and the middle dragged a bit. I also thought the ADHD plotline should have been given more attention and handled with much more care.

Overall, I would recommend this to people who like sports romances.

First, let me say that I know this is working for a lot of people, and I really love that for everyone! I also love that there are finally starting to be enough sapphic books that I don't feel like I need to be willing to recommend every one of them anymore.

So the good - liked the grumpy/sunshine dynamic. Meryl sure can write a sex scene, that is true. No third act breakup, and the "miscommunication" that was set up partway through ended up being dealt with in a fun, lighthearted way.

What didn't work for me - I found Grace to be a uniquely frustrating character. Her distrust of Phoebe never rang true, even when we were finally told where it came from. She resented that everyone in her life "only saw her as a soccer player," but also never allowed anyone to engage with her about anything else, even when they tried. The ADHD/autism representation had the potential to be important and interesting, but felt shoehorned in during the third act to create conflict. The power imbalance (captain/teammate/childhood idol) was never dealt with or acknowledged, so I don't understand why it was set up in the first place.

Overall, I can see why some people enjoyed this book, but I rolled my eyes too many times to be able to wholeheartedly recommend it.

I really wanted to love this one. It had everything I love in a romance novel, a sapphic relationship, soccer, women in sports representation.

There were definitely parts of this I loved, especially getting to experience New Orleans with both women, but parts of the story fell a bit flat for me.

I felt like the two female main characters lacked an emotional connection. It seemed like every time they needed to have an actual real conversation, they just ended up having sex. So while their physical connection was great, they lacked it emotionally for me.

I definitely enjoyed reading it and I am excited to read more from this author.

3.5 stars
3 spice

If you're looking for a great sports-related contemporary romance, add Cleat Clute to your list. Teammates on a women's professional soccer team navigate their feelings for each other while also trying to do their jobs as elite athletes. Very steamy. Good LGBT representation as well as neurodivergent characters. I've read both of the author's other queer romance books and this is a great addition to the list to pick up on it's September 19 publication date.

Thank you to. St Martin's and Netgalley for the electronic advanced copy.

4⭐️

<b>One of the downsides of being a lesbian athlete is other women are always doing hot things around you.</b>

Grace Henderson is a soccer star and veteran to the game. She’s very serious about soccer and all aspects of her life. Phoebe Matthews is a rookie who has played in college, but has now caught the eye of the national team and is starting on the same team as Grace for New Orleans. Phoebe is chaotic and bubbly, and even refers to herself as loud, obnoxious, and gay (it’s like, her brand). Grace and Phoebe seem like complete opposites, but quickly realize that they have strong feelings towards each other, although both claim to not be interested in a relationship.

I have never cared about soccer so much in my life. This was really cute and fun to read! I really enjoyed the opposites attract aspect to this, and how sweet and soft Grace is for Phoebe. A great queer sports romance!!

<b>There’s something about the idea of taking a woman so put together completely apart.</b>

Read This Book If…you loved Bend It Like Beckham!

Please note: this was an ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

Genre: queer sports romance
Spice Level: 4/5🌶, 3-4 explicit scenes
Setting: New Orleans
POV: dual, 3rd person, present tense
Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, workplace, secret romance, friends with benefits, miscommunication, bets, childhood idol

What I Thought: This was such a fun, steamy read! This author did a fabulous job weaving a full spectrum of queer identities into this story and making it feel perfectly natural. I thought the neurodivergent rep was also great! If you hate miscommunication, this might not be your read - I was definitely yelling “JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER” at both characters. I also found it a little difficult to track the narrative because it was dual POV and third person, which can get a little confusing when both characters are the same gender. I will still recommend this to anyone looking for a sexy, sapphic read!

Memorable Quote: “One of the downsides of being a lesbian athlete is other women are always doing hot things around you.”

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is a sapphic, grumpy/sunshine romance about two pro soccer players months before the World Cup. We follow Phoebe, a rookie who was recently signed to her first pro team, and Grace, a veteran who has been playing professionally for most of her life. As they navigate their respective journeys to success in soccer, they find an easy connection with each other.

I love Meryl Wilsners writing and their ability to make me feel immersed in the story and feel connected to the characters. I was so excited to have the opportunity to read an ARC of their book because I just couldn’t wait to read more of their writing.

Reading this was so fun and the deeper I got into it the more I deeply related to Grace. I am an autistic woman who didn’t figure that out until my 20s- so to see some representation of how my mind works in a book like this was pretty big for me. It also helps that I am married to a red-headed ADHDer with a big, goofy personality and a huge love for soccer. Definitely relate to Grace in more ways than one!

Admittedly, I've yet to watch Ted Lasso, but as a fan of the A League of Their Own movie, when I saw that this book was going to be in that same vein, I was interested. Going into it, I had high hopes. It reminded me a bit of Nothing New by Taylor Swift and when I relate a book to a Taylor Swift song, I'm fairly certain it's going to end up a good read. I was not let down. I could really relate to Grace's arc in kind of losing herself in the pursuit of something she wanted so badly, and finding herself again thanks to people who breeze in and remind her what it's all about. It was unputdownable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for this book! I’ve not read a whole lot of sports romances but this may be my entry into them! Really enjoyed this book & would definitely read more from this author!

