This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. Great queer rep in a supportive environment. Both FMCs were easy to root for and I loved their stories. Also, love a queer sports romance and there is no better sapphic setting than a soccer pitch. This book really made me happy, I am a Meryl Wilsner stan.

This is the third romance I’ve read now by Meryl Wilsner, and I feel their romances are always a fun time, even if they’re not necessarily ones that leave too much of a lasting impression overall. However, they’re perfect for when I just need an audiobook or a quick read to get me out of a slump, and Cleat Cute is no exception!

Now, I’m no stranger to sports romances, and honestly quite like them every once in a while. There’s just something about the competitive setting that seems to add an extra layer of tension to the romance, especially when utilized well. I feel like Cleat Cute does generally do this, and a lot of the romantic and plot tension does come from the intricacies of the sport and inter-team dynamics. However, there were moments where I wish it had been used a little more somehow, though the specifics of the plot do make it harder to do so. I think the timing of the romance within the season just meant that the tension from this setting wasn’t always entirely there, as while the performance of our characters was important to an extent, it was still pre-season or early on in the season, so the games themselves weren’t necessarily intense or specifically about winning. It did make for an interesting perspective though, how for individual players it isn’t just about winning, but about their individual performance within a game.

Overall though, I did like the general chemistry between Grace and Phoebe, even if I struggled with their relationship for parts near the end. However, I do like how Wilsner used their neurodivergencies throughout the story, in a way that felt real and would genuinely contribute to the misunderstandings they often had. As someone with ADHD myself, while I didn’t entirely feel seen by Phoebe’s character, I did enjoy her character and seeing someone with some of my same habits/thoughts in a romance book like this!

I’ll definitely be reading Wilsner’s next book whenever it comes out, as their books continue to bring me joy!

Review will go live on my blog and goodreads after the boycott!

The best romance i ever read. It was sexy and smart and epic and...it was majestic. The sex scenes were brilliant.

This was cute! It did feel a little YA to me because of the characters and dialogue, but the steam was def not YA 🥵 cause this author sure does know how to perfect the steammmmm honeyyyy.

Lots of black cat energy from Grace and golden retriever energy from Phoebe. Phoebe was annoying as hell, but needed Grace to shut her up 🤭

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

thank you netgalley for the arc!!!

this book was one of the best lesbian romcoms i’ve read in a while!! i loved grace and i called Why I was so relatable to her so that’s something but also their relationship was fun and their banter was realistic in a way that some books just don’t get!
i also do agree that this is like ted lasso. i love ted lasso.
It’s giving Roy and Jamie but make it lesbians.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this book, but honestly I think it was a matter of personal taste more than any objective flaws with the book. I wasn't invested in the romance and found myself getting irritated with Phoebe's character, which prevented me from getting absorbed in the story.

Really enjoyed this steamy LGBTQ+ rom com. Enjoyed the characters story arch and relationships with each other and other character. The banter between the characters feels fresh and realistic.

ARC generously provided by publisher and NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

I love women’s soccer first and foremost. I have season tickets to my city’s team and I follow the league super closely. So this premise? Yeah. 100%. A soccer star gets injured and she strikes up a (reluctant at first) friends with benefits situation with the young rookie who takes her spot in the interim.

And yet this didn’t completely work for me the way I really wanted it to. I should have flown through this book and instead, I found it almost a chore to pick it back up and continue reading. I wasn’t super invested in this budding relationship, especially because the two women are on completely opposite pages. This is to the point where one is worried she’s starting to develop true feelings while the other firmly believes the two are in a Real Relationship. And every time when they should have been, you know, communicating, they instead had sex. Which, sure. But also… not the greatest romance if the characters themselves don’t know what’s really going on between them until quite literally the last few pages.

I don’t want to come down too strongly against this book because there were definitely things in there that I liked, but the further away from it I get, the more I only remember what kept me from loving it.

This is 100% a case of personal taste, but I didn’t enjoy this book in the way I had hoped to. The sex scenes were a bit too detailed for me and I wish I’d been more invested in the romance. I’m so happy to see other’s loving it so much, though! Sapphic romcoms deserve more attention!!

