This book was amazing! I loved these characters development individually and as a couple. I loved their dynamic as well

Ugh. This is the second Meryl Wilsner book I’ve read and disliked. I think this author is just not for me.

I really enjoyed the first 25% of the book. The premise is Phoebe starts as a rookie on a soccer team and begins a friends-with-benefits relationship with Grace, who is the captain of the team. Shocker, they develop real feelings for each other. The beginning of their relationship was interesting and fun, but I really quickly started to loathe Phoebe as a character. She’s supposed to be quirky and silly, but she comes off as obnoxious and annoying, and she never has any growth over the course of the book.

The biggest sticking point for me was Phoebe’s undiagnosed ADHD, which ended up almost being negligible and also a huge plot point? It was such a confusing aspect of the book because she never faces any consequences for her behavior. She’s always late, and resigns herself to the fact that she can just never be on time. She’s late to her first practice on a professional soccer team and no one but Grace cares? She’s so insanely immature and irresponsible and it’s treated as goofy and quirky (I swear only white people get away with this shit). I was waiting for Phoebe to eventually face some real consequence or conflict for being so flighty, but she never does. Her ADHD has virtually no impact on her life, it seems like Grace is the only person who even notices or cares.

Like 80% into the book, Grace just assumes Phoebe knows she has ADHD and is on meds, even though there has been no mention of it up until now, they haven’t talked about it, and Phoebe is at Grace’s house all the time and she’s never seen Phoebe take meds? It literally came out of nowhere, and felt shoehorned in there to give them a fight. EVEN WORSE, Grace turns to reputable medical source TIKTOK to do research???? This made me want to throw my phone across the room lmao. Truly one of the stupidest things I’ve read in my life. This was such an asinine and irresponsible thing to put in this book. There is RAMPANT misinformation about ADHD and (practically everything else) on tiktok, and never should’ve been included. Even more laughably, Grace’s own sister has ADHD and she thought to ask her about it after first consulting TikTok. This solidified that I never want to read another book by this author ever again.

At one point Phoebe blabs to the trainer about Grace’s injury and chalks it up to her being tired and her inability to keep a secret. She says over and over again “it was a mistake” but never once apologizes. This is treated as fair in the book, which is alarming and also just crazy. Phoebe acknowledges that it was a mistake, realizes that she hurt Grace, and doesn’t apologize for it. Ever. Phoebe is treated as kind and cute, but her inability to even see the need to apologize tells me otherwise, and the author’s writing of this situation as if Phoebe was justified is insane. I’ll touch on this at the end of this review.

Another annoying thing is that there were a million characters in this book, and sometimes they call each other by their first name, or their last name, or their nickname, and I’m expected to remember who’s who, which was borderline impossible. Eventually I stopped caring. There is also an abundance of information about soccer in the book that completely went over my head because I know nothing about soccer and it’s never explained. Sometimes some of the characters are on the same team, sometimes they’re playing against each other. I could never tell what league or whatever they were in and, again, eventually I stopped caring.

I also feel there was no forward momentum to this novel. There was no big game they were working toward or big win they had to get. Phoebe won all her games and did great almost every time. The one time she wasn’t amazing was because the coach told her the wrong thing or something? Everything worked out perfectly for her each time, for everything. The stakes were so inordinately low, it felt like nothing really mattered. Not even just in soccer, really. Grace’s “ex” wasn’t even really her ex, just some girl she slept with. Grace’s injury doesn’t even end up being that detrimental; she sits out and rests for a few weeks, which is hard for her, sure, but then she does literally nothing and she’s healed. Phoebe has to juggle being a pro soccer player and a second job, and she does it just fine with no struggles. In fact, she loves being a waitress and has a great time working 2 jobs. Everything just—worked out, for everyone, with little to no work.

