This was my first read by this author and I really enjoyed it. I am not sure why I went into this one thinking it would only be a cute somewhat steamy romance. Maybe it was the cover, but either way, it was spicier than I was expecting. My only complaint is that it is written in third person and personally that just isn't my favorite.

If you're looking for a steamy (*cough* shower scene *cough*) sapphic soccer romance (say that ten times fast!) then you need to check out Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner! It's a teammates with benefits situation with some hurt/comfort in there. Phoebe has been a fan of Grace's soccer career and when she ends up as a rookie on the same team she can't help but try and be friends with her. The only problem is Grace has been burned before but she ends up taking sunshine Phoebe under her wing and sorta kinda becomes her unofficial tour guide around New Orleans. When Grace ends up benched because of an injury, Phoebe just wants to take care of her...in more ways than one. While not explicit, Grace is somewhere on the autism spectrum and Phoebe has undiagnosed ADHD. I really enjoyed how they respected each other's boundaries as well. Also, the meddling teammates were my fave!

This was such a cute story! It was the perfect read during the World Cup. It was an easy and fun read to escape from reality. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun and sweet sports story.

I truly think Meryl Wilsner gets better and better with every book. Cleat Cute is such a fun romance between two professional athletes, and I had such a great time with it!

Phoebe and Grace were both incredibly relatable and I loved the conversations this book had about being out publicly and parasocial relationships with celebrities and getting neurodivergent diagnoses as an adult. Add in the fun plot and engaging characters and this was a recipe for a great book.

I also appreciated that the thing that’s set up to be the cause of the third act breakup isn’t and the way that whole set of conversations played out. All that being said, I had a great time and I really look forward to reading more from Wilsner.

I cannot overstate how much I loved this book. It was the perfect amounts of Grumpy/Sunshine and self-discovery and I related so much to the ADHD/Autism TikTok spiral. This was so well done, the chemistry was so natural, and my only regret is that I finished it so quickly. It offers important conversations and observations and I will be handselling this every chance I get. I’m so glad it’s our October Book Club pick!!

This book was queer joy at its finest. I loved all the representation of identities and sexualities. I could have done without the miscommunication trope however.

A Sapphic sports romance was the perfect read to go with the women's World Cup this year! I enjoyed this one which was a pleasant surprise since I had mixed feelings about Meryl Wisner's last book. I loved the lack of random drama and the plot was easy to follow and enjoy.

I liked Cleat Cute but didn’t love it. It took me over 2 weeks to read which is a long time for a romance. I’m struggling to figure out exactly what didn’t work for me and I’m not sure. Phoebe and Grace are playing on the same professional women’s soccer team - Grace is a veteran and the coach, Phoebe is a rookie player right out of college. There’s a grump/sunshine dynamic, both characters are neurodiverse, steamy sex - all things I love! I saw some reviews talk about getting bogged down a bit in the internal monologues and that may have been my issue as well. It also feels pretty drawn out and repetitive at times. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is a F/F contemporary romance featuring soccer star Grace Henderson and rookie Phoebe Matthews. Phoebe is loud, outgoing and star struck. Grace is quiet, private and sees Phoebe as a rival. Grace is sidelined with an injury and before long, the two become friends with benefits. Grace isn't sure how this happened, but is determined to keep it just what it is, no feelings attached. That doesn't last long, feelings get in the way and the two of them are in a full fledged relationship, on and off the field.

The novel was a slow burn for me though, I really struggled to get through the start of it. There is a TON of inner monologuing that is exhausting to get through. If you can get through it you're rewarded with some beautiful, steamy scenes but I almost gave up on it. I appreciated that the characters with neurodivergent, but it was a bit rough to get through at times. Drawn out, repetitive.

3.5 stars

Am I really not allowed to write, "Hi, I loved this book, because I pictured my soccer crush in Grace's shoes and myself in Phoebe's, and it was like a dream come true?" No? Okay.

Phoebe has just gotten her shot, not only has she been called up to her dream football club, but now she has an opportunity to be considered for the US Women's National Team. The spot? Grace Henderson's. The cost? Her heart. From first practice, they really were the least likely to, but Phoebe reminds Grace of her before she gave her life away to the game. As they explore New Orleans, tackle practice, and an injury together it's no time before Grace admits something just might be there. It wouldn't be a sapphic romance without some miscommunication though.

I loved Phoebe, I loved Grace, I loved this book, even when I literally threw it across the room, because neither one knows how to actually communicate properly. Totally classic. Totally real to life. I'm totally too old to appreciate it anymore haha. The two seem to take it slow, but their feelings take a deep dive long before either is ready and it results in the most chaotic explanation of dating of my life. I laughed a lot, I rolled my eyes a lot, I sighed a lot, but boy did I root for them. I ate up their chaotic energy like it was candy and I was truly devastated when I got to the end. Meryl Wilsner literally wrote my fantasy into a book and despite the fact that I am still mad I can't live out this dream, I am totally satisfied with the Cleat Cute version of it in my head now.

