My thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Griffin for providing me with a digital copy for review.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, Grace and Phoebe. I'm not the biggest fan of soccer so a lot of the finer points of the game eluded me, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. There were quite a few steamy scenes, but it is an adult romance so it's to be expected. I loved the character development and the themes of acceptance. I will definitely read more books by this author and check out the back list as well.

I really liked this one! It was super cute and wonderfully queer. The characters were complex and beautiful and I loved reading their story.

I wish I could say I loved this one but I just don't think I can read sport romances. It's hard for me to sit through any of the descriptions or sport scenes or even the characters talking about what the sport means to them no matter how fun the characters are.

This is a love story between two neurodivergent professional women soccer players.

Grace Henderson is a star on the US Women's National Team. She grew up playing soccer and had the financial means to make it a priority. Her family seems kind of distant, and since a bad breakup Grace seems to distance herself from others in general. While she is only 26, she talks about herself as though she is some old lady. Grace has been pushing through some pain while playing, but eventually her secret gets out and she is benched until her injury heals.

Phoebe Matthews is a new young player that cannot believe she gets to play as the same team as her role model Grace Henderson. Phoebe does not come from money, but she had a supportive family and really wants to take advantage of the opportunities she has to play on a professional team.

While at first Grace tries to avoid the Phoebe at all cost, they end up handing out and becoming friends. The progression was more of enemies (in Grace's eyes), friends, friends with benefits, and then kind of dating (Phoebe thinks they are, Grace thinks they're not), to an actual relationship. It was quite the journey y'all.

As the book goes on we start to see a lot of ADHD traits in Phoebe and autistic traits in Grace. While at the beginning of the book those labels are not present, there are clear signs. Phoebe gets diagnoses during the book, and Grace starts to actively question if she is autistic before the book is over.

I liked seeing their differences in living quarters (Grace nice and organized with fluffy pillows, Phoebe with unpacked boxes and blank walls), their eating habits, and their interactions with their teammates. I think in the end both of them became a support for the other to help them feel more comfortable trying new things.

We see their neurodivergence some in their interactions and a lot in their thoughts. At some points the focus on their thoughts seemed to be a bit much. I understand where the author was going, but it seemed like there could have been a better balance of thoughts and action. I think it slowed down the story at some points and made it unnecessarily longer.

Also, I loved seeing some of that neurodivergence in the intimate scenes. During some of the scenes Grace realizes that she has hit a point and probably won't have the big O (alternative phrasing here to keep review sites happy) but still enjoys the rest of their time. That was something I had not read in a romance before. I understand that feeling, so it was very real to me, and I loved seeing that in a book.

While at some points the book felt a little repetitive and there was A LOT of inter monologuing (I think that's what it would be classified as), I overall really enjoyed the story. The characters were fun to get to know. I loved seeing their relationship with each other and their views on themselves evolve, and I even enjoyed the little background story around the soccer game.

We follow two soccer phenoms Phoebe and Grace, as they deal with injuries, exes, among other things that come up along the way.
I’m not a soccer girlie, so those parts went over my head. I didn’t really believe the romance, due to it not being the main focus.
Overall, it was just an okay read for me.
Love the cover tho, those colours!!

I had been so looking forward to this book's release, and I can't thank the publisher and Netgalley enough for the opportunity to read it! The story follows soccer rivals Phoebe and Grace as they fight their way toward the World Cup, and potentially toward a relationship with one another.

This book was such a fun spin on the rivals-to-lovers arc. It feels very honest not only to the way their relationship progresses, but the struggles that athletes face, especially women, and especially when it comes to sexuality. It was an exploration of what it means to be out as a queer athlete with the world's eyes on you. This is an excellent book within the category of sports romance, and I hope it leads to more sapphic sports romances on the shelves!

I loved reading Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner. This novel is a delightful mix of sapphic romance and hilarious romantic comedy. This book is filled with various tropes like friends with benefits, forced closeness, and the irresistible pull of opposites. The book is written in 3rd person and in the point of views of the two main characters Pheobe and Grace. Pheobe who is a energetic and talkative is a newcomer to the New Orleans Krewe soccer team, and Grace is the team's skilled captain and seasoned player. As Phoebe and Grace start practicing and hanging out together their bond blossoms into a beautiful friendship that gradually transforms into something deeper as they uncover each other's true selves. I highly recommend reading this book and I rated this it 5 stars.

First, I am happy this I let this be my first sapphic book it did not disappoint. Second, I feel like I had high hopes for this because it felt like the female version of Chloe Liese everything for you which I adore.

This book follows a veteran player and the newest recruit on the team and how they navigate that dynamic in addition to their budding friendship. I like that the author never outright says the characters may have any one disability but lets the reader slowly gather that on their own until the end of the book.

With that being said Grace was mean..... Most people just let her be and made excuses for her but for me sometimes the meanest was harsh and off putting and made it hard for me to continue. This book also has lack of communication more than miscommunication which im learning I hate as much as miscommunication. The spice did not disappoint. Overall I enjoyed reading this.

Fun story, I liked the characters. The romance felt real for the age group and I enjoyed the banter.

Once I saw that this book was for fans of Ted Lasso I instantly knew I needed to read it and it did not disappoint! I love the chemistry between Grace and Pheobe as well as their delightfully steamy scenes. It was also so refreshing to read a sports romance that shined a light on queer women in sports!

