This was incredibly fun! I enjoyed the national women's soccer league and New Orleans as the setting - it was fun to learn about both.

Phoebe and Grace were both well-fleshed out characters and I understood the miscommunication difficulties they had. Although I understand the need for comps, I think the comp to Ted Lasso and Roy Kent hurt my ability to get fully immersed in this book because I kept comparing the two.

I enjoy Meryl's writing and will continue to check out what they write.

This book was super cute and fun! It was the first book I’ve read by Wilsner but I really enjoyed her writing style and can definitely see myself reading more of her books.
The characters were super lovable and the romance was just the right amount of banter and sweet moments. There were a few moments of miscommunication where I did just want to shake their shoulders and tell them to talk to each other, but it all worked out so perfectly that I can see past it.
Overall, a 4.5 star read that I would definitely recommend!!

This was the perfect girl on girl romance I needed. I loved it even more because it involved my favorite sport.

StoryGraph review in link. Thank you for the book!!!!

I read this book just in time for the world cup. I really enjoyed it and I liked all of the characters.

Meryl Wilsner can do no wrong! I loved everything about this sporty sapphic romance. The characters are a delight, the chemistry is palpable, and the action moves forward without unnecessary or cringey tension. I appreciate that Wilsner gives us the least possible amount of conflict to bring us to the book's conclusion--I hate to be too tied up in knots; when I am, it's too hard to get past that to the HEA. But here, as ever, Wilsner keeps us invested without inflicting too much turmoil on their characters. A truly perfect romance, strongly recommend!

This cover is very deceiving! This is a very steamy open door F/F romance between two soccer players - Phoebe and Grace. This was a great summer read since it is soccer season. I may not be a soccer fan but this was still a great read. Loved the hidden friends with benefits relationship, the LGBTQ+ rep, their unique relationships with their family as well as soccer, and the side characters!

Recommended to anyone looking for their next steamy read.

I liked this book quite a lot! It is Pride month, so I have been reading quite a lot of Queer romances, and this one is definitely in the Top 3! The soccer scene was set beautifully, and the characters were quite lovable! One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the conversation surrounding ADHD and autism. As someone who suffers from ADHD, I think that was spoken about in a way that doesn't just slam on the diagnosis. I realllyyyyy appreciated that!

This book was a solid 4 stars for me...the spicy scenes were well written, but unfortunately they happened a little too frequently for me! It felt like their whole relationship was build around physically connecting.

Thank you for the ARC! All opinions expressed are my own :)

As the queer kid who grew up in Bend It Like Beckham and She’s The Man this was everything I wanted from a sapphic romance. It had a loveable collection of secondary characters and romance that consistently made me smile on every page.
While I was a little hesitant at the beginning about the handling of (what I read as clear) ADHD and Autism I ended up really loving how it was spoken about.

This was a fun and different read from the books I normally read. I enjoyed it a lot. Phoebe and Grace are perfect for each other. I would say the only thing I disliked about the book was how much the inner monologues and third person but I will say. After I finally completed the book because of the ADHD and the potential of Autism. The amount of monologues made a lot more sense for me.

Let’s get into it! Phoebe has always looked up the Grace even though Grace is only about 4 years older. Phoebe is the light and fun in everyone’s life. Always flirting, motivating and encouraging others.

Grace did not have the normal childhood from starting professional soccer at such a young age plus being taken advantage of by someone she cared about.

When they first meet each other, it’s basically love at first sight. The first bet caught all my attention and woke me up! I started reading his book at night but I was definitely interested to see how that all played out.

The cute nicknames they called each other was so sweet and I enjoyed how Phoebe got Grace to take her on “dates” without making it obvious. The heat was turned up too! The spicy scenes was great and touched upon how some times sex is thrown in when people don’t want to have the difficult conversations. I felt like that was very relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley EARC! As always, my review is my opinion and thoughts.

