This was a super-fun -- and spicy! -- read. The soccer references, the grumpy-sunshine relationship, and the neurodiverse representation: all made it very enjoyable.

I'll certainly be recommending it, not to mention watching for what's coming next from Meryl Wilsner.

So much soccer. So much steam.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥:
Grumpy/Sunshine.
Friends/FWB-to-moreTeen crush realized.
Mental health rep- Phoebe (ADHD) Grace (anxiety).
Sex scenes with consent/communication

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘵-𝘴𝘰-𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥:
Distracted by the sheer volume of dialogue. Perhaps some will be edited prior to publication.
The character's inner monologues and dirty talk did not work for me.
Wanted more believable conflict.

💭This is very much a cute grumpy x sunshine, friends/FWB-to-lovers queer story that made me laugh & feel the feels! I’m not sure I would classify this as a romantic comedy (it’s less funny and talks a lot about serious topics more than I expected). * I also want to preface that this genre is out of my comfort zone so I know I’m not the target audience for RomComs!

🌶️: I definitely don’t read enough spice/smutty books to be giving a 🌶️ rating but I would like to announce that this book, indeed, is spicy 😂

What I liked:
- I LOVED all things soccer talk in this one, especially random little things that all women players can relate to (I LOL’d at using pre-wrap as a headband because WOW what a throwback). The seriousness about working hard to get to your dream place in life but also having the #1 thing you love in the world doubling as your job and the pressures it comes with… this was my favorite part of the book.
- The sex scenes were incredible and real and honest. The communication was on point, & also normalizing that sometimes we can get in our heads so the goal of the intercourse is not so much to finish, but just to be intimate and feel good and develop a closeness.
- The initial “misunderstandings” between the two main characters were not annoying or repetitive at all, where as I notice this is a thing I usually dislike about RomComs. Neither was anything so unrealistic or cringey. This made me so happy!
- And without giving too much away, this book very well represented neurodivergent types. Loved it.
- The story is very character driven but there was still a lot going on plot wise to keep you engaged.

What I wasn’t a huge fan of:
- During the spicy scenes, the excessive use of the word cunt turned me off more than on lmao

- Also not completely sure how I feel about the writing: on one hand, I love that it’s simple and the characters speak like I would to my friends (LOL). But at times it’s a little too simple? & I don’t know how to explain this style of writing but it’s written in the third person and kind of follows each character but also has a lot of inner monologues? I’ve never read this style before and I’m still figuring out how I feel about it.

Thank you NetGalley, St-Martin’s Griffin Publishing and Meryl Wilsner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really, really liked this book. This is the third book I've read by Meryl Wilsner, and each one has been better than the last.

Both of the main characters felt well developed, and the conflicts felt natural. One of my favorite parts was the setting- it made me really want to go to New Orleans and eat all the things.

Also, hot sex. Really well written, enthusiastic, frequent hot sex.

If I had a criticism (and ultimately I enjoyed this book a whole lot!!) it would be that I saw a lot of other early reviews talking about ADHD and autistic representation in a way that made me think it would be a more significant part of the story. While I think the text did a great job of establishing how the characters lives are impacted by their neurodiversity, it ultimately wasn't a huge focus. So definitely not a criticism of the story, but a heads-up for anyone else who came in really excited for an autistic main character.

Very grateful to Netgalley for the eARC.

Having enjoyed Mistakes Were Made despite not liking the tropes used (age gap and milf) I knew I was going to love this book and was right! It's a fun sapphic romance and I loved the representation of autism and adhd in the main characters

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Meryl Wilsner has done it again. Bow down to our ruler, we are not worthy.

This delightfully queer soccer romance gave off the very best Ted Lasso-esque vibes with a healthy dose of everything that I love in a romance. We had solid emotional foundations, chemistry, spice, and a very satisfying ending. The writing, as always, was top notch. Grace and Phoebe stole my heart from page one, and I already know I'm going to be thinking about this book every day until it comes out. 5 of the easiest stars I've ever given to a book!