Grace Henderson has been a professional female soccer player for over a decade. She is captain of her league team and a veteran on the US women's national team. This year a rookie Phoebe Matthews has just been recruited to her team and called up the practice with the National Team. Grace has been hiding an injury for a while and is worried the newbie is in line to steal her place and position. Phoebe has idolized Grace for years, and once they start getting to know each other it is hard to resist the attraction she feels. So when Grace makes the first move Phoebe can't help herself, but they both make the mistake of not fully communicating with the other how they define their situation. Grace soon realizes there is enough room for both of them to play and succeed, and Phoebe isn't trying to use her or replace her. Will their developing feeling complicate their ability to play or will they realize they can succeed better as a team.

The representation of many identities and sexualities was such a breath of fresh air. Also the commentary of being a female athlete and the pay gap was so well presented. This is the sort of queer joy and love that I enjoy reading about, support each other, healing from past traumas, not being in competition, and being out and proud. The chemistry was there for me all the way, the miscommunication between them got to be a bit much for me but over all the romance was well executed. Some small things were left unexplored at the end but over all the story was a beautiful balance of light hearted romance and more serious topics.

This book was a fun, flirty adventure into the crossroads of sports and romance. As someone who is only vaguely familiar with women’s soccer, I found that book made understanding the topic very approachable. I felt like I was able to follow along with the soccer narrative without having to do any additional research.

The characters were enjoyable, at at times incredibly relatable, but I did find the novel as a whole to be a bit slow moving. Some of this aided in better understand Grace’s development, but there were also times where I got a smidge bored and stepped away from reading for a day or two. I found that once I got about halfway through the book, the pace picked up quickly and I was able to finish in one sitting.

I appreciate that the intimate scenes are well written and realistic. They did not feel overly forced or faked.

All in all, I enjoyed this book! It was fun and an interesting take on varying different tropes.

Didn't hit the same as Mistakes Were Made for me but it was still a fun spicy romance that I would recommend to the sapphic romance readers.

This book was made for me. A redheaded soccer player with ADHD and an Autistic soccer player, wlw romance... and add a little bit of spice? Pretty sure this is a biography of my life in a different universe.

Definitely one of those books where you will either love or dislike it, but thankfully, it got pretty close to the hype for me and I ended up rating it closer to 4.75 stars.

The author did a great job of including representation on label, and not just in name, but with a larger context and depth that made it very realistic.

Grace is the tried and true veteran. Phoebe is the hot, young newbie on the team. Can they work together to make sparks fly, on and off the field?

I'm a huge fan of both women's soccer and rom coms, so how could this one miss? Overall, it was a super cute story with great characters. I thought the characters were well-rounded and overall thought this was a huge HIT.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

What a sweet and steamy book! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes so this sports rivals to lovers storyline checked a lot of boxes for me. It kind of had a The Cutting Edge vibe - one ice queen, one golden retriever, lots of anger that's actually attraction. So fun! I loved Mistakes Were Made by this author and Cleat Cute did not disappoint - I highly recommend.

"𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴..."

I would say, overall, I really enjoyed this book! It's very open door and spicy! LOL

I DO tend to get a little frustrated with the miscommunication sometimes, when it goes too far, BUT in this instance, I forgave it because it was there to add to something further along in the story.

Also, I truly, truly understand both of the FMC in different ways - Grace when she's not willing to trust that someone could possibly be interested in her FOR her, and Phoebe, well, with everything else LOL

Thank you @stmartinspress, @smpromance and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!
.
.
.
.
#bookstagram #booksta #books #booksbooksbooks #avidreader #ilovereading #thetwistedlibrarian #professionalbookworm #cleatcute #merylwilsner #book71of2023 #whatsnikkireading #lgbtqiap #sportsromance #friendswithbenefits #oppositesattract #netgalley #stmartinspress #smpromance

I was so excited for this one as it was one of my most expected reeds of this year, but it was too slow. It felt like I had been reading all day, but I was only at 51%. I love Merryl but there was just nothing happening in the book.. I decided to not give the book a review given that it was just published and it just wasn’t for me, but doesn’t mean other people won’t like it.

First book I've read by the author but it certainly won't be the last.
Wilsner's writing easily pulled me into this romance with the backdrop of soccer. Love and soccer are front and centre but neither overwhelms the other. Grace, the veteran player now injured is faced with a newbie player in Phoebe. Two players but only one position on the national team. Who will win, the upstart or the veteran? If only it was that simple! I was treated to a fine romance between Grace and Phoebe with the game of soccer beautifully interspersed in the storyline. Location descriptions and events were on point but I loved the connection, growing feelings and caring, the emotional ride and back and forth between two women who shouldn't click but eventually do. The book cover works too!!
A sports romance that hits the spot.

Honestly I just didn't love this. I wish I did (hi it's wlw), but it just wasn't what I wanted. The characters were sweet and the book itself is steamyyyy, but I didn't love the way it was written and the soccer element (which I can admit is a me thing as I don't typically love sports books). If you were a fan of Meryl Wilsner's other books, this is a great one to pick up still!