Meryl Wilsner writes steamy sapphic rom-coms, and this is my favorite of hers to date. The story takes place in the world of women's professional soccer, and Grace and Phoebe are both fantastic characters. As always, there is depth to the story and each lead has their own issues to work through in order to reach a HEA together. I loved the dynamic between these two strong women as they navigated their differences and their growing feelings for each other. The whole book was fun and sweet and populated with great side characters, as well. Thank you to NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for a digital review copy.

All of Wilsners books have been 5🌟 reads for me and this one is no exception. One of my favorite things about her books are that the characters are real, they have flaws and problems and beyond a single identifying personality trait. My other favorite thing is that you can feel the tension and the love between the characters. You can feel their relationship develop and change. You don’t just read about what happens, you experience it with them. Not all authors can do that, but Wilsner has done it every time for me. This book had so much great queer rep, and neurodivergent rep. And the grumpy cat/golden retriever energy was everything. Definitely recommend.

As a fan of sapphic romance, I was eager to dive into the pages of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner, a novel that promised a delightful blend of romance, sports, and comedy. With comparisons to shows like Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, I had high hopes for an engaging and heartwarming story. While I unfortunately had to pause my reading due to my personal preferences (too much 🌶️), I believe this book has the potential to be a fantastic read for those who enjoy a bit more spice in their romance books.

The story introduces us to Grace Henderson, a seasoned player on the US Women’s National Soccer Team, and Phoebe Matthews, a spirited newcomer who brings a breath of fresh air to the team. Grace's injury leads to a shift in dynamics, placing her alongside Phoebe, and from

there, their connection evolves into an unexpected friendship with benefits. the dynamic between Grace and Phoebe starts off quick!

Though my journey through the book was cut short due to my personal aversion to explicit content, I want to emphasize that this aspect should not overshadow the book's qualities. The writing is well done, and the plot is engaging, showcasing the author's intriguing plat. Further enhancing the book's appeal is its notable inclusion of characters who are neurodiverse.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to others. While I'm disappointed that it didn't align with my preferences, I want to emphasize that this stems from my personal taste. As someone who identifies as Ace, my reaction to spicy content in media can be quite variable, and regrettably, the level of spiciness in the book escalated too rapidly for my comfort. Wishing you all an enjoyable reading experience!

Extremely entertaining. Portrays autism and adhd in ways that are fictional but not fake. Romance is sweet and drama is tense without either feeling forced. Conflict is frustrating without being annoying and thought out well enough for it to feel rewarding when resolved.

A cute love story, but some aspects of it didn't work as well as I would have liked. I enjoyed Grace and Phoebe, appreciated how both are neurodivergent especially for representation purposes, and it was fun to follow their professional and personal relationships as they transformed through multiple different stages. While Wilsner certainly doesn't shy away from steamy content, I liked how she emphasized that intimacy is about much more than sex. However, I wasn't expecting the tale to be so internally focused, often dwelling for large amounts of time in the thoughts of its protagonists; these notions could have been communicated to the reader more often through the characters' actions, which would have helped make the book feel less bogged down with interior monologues.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to firstly say, I love that this had good neurodivergent representation. It was interesting realizing that this was a part of the story line because it wasn't marketed in the synopsis. I loved following the neuodivergent plot as something that was being discovered on both sides rather than already knowing, and identifying with, as you read the story you're realizing symptoms/behaviors, that makes a reader realize "hmm is this something that's going to be opened up?" I don't really like the follow through of it. Grace diagnosed her and its one thing to mention, hey maybe there's something more than just being hyper behavior vs diagnosing her with her full chest while Pheobe's family is in the hallway. It was just a very rude way to go through with everything and if you're going through this neurodivergent path, it could and should have been done a lot more kinder.

I didn't like Grace as a character. Its one thing to be determined and introverted, but it was sometimes really hard to read how irritated she was/ or looked down at Pheobe. I think Pheobe had this idealistic way, maybe almost put Grace on a pedestal because she was her teen idol that she overlooked how irritating Grace could be. Its one thing to also be cautious about falling in love, reserved to let people in but the dynamic that Grace had with pheobe was almost cringey because Pheobe looked like this star strucked little kid and Grace had this exasperated, kind of, FINE you can spend the night/FINE you can tag along mentality. I say this with loving morally grey characters, loving characters who are (to most people) unlikable, I just think the relationship didn't translate well, it didn't flow, it was uncomfortable at times, I almost rather them be friends because the relationship wasn't believable. I think it could have been more believable if there was more show vs tell. Like the inner monologues was so heavy and I wished there could be more showing, show me that this is different, show me why Grace is allowing Pheobe.

I love reading sport romances, soccer specifically because I played soccer. I don't think this was truly a rivals to lovers. Pheobe never viewed herself as Grace's rival. They were on the same sports team not opposing teams and never was so I don't know if that would classify them as rivals? I could be wrong.

It was an overall okay book.

This book filled the big, gay World Cup-shaped hole in my heart. And the sex scenes are amazing as always. I loved the characters and the world building. Such a great book for gay soccer fans. I wouldn’t be mad at a sequel that takes place at the tournament!