ARC Review

After reading Cleat Cute and Mistakers Were Made, considering myself officially a Wilsner stan. Cleat Cute had a diverse cast of characters who had their flaws, but developed and grew. Finished in 24 hours - her writing pulls you in every time

meryl wilsner does it again! honestly, i've never read a wilsner book that i don't like. they are one of the only authors whose names i immediately recognize on a book and know that i need to read it. if you love the us women's national soccer team as much as i do, this is a must read! i don't think things get much better than sapphic love between professional athletes, and i would say this is a must read for anyone who loves a wlw story!

Cleat Cute wasn't just cute, it was STEAMY!!! Meryl Wilsner certainly knows how to write a romance story! I liked the book and thought both FMCs were unique and had a lot of depth. While I didn't totally believe their chemistry at first, I really grew to like them as a couple over the course of the read. They balanced each other out so well and although at times it felt like they would never work, they did somehow. I enjoyed the struggles they went through to build a stronger foundation for their friendship and subsequent romantic relationship. I enjoyed the friends with benefits trope, even if it wasn't really "just friends" most of the time. The professional mixing with personal made for some incredibly tense moments in this read which I thought helped to bring more life to the story. Mixing business with pleasure is always risky, especially when you're in the spotlight like these professional athletes were. I'm not a soccer fan and don't know much about the sport, so at times this book was a little hard to follow because soccer was quite literally the entire storyline. The author did a great job of breaking down some of the lingo and writing the sport in a way that was mostly easy to understand. I particularly appreciated the way in which the author addressed a character's neurodiversity and wrote the traits and behaviors in a very realistic manner. I was very happy to see this addressed in more depth as the story went on! I'd have rated Cleat Cute higher if I was a fan of the sport.

Cleat Cute

Meryl Wilsner

This is a story about two soccer players. Phenom Matthews a new player and Grace Henderson who is veteran player. They quickly fall in love but the story turned a bit strange with possible diagnosis of ADHD and autism.

The relationship was cute. And I wish they focused more on the game than the diagnosis at the end.

Thank you to Netgally for the ARC copy!!

✭ ✭ / 5

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I really enjoyed this very light, extremely cute F/F romance. I would definitely recommend it for a beach read, even if you aren't super into soccer (as long as you aren't annoyed by sportsball).

Phoebe Matthews is going to be starting pro soccer in New Orleans in a month when she is called up to join the National Team's camp week (which seems like a pseudo tryout period). There she gets to meet her childhood hero and crush, Grace Henderson. Grace is a bit of an ice queen, but Phoebe and Grace are also on the same team in New Orleans, and decide to give a friends-with-benefits situation a try. It shouldn't be a problem; nothing is more important than soccer, right? Right?!

Note: I received a free pdf copy of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, but reviews are my own.

I'll be honest and say that I don't really like romance novels... I don't even like romance *in* novels. So safe to say that this is not a selection I would've normally gone for, but as a sapphic woman living in New Orleans with a partner who is obsessed with the USWNT........ I just couldn't _not_ read Cleat Cute, you know? And I'm glad I did, 'cause it was enjoyable and breezy and sweet, with relatively little cringe (although I did skip past the smut scenes).

As a non-romance-lover, I would say that I liked it a 3.5/5 amount, but it's ridiculous to request/choose to read a book from a genre that I don't like, and then remove stars from the book for... not liking the genre. As a romance novel, I would say that it couldn't possibly be any better. So although I'd say it's a 3.5/5 for my personal tastes, I'd call it a 5/5 for the genre.

I loved loved loved the premise for this, but was ultimately distracted by the writing. The intro to the characters was jumpy and I felt like I was thrown into the middle of something I wanted more backstory for. I ended up giving up part of the way through because the writing style just wasn't for me.

