This book was everything I wanted and then some. I'm such a huge fan of Wilsner's books - this is the second I've read and I can't wait to pick up another. Wilsner's writing style just makes me feel comfortable, it makes my insides feel happy. I truly can't express how much I loved listening to the audiobook and reading along with the ebook. It was magical and exactly what I needed.

4.25 stars!

I really enjoyed this book and the two main characters. With women’s soccer on the world stage this year I could see these characters fitting right in. I also loved all the little NOLA aspects. The ending happened so fast it left me wanting to know more about the future of these two.

Just finished this one! Thoughts coming later! But I can already tell you that I loved it!!

Acabei de terminar esse livro, mas preciso de um tempo pra digerir! Porém, eu já posso dizer que eu amei esse livro!

Normally I don’t like sports romances and was hesitant about this book. I genuinely enjoyed it and would love to leave a public detailed review however I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met ❤️

This book was sooo incredibly fun! I know “Mistakes were Made” has mixed reviews but I ate that romance up and Cleat Cute was no different. I’m not a big sports person but you really don’t have to be to enjoy a sports romance, as long as the chemistry between the characters work then the sports is just another aspect of the story. This romance was so sexy and just a great story all around. I recommend if you love this author and lots of sexy times!

i'm super late to giving feedback on this one but i really enjoyed this book! i love soccer and i'm a sucker for a sports romance so i was super excited going into this one

phoebe has golden retriever adhd energy and i loved her dynamic with grace. i especially loved how both girls are neurodivergent with phoebe having adhd and grace being on the autism spectrum - it scratched my brain so good

phoebe and grace clash a lot in terms of their personalities and goals and ideas of a relationship but they also work so well together. it was nice seeing them work through these differences and figure out what worked for them both.

i think my only issue with this book is something that other people have already touched on, which is the pacing of the romance. the first half was great with the build up to their relationship and the sexual tension between them. however, i feel that the first sex scene came too early and the climax (no pun intended) of their relationship was so early in the book that it made the second half kind of fall flat.

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met ❤️

DNF @ 31%

Thank you to SMP Romance, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Meryl Wilsner has been a hit or miss author for me. And unfortunately this one was a miss. One of the things I've struggled with in their books is their characters... and that's where this one went wrong for me too.

First of all, this book has very little plot. You're following Phoebe as she starts her professional soccer career with her long time idol. And that's it. It's practice, her traveling the city, and talking to Grace. No driving plot...

Which I'm okay with. As long as the characters are strong enough to stand on their own. And these 2 just.... weren't.

Phoebe was borderline obnoxious. She was almost too peppy and happy go lucky. To the point she didn't feel real.

And Grace had no personality until it was necessary for an interaction or scene. She was so inconsistent - at time cold and direct, then suddenly jealous and petty, and then sometimes completely incapable of social interaction. It was like her personality was there to be whatever the story needed to progress.

So I felt literally nothing toward the book.

I want to love this author because I'm desperate for more steamy sapphic romances, so I will continue to pick them up. Hopefully the next book will be another win.

For my first read of the year, I selected a book way outside of my comfort zone: a lesbian sports romance, bordering on erotica.

I learned a lot from “Cleat Cute.”

I mean, for a gay man with very limited experience with female anatomy, this steamy sapphic story was highly informative.

And it was rather enjoyable too.

There was enough drama and miscommunication to keep me interested, but not so much as to topple over into telenovela territory.

And with two equally lovable and flawed dual protagonists, you can’t help but root for Phoebe and Grace to get their ducks in a row.

Not to mention that the entire book made me hungry.

Meryl Wilsner’s mouthwatering descriptions of the traditional New Orleans fare, especially beignets, was nearly as evocative as her intimate scenes.

I do with the discussion of adult-diagnosed ADHD was more central. Otherwise, I surely recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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.

📍 Read if you like:
• Sapphic Romance
• Grumpy/Sunshine
• Rivals To Lovers
• Soccer

I was so excited to read this book mainly because of the soccer element. This one involved the Women’s World Cup and I was so entertained by that part. I also loved the idea of two teammates (rivals to lovers) ending up catching feelings for each other.

What I loved, was how these characters were neurodivergent and written in a lovable way. I liked the whole rivals-to-lovers trope in this one, and I found both characters to be interesting. The romance in this book was top notch and oh man, I was not expecting it to be as steamy as it was.

Unfortunately, I feel like I had mixed feelings about the book. There was so much internal monologue that lost my interest in the book. I feel like at times the story dragged. I also didn’t love the way the story was told.

Overall, this was a solid read. I would definitely recommend this to those looking for a sapphic romance with enjoyable characters and representation. I wish the soccer aspect was a bit stronger, but as a whole the story was good.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Sexual Content, Mental Illness, Injury/Injury Detail, Alcohol, Ableism

This was a fun sports romance. Having grown up playing soccer, I was immediately drawn to this book! I thought the main characters Phoebe and Grace were complex, vivid and relatable. However I wish some of the other teammates and secondary characters were built up a bit more. I loved the clash between Phoebe and Grace's personalities (think a much lighter version of Ted Lasso & Roy Kent in a romantic situation).