The miscommunication in this book is also so absurdly contrived, it made me roll my eyes. Nobody in this book felt like a real person. It made so little sense and went on for so long, it was almost laughable. They have one conversation that is so vague, where the word “girlfriend” is never brought up, and Phoebe’s dumb ass walks away thinking they’re girlfriends while Grace thinks they’re still just fwb. This goes on for a month, and Phoebe just assumes Grace doesn’t like saying the word girlfriend? The fact that over a month goes by without clarifying this was honestly so stupid. And this random plot thrown in at the very end of the book was just messy. The structure of this book was all over the place; there was no driving force or central theme outside of Phoebe and Grace’s relationship. They’re not working toward anything; there was no goal or end result either of them were moving toward. Their relationship with one another progressed, but nothing else did.

God. I have a ton of notes of other stuff I disliked about this book, but I’ll end with this. Last year, I discovered the genre of sapphic romcoms and was so excited that it existed that I didn’t really care about the content or quality. Over time, I’ve noticed there are a lot of things I can no longer overlook. The glaring issue is it’s a majority white authors who write this genre, and there is so much about the white experience (lol) that I don’t mesh with. There is almost always a quirky white girl character, there is sometimes this stark lack of empathy, refusals to apologize, general white nonsense, and a lot of other elements that I cannot relate to and/or actively hate. My ability to relate to white people, queer or not, does not extend that far. The apology situation in this book did not sit right with me. The utilizing tiktok for a mental disorder did not sit right with me. So much of the “lol I’m so quirky” did not sit right with me. Phoebe’s ability to be late to everything (along with being selfish and immature) with no consequence did not sit right with me. These are all things specific in this book that I can only attribute to this author being white, and something they experience that I can’t, never will, and frankly think is bullshit. So. Idk. I don’t think I’ll ever read Meryl Wilsner again, and I think I need to swear off white authors too even tho y’all dominate this space. There are a fair bit of sapphic romcoms written by Black people and people of color (most of which I’ve already read lol), so I’ll seek those out instead. Cus this ain’t it✌🏾

Thanks to St. Martins and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

I've really been enjoying Meryl Wilsner's books and Cleat Cute is another win. Phoebe and Grace are a lot of fun and I loved how Phoebe's crush moved into a real relationship, whether the characters realized it or not. The two have a number of things to work through, including the fact that both are neurodivergent (again, whether they fully know that or not) as well as working through their teamwork and the world of professional athletes and women's soccer.

While overall I thought this was a solid romance, there is something that takes place in the last quarter of the book that thankfully one of the characters receives with love but like in real life if someone was so presumptuous as to do that I would have seriously questioned their ability to recognize my agency. And I'm glad that worked out but I am a little flabbergasted that no one raised major red flags to the character. But I guess it was a grand gesture? How romance.

Regardless, a solid read.

This was so cute!! I loved the discussions around mental health, and the development of Grace and Phoebe's relationship. However, I do wish there had been a little more action in gameplay to live alongside the romance.

An absolute delight. Queer love, neurodivegence representation with neuroaffirming writing. SOCCER!! I'm the key audience for this book and It was my number once romance of 2023.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. CLEAT CUTE by Meryl Wilsner delivered on every level. Wilsner is an auto-buy for me and this book is cute, fun, and will appeal to fans of Wilsner's other work and fans of Ashley Herring Blake and Alison Cochrun.

Thank you to St Martins Griffin and NetGalley for the free eARC, all opinions are my own. Also I bought the book as soon as I read the first chapter.

Soccer is its own world filled with big personalities, and the women’s league seems to be filled with queers. Phoebe just got drafted in the first round to play for New Orleans Krewe, to play with her celebrity idol and crush, Grace Henderson. Grace tries to resist Phoebe’s enthusiasm but when she loses a bet to Phoebe, things spark off.

This is a very cute tale of sapphic love that is hot to the touch spicy with lots of play on and off the pitch. Phoebe has lots of interesting character development in line with her gregarious personality , while Grace’s development fits the quieter, more sedate, personality of the character.

Highly recommend for those who love the game, and want some spice in the locker room. 4.75 out of 5 stars, 3.5 out of 5 🌶️ for the spice level.

Cleat Cute wasn't cute. It was spicy and thought-provoking and emotional. I appreciate the alliteration of the title, but "cute" is not the right word here. Haha

First and foremost, this book had representation out the wazoo. Autism rep, ADHD rep, lesbian rep, queer rep, trans rep--I appreciated how diversely the author created characters and also that these characters felt like real people--not a diversity quota.