A solid 3.75 (rounded up :))

I loved the representation of neurodivergent characters! I was able to recognize the signs and characteristics before a diagnosis was mentioned and as a neurodivergent person myself I really appreciated how normal it felt within the story.
While I liked how much of an emphasis was placed on communication between the characters, and the miscommunications were very believable both as a source of conflict and in how they were resolved, there were some cringey moments.
That being said, I normally don’t love the miscommunication trope howeverrrr I was surprisingly a fan of it in this book. I genuinely enjoyed it as the conflict. It was also kept very lighthearted the whole way through which I really enjoyed. It made for such a nice easy read!!
My only real issue was how frequent and repetitive the inner monologues were. It didn’t detract too much for me but every time Phoebe mentioned how much she’s looooved soccer since she was a kid I had to roll my eyes 😂

I really enjoyed this one. I thought it was funny and the characters were interesting and supported each other. Mistakes Were Made is one of my favorite romances of 2022 so I am always interested to see what Meryl Wilsner has up their sleeve. I did feel this novel was a bit rushed. I think I wanted more from a sapphic soccer novel in a year with many sapphic soccer novels (AS WE DESERVE). However, I really enjoyed it and will always shout my support for sapphic sport romances of all kinds.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

What an absolute joy it was to be able to read cleat cute! Cleat Cute is a sapphic romance that was hilarious and such a fun break from real life. This book was like a romcom come to life, safe to say I will be reading all of Meryl Wilsner's books in the future!

Couldn't put this book down!! Very swoony and very spicy! This book was about 2 women on the national women's soccer team. Instantly they feel a connection but try to push it away being that they are on the same team and Phoebe is a rookie and Grace is a vet. Eventually, the two agree to be friends with benefits and realize they have something more. The characters have great chemistry which leads to a lot of spicy scenes throughout the book.

This book was captivating and easy to read. I did find the "love story" to move quickly throughout the book. I thought the rivals to lovers could have been drawn out a little more. It also wrote about real issues that the characters were struggling with like ADHD and professional athlete injuries. Both of these seem relatable but the plot seemed to quickly touch on the ADHD and move on. I felt like we did not really get a follow up about how she was handling that. The book was not too heavily focused on soccer, so even if you weren't a fan of women's soccer, this book would still be enjoyable.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and will definitely check out more books from this author in the future.

Grace has been at the top of her game for as long as she’s been about to kick a soccer ball. Phoebe is new to the US Women’s National Team, and she cannot believe she’s playing alongside some of the women she’s looked up to for years. Though their skills are among some of the greatest in the US, their personalities could not be farther from one another. And the last thing these rivals see coming is the friendship and possibly more that blossoms between them during training.

I loved the ADHD and Autism rep! Both were very well done and extremely believable/relatable. I have both ADHD and autism, and I loved the inner monologues!

Yes, from a prose perspective, they were a little much; however, in the context of properly capturing both ADHD and Autism, they totally made sense!

With ADHD, there are so many thoughts. It's hard to speak them all while making sure you added enough context from your inner train of thought. Also, Phoebe's negative self-talk is a total thing, especially if you're unmedicated, because you're often told the things you're doing are bad. Eventually, you will internalize that.

And with Autism, there is a ton of inner monologuing for different reasons, IE, "Did I respond to that accordingly and with the right inflection?" or, "Wait, was that said seriously or sarcastically?" Or my personal favorite: "Did I just accidentally overshare?"

With that being said, The spicy scenes were FIRE, the soccer scenes were really well written, and the romantic build-up was well-paced! I would give this book ALL the stars!

Overall rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: 5/5
Prose: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And I am choosing to post this review.

4/5 stars! Gimme a sapphic enemies-to-lovers Ted Lasso soccer book any d*mn day of the week! Those are some of my favorite things put together. I will say I didn't love the cover because it made me feel like this should be a YA story, which it absolutely isn't. Outside of that, I don't have any complaints except wishing some of the side characters were a tiny bit more developed. Phoebe and Grace were daring and smart and competitive. Their love story is one everyone should read.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

First- thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of Cleat Cute.

