this was so much fun! and so steamy. i'll definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a sapphic read. i actually appreciated that it wasn't too angsty. the mental health rep was also a breath of fresh air.

Not to be dramatic but... give me all the sports romance plots and I will be happy for the rest of my days! To start- I know absolutely nothing about soccer, but I dived into this story with no plans of looking back. Grace and Phoebe had my heart from the start. It was cute. It was spicy. It was funny. It was adventurous. It was real. We obviously love a LGBTQ+ rep, but a big round of applause to the author for representing my ADHD girlies and those with autism. I enjoyed the writing style and think that the author perfectly depicted the sweet spots of New Orleans. I did wish there would have been more soccer moments and tension/competition between the two players, but I loved their sunshine/shy dynamic. Definitely the perfect sports romance read with representation!

This story was a cute read. It was fun reading in a soccer setting and getting immersed in the world. New Orleans has such character but I didn’t feel much of the city in the story. I think I was looking for more outside of the inner monologues (more about soccer, more about the city, more info on the characters, etc.)

The characters were interesting and fun. I enjoyed the story and felt it was cute, light and fun. I just wanted more. I enjoyed the characters but wanted more depth to them. I felt as if I only scratched the surface with both of them. I got some complexity but was looking to delve deeper. I did appreciate the neurodivergent representation, which I think we definitely need more of in books. I appreciated the lesbian representation as well. It was fun seeing the grumpy/ sunshine dynamic. I enjoyed seeing them become friends and then have a deeper relationship. The spicy moments were definitely fun!

Overall I had fun reading the book! It was a cute fun romance!

A raunchy, utter delight. It was so fun to spend a few hours reading this book and I would highly recommend it to ANYONE who had a thing for that hot sports girl in high school. You know who you are. What a fun read!!

Cleat Cute is just as adorable as the name suggests. Its a sports romance focused around women's soccer. It has romcom vibes but still has good serious moments. Phoebe is a rookie who ends up on the same team as her idol Grace, whom she definitely has the hots for. They are opposites and start out rocky they slowly grow on each other. While not slow burn in the sheets, the actual relationship definitely is. This is a must for sport romance fans!

I absolutely adored Grace and Phoebe. Their dynamic reminds me much of my own relationship. The chemistry is off the chart. I especially connected with Grace, being autistic and female this was one of the very few characters I have recognized and connected with on that level. I will be reading more by Meryl Wilsner.

I received an arc and reviewed this of my own volition.

I was really excited when I got sent an eARC of Cleat Cute because I read Mistakes Were Made last year and it was 🔥🔥🔥 I really enjoyed the soccer/workplace romance, but wish it had been written in first person alternating POVs between Phoebe and Grace. The internal monologues were a bit much for me. The romance and spice were perfect and I thought the discussion around ADHD was great. One thing I wish we could have gotten less of was the miscommunication on if they were dating or not. One person thinks they’re friends with benefits and the other thinks they’re in an exclusive relationship. I just don’t enjoy a miscommunication trope but it ended up working out well for the book. The ending did seem a bit rushed to me but that might have been because the semi-third act breakup came so late in the storyline. I recommend this if you’re wanting a steamy, sapphic romance and you enjoy soccer ⚽️

Cute, fun and spicy rom com for the soccer lovers! I love a good lesbian romcom and this one hit the spot with the sports elements

I really liked this! I thought it was pretty cute and spicy all in one. Mostly I just felt like this lacked a little something and I’m not really sure what it was but I liked mistakes were made more.

This was a super cute romcom. Phoebe has been drafted to play for a professional soccer team in New Orleans. She is also invited to the National Team camp. All her dreams are coming true. And she gets to meet her soccer idol, Grace, who she has been crushing on since she was a teenager. This book was adorable and I really enjoyed it!

For everyone currently getting excited about women’s soccer, Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner, out September 19, is a cute romance between two teammates during the leadup to a World Cup year. I would like to thank the publisher for providing The Lesbrary with an ARC for review. I honestly enjoyed this story a lot—it’s a fun romance between two highly competitive people and features plenty of steamy action and on field dramatics.