I'm not usually a sports romance person, but I absolutely loved this book! Meryl Wilsner is such a gifted writer and they create characters that always feel so real. This was an enjoyable, lovely romance and I can't wait to read Wilsner's next book!

In all honesty. It was my first time reading a soccer romance. That's all that made it hard for me. I had to search some stuff up but other than that it was cute. Made sense.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to voluntarily read and review an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cleat Cute is a banter-filled romance between Phoebe and Grace. Phoebe is the newbie on the New Orleans Women’s Soccer Team, and she is also being scouted for the US Women’s National Team. Grace Henderson is Phoebe’s idol—soccer star of the US Women’s National Team and captain of the New Orleans team. Phoebe’s loud personality quickly gets under Grace’s skin—but over time it doesn’t annoy her as much as she thought it would. As Phoebe and Grace spend more time together, Grace’s guard starts to come down and a lovely friendship (sometimes with benefits) develops.

I loved this book. I really enjoyed the rookie/seasoned player dynamic. It’s similar to Roy Kent/Jaime Tartt in Ted Lasso and Gavin/Oliver in Everything for You by Chloe Liese. If you enjoy a sports romance—I highly recommend checking this out!

4/5 stars
3.5/5 spice

One thing I looked for in this book was the autism representation and how it was reflected on the page. Wilsner made a post sharing that one of the women is autistic. It’s so important that representation does not stick to cliches, nor for it to be made into a central part of a person’s whole identity. Thankfully, neither of these was the case. The same can be said for the other girl who has ADHD.

I also loved the diversity of the players and other characters in CLEAT CUTE. There are nonbinary people, POC, and aro-ace side characters, and this diversity was integrated in such a way that no one was weirdly introduced (like how some white authors use foods as comparisons for POC skin complexions). There are other books I’ve read that have so much representation that they can come off as overly neo-liberal and politically correct, but this isn’t the case in CLEAT CUTE either.

There is miscommunication in this book though, which I normally hate, but since both characters are neurodivergent, I didn’t mind since miscommunication can be common depending on how/if social cues are picked up.

The banter? Incredible. Spicy scenes? Very well written. If you liked the MISTAKES WERE MADE spice, you’ll enjoy this as well.

Thank you so much for letting me read this in advance!

As a HUGE Meryl Wilsner fan and a HUGE women’s football fan and a HUGE lesbian…this is the sapphic soccer story of my dreams. I love that these two main characters meet each other where they are, in their personal and professional spheres. They communicate (most of the time)! They care about each other! And they have great sex! Wilsner writes the best sex scenes and I really appreciate that this dynamic focused on how sex isn’t just about making sure all parties involved have an orgasm. Love the team dynamics and the diverse cast of friends and family. And I really love that these two neurodivergent characters are fully crafted on the page. There is a lot of care in the writing and it really shows. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eArc!

This is an easy, fluffy read with plenty of queer representation and joy and I'm very here for that. I love Meryl Wilsner's books and their sex scenes are always spicy and delicious. I had a pleasant time reading this preview copy of Cleat Cute.

I've read 10,000 word grumpy/sunshine fanfics with higher stakes, deeper characters, better conflict/communication resolution, diversity, and neurodivergence which makes it hard not to be hyper-critical of this book for all the things I wanted to like about it.

<Spoiler> ahead if you want to skip the whys behind my what -

The reason for my low rating is that despite it being an easy read, there were literally NO STAKES. There were hints of tension points - would it be past relationships? Mental health diagnoses? Injury recovery/revelation? Career aspirations and conflicts? But all of them passed by and the sole elevation was that of miscommunication that was "solved" within 15-20 pages. Thing is, none of the presented issues were ACTUALLY explored or resolved, and all the potential points of conflict arose in the last 50 pages.

The main characters were also extremely lean with face-value defining traits (ADHD characteristics without diagnosis, charm, and youthful ambition and autistic characteristics without diagnosis, dispassionate career pivots, and scared-but-falling-again) and the side characters got very little depth past "they're married with a kid" or "they're dating so and so".

