I absolutely adored this book!
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Not only was it fun, flirty, and queer, it also touched on ADHD and possible Autism representation. I love a queer, neurodiverse story.
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A rom-com that had me swooning and laughing out loud. Every character was so lovable (except two… if you read this you can tell me the two I didn’t like).
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I “played” soccer as a kid. Played is in quotes because I spent my time either chasing butterflies or my coach, never actually actively playing soccer.
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I am 100% invested in women’s soccer now after reading this book!
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I will also be reading anything Meryl Wilsner writes!

"A sapphic rivals to lovers rom com for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, where two soccer teammates are at odds before falling in love as their team gears up for the World Cup."

I thought the first half of this was great! Witty, fast-paced, steamy, and fun! I loved the soccer element, and it didn't feel necessary to know a lot about the soccer world to enjoy the plot. But, this book lost me in the back half. I didn't love the lack of clear communication between the two main characters- miscommunication trope to the EXTREME. And the conflict went from being about soccer-which was fun(!) to about Phoebe's health- which felt a little icky. I get what Wilsner was going for and I appreciate the effort, but approaching mental health in the way they chose here was not great. I can't say too much without giving away a plot point, but I feel like there would have been a better way to address this and it really left the ending feeling weird to me.
Very middle of the road romance to me, and I would definitely recommend "Mistakes Were Made" over "Cleat Cute".

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

This is a character driven book, and it is beautifully built around the two leads, and their motley crew of teammates and friends. It’s a story about what it means to be in a relationship, what it means to be yourself, and what it looks like to choose yourself and your needs over people’s expectations for you. Don’t get me wrong, as with other Meryl Wilsner titles this book is SPICY. There are more adult activities than there are plot points. I came into this story expecting the spice, but I was pleasantly surprised that I also got a heartwarming story of self-discovery, and some quality neurodivergence representation.

From the moment I met Phoebe I liked her because she felt familiar. I know some Pheobe’s in my life, and I have never seen them and their experiences represented authentically in a novel before. I will say that there are moments in this story where the neurodivergence and the impact it has on one’s personal and professional well-being are discussed. But those moments made Phoebe more real to me. I have had those moments and those struggles, and I have had people help me walk through them. True to character, Grace takes a little longer to get to know, but it is well worth the wait.

Grace and Phoebe work together in unexpected and wonderful ways. I admit that I was nervous about the power dynamic between a rookie player and the captain of the team entering a relationship. I won’t give spoilers here, but I will say that what starts as a sticky situation is quickly resolved and the story is less about two people in different stages of life, and more about how they encourage each other to be the best versions of themselves.

Overall, I give this book 5 stars. Loveable characters, great spice, and “Oh wow I’ve been reading for 3 hours oops” levels of investment.

Meryl Wilsner never fails me. I am always so drawn in by their writing, characters, and stories in general. Grace is an autistic lesbian who is the captain of a women’s soccer team, and Phoebe is the new recruit who has been her fan for years. Watching Phoebe build Grace’s trust while building both a friendship and an unexpected (for them) relationship was such a highlight for me. I also feel like I learned more about the game of soccer than I expected to, which was nice! I just want to start this book over again because I’m sad I don’t have any more Meryl Wilsner books to read!

Thank you Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I love Meryl Wilsner's writing style, especially when it comes to their characters! They are vulnerable, relatable, and it's honestly hard not to love them. The characters in "Cleat Cute" are no different. I don't want to give any spoilers, but usually I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope. When it comes to Phoebe and Grace, there is a lot of miscommunication. However, as we learn more about the characters, the miscommunication between them makes sense. I love their bond and how they learn to communicate with each other and their teammates.

This book was my first soccer romance and now I'm ready to read more. I loved "Cleat Cute" and can't wait to see what Meryl Wilsner writes next!

rating: 4 stars
spice: 3 peppers

What Bend it Like Beckham should have been like!

This was a fun grumpy/sunshine, dual POV, Sapphic sports romance set in New Orleans, What else could we possibly ask for? It was a good and easy read.

This book is a solid 3 stars for the plot, 3 stars for the spice. The description is pretty accurate, although I wouldn’t say this is an enemies to lovers, it’s just a team mates to lovers. I honestly think it’s closer to friends to lovers than enemies to lovers soooo

Grace has almost no depth as a character other than being a straight-faced grump? I did not vibe with her character at all. Phoebe is the classic sunshine, oversharing, energetic character. I thought this book was going to be more of an age gap romance, but I really enjoyed just the few year age difference between the two! It felt more genuine to how a teammates to lovers trope would play out.