The cover of this one immediately captured me! The book itself was enjoyable. Phoebe is adorable, funny and everything I aspire to be! Grace is so hard on herself and she honestly broke my heart. Ultimately, this book was very warm and felt so familiar in the best. The world of soccer is one that I know well. I wish there was a tad less internal monologuing but that is definitely overshadowed but the well written absolutely SCORCHING HOT spice!

I really enjoying the authors debut, but was not a fan of her second book, Mistakes Were Made. I do love Wilsners writing style and her ability to make me root for her couples.

The description and set up really caught my attention and I loved how the story unfolded. Phoebe and Grace juxtapose each other but still have such incredible chemistry. I adored this story and getting to read a sapphic sports romance.

Definitely recommend for the WoSo crowd. Standard romance otherwise. Found the "lost bet kiss" catalyst near the start a little silly.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the ARC for my honest review. Though I love the idea of a sapphic Bend it Like Beckham, this book was not for me. I didn't like either MMC and they read young to me. It was definitely lacking swoon for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this title.

I really loved this messy, queer love story.

Meryl Wilsner never misses and Cleat Cute was no different!

The perfect mix of romantic comedy and spice, I could not stop reading until the very last page. And even then I wanted more.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

It really pains me to say that Meryl Wilsner’s Cleat Cute was not the romance novel for me. I really enjoyed their first two novels, Something to Talk About and Mistakes were made, so I was hopeful about Cleat Cute. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver.

To start with the positives: I really enjoyed Phoebe and Grace as characters, particularly the ADHD and autism representation, which I felt very seen by. Phoebe in particular shone brightly in this novel and was the main reason I finished it. Also - the sex scenes were scorching hot and easily a favourite part of the novel.

That’s about where my positives end. For a novel advertised as a sports romance, there was shockingly little sports in this, which disappointed me. Additionally, this novel suffered from a lack of description and poor pacing. Huge swathes of time would pass in single sentences, making it difficult to keep track of where we were in the narrative. There was an abundance of telling versus showing in the form of POV characters listing off events that had happened instead of showing us, even in cases where showing would have been beneficial to the narrative.

This novel also hinges heavily upon miscommunication. If this trope bothers you, I don’t think this is the novel for you. I have more of a tolerance for miscommunication as a trope than some folks; after all, it’s very true that humans in general suck at communication and issues are not often resolved in one conversation (if the conversation even happens). My issue here is that it still needs to make sense and/or be interesting from a reader’s perspective, and in Cleat Cute’s case, it personally did not hit that mark for me. The combination of poor pacing and too many subplots given too little time mixed with miscommunication just made this a confusing and frustrating reading experience for me - even if I did completely resonate with the main miscommunication plotline as a fellow neurodivergent person who has found myself in a similiar situation.

All in all, this one was a miss for me and I can’t recommend it. If you REALLY like sports romances or are seeking books with neurodivergent main characters, this may still be worth checking out for you. I’ll still be on the lookout for Wilsner’s next book since I really enjoy their other writing and not every book is going to be for everyone.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

If I’m being honest, I requested this book because the cover pulled me in! This book was beautiful. Meryl did a fabulous job intertwining both soccer and the developing relationship between Grace + Pheobe without one over-powering the other. The ride-or-die vibe of the team made my heart burst and I really appreciated the way ADHD and autism were represented here. There was a lot of internal dialogue and miscommunication between Grace and Phoebe, but there was purpose and Meryl made it WORK! My favorite part was the transformation and inner journies of both Phoebe and Grace from beginning to end.

I’ve been wanting to read one of Meryl’s other book, Mistakes Were Made, and now I’m convinced I’ll love anything they write!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading about women in sports. It is so rare to have a sports romance that has a female player and it is even more rare for them to be sapphic. I love that this book also shows that sapphic novels can be sexy with strong women. This author may become a go to sapphic author for me. I felt so much for the characters. I was swooning and kicking my feet the whole time.

I really liked this story but I lacked a connection with one of the main characters, Grace. I feel I would have enjoyed the book better if it was from one POV.

Such an enjoyable read!! I really liked this book and was so happy I was given the opportunity to read it here at netgalley. Made me laugh out loud multiple times. One of my favorite books in 2023.