I loved the potential for meaningful ADHD and autism representation but it was poor, relatively unaddressed for 95% of the book, bizarre family dynamics around it, and then awkwardly resolved. As someone with one of these diagnoses and family with combinations of the others, that was underwhelming.

I wanted to love it, but it's fine at best.

It’s official, I will read anything Meryl Wilsner writes! I am a HUGE fan of last year’s “Mistakes Were Made”… and this one proves they have range and depth as a writer.

I was worried the sports would be cringey (bc they often are in romance)… they were not! Meryl somehow manages to make a story and its characters light but not shallow, fun but not obnoxious, and relatable but not predictable.

Maybe what I appreciate most about their writing is that they don’t fall into the petty miscommunication trap! Their characters navigate the 3rd act in a way that always makes me feel proud to read their stories.

This was a fun, easy read.

Probably the cutest book I've read in a while. I loved the themes, I loved the world building and the descriptions. The characters are amazing and I truly have no notes. I loved this book.

Absolutely loved the way that this book flowed! It was a bit of a quick read, that consisted of lots of interesting topics such as mental health, ADHD, and just general phobias that can be faced during the forming of a new relationship. Of course, there's some spice added in to liven things up, which is typical of Meryl Wilsner's style as far as I have read of their books. I also love that this brought in a little of the good atmosphere that Louisiana has to offer in New Orleans! The main characters were not the best at communicating, but throughout the whole book you wanted to root both of them on in their daily lives, which is sometimes hard to come by in wlw romances.

One of my favorite romances I've read and definitely my favorite WLW romance! I love sports and I'm OBSESSED with the USWNT, so this was definitely the read for me. Meryl does a great job of immediately pulling the reader in with a dual POV of two headstrong and independent women. I loved the pace of both the friendship and the romance between Phoebe and Grace — it didn't feel rushed like many romance novels feel to me. Their friendship felt organic and silly. The spice in this book was TOP NOTCH, although I didn't expect anything less after Mistakes Were Made. I also loved the soccer aspect and the team focus. I fell in love with the teams and really appreciated the queer and non-binary representation of the players. I couldn't have loved this book more!!!

This was a good read, I enjoy this author and she's great at writing steamy scenes, but this one was a little heavy on the inner monologue in lieu of actual dialogue between characters, which can get boring to read. But overall a cute summer read especially if you're a sports/soccer fan, which I admittedly am.

4.25/5 Stars

Cleat Cute had everything I was looking for in WLW soccer romance! Watching Grace and Phoebe lean outside their comfort zones and fall in love was perfect. I loved that the story gave us great background on who these characters were and what they were bringing into their maybe relationship/situationship.

I loved Phoebe's infectious personality, she was so filled with joy and positive outlook. I loved that this book dove into what ADHD looks like in Adult women. There is so much last of representation or incorrect representation of what ADHD looks like and I thought the author did a great job at capturing how ADHD impacted Phoebe. I loved that we got to see Grace choose herself and make choices for her career that were good for her and now for what people wanted from her.

If you love contemporary romance with some solid character growth and LGBTQIA+ reads this book if definitely one I would recommend you pick up. It left me feeling content in the best way. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and SMP for the free e-ARC in exchange for honest review. Ok woww i know nothing about soccer but this kept my attention and is tied for my favorite meryl wilsner book. The steam had me fanning myself the 1st kiss, shower scene. I will absolutely need to add a physical copy to my forever shelf.

4.5/5

As always, Meryl Wilsner writes charmingly. The book was definitely interesting and the characters were well developed. Their attraction to each other and all the steamy scenes were well written, the only thing the book lacked was the romantic connection, to me. They clearly had tension and also had a good friendship dynamic but I struggled to see how they were romantically intertwined.

Also, this book has THE most ridiculous annoying miscommunication ever because technically they talked about it and still ended up getting entirely different things out of the conversation, it didn't even lead to a conflict, it's as if it was just put there to drive me nuts. Football was barely there: it barely really signified that it was a World Cup year. The mental health stuff, the way in which it all unfolded, it left a bad aftertaste to me.

Overall: not for me but I can see how others would enjoy it.