My favorite of Wilsner’s work so far! I loved the way Phoebe and Grace grew as people and learned to know themselves better as they fell in love. Plus, it was funny and fun and wonderful!

Ugh, I’m so upset with how frustrated I ended up being with this book!

I LOVE Meryl Wilsner and was so excited for this book (sapphics playing soccer?? Yes please!). The first 50% of the book absolutely lived up to my expectations and I was having a great time.

But then (Bum Bum BUM)… the miscommunication started. Although Phoebe and Grace both initially agreed that they weren’t looking for a relationship, when they had the “we’re exclusive” conversation there was a whole CHAPTER where Phoebe went on and on about how excited she was that they were girlfriends now. And I just KNEW Grace hadn’t taken it that way.

Well, low and behold, Grace did not, in fact, take it that way. She was under the impression that they were continuing their friends with benefits arrangement, just not sleeping with anyone else. And because they were keeping things secret to begin with and didn’t change that, this misunderstanding went on for a MONTH until the very end of the book, at which point it came out and it just… wasn’t an issue? Like, if you’re going to have a miscommunication go on for that long, it needs to end up being a bigger thing.

That said, even with how annoyed I was with the way their story played out, I really loved Phoebe and Grace as characters and the way they both helped each other get better at things they needed help getting better at. The part where Grace took it upon herself to set up and appointment for Phoebe to get diagnosed with ADHD because she knew it was overwhelming for her was, as a person who also has trouble making doctor’s appointments and definitely has undiagnosed ADHD, was particularly heartwarming.

So to sum it all up: if the miscommunication trope isn’t your thing, I might skip this one. But I’ll definitely be back for more Meryl Wilsner in the future!

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book.

I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a dnf for me. Phoebe and Grace weren’t likable characters, nor did I care enough about their chemistry to not be icked out by it.

Thank you for the ARC! It was definitely not the book for me, but that doesn't mean others wouldn't love it.

“Cleat Cute” is just that: a (very) cute story about two soccer players who say they don’t want a relationship, but do they really? This book was highly readable, fun, and a bit spicy at times (but not egregiously so). It was one of those where you wanted to keep on reading but at that same time you wanted to get to the…resolution. I may not be a soccer fan but this book had me rooting for Grace, Phoebe, and all the Krewe players!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Phoebe Matthews can’t believe it when she gets to be on the same soccer team as the legendary Grace Henderson. Not only did she grow up with a poster of Grace on her walls, she’s looked up to Grace as an athlete since forever. The thought of being teammates with benefits doesn’t even occur to her, until it does. No one gets under Grace’s skin like Phoebe. Surely if she gets Phoebe out of her system then she’ll be able to focus? When Grace is benched for an injury, Phoebe takes her place in a tournament. If forced to choose between their romance or competing for spots on the team, what will they choose?

This was my first book from Meryl Wilsner, but definitely not my last- I loved it!! Readers who enjoyed A League of Their Own and the sapphic blend of romance and sports will love this book. Grace and Phoebe have incredible chemistry and very steamy scenes. Phoebe is such a fun-loving and warm character who matches up so well with Grace! Grace has needed to be serious about soccer for such a long time to accomplish her goals that she’s forgotten some of the joy. I liked the ADHD and autism rep and it seemed very well done. There was fantastic LGBTQ+ rep throughout the entire book! The dialogue was filled with witty banter. There was a strong supporting cast in the team that brought out the best in Phoebe and Grace. I loved their adventures touring New Orleans, the hair-braiding scenes (!!), and the scorching tension between them.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone! Readers who loved Fly With Me (Andie Burke), Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail (Ashley Herring Blake), and Count Your Lucky Stars (Alexandria Bellefleur) will love Cleat Cute. Readers who enjoy sapphic sports romance, A League of Their Own, steamy scenes, and engaging characters will absolutely love this book!

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

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!
There were some things I loved about this book and some things I hated. I think my expectations were too high just based off of the premise - sapphic sports enemies to friends to lovers 🥵 but half of the book was kind of repetitive sex scenes (that used the c word way too much 😵‍💫) and I feel like the ADHD/autism took a lot more of a front seat than I expected. I would have rather read more about soccer, tbh. The writing also felt pretty juvenile. I did really enjoy the soccer bits, and I liked Phoebe’s character especially. Wish there was more of the siblings because they seemed really promising. Still a good book but could use some really good editing before publishing.

Lesbians and soccer, a pairing as old as time. A cute read in a world cup year. This book has Meryl’s trademark spice (so a lot of it, and it’s good), plus loveable main characters Phoebe and Grace are so compelling that I rushed through the book in a day.