I do think the story kicks off really fast into their hookup and believe that a little more tension (have Phoebe really question if Grace likes her as a person) could have had me more hooked into the novel.

I did loved the content around the team dynamic and working for your go, growing up in a professional sport and the mental health representation in this novel.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. The pacing was all over the place and the relationship immature and weird. The individual characters were not fleshed out and I wasn’t invested in anything.

I so enjoyed this book. Why are there not more queer soccer romances for adults?! I was so charmed by both characters and loved their relationship. Despite the instant attraction, their connection felt well-developed and steadily developed. I thought the end felt a bit rushed by the rest of the book made it well worth it. It was a loveable, sexy, engaging sapphic love story.

Love a good WLW book! Meryl hits it out of the park every time! (Or should I say scores every time?) The book world needs more queer romances and Meryl is one of my favorite go tos!

Thank you Netgalley, Meryl Wilsner and Griffen for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

While I am not a soccer fan and was not excited for that part of the story, I am a huge Meryl Wilsner fan. Because of this book, I was intrigued to learn more about the Women's World Cup. I loved the characters and their struggles. Most importantly, I enjoyed how they worked through their problems. I was frustrated at their lack of communication and immaturity at times, but that is par for the course of a romance story. I can't wait for the next Wilsner book!

So I’ve seen a lot of stuff pitching this as lesbian Ted Lasso, and alas, it simply is not. The side characters are charming enough, but they lack the brilliance of the Ted Lasso ensemble and aren’t given much attention throughout the book. Grace and Phoebe are very much the primary focus, and almost every scene revolves around them. And yeah, it is a romance, but those of you who follow my reviews will know that I firmly believe that the best romances have excellent side characters and spend time developing other relationships – not to mention, other aspects of the characters. This book is trying to touch on some of those things, but the proportions weren’t quite right for me.
For instance, one plot element is Phoebe and Grace exploring their potential neurodivergence. I didn’t realize that would be a plot point going in, and I was excited when it was, but it wasn’t explored as much as it could have been. Grace in particular is really reduced to a throwaway line about maybe looking more into autism at some point, and I really wish that could have been fleshed out more. It would have actually been a great element of the romance story, because these two characters clashed quite a lot in ways that to me as a reader seemed directly linked to being neurodivergent and having different support needs. I think exploring the relationship through that lens would have both made the story more interesting and given me more confidence in the relationship, because honestly I had a hard time believing that this would be a long-term thing. They seemed more sexually than romantically attracted to me. None of this is to say it was bad. It was a fun little romantic read without too much angst. Just maybe nothing special, and certainly no Ted Lasso.

Rating: 3/5
Steam: 4/5

Thank you to SMP, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cleat Cute was a highly anticipated novel for me, and despite having it for months, it took me a really long time to finish it. It felt like there were two main plot points: how much they had sex and each FMC’s internal monologue.

Which, you know, fair, but there was so much potential to dive deeper into many areas, including individual growth, their actual relationship and communication. Instead, we spent a lot of time “rinse, wash, repeat” with the same dialogue/scenes.

Things I love: queer joy and how unapologetic they were. NOLA setting and all the foodie things. The intimacy was written really well and did a great job addressing that sex isn’t just a reciprocal give and take.

Things I didn’t love: the overall discussion or just glazed-over representation we had of ADHD and autism. So many side characters with legal names and nicknames that I was getting confused. I’m not a soccer girlie, so the sheer amount of dialogue about all the different teams/games got confusing.

Overall, I’m kinda meh about this book. I am noticing in all of Wilsner’s books that she really leans into the show-not-tell. Cleat Cute had some really good moments but also lacked in many areas that could have made it shine.

Type: Rom-Com
⭐️5
🌶️ 4
Age range: 18+
Content Warnings:

Quotes:

- “The only way you’re going to beat me is if I die, so have fun kissing my corpse.”
- “Gotta catch the eye of the girls, the gays, and the theys somehow.”
- if all you want to be is Grace, that’s enough.”

Review:
I'm not really a soccer type of person but this book made me want to learn all about the sports and its players. I identified so much with Phoebe and Grace in several ways and just could not get enough of their story. I would 100% put this at the top of my list of Favorite Rom-Com books.

Tropes & Vibes:
- LGBTQ+
- Love
- Friends with benefits

Oh, I really enjoyed Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner. My reading timing was perfectly paired with the actual World Cup, and I so loved the chemistry between Grace and Phoebe. I am a sucker for a sports romance, and it was fun to see it with LGBTQ+ characters.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I will read anything Meryl Wilsner writes! Not only was this book wonderful and hilarious, but I love her attention to character.

A sapphic sports romance was exactly what I wanted. I loved the slight celebrity trope, the buildup of meeting your idol, and I loved watching their relationship go from convenience to more.

I highly recommend if you’ve ever wanted a sapphic sports rom com!