Grace Henderson is a veteran star on both the US Women’s National Team and her National Women’s Soccer League team in New Orleans. She’s a consummate professional and deals with the intense pressure that comes at playing at her level and being in the spotlight by intensely cultivating her privacy even among teammates. But when rookie Phoebe Matthews is invited to National Team training camp, she manages to throw Grace off her stride almost instantly, and Grace is somewhat dismayed to realize that she will also be Phoebe’s captain back for the regular season in New Orleans. Phoebe Matthews is approaching her first season as a professional soccer player with her usual boundless enthusiasm and energy and a willingness to work hard and do whatever it takes to succeed. Her invitation to be considered for the National team juices her determination even more, as she realizes she could be competing for a spot on the World Cup Team. Gregarious and friendly, Phoebe has never bothered with not being out or with team politics. When sparks fly between them as the professional stakes mount, will they be able to find common ground between walls Grace has built around herself and Phoebe’s need for openness?

I really enjoyed this romance. As someone who has read her fair share of het or m/m athletic romances, I greatly enjoyed this foray into wlw sports. I’m on board. Let’s make lesbian soccer romances the next thing. You get all the cuteness of a romance combined with all the hyper competitiveness of professional athletes. Neither Grace nor Phoebe have taken it easy in their entire lives, or they wouldn’t be playing at an elite level, and that tension on the field translates so well into their romantic tension. Even if they’re not competing against each other, every time they help each other get better they get all hot and bothered. It’s great. I especially enjoyed their dynamic, with Grace taking the lead on the team as Captain and also showing Phoebe around New Orleans, but Phoebe being the more experienced one with feelings and communication. I loved it; it was exactly the level of fun and hi-jinx I want from a romance, but the difficulties introduced for tension did not feel forced or unlikely as sometimes romance problems do.

In conclusion, if you’re still jonesing for some quality soccer content in September, you should look up Cleat Cute, out September 19th. It’s fun and flirty with a heaping helping of sports feelings on top as an extra treat. I really felt like Phoebe and Grace fit together and worked well together. It was the perfect fast paced romance I wanted to get me pumped up for reading again. Definitely check it out: you won’t regret it.

I was really interested at first but it got really dry and boring for me towards the middle, The characters felt a little flat and the plot wasn't super exciting. There was so much potential for the romance that I felt at the beginning but lost the thrill of that pretty quickly.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is another classic lesbian rom-com from the expert. Professional Women’s soccer players Phoebe and Grace navigate a changing dynamic as the season progresses 😏. This book is steamy, emotional, and exciting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. Cleat Cute is out now!

Cleat Cute is perfect, in theory.

Soccer players, rivals to lovers, and steamy sapphic romance all sound like a dream. But in practice, it was a figment of unmet expectations.

Now, this isn't to say there weren't parts that hit it right on the nail. I adored the representation brought on by each character and I adored being able to see myself and others in them as well. One specific instance was when Grace explained she needed to "think" her way into an orgasm. This was an underrated representation of how some people experience and/or struggle with sex that felt meaningful (at least to me).

The sex was great, it was not the tiresome hair-braiding/implied sort of sex that is all too common with sapphic romance. For that, I am profoundly grateful to Meryl Wilsner.

One of my greatest heartbreaks with Cleat Cute was being led to expect the rival-to-lovers aspect. There was little to no rivalry as Grace and Phoebe developed some sort of friendship from the start which kind of voids the rivalry part. I don't think I needed a whirlwind romance but I did expect a higher level of passion between them. These characters were intentionally polarized personalities and while I usually love that, this dynamic felt nearly impossible.

I also have a personal vendetta against Phoebe's use of the words baby girl and cunt. Physically recoiled.

All in all, I will keep up with Meryl Wilsner's future work this one just wasn't meant for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin's Griffin for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Dual POV, rivals to lovers, steamy 🔥

I really liked this one. It was a fun, cozy feeling, and spicy read. It was very predictable, but most romances are. I love the representation. I highly recommend it!