What I liked in this book:
- Soccer! I think the terminology was really accurate and was nice to see the author did research on this.
- The pining and flirting between the two in the first portion of the book. Almost immediately the two MC’s joined a bet with each other, which created great reason for tension throughout the first half. I really liked the bets tbh :-)
- The fact there was neurodivergent rep. Throughout, I ASSUMED Phoebe has ADHD, but I never thought it was a take away from the story or would turn into such a huge plot point towards the end
- Easy forgiveness between the two characters. There wasn’t any fighting due to miscommunication, and I liked that they brought up what was bothering each other. How they handled these conversations though….see below

What I did not like in this book:
- How the neurodivergent rep was handled. If there was going to be talk of autism/ADHD, it needed to happen before the last 50 pages. Plus, when Grace said Phoebe has a “disorder” and assumed she took meds, then “out of love” made appointments for Phoebe to get diagnosed? I mean if this happened to me, I would never talk to that person again. Maybe the bluntness was supposed to tie Grace to being autistic (which was just barely mentioned) but that might be worse…..
- Miscommunication due to the conflicts. While conflicts between the two were brought up to talk through (ie not internalized), I feel like no issues were actually really resolved. It felt more like sex was used as a “forgiveness” technique or as a way to get the other to stop talking about whatever was bothering them. I really did not like this

The main issue I has with this book was the writing style. I have no problem reading 3rd person writing. HOWEVER it was all present tense, rather than past tense, which made things really confusing. Also, there was 3rd person writing from Grace’s POV and then 3rd person writing from Phoebe’s POV. I was often confused as to who I was supposed to be following, and that really took away from the story. I think because of this, there was a lot of internal dialogue and the reader being told what happened rather than being shown what happened.

Thanks a ton to NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5. I was sent the arc of this and was super excited to read it after loving the author's first book. This one took me longer to get into and I found some of the plot points at the beginning very juvenile and like 'high-school' (especially with the bet being for a kiss it just reminded me of After). But once I got through all of that and just ignored all the times it made me want to cringe is was actually a fun read. I was low key imagining the main character as van from Yellowjackets which also helped me enjoy the book haha.

Penelope Matthews Is a soccer player, and is trying to make the US Soccer team. She is invited. to give a spot on the US national team and meet. me and meets her Idol Grace. He is immediately drawn to Grace and wants to be with her. Grace does not want a relationship. and is cautious about being with Penelope. There is drama and. love in this book. as a result of miscommunication. and the medical problem. I recommend this book to all. who likes a good love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book!

This book was super cute! The premise was interesting enough to carry me through a sports book, and it was definitely very fast paced. There was some solid representation in the characters, and it was even fun to learn a bit more about how professional soccer leagues work.

I liked the story and it was fun, but it was quite surface level and I wasn’t ever really super invested in the plot. I loved Grace’s character and her POV chapters, Phoebe’s not so much. I thought Grace was a lot more interesting as a lead and always wanted more of her chapters.

This book had some spicy moments, but the dirty talk truly launched me out of the book completely. It was a bit on the cringy side for me sometimes.

All in all, a quick and mostly enjoyable read that didn’t get too deep. 3.5⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

⚽️ song: talking body by tove lo

⚽️ summary: phoebe has been obsessed with grace as long as she has been with soccer, so when she is drafted onto the same professional team as her she is over the moon. Fresh start with the team and new to New Orleans, phoebe ropes grace into showing her around and giving her the run down of the local hot spots. Even though phoebe annoys grace, things heat up between them fast. Can they balance being team mates and friends with benefits?

⚽️ thoughts; honestly I don’t know how I feel about this book. The first half had me hooked, but then the second half felt completely unbelievable. The fights were forgiven and forgotten too fast. There was no real build from the fights. Spoiler**********
Honestly Grace completely overstepped and the ADHD plot line came out of no where. I just think phoebe was way too chill with that whole point. Completely took me out of the story

i LOVED this book!! every book that i read of meryl wilsner is better and better, which is hard to do because i already loved the past 2 novels i read! i felt captivated from the very start of the book and there truly wasn’t a moment where that was lost. i also loved that both the main characters were lesbians and neurodivergent, grace was so relatable. thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an absolute delight, scratching an itch I didn't know I had.

All of Phoebe's dreams are coming true: not only has she been signed to play professional women's soccer, she's also invited to the US national team's camp, and it's a World Cup year. The cherry on top? She's getting to play with her idol, Grace Henderson. Neither of them are looking for a relationship. Obviously. And yet...

I adored Phoebe and Grace's dynamic! Phoebe is our ray of sunshine rookie, the perfect counterpart to Grace's mildly grumpy, set-in-her-ways veteran captain. They were absolute opposites, but the chemistry was there and the way the relationship unfolded made perfect sense, and all of their interactions were so good. There's some excellent ADHD representation as well, and the other character, while not explicitly named as neurodivergent, is heavily implied as such.