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

First off, let me say thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Grace Henderson has been the star of the US Women's National Soccer Team for 10 years, starting her career at the young age of 16. But when she's sidelined with an injury, the bold rookie, Phoebe Matthews, fills in for her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn't - loud, energetic, and a big jokester. Phoebe has always admired Grace's skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol, but she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a teammate. The last thing either of them expect is becoming FWB, and both are catching feelings in secret. As the tension grows from both the season and their situationship, will both players realize they care more about each other than making the roster?

What I liked:
- The premise - in the popularity of sports romances, I was stoked to see a WOMEN"S sports romance.
- The pining and flirting in the first portion of the book! Grace & Phoebe's bet in their training camp kind of set fire to their little playful romance and I liked that the other players were in on it too.
- There was neurodivergent rep! I definitely assumed Phoebe had ADHD (as Grace did throughout the book) but it made her a little feisty which I liked.
- The spicy scenes! There was the perfect amount of spice, and it was done REALLY well!

What I didn't like:
- How the neurodivergent rep was handled. If there was going to be talk about autism/ADHD, especially in the two main characters, it should have been done WELL before the last 50 pages of the novel.
- THE WRITING. I have zero issue with third person writing (I prefer first person, but I don't feel I'm alone on that) but the way this was handled took me right out of my enjoyment of the book. It was third person present tense, but also from both MC's POV, so not only did I get confused as to who I was supposed to be following, there was also WAY too much inner monologue. The whole "Grace did this" & "Phoebe said that" thing was so overdone - it was very heavy on the tell-not-show style of writing. Like... just show the reader what they're doing? If this was written in first person POV maybe it would have been better? I just couldn't get into it.

Because I love a good sapphic love story, I did pick up Meryl Wilsner's other two novels she has out to see if they're written any different, so I'm not completely writing her off. Honestly, probably because DAMN she knows how to write some spice. However, I won't be recommending this particular novel.

Meryl Wilsner really knows how to write characters you as the reader will fall for. Cleat Cute is no exception to this. Grace Henderson is the quiet, reserved captain of the women’s soccer team, and Phoebe Matthews is the talkative, make friends with everyone new recruit. At first they clash, and then they learn more about each other as the story goes on and they fall.
I couldn’t read this book fast enough. I was eating it up as the teammates worked together to overcome so many obstacles and emotional challenges in their lives.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

She wrote an amazing book about Phoebe, an up and coming professional soccer star, drafted to New Orleans on the same team as her childhood star Grace Henderson. She grew up in a small nowhere town, hoping to make it big and entering her dream with enthusiasm and energy.

Grace Henderson has been playing professional soccer on the United States Women's National Team (USWNT) since she was 16 years old. She is a veteran on the force at this point and the one all girls looked up to who played in the USA. After a hip injury benches her for a few weeks, she must fight to keep her spot on the team.

A growing relationship between Phoebe and Grace threatens to end when Phoebe is called up to her first USWNT tournament. Serious miscommunication leads to tension between the two that draws the relationship to a boiling point.

This is a fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The way you are able to use descriptions to show the story you are telling is amazing and as someone who grew up playing soccer it made me feel like I was back on that field occasionally. This is definitely a recommend for me to anyone. I was laughing, crying, and experiencing so many emotions throughout this book. The Character development had me feeling the personalities of the characters, I loved the duel relationships between what Grace perceived and what Phoebe did of their relationship.

I really appreciated that there was conversation around ADHD and while it happened so late in the book, I agree with Grace that I thought Phoebe was already diagnosed. Neurodivergence is such an important topic to hit upon that I personally feel like it could have been addressed sooner. Wilsner managed the topic well in my opinion however. The discussion around ADHD and autism with the main characters was something I, as someone who has been working in the field, saw coming right away.

There were however a few things I did not love as much personally.

There was a lot of sex. Even if I found some of the specifics of their communication cringe worthy, I liked that they checked in with each other, that they talked, and really got to know what the other person needed. I did not pick up this book expecting to read so much about sex, and while not a bad thing, it was a bit overwhelming at times. I wanted them to have an actual conversation about something, usually important topics such as mental health, and instead they were just having sex.

Meryl Wilsner does it again. I have enjoyed two other novels by her ( Mistakes Were Made and Something To Talk About) and this one was just as enjoyable. She always has such great side characters and includes so many variations of the LGBTQ community. As a former soccer player, I loved the inclusions of pressure placed on athletes outside the field obligations and the toll it takes on them. The plot was outstanding. Phoebe and Grace are spectacular and balance each other so well. This wasn’t a complete grumpy/sunshine trope, more like reserved stoic/extroverted puppy. I loved every minute of the novel. I will be rereading this again and again.