I can see how readers would be put off by Grace and Phoebe because these women have strong personalities. For me, I loved how obvious their personalities were because their decisions aligned exactly with their characters. There was no ambiguity. In any given situation, I could tell you how Phoebe and Grace would react because the author made who they are clear to the reader.

I liked the women's soccer setting (should I get into women's soccer) and liked how the characters were good at their jobs. I hate it when an mc's work ability starts to overshadow the romance. I liked the romance, but something was missing. This would have been a 5-star read if the author was able to completely deliver on the romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc for an honest review.

honestly hoped I would enjoy this sunshine/grumpy soccer romance more then I did. this follows Phoebe as she joins the national team and Grace, the captain.

okay so just as im writing this.. I realized that I actually didn’t even like this as much as I thought I did because I don’t have much good to say about it. the best thing about it was probably the representation. i love some good neurodivergent and lesbian rep but even that didn’t really help this much for me.

me not liking this was majorly a me problem because it just didn’t have things I like. one of my least favorite tropes was very present here, miscommunication. it was just annoying especially since they’re adults like please talk properly.

also another preference was that I’m not a huge fan of smut. usually though ill at least skim through it (because sometimes it has some character development and stuff,) but this was just filled with them talking about cunts and being called babygirl.

overall though, I’d reccomend for those who don’t mind the things i mentioned. a lot of this was pretty fun otherwise and it seems like a lot of others like it!

Cutesie but at times hard to follow with regards to the internal monologging. Overall this was a fun read and I really enjoyed it.

Cleat Cute is a great romance read that I enjoyed much more than I expected. I think what stands out to me the most was how nerodivergence (ADHD and autism, respectively) was displayed and woven into the two main characters. I wish this had been a larger plot point, actually, with more clear discussion. However, I understand why it was used as it was, and it did raise a good point about how such things CAN affect adults who never received an earlier diagnosis.

I generally just liked Phoebe and Grace, the two MC love interests, and it was interesting to read about the two of them together and how they both approached their sport. I'm not a big sports fan, but what sports moments were included were well done and fit the narrative. I also missed New Orleans reading this though completely disagree with Phoebe and Grace with regards to King Cake. Randazzo's forever.

One criticism I do have, though, is that the novel could have done without the whole "hero worship" angle. It honestly didn't add anything and, in fact, made some aspects confusing. If there had been a greater age difference or the "overcoming who I thought you were and grow to love who you are", then there would have been more narrative weight. The fact that it was only 4 years difference, and didn't really affect the story, just made it a weird thing to keep harping on.

I will add that, as an aro-ace, mostly sex neutral, for certain content sex repulsed, the spicy parts were a little too spicy for me, but perfectly acceptable if you're fully sex-neutral or sex-positive. They were well-written, showed clear and enthusiastic consent, and actually held details that helped build the characters. I could have done with less of them overall, but again, that's due to me and not any failure on the book (especially since this is a romance book, where this content is to be expected).

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

Sadly my arc expired before I could read it, as I had a very busy November. What little I did read I really enjoyed and I hope to return to this book and give a proper review in the future.

This book was okay. I found that one of the main characters was seriously overstepping in regards to the others health/ADHD diagnosis. I’ve had to navigate this myself as an adult with ADHD who was diagnosed in adulthood and I would not have taken this kind of pushing well.

Aside from that the story is okay, I expected to enjoy it more after loving this author’s previous novel but this was more middle of the road.

3 stars

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meryl Wilsner is one of my favorite romance authors.

I don't know how they do it. CLEAT CUTE somehow managed to be both so f**king hot and cute cute cute. As a sports fan, I loved that it featured two professional athletes: Grace, a long-time star of the U.S. Women's National Team, and Phoebe, who's recently been invited to training camp with the national team.

But, and I say this with so much love for Meryl in my heart, my kingdom for a book about athletes that doesn't let diet culture creep in. There's a comment about Grace not eating more than half of a po-boy because they're always too much bread for her. Too much bread. In other words, carbs. For a professional athlete? Who spends hours a day torching those very carbs for energy? Yes, it was one sentence, but it totally took me out of the story.

