Add me to the lengthy list of those who were blown away by last year's Mistakes Were Made. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see we didn't have to wait too long for another hit from Meryl Wilsner.

Phoebe Matthews may be one of my all-time favorite characters. Completely aware of who she is at a young age and not willing to compromise for anyone, including her childhood hero. The writing in third person present tense was perfection for this story.

I kept waiting for the "A Star is Born" storyline to take over, and the outcome couldn't have been any better. Reading this during the WWC is perfect timing.

What a fun and exciting read for this summer! I really enjoyed every aspect of this book, including the diverse characters, the plot-line and the ending. The normalizing of ADHD and its affects on kids and adults was a great bonus to the story. I fell in love with Phoebe from the beginning and knew she would be a bad-ass main character. Throughout the book, we learned more about Grace and her background. I was so happy with the character development for Grace throughout the book! By the end, I was routing for them both in different ways than I was at the beginning! What a fabulous romance!

loved this book, especially reading it during the world cup (the women’s one, obviously ((the superior one))). sometimes felt like it leaned into stereotypes TOO much and also i wish the epilogue was longer. i did love the characters, i loved the conclusion, and i loved that the author used the inequities faced by female sports teams to further the plot. it’s a very important conversation that i think needs to keep happening.

Banter>>>>
story>>>>>



Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

This was a fun read with enjoyable main characters. .

I think you're either a Phoebe or Grace and will definitely understand the frustrations of both when it's their turn to share internal narratives.

The story flowed easily and you don't need to know anything about soccer to understand what is happening.

this was so cute! their dynamic reminded me of lexi and rae from the ultimatum which lowkey annoyed me at times but phoebe was so sweet and grace irritated me bc she was literally a robot however i think that was the point! good spice until the second half when it literally went fade to black. talked a lot about soccer which i didnt care about but i did enjoy the book overall

rivals to secret lovers
miscommunication
jealousy

Cleat Cute introduces us to Grace Henderson, a star of the soccer USWNT, and Phoebe Matthews, a fresh face out of college. Phoebe is ecstatic when she’s drafted to Grace’s NWSL team, as she had posters of Grace on her bedroom walls. They’re drawn to each other, and teach each other different aspects of life. A miscommunication could impact their relationship in multiple ways, such as teammates, national team players, friendship, and maybe a romantic aspect as well.

This was a fun summer read for me! I felt that I was able to relate to the players and put myself in their cleats, so to speak. While they are incredible and at the top of their game, Wilsner still showed depth around the characters. It was pretty spicy, so keep that in mind if that is or isn’t what you are looking for in a book.Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

*file under the main couple will break up six months after the epilogue*

I know that Wilsner is polarising. I personally loved their debut, and liked their second book. I did find that everything I enjoyed in their debut was no longer present in book 2 and Cleat Cute but they also had new strengths. While Something To Talk About was a slowburn that I found very akin to fanfiction (positive) Cleat Cute's main couple has very little actual *romantic* development that left me feeling like they didn't deserve to be together. Even I the reader was rooting AGAINST them being together.

This starts very early in the book, where Phoebe is a starry-eyed puppy and Grace is dismissive. Normally you'd expect Phoebe to have a never meet your heroes moment but no Grace is horny for Phoebe so we skip all the angst. Everytime there's drama in this book, or miscommunication or whatever boom someone is horny and it fixes everything. Don't get me wrong I really respect Wilsner for the many sex scenes, the dialogues they created, and just a healthy sex life. It's just that the supposedly adult characters act more like horny teens than anything else. Towards the end, Grace tries to bring up an important topic and is promptly cut off by Phoebe asking her to make out. While the conversation is resumed after this immediately told me that there's no way this couple will last and immediately turned me off rooting for their happy ending.

I was expecting a lot out of a friends with benefits to lovers situation but I felt like each step was a failure at convincing me to care about their relationship. The whole benefits situation was awkwardly brought on, each time there was an interesting tension between the characters it was immediately resolved in the same or following chapter. Overall I didn't believe that they were in love in the end.

Grace was an interesting character. I did see someone say that her autism is not really clear/mentioned but I did read her as autistic early on. She just exhibits more socially-complicated traits and less environment-sensitivity traits. There's a point where she mentions faking her emotions that was relatable. I did like her a lot more than Phoebe except every time she decided that being horny would overrule any valid introspection she had before.

But this is a soccer romance how is the team, the side characters? Well I couldn't tell you, because despite the two protagonists having many friends they're all as flat as each other, and I ended up mixing them up more than once. The side cast could not exist and it wouldn't change a thing.

and omg the constant tik tok mentions just made the experience worse

This is my preferred romance! Not terribly cheesy, mentions of real-world topics, and a believable love story. I read this during the 2023 Women's World Cup and I think that made me even more interested in the sport. Grace and Phoebe are such relatable characters in their own way. There is so much representation in this that speaks to how intentional Meryl was in writing this. I will plan to explore more of her work and am excited for the next release!

3.5/5 stars! Cleat Cute was an adorable sports romance centering around Phoebe and Grace, two soccer athletes. I'm a little conflicted on how to rate this one, as I was constantly rooting for both characters and found this book very entertaining; but I did find myself frustrated with their actions and lack of communication. I think certain elements of this book were just not my taste, such as the constant TikTok references, but still had a very good time with it and would recommend to someone looking for a cute sapphic sports romance!

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

Setting:
USA, World Cup

Characters:
Grace Henderson
Phoebe Matthews

Tropes:
Sapphic
Sports Romance
Teammates to Lovers
Rivals to Lovers
Sports Romance

Goodreads:
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Spice:
🌶 🌶 🌶

Review:
This was such a lovely novel. If you ever wanted a Sapphic Bend it Like Beckham romance, here it is. The writing was superb, well developed characters, fast moving plot, and fantastic spice. A great time and a great read.