Thank you NetGalley and Meryl Wilsner for this ARC!

I really liked this book. I was such a fun romcom to read. ADHD is an important part of the story but it didn’t take over or change the character or her actions. Overall a great quick read.

I loved Meryl Wilsner’s previous novel MISTAKES WERE MADE. I was thrilled to see this upcoming release - CLEAT CUTE. I’m also a fan of soccer (and Ted Lasso!). The book was a fast and easy read. I wasn’t a fan of all the inner monologues. I felt like that really dominated the entire book. I also couldn’t get invested into the characters - Phoebe and Grace. Wilsner does steamy scenes really well tho! Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

<i> Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC of this new novel! </i>

Meryl Wilsner is back back back again with Cleat Cute, an equal parts touching and undeniably sexy story of two gay soccer players falling in love on and off the field. Ted Lasso meets A League of Their Own in this novel that’s final product ends up being something I would’ve killed to see as a Natasha Lyonne led movie in the early 2000s.

If there's anything I absolutely hate it's the miscommunication trope, but the author manages to make me tolerate it and I think that's an impressive feat. While I didn’t love this one quite as much as Wilsner’s previous novel (Mistakes Were Made), they continuously deliver on the chemistry scales with their lead protagonists. I immediately fell in love with Phoebe Matthews, and Grace Henderson’s deadpan attitude warmed on me as her arc grew throughout the read. I also found there were also a lot of important conversations in this novel between characters on different nuances in the LGBTQ+ community that I thought were intriguing, such as the weight of labels and what it means to the individual to define yourself as “queer”. One thing I guess I could criticize is the strong presence of monologuing in the minds of both Phoebe and Grace as narrators, but at the same time - who am I kidding, that’s exactly how my brain works staring back at me on the page.

I’m not really a sports book girlie either, but as an avid Ted Lasso fan I didn’t have too much trouble grasping the soccer aspects of the book, and Wilsner doesn’t make it complicated either! An overall very enjoyable read I would recommend.

3.5 stars

I loved seeing Phoebe and Grace grow together as people, teammates, and romantic partners. There were so many genuine conversations about queerness and I think it is really awesome that both of them identify as lesbians on page—something pretty rare in sapphic romances.

Several aspects of the writing style that have already been mentioned by other reviewers like extensive internal monologue and a third person present tense POV made my personal reading experience slightly frustrating. Just as I was getting immersed into the story, there would be several paragraphs of internal monologuing from one of the characters and I would feel the urge to check how many pages were left in the chapter.

I truly do appreciate how this book contributes to the traditionally published contemporary lesbian romance landscape with its representation of neurodivergence and sexuality, but I do not know if I will ever feel the urge to reread it (an important marker of my personal enjoyment).

Thank you for the ARC!

(Received this as an eARC from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/282116">NetGalley</a> in exchange for an honest review - thanks!)

I was SO excited to get this ARC - I've really enjoyed both of Meryl Wilsner's previous books ([book:Something to Talk About|52915426] and [book:Mistakes Were Made|59808269]) and as a longtime soccer fan, this is Extremely My Sh*t. So I had high expectations, and happily, they were mostly fulfilled! The same chemistry and banter from the earlier books is definitely present here. I loved the setting - both characters are professional soccer players, one a newly-drafted rookie from an obscure college program, and one the team captain and a childhood hero of the rookie. (I guess there's technically an age gap here but it's like ... less than ten years, I'm pretty sure?) You can really tell when reading this that Wilsner is a big soccer fan, which is so refreshing - if I know something about the setting of a novel and the author doesn't get the details right, it irritates me to no end (and sometimes leads me to abandon a book). There was even a shoutout/reference to two amazing women's soccer journalists (I'm pretty sure), which was just a fun little Easter egg for nerds like me, but also shows just how well Wilsner knows her setting, love it!

As far as the plot, this is an extremely well-done "friends with benefits ... but what if?" plot, with some great sex scenes that also advance the plot/character development. A little bit of a grumpy/sunshine situation as well, though Phoebe (the rookie) is more of an overly-enthusiastic golden retriever, in both a delightful and occasionally exhausting way. Grace (the veteran) is quiet and reserved but comes alive on the soccer field, which leads to complications when she's injured and can't play, especially with the World Cup on the horizon. I didn't really believe the tension over playing time/positions and it never really became an issue. The bigger conflict was these two dopes (affectionate) both catching feelings slowly and being too hesitant/shy to admit their feelings to each other. I loved the resolution and the Grand Gesture at the end - perfect ending! (I did not love one character involving herself in the other's possible mental health situation, but that's a fairly small nit to pick.)