And then I really wanted a few more scenes of the pair toward the end of the story, to balance out some of the introspection and explanation.

So, not quite 5 stars for me. But still, a romance I was delighted to read. I don't care what the premise of Wilsner's next book is; I'll be clamoring for a copy.

This book had a fun premise and was very entertaining, but ultimately was not for me. The grumpy/sunshine dynamic was well done, and I enjoyed the friendships within the team. However, many of the interactions between Phoebe and Grace I found to be uncomfortable or stilted, and those were the interactions that needed to be the best.

I do think that readers more interested in sports may have a better time with it. Thank you to netgalley for an e-arc of this book

I did enjoy the story line, but not so parts of it. It just wasn't my thing and haven't read a book that went into detail like this book did. I just skipped over those parts. I am not sure that I would recommend this book unless I was 100% positive the person would not mind.

Well, this was seriously adorable! Rivals to lovers set on the soccer pitch. Phoebe is a soccer phenom and her time is now. She is ready to take on her role as a professional player and it’s a perk that her long time idol Grace is her teammate. This one is full of spice and soccer.
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Thank you #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Massive thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Griffin for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is if Ted Lasso was about a women’s professional soccer team & they had an intra-team romance. Thanks to the vibes of an elder grumpy captain of the team meets the young, sunshine, fresh breath of a rookie of the team, I could not help but be reminded of my favorite show, Ted Lasso.

This book made me realize how few sports romances I am aware of that are about woman sports & I sincerely hope that changes for the better because professional women’s sports deserve all the love & hype. & the fact that this one has two badass women as athletes & leads is incredible.

Cleat Cute is perfect for fans of
⚽️ Sports Romance
⚽️ FF Romance
⚽️ Opposites Attract
⚽️ Rookie meets Seasoned Vet/Captain

The juxtaposition of the two different characters with their opposite personalities & seasons of life provided a fascinating backdrop to a beautiful love story. Without giving spoilers away, there were talks of mental health & I just had to say I really appreciated that.

As a fan of New Orleans as well, it was a treat to be able to visit the city through this story as well.

If you are looking for a badass women’s soccer romance, then this is a fantastic recommendation for you & one I highly recommend!


Thanks to back surgery, I got behind on reviews but I am catching up & I sincerely apologize for my tardiness.

Do I like real life sports? Nope. Do I love fictional sports? Yep! If you were a closeted child during the Bend It Like Beckham era, and spent the whole movie waiting for Jess and Juliette to get it together this book is for you.

I have read all three of Wilsner’s books so far and this one might be my favorite. Grace and Phoebe have such good chemistry from their first interaction, and to make it better this book was genuinely funny.

Phoebe may be a rookie in professional soccer but certainly doesn’t lack the confidence. I love the balance of strength in who she is, and knowing how good she is, with her honest vulnerability. Phoebe hides nothing and it makes her so endearing as a character.

Grace shocked me a little, I felt going into the book she was going to be an ice queen, but she never read that way to me. She was professional, introverted for sure, but her relationships with her teammates weren’t harsh. Even in the early interactions with Phoebe, she was never cold, more respectfully distant. Watching her slowly melt, learn to lean on others and build herself up to the person she wanted to show the world was beautiful.

One last thing, I absolutely loved the point Wilsner made in having Grace and Phoebe identify, out loud, as lesbians. Not every sapphic is a lesbian, but if you are please know it is not a dirty word.

Arc received from netgalley; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my third book by Meryl Wilsner, and it did not disappoint. We are all screaming for more sports romance, and this is the book we all wanted. Sapphic romance with soccer is just the perfect combination. The banter, the spice, and Meryl hitting the nose on nothing is sexier than playing hard. It gave me the pictures my fourteen-year-old brain needed watching that soccer movie with Blake Lively... I adored Cleat Cute and will suggest this to all my sports-loving friends. This is her best work yet; I can't wait to see what is next.

Tropes:
-Sport Romance
-Opposites Attract
-Sapphic Romance