Very cute! I thoroughly enjoyed the romance. The banter and communication between the two main characters was everything. I always love a good sapphic novel and this was no different.

This one wasn't it for me but largely because of my own preferences and not necessarily a failing of the book. I couldn't get over the inappropriate workplace romance of it all (I am just NOT a workplace romance girlie and I need to accept it). Also the age gap wasn't working for me here either -- I can't get over the idea that Phoebe had Grace's poster on her wall as a kid and now is banging her (this is on me, not the book). Plus, Phoebe annoyed me from the start. Meryl is a great writer, the steam is A+, but this one wasn't my fave.

3 stars.

I was really looking forward to reading this because I really enjoyed Mistakes Were Made, but this one was just okay to me. I appreciated Phoebe's inner monologue.

I'm not much of a soccer girl so I don't know if that had something to do with me not liking the book. I found Grace to be a little gruff and not quite my favorite character.

There were moments that I really enjoyed, like when they were kicking the ball around and just hanging out or when they went for breakfast but other moments just kind of put me off like Grace's reaction to Phoebe flirting.

Overall it was just an ok book for me but I am looking forward to reading other books by her.

This gets all the stars! It was the absolute cutest sapphic sports romance and I am obsessed. I literally read this book in under 24 hours.

I am also totally biased as I am an ADHD, queer, ex soccer player who is currently dating a queer autustic ex soccer player. There were a lot of parallels in terms of relationship progression.

I truly did enjoy all the queer and mental health representation. And to see it done through the lens of my favorite sports was just *chefs kiss*.

i enjoyed this book! i found phoebe to be super relatable as a late diagnosed ADHDer myself, i also have alarms for everything and write down little notes to not forget things (except i sometimes forget i wrote the notes).
i’m not a huge fan of miscommunication, but i was pleasantly surprised by how grace and phoebe worked it out. they definitely didn’t communicate enough, but they understood the other had good intentions and kept trying.
i don’t understand much about soccer, the positions and numbers go over my head, but i loved that my lack of knowledge didn’t stop me from enjoying the story.

Cleat Cute
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Meryl Wilsner

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.

As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?

My Thoughts: This was a very cute story. Phoebe Matthews has idolized Grace Henderson since she was young. Phoebe makes it into the women’s soccer league with her eye on National League. Phoebe is starstruck with Grace, then an injury takes Grace out for a few games and Phoebe steps in. What Grace did not expect was Phoebe, they are complete opposites but a friendship sparks with benefits. Can they play together or will Phoebe replace Grace? This follows the tropes of enemies to lovers, women’s professional sports, opposites attract, and forced proximity.

The story is narrated in a dual narration by both Phoebe and Grace, in their respective perspectives. The narration was in third person, however, there was a lot of internal monologue going on, which I really appreciated as it gives you an inside to the characters. Phoebe and Grace could not be more opposite of each other but have this immediate attraction towards one another. Phoebe is outgoing, loud, loves to joke, especially to break the ice, chaotic, and just starting her professional athletic career. Grace is an introvert, reserved, serious, follows the rules, and loves soccer, it has encompassed her life for the last decade. Together their opposites work to fit the whole picture. The characters were well fleshed out with depth, witty banter, mad chemistry, creatively built up, and were intriguing. The supporting characters really enhanced the storyline, especially Fish. The author’s writing style was complex, humorous, spicy, steamy, and beautiful. I loved the author’s representation of mental health and believe it was done with grace and integrity. I admit that I do not know much about soccer and some of the terms went over my head, that would be my con for the book. When encompassing sports in a book, a little background is helpful.

This romance read has all of the feels between two professional athletes, and really is a beautiful love story. While soccer is not a sport I watch, I have a lot of admiration for the sport. Any sport is hard and being a woman makes it even harder to achieve success in a man’s world. I had both the digital and audio versions of the ARC and leaned towards more of the audio. The narrators were amazing in this story, they did a great job with voice variation across the different characters, and really brought the characters from the page to my heart. I loved Wilsner’s prior work, Mistakes Were Made, and this one was just as good. I absolutely loved this book. I highly recommend picking up this book.