Other things I want to highlight: this book made me crave beignets, the cover is so great, all the side characters/USWNT players are delightful, I wish I could tackle people who were mean to my loved ones. Highly recommend this book, especially in a World Cup year!

(Ripped Bodice 2023 Summer Romance Bingo: we have the same job. Would also work for smells like citrus, alliterative title, and it was supposed to be one night.)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review of Cleat Cute!

When I saw there was a sapphic soccer romance, and it was by an author I already liked a work of, I was more than willing to give it a try. I ended up really liking this one!

Basically, Phoebe makes it to the professional leagues and falls hard for Grace, a veteran of both the Krewe and the US Worlds team. Phoebe has to learn how to balance soccer with her second job and a move to a new city, while Grace is sidelined while having to recover from an injury, and both have to navigate their relationship.

A good set up, and I thought it was done in a fun way. The writing was pretty good and consistent, and I liked that we got to switch between Phoebe and Grace's points of view. It helped flesh out the story a bit more because we saw their relationship develop and I thought they were pretty distinct in the point of views, voice wise. The spice scenes were written well. There were bits where there was miscommunication but it was addressed and not swept under the rug.

One thing that did bug me was the tiktok references right off the bat. It felt very jarring and thrown in, and although it's something very mainstream, I don't think it necessarily incorporates well with many books in general. I do think when it's mentioned later in the book, in small bits here and there, it is a lot less jarring and better incorporated.

The neurodiversity incorporation I thought was pretty good, as someone who is neurodiverse it was really nice to see it being addressed and talked about, *however* I felt like the conversations should have begun earlier at least in inner dialogues. Grace and Phoebe felt like they had autism and ADHD respectively through the whole book character wise, but having little to no mentions of it until more than halfway through the book just made it feel like a third act drama arc. I just wish it was built up more than that.

I'm giving this a four stars because I did enjoy it a lot - a few things weren't my favourite - and it is something that I would recommend at the bookstore, especially for someone's looking for a sports romance. I would definitely give it a read if you want either a sapphic romance, a sports romance, or a sapphic sports romance.

I really enjoyed both the main characters of this book, liked watching them grow personally, professionally, and romantically. They had unique personalities so each stood out well as their own person. I did find other parts of the book challenging, though. I don't know much about soccer and terminology was never explained, there was a lot of inner monologue that went on too long (e.g. pages of Phoebe freaking out that Grace is now her girlfriend, using that word so many times it felt like foreshadowing, only to have that foreshadowing be a minor detail), and I absolutely cringe at the use of Baby Girl as a term of endearment, especially as Grace is older and more mature than Phoebe. Grace's teammates called her Baby Spice, which is cute, but I don't think ever explained, and then the interchanging of first and last names was confusing (Kayla and Sorrell are the same person I think). All in all, a cute read, nice character development, but some issues that took me out of the story too often to find a good rhythm and find it overall enjoyable.

Cleat Cute is a rivals-to-lovers romance novel by Meryl Wilsner. The story follows Grace Henderson, a professional soccer player who is known for her intensity and focus, and Phoebe Baker, a rookie who is full of enthusiasm and joy. When the two players are paired together on the same team, they clash at first, but they soon find themselves drawn to each other.

The characters are well-developed, the romance is heartwarming, and the depiction professional soccer is realistic. I also appreciate the book's representation of neurodiversity, as both Grace and Phoebe are neurodivergent characters.

Cleat Cute is a heartwarming and well-written romance novel that is sure to please fans of the genre. This book is full of humor, heart, and sapphic goodness. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new book to read.

Thank you to Meryl Wilsner, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC of Cleat Cute in exchange for my honest review!

I've already got lots of love for Meryl Wilsner's previous romances, Something to Talk About and Mistakes Were Made, so I was already excited to dive into Cleat Cute. And as it turns out, Wilsner is now going three for three here, because I had a great time with Grace and Phoebe's rivals-to-lovers dynamic. They're an adorable pair to follow as they get to know each other with all their little quirks and pressures. There's some opposites-attracts chemistry going on here, too, which I appreciated. The ways in which the MCs ran into miscommunication bumps are handled well, feeling convincing rather than contrived. The sex scenes are just as good, balancing the intimacy and believability with all the steam. Though I think the neurodivergence rep could have been fleshed out in the third act, it was still fulfilling to read about, adding layers to Grace and Phoebe's relationship and the perception they each have of it. Plus, I was able to enjoy this as someone who doesn't actively play or watch soccer (maybe it does help that I used to play soccer as a kid and I'm a huge Ted Lasso fan).

Overall, I'm officially rating Cleat Cute 4.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 4 stars on Goodreads, and I'm continuing to look forward to more romances from Wilsner (my favorite remains Something to Talk About so far).