Overall this was a very good sapphic romance. I personally love the United States Women's National Team so reading a sapphic romance surrounding the soccer world was super cool. I really vibed with this book right away. I liked the dynamic between Grace and Phoebe and their rivalry to friends with benefits storyline. Somewhere in the middle I got a little lost.
There was a lot of miscommunication going on and that is my absolute least favorite trope. It also got to the point where Grace's pity party made me want to rip her French braids out. It was too much internal dialogue and not enough action for me. HOWEVER, the spicy scenes???? Hell yes! There were a lot and each one was written so well. If you're a fan of cute sapphic romances and soccer, l'd recommend for sure!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Meryl Wilsner for this advanced copy of Cleat Cute. Sorry it took me so long to finally write a review.

Cleat Cute tells the story of two polar opposite soccer players who forms a friendship, then a friends with benefitship, to a relationship. I loved Grace’s journey, exploring her own limits and boundaries and going beyond the eldest daughter, team captain role.
The spice was well done, and Phoebe’s character is funny and sweet, while also very obvious in her ADHD.

My real critique here is I hated the third-person perspective. It made the characters feel not connected at times and came across as awkward. Overall a sweet story though.

YESSS This has been one of my favorite sapphic reads so far! This was definitely a fast pace read for me. I can't wait to read more by the author

This is perfect for fans of Wilsner's other book, Mistakes Were Made. Set in the sports soccer world, Cleat Cute is about professional soccer players, one just entering the professional arena and another who has already established herself as a star. Typical hijinks occur as they navigate attraction and competition while also falling in love with one another. The spice is there and this will be enjoyable to anyone who enjoys a wlw romance.

This book was an absolute delight to read. The story was fun and the characters were dynamic on the page.

This book was such a fun book to read! I've loved Meryl Wilsner's other books, and I knew that I would love this one as well! I loved getting to know Grace and Phoebe, these two pretty different soccer players, as they fell in love!

Grace is the captain of the team, she's serious, she likes things a certain way, and Phoebe, she's outgoing, she's social, and she's bubbly. But the attraction between them, yeah, it was pretty instantaneous, especially with the dare of a kiss.

They do have a thing going on, but they don't make it a big thing. It was great to see Phoebe bring Grace outside her shell, and for Grace to help Phoebe focus. It turns out that both of them probably have something, Phoebe ADHD, and Grace is somewhere on the spectrum, and it was great to have that representation, alongside their romance!

Both of them have something going on besides their relationship. Phoebe is new to the team, and she loves soccer, but this is the highest level she's played at, and that's a lot of stress. Grace loved soccer, but not everything that came with being coach and I loved the journey that she went on, to focus on what she loved!

I had a great time reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Meryl Wilsner!

I did like was the representation we get from Wilsner. There are also quite a few side characters with the soccer teams and just about every gender identity and sexuality it represented. I liked that we are getting more and more neuridivergent characters as well. Although the assumptions Grace makes about Phoebe and how the whole conversation happens really didn’t sit well with me.

I also enjoyed the mutual pining that happens. Even after they start their friends-with-benefits relationship, they both just really like one another and wish for more (if only they would’ve actually talked sooner.)

While this ended up being just an okay read for me, I know others will enjoy it a lot more. I’m looking forward to whatever Wilsner comes up with next.

Unfortunately, I was not able to complete this book. At around the 15% mark I had to DNF it for various reasons.

The first reason was that at the 15% mark the information that had been given was not enough to entice me and I felt that the plot was not going to be one I enjoyed.

The second reason was that the writing style felt choppy. There was too much dialogue back to back without enough descriptive fillers in between. Also, the conversations being had felt quite immature. The characters also felt quite immature and at 15% should already start having some sort of depth to them which I did not find was given at that time.

I do not like the fact that I have to rate this book since my rating feels unfair. Yes, it is a 1 star since I DNF'ed it, but it also feels unfair since I did not read the complete book to know. I will settle and give it a 3 star.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SPICE: 🔥🔥💥 I really enjoyed this sapphic sports romance a ton! I love any kind of sports romance and seeing these two women professional athletes get a happy ever after just made my heart happy. The banter and dialogue was good, the story was well paced and o was invested from the beginning. TROPES ⬇️ ✨ Rivals to lovers ✨ Forced Proximity ✨ Opposites Attract ✨ Friends with Benefits ✨ Soccer Romance Phoebe and Grace were both great characters and I really loved seeing them be successful in their careers and find love. Phoebe is the league new comer, and Grace is the veteran showing her the ropes. Both are interesting characters in their own right, and I liked how their neurodivergency was handles and how it shaped their relationship and communication. The spice was really good too, and I don’t think I will look at hair braiding the same way after this book 🥵. The chemistry between Phoebe and Grace just really made this story interesting and kept me from putting the book down! Overall this has just enough sport to keep me happy, a great love story and a decent bit of spice. I will say this one didn’t have a bit of miscommunication but it felt like it was coming from internal sources and didn’t feel contrived as they worked out how to communicate! I definitely recommend this one! 🩷

I typically don't go into romance novels looking for well developed characters but it's always a major bonus when they're there. It can be challenging to balance the romance aspects with a compelling plot but Meryl Wilsner hasn't let me down yet, and I don't see them doing so in the future. I'm sure it didn't hurt that I already love soccer, but even to a total outsider, the book is accessible and compelling.