As a follower of women’s soccer, I was excited to get an ARC of this soccer romance. The concept was great and the representation was refreshing. The two FMCS were completely opposite from each other as a grumpy and sunshine trope. Now- why the 3 star rating? Their intimacy was great and respectful towards each other. However, like other reviews before mine, the internal monologue was exhausting. The constant first name to last name to nickname switching for both FMCs made it difficult for me to follow along in the beginning, but that is my brain with names anyway. The insistent badgering of one injury and the other ADHD problems would have annoyed me so much if I were to go through either- especially knowing a person for as little as they knew each other. The ending was kind of anticlimactic for all the problems they had surrounding the team. Random one time asshole coach that no longer has any problems around him. And then after all of the intentions of Phoebe to become great through her rookie season and try for the national roster, we get a small glance at the World Cup journey and assume the epilogue is about their World Cup Final game.

Thank you, Meryl Wilsner & St. Martin's Press, for allowing me to receive an Advanced Copy of Cleat Cute.

I was so excited to receive this arc. I'm a huge soccer fan and always a sucker for a good romance.

However, after 300+ pages, I'm wondering what happened. There is no plot except for a smidge of miscommunication. There are vague hints at a misogynistic manager, a sports injury, and a character semi-coming to terms with maybe having ADHD -- but none of this comes together to create an overarching story.

Furthermore, I did not jive with the writing style. Multiple times on the same page there are sentences like "Grace does this" ,"Grace doesn't like this", "Grace decided this", etc. It was distracting, and took me out of the moment.

Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a letdown for me.

Loved this book!! More than the normal steamy books I read. Explored relationships with neurodivergent characters. Loved how the characters were developed.

A cute grumpy/sunshine romance. An up and coming, care free soccer star meets the grumpy veteran carrying the world on her shoulders.

It was only a couple years ago that Meryl Wilsner burst into the scene and made a name for themselves for steamy sapphic fiction. Cleat Cute is exactly what we've come to expect from Wilsner. Compared to their other work, though, the sex in this one felt gratuitous and could have easily been off page without impacting the story.

Grace Henderson has been the star of the USWNT since she was a teenager. All she’s ever known is soccer so when an injury puts her out of commission during the lead up for the World Cup she’s not sure what to do with herself. Phoebe Matthews on the other hand is practically a nobody in the WOSO world. But, when she’s drafted to Grace’s club team and gets a look with the national team she’s not going to pass up her chance at making the World Cup roster. Despite being opposites, the two can’t seem to get enough of each other.

I’m not sure who the target audience is here. Is it hardcore WOSO fans or newbies? I expect hardcore fans to be the most likely to pick this up but it’s probably better for newbies. Wilsner attempts to subtly mix in definitions to accommodate newbies, but I found it to be a bit too much, especially at the beginning. Additionally, the mix of real and fictionalized references was mostly just confusing. Serious fans will likely find there’s enough truth to recognize the references while also being frustrated by the inconsistencies.

This wasn’t poorly written and the overall plot works, I just would have preferred it as a generic sports romance rather than WOSO specific. Pick this up not because it’s about WOSO, but because you’re a fan of Wilsner or looking for a sports romance.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Another great read from Meryl Wilsner!
Grace Henderson established the well-known start of the US National Team starts the season on the sidelines as she deals with an injury. While newcomer Phoebe Matthews must step up to take her position. a miscommunication between the two led to drastic differences in the perspectives of their relationship.
Wilsner did a great job of bringing the reader into the world of football even if they have a limited understanding of the game. While also building the tension of the miscommunications between the two as the reader follows a friend with benefits to lovers story.
A fantastic read! Can't wait for the release!

This book was (phenom)enal! A dual-POV story from Pheobe and Grace - two new teammates on the New Orleans Women's Soccer team. It's a heartwarming story with funny banter and hilarious miscommunication (not in the way you think - it's cute!) I highly recommend this lgbtq+ romance to anyone who loves love and some great spicy scenes.

HUGE thank you to Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!