Content Warnings:
Physical injury

Ted Lasso meets Check! Please in this sapphic romcom.

Phoebe is a young rookie whom anyone who is chronically online can relate to, while Grace is more reserved (honestly giving the best Roy Kent x Jaime Tartt energy out there). I was hooked from the first chapter, with a young woman who has a hard time expressing just how much love she has in her heart.

The discussion of soccer wasn't confusing and was explained in such a way that it added to the world-building without taking away from the chaos that is a romance novel.

Overall, super cute, and I wish there was more! Meryl Wilsner is definitely someone to look out for and to watch as they continues to write and inspire.

Thank you Netgalley for an E arc. I would rate this book a solid three stars, It was a fun read that had me engaged from the beginning. I thought the concept of professional women soccer was both exciting and interesting and will be for many readers who played soccer growing up. Myself included. My only problem with the book is I felt as though the plot was lost somewhere in the middle, after the middle of the book, I felt like problems were coming up for problems sake and I had forgotten what the original plot of the novel was. Other than that, I enjoyed my read and would recommend it to fans of sapphic stories and fans of sports novels.

Just about the cutest, sweetest, spiciest soccer romance ever. I'm far from a soccer expert, but I've had season tickets to our local women's team, the OL Reign, for 2 years now and have been learning a lot. It was awesome to see some hypothetical behind-the-scenes of what it's like to be a pro player, from basic strategy and what it's like to really focus on the game, to how team chemistry develops, from the experience of moving to a new city, to the joy of fulfilling a life-long dream. I loved switching back and forth between Phoebe and Grace’s perspectives because they each had such different perspectives of the world and their relationship. While they are both neurodivergent (and undiagnosed at first), Phoebe’s ADHD and Grace’s autism mean they don’t necessarily understand what the other is saying or meaning all the time, even when they are both doing their best to be honest with one another.

I love that as they get to know one another, they learn what things are important to each it other and make an effort to respect and protect those things. Phoebe knows Grace really values her privacy, so she never pushes her to come out or to tell people about them (even though it’s obvious to anyone truly paying attention. And when Grace wants to show Phoebe how much she likes her and how much she has grown and opened up since meeting her, she decides to come out. Not just for Phoebe but for herself, too, to free herself from the rules and chains of expectation she’d always placed upon herself. Part of the fun of this book is it's not just about Grace and Phoebe's romance, but also about their individual growth.

Also, Grace downloads TIKTOK for her, and does all the legwork of figuring out how to go to the doctor and making her an appointment. As someone whose own ADHD diagnosis was prompted by TikTok, but waited over a year and had some serious struggles before finally see a doctor about it, I would have really felt the love in those actions. 😍 Every word Phoebe said about how she didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with ADHD rang true to me (as did her perpetual lateness).

And I totally love that inevitable conversation Phoebe and Grace have, when Grace tells Phoebe she likes her and wants to officially date her, and Phoebe tells her she’s pretty sure they’ve been dating for the last month, lol. I was waiting for that conversation ever since it became clear they were not on the same page, and it was everything I hoped it would be!

This one is pretty spicy, perhaps a little too frequently for my personal preference, but the spicy scenes feel like part of Phoebe and Grace’s story and not just an excuse to have more spice. They had a strong physical connection to one another from the start, and that’s part of how their relationship deepened as they learned to trust one another, both physically and emotionally.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me access to an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The up and coming rookie paired with a veteran has a fun vibe throughout Cleat Cute. Wilsner writes about ADHD and autism in a sensitive and respectful way. The book was a fun read.

I could not put this down!! One of my least favorite tropes is miscommunication and any time Grace and Phoebe weren’t on the same page, it was resolved relatively quickly. The spice was spicy and the cute was CA-YUTE!!!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this e-arc.
This was a cute little sapphic rom-com. I really enjoyed it personally. The characters were very likable even though at some points it was cringey.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
🌶🌶
This was a super cute sapphic, teammates to lovers, soccer romcom, and I loved it! As a former soccer player myself, it was easy to get excited about this one. Both FMCs love soccer, and that loves feels like another character throughout the story. There is lots of lgbtqia+ rep and really good disability rep (ADHD, Autism), which I was pleasantly surprised by. But, what I really loved is how this story tackles the expectations we place on ourself based on what we think other expect of us. It shows the importance of communicating not only with your partner, but also with family, friends, colleagues and bosses. It shows how clearly communicating can be a huge factor in our levels of happiness and contentment. I really loved to see how setting boundaries was praised, and how boundaries were respected amongst the characters. This story does all this within the context a super cute sports romcom, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book and offer my honest review.

Meryl Wilsner is THE steamy queer writer. Just a cute, sweet, delicious and delightful read!! If you’re looking for a queer rom/com that is like super super steamy then definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I adored this book featuring two women's league soccer players: veteran Grace "Hendy" Henderson and newly drafted Phoebe "Phenom" "Matthews" Matthews. Phoebe has looked up to Grace ever since she started playing soccer. The dynamic between Phoebe and Grace was so electric, sweet, and sexy! Wilsner does not shy away from physical descriptions of Phoebe and Grace's growing situationship. 2SLGBTQIA+ community members might have a hard time with the conflict in this novel, but Wilsner handles it gracefully, as Grace's long-time teammates and best friends suggest she think about her choice of a grand profession of love. I found the ending perfectly sweet! Wilsner packs socioeconomic class disparities, trans joy (in the form of teammates and family members), coming out stories, and soccer action into this novel.