Wilsner delivers on the steam - it's sexy and fun. There IS miscommunication, but it's honestly more funny than dramatic, which I appreciate. Calling all sapphic sports fans - this is for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this. I'm always looking for queer sports romances, since the alternative never do it for me. I love that this wasn't a college romance and that it was centered around the women's national team. I did knock one star because I found Grace to be really annoying at times, like almost to the point of unbearable, and then coding her as autistic to be the "reason" for her behavior felt kind of icky to me. Phoebe was so good at communicating her feelings, I felt, and still Grace was like "I don't know how she feels". That part just didn't make sense.

3.25⭐️

Rep: Lesbian MC with ADHD. Autistic coded Lesbian MC. Trans SC. Sapphic SC’s.

Cleat Cute is a slow paced romance novel written in third person while switching between the two MC’s. While the book picked up towards the end and I finally started to enjoy it, it took way too long to happen.

Something about the writing style just really held me back from getting into this novel. It felt way longer than it needed to be while still not giving enough information about soccer to be easy to understand. The relationship felt forced to begin with, but that could just be because I don’t enjoy immediate attraction.

There was a huge miscommunication trope in this that was so painful to get through. There’s also so many references to Tiktok that I kept cringing at.

I did enjoy the last ten percent. Grace’s character got SO much development which I was grateful to see. And the relationship really came together at the end and had me kicking my feet.

Overall, I really think this is gonna be one of those books that divides readers. If you’re in it for the spicy scenes and don’t mind immediate attraction, you may enjoy this. But if you don’t enjoy slow burn/ slow paced or miscommunication, this probably isn’t for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meryl has done it again. Not being a fan of soccer I wasn’t sure I would fully enjoy this book but I adored this book. It is well written, funny when it needs to be and sexy as hell. They not only wrote a great story but they captured the fine nuances of a person with ADHD making their way through this world. This will most definitely be a book I read again.

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

#cleatcute

The neurodivergent rep was fantastic, however I wish it was explored more earlier on instead of towards the end. It would have been nice to see them go through the diagnosis instead of it being thrown in at the end.

I loved Pheobe and Grace's relationship. Pheobe is outgoing, up for anything, and always ready with random facts about some out there topic she picked up recently. Grace, reserved, private, driven, by the book, and a little grumpy at times.

I didn't love this book as much as I LOVED Mistakes Were Made, but I still enjoyed it. I almost DNFd it at about the halfway point, because the constant internal monolguing, and miscommunication between our two MCs Grace and Pheobe. BUT I put it down for a few days, gave myself a little break and came back. This was definitely not a one sitting book for me, but I still enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 ⭐️

Just started this, I’m not sure about the third person narrative. Not really liking that aspect.

I picked it up bc of this description “ A sapphic rivals to lovers rom com for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, where two soccer teammates are at odds before falling in love as their team gears up for the World Cup.”

I’ll keep reading but adding my initial thoughts here

I simply adored this book! I'm not at all surprised, as I loved Something to Talk About as well. Phoebe has always looked up to Grace, who has been a soccer star from a very young age. So when Phoebe gets drafted to Grace's professional team (and gets called up for camps with the women's national team), she's put directly into Grace's orbit. Naturally, sparks fly.

Where Phoebe is loud and charming and flirty, Grace is guarded and reserved and slow to trust. Seeing these two women come together is a fun and funny and sexy and heartfelt journey. The dialogue is spot-on, and it's fast-paced without feeling rushed. I truly enjoyed reading about these two and didn't want the story to end.

I also loved the representation in this book, from queer, non-binary and trans characters to neurodiversity. I appreciated the nuanced care the author took when showing this representation on the page.

Apparently I do love miscommunication when it’s between two undiagnosed neurodivergent babygirls that are “not looking for a relationship” but jump straight into one and call it benefits! From now on, these are my conditions to read a miscommunication trope.

This was so amazing. Sapphic books are treating me so well this year, 5 stars are the default at this point. The first thing that caught my attention (and everyone else’s) in this book was the cover because have you seen those thighs. I remember how we all lost our minds the day the cover was revealed. I am very happy to say that Grace (the owner of said thighs) has raised the bar again because we cannot settle for less. She’s so caring and kind that she usually forgets to take care of herself, and Phoebe noticed almost instantly and made it her mission to make Grace feel as good as she gives. I adored the beautiful atmosphere they created for themselves. Even though they refused to call it a relationship, the little steps they took together made my heart squeeze in the best possible way.

Miscommunication is always present but trust me, it’s good. I am very easily annoyed by this trope and can dnf a book for it, but it makes sense for Phoebe and Grace. As I said, both women are undiagnosed (Grace is autistic and Phoebe has ADHD) and on top of that, both are having personal issues. Add unexpected romantic feelings to that mixture… and you end up with several misunderstandings. In their case I loved it because they never hurt each other and it led to figuring things out. This book has one of the most satisfying HEAs ever!

Bonus points for the amazing steam and for the women’s soccerrrr!

Rating: 5/5
Steam level: Open door, 3-4 scenes, high level of detail

ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. Opinions are my own!