Grace and Phoebe are professional soccer players in a fiery and secret same sex relationship. This book made me realize how little I know about soccer but it was still a fun read. Great LGBTQ+ representation throughout the entire novel, and not just with the main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ohhh man this was so cute! I loved the way the author wrote Phoebe SO MUCH, she was so fun and honest and like a loveable puppy. Grace's character also developed in a way that I really enjoyed to watch, as she came to terms with showing the world her true self and opening up to Phoebe. If you are a fan of sports romances (think Kulti) or happy romances in general then you would probably love this! Although it was primarily a positive romance there were some conflicts of course throughout the story both in the backstories of Grace and Phoebe and in their relationship, and not to worry folks, this story was also VERY steamy. I can deffo recommend!

✨Bend It Like Phoebe & Grace⚽️✨

I loved Phoebe and Grace’s dynamic throughout the entire book, but the hair braiding absolutely took me out and was the best part. It was H O T. Their relationship was opposites attract in the best, most chaotic way possible. I really enjoyed the last few chapters of the book. I didn’t know how it was going to shake out, but I thought the grand gesture was super heart melting. I liked them both, but Grace was definitely the star in my mind. She was a bit Roy Kent but also just her own unique character that felt refreshing.

The “baby girl” vibe we got starting early on is never hot though 😭 I just don’t like it and it was said way too often too quickly. Besides that, the sex was definitely super hot and there were a lot of explicit scenes! But sex was often used as a bandaid or distraction from important conversations and that works maybe once but it happened so frequently that it got exhausting. I think the author even realized this because a scene or two at the end were fade to back because they would’ve felt redundant. So not only was it miscommunication…it was interrupted communication which was somehow worse. Again, I liked the end but it all dragged a bit in the middle.

The conversation around ADHD happened a lot later than I expected—because like Grace, I definitely thought Phoebe was already diagnosed—but I really liked it and how the conversation helped their relationship grow as well. Grace’s potential autism diagnosis also wasn’t really discussed, besides a throwaway comment about learning more about it later (which we never witnessed). I’m more interested in both of these things than soccer, so I would’ve liked the story to develop them deeper.

✨

Personal Me Things:

In more technical terms,the third person present tense POV made reading this book super stressful. I dislike that narrative style and wouldn’t have requested the book if I’d have known. I gave it a chance because reading physically is better than in audio, but the writing just felt so clunky to me. So much of the book felt like telling not showing. I really wish this would’ve been in past tense, because my biggest issue really was the writing style. Sometimes I can forget about the style, but it was just so *present* here.

Then throw in soccer on top of the writing style…and I was definitely hanging on for dear life. I don’t understand the rules of soccer and I quite literally know even less about it, so parts of the book were hard to follow. It’s definitely a book for people who already know soccer since there were a lot of terms and such that weren’t explained. Soccer was a main character—which I’m not complaining about since it’s literally obvious from the cover, title, and summary lol—it’s just on me for overestimating my potential interest in reading about it.

✨

All in all, the cards really were dealt against me here—what with “baby girl,” third present, and soccer—so I’m definitely impressed that I had an overall enjoyable time. It’s not my favorite book ever, but if you don’t have my same hangups, it definitely has great potential!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5


P.S. WHY DOES THE SUMMARY REFERENCE A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN AND NOT BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM LMAO????



Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

A cute sapphic romcom about professional soccer, the pitfalls of injury, and the fear of falling in love. This was cute. Phoebe and Grace are both loveable characters on and off the field, and as someone who doesn't know much about soccer, I enjoyed the focus on professional women's sports and learning more about that world. The spice was frequent and nice. but both characters tended to monologue on for quite some time and the third-person perspectives (which switched back and forth on almost alternating chapters) did make things read a bit dull at times. Overall a cute quick sports romcom that'll hit the spot if that's what you're looking for!

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

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

I wanted to like this book so much more. It's not a bad book, don't get me wrong. I just felt trapped inside a never ending monologue from both characters, one being entirely too chipper and one moody.
The spice was nice, top tier even.
But even then, there was so much inner monologue.

It's also in third person, which I didn't know ahead of time. This made it a little harder to get through for me.

Cleat Cute is a rivals-to-FWB-to-lovers story that I was enjoying so much I was left wanting more. I liked both MCs and their connection with each other and how they complemented each other. Oh, and be ready for Wilsner's signature steam with dirty talk included during the scenes.

Oh, I know absolutely 0 about soccer, but i do know that i ATE THIS UP.

I really just loved the journey these two FMCs went on throughout this story. They grew not only in their relationship, but also their job/soccer journeys and personal growth was astounding too.

I really enjoyed that even once they did have their first sexual / romantic encounter the story didn’t go flat. The plot was strengthened in other areas. Whether it was personal growth or just where they were at in their careers.

It’s giving grumpy/sunshine, childhood idol/crush, “enemies” to lovers but more rivals/competitions, soccer world

I don’t know which of the two characters I fell in love with first, Grace or Phoebe. Maybe Phoebe, but I do love competence so maybe Grace. Or maybe Phoebe who is so determined to make it that she’ll do anything, but has a moral compass enough to not really do anything to get there.

This book had me sinking into it very quickly, pretty much right from the first chapter because I was very interested in who Phoebe was as a person, and as a soccer player especially one who comes from humble beginnings.

The whole book felt good to read, it was not the quickest burn so if you’re looking for that you’re not going to get it.

You will get a lovely story about two very different women getting to know each other, learning how to navigate love, as well as being involved in sport at the same time.

There is discussions of celebrity, discussions of being out or not being out and mental health in sport.

The only thing I didn’t like in this book is one plot point that got explored but never fully resolved. However the book does give the impression at the end that it will be.

The alternating point of views, which I thought would bother me did not, actually, and gave such good insight into the characters that I found myself enjoying it immensely.

The setting of New Orleans felt like a character in itself.

I will be buying this book, happily in September.

Oh and the spicy parts? You’ll love them.

How deliciously and sharply written this book was!! I have to read more Meryl Wilsner because I love their writing style, humor and plot setup!

Cleat Cute doesn't follow the standard timeline of most romances I read, which is always a delight for me. I loved not knowing what was going to come next in Phoebe and Grace's relationship. Also - I feel like the dialogue here was the most realistic dialogue I've read in a while??? Like so much of the verbiage is how I speak with my friends. I also don't follow women's soccer that much, but I know more than zero and based on what I know (once again - not much) this felt very authentic to the soccer world from the nicknames to the playing on multiple teams to the hardcore and loving fan base.

I've also seen some people have issues with the internal monologuing that goes on in this book, which is usually a HUGE pet peeve of mine. But in Cleat Cute, I barely noticed it. I think this might've been because Wilsner writes Phoebe and Grace to be pretty nuanced and complex, I really enjoyed being in their minds to understand what makes each of them tick.

Also, this book is spicyyyyyy don't let the animated cover fool you.

I loved Phoebe and Grace individually and could relate to both of their journeys. Phoebe is a chatty redhead and Grace is an eldest daughter, so when you put them together you have a version of me basically. But like I mentioned above, Wilsner gives both characters a lot to work with and the grumpy x sunshine dynamic never feels like a caricature.

Overall I can't wait to read this author's backlog and I can't wait for this book to come out in September!!

A lovely, sapphic, soccer romance with rivals to lovers and grumpy x sunshine. Grace, at 26, is already a veteran of the US National soccer team. She is reserved and goal-oriented while Phoebe, a rookie, is flirty and in your face. The two start making bets and spending more time together, exploring New Orleans through their love of food.

Meryl Wilsner has an impeccable writing style that kept me hooked throughout. Loved both of the character arcs so much. ADHD and autism rep! This was steamy and fun, cannot recommend this enough! The only thing keeping me from giving a full 5 stars was that the pacing was a little too slow for the first half of the book. However, the second half was pure gold and made up for it!

Cleat Cute was cute, in a NA sort of way - this doesn’t generally work for me in a romance, but the story was enjoyable and the relationship between Grace and Phoebe was one that I found mostly fun to read.

I wanted to like it more than I did, while still enjoying it, if that makes sense.