This writing style didn’t mesh with my reading preferences, but I think this is a book a lot of people will really love. Grumpy/sunshine with some steam and fun dynamics. I really wanted to love this one, but I think this was totally a me problem and not the book. DNF @ 50%

This book was everything I hoped it would be! Absolutely adorable AND steamy! I loved Grace and Phoebe from the start. They are opposites on so many levels and hardly seem to have anything in common except soccer. Grace is reserved and poised, always taking things seriously, and not one to joke around. Phoebe on the other hand is loud and boisterous, always running late, and your typical class clown. But somehow…these two just work. Their playful, flirty banter (that sometimes Grace doesn’t even realize is flirty) had me smiling and laughing out loud.

Grace is Phoebe’s captain. They should definitely not get involved. But after a week of showing Phoebe around New Orleans before the rest of the team arrives, it’s no longer possible for either of them to fight their growing desires. But a relationship is out of the question. So they become friends with benefits. But it’s not hard to see that there’s a lot more going on than just sex. No matter what they say…to each other or themselves.

You can sense their connection from the start. And more than just sense it. 😏Because for all you spice lovers - you don’t have to wait long! And it is HOT AF! 🥵 Their sexual chemistry sparks. But it’s not just about the kind of sex. It’s the way they look at each other, touch each other, react to each other, and basically worship each other. The way Phoebe longs to make Grace feel good. The way Grace allows herself to be vulnerable. It’s hot…but also incredibly beautiful.

Soccer plays just as big of a role in this story as the characters and romance do. So if you love soccer, you get lots of it in this book! There’s also trans rep (Phoebe’s brother), non-binary rep (a teammate), and neurodivergent rep (Phoebe finding out as an adult she has ADHD). It was great to see all the representation!

I couldn’t put this book down! I was rooting for Grace and Phoebe, both personally and professionally, from page one. I wanted to see them get their own HEA and their HEA’s on the field! I adored this story and highly recommend it!

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I absolutely loved Mistakes Were Made so I was really excited for Cleat Cute. I thought this was such a fun and sweet romance. I really liked Grace and Phoebe’s instant chemistry that grew into friendship and then more. I liked how they looked out for each other on the field and off, especially with Grace’s injury. I thought the pacing was pretty well done and the spicy scenes were, as expected, excellent. I liked how they really dove deep into communication and intimacy. There were a lot of internal monologues and on occasion, they took me out of the scene, but I did enjoy really getting to know both Phoebe and Grace. I did wish the soccer of it all was a bit more high stakes. It was much more of a character driven novel than I was expecting, which was done well, but I did really get excited about the World Cup and it just felt very secondary to everything. Overall, I did enjoy this one! There were just a few things I was ehhh about, but still a big Wilsner fan and will definitely read her next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was so cute! With this book I continue to be FIRMLY in my Meryl Wilsner era-their books always make me 😍.

This book gave me some STRONG “Everything For You” vibes which is honestly a HUGE compliment. There was a lot of soccer in this book, and while that was great, this book was about so much more than soccer! The relationship between the MCs is the perfect storm of opposites attract, forced proximity, better together sapphic love story. While I did really love the relationship between the MCs, I think I loved the individual journeys they each went on while together. This story gave us a lot of emotion, and a lot of soul searching. I do feel like it ended too abruptly, but overall I really loved this!

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin. All opinions are my own.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was really cute!! I really enjoyed Grace and Phoebe but for some reason I kept getting confused who was who for the first half and I really do not know why. It was also spicer than I imagine it would be. This was a great read coming off World Cup season.

I would recommend!!

This was just okay for me. I loved the soccer element, reading this after watching the World Cup was top tier.

I didn’t believe the relationship with Grace and Phoebe. They lacked chemistry and I was never fully invested in them as a couple.

thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

4.5 rounded up. this cute, spicy, and sporty romp is not something i would normally read, but it absolutely hooked me! wilsner captures the rivalry, tension, and budding love between the fiery Matthews and the reserved Henderson so well and builds that relationship expertly. all the tropes in this book work and make it an endearing read for sports loving gays.

All of my book club friends are absolute Meryl Wilsner STANS so I was overjoyed to get my hands on this one. Read this for an awesome sapphic romance with a sports setting. Hockey romances are so last year, sapphic soccer romances are so this year!

Loved EVERYTHING about this book - the chemistry, the character development, the storyline...AH! Perfect for anyone who wants a quick, easy, feel-good romance read!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Third time's the charm for me with Meryl Wilsner, as while something missed the mark for me with her prior books, Cleat Cute ended up winning me over. Contrary to the cutesy covers, I already knew to expect lots of sex, and Wilsner delivers that here again, but with a dynamic that I felt had a bit more substance behind it.
Grace is a soccer star, and Phoebe’s a new rookie who’s begun training alongside her. There’s a great balance of rivalry due to Grace being somewhat threatened by this new arrival, and admiration, due to Phoebe being a longtime fan of Grace’s, and that makes for an interesting foundation going forward. And while friends-with-benefits can fall flat for me, especially when the two people aren’t necessarily on the same page about what they want, but I liked how their personal tensions collided with their professional goals. One of the personal aspects I really liked was the neurodivergence rep, especially Phoebe’s undiagnosed ADHD, and how that colors their relationship. Grace possibly being autistic is also mentioned, although it’s not as much of a focal point.
I respect Wilsner’s enthusiasm about soccer, but the passion put into the soccer stuff is definitely the one aspect that put me off. While I like when people have lives outside their love interests, the amount of detail put into all the soccer terminology was quite alienating as someone who’s not a fan, and a reason I avoid most sports romance. I had similar feelings about Ted Lasso, which I can’t get into for the life of me, even though it’s been recommended.
Apart from my subjective nitpicks, I more or less enjoyed this one. While it might hit harder if you enjoy soccer or sports in general, I recommend it if you're looking for a sexy sapphic romance.

Mistakes Were Made was one of my favorite rom-coms of 2022 and so I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Cleat Cute. Meryl Wilsner has confirmed their spot on my list of favorite authors with this one. Cleat Cute is absolutely adorable with two complete opposite but equally endearing characters. I'm not usually into sports romances, but I devoured this one from beginning to end. Steamy, heartfelt, funny, romantic. I loved it!

As someone who loves soccer and romance books, I loved Cleat Cute. The characters were great and I would love sequels for the side characters who are very interesting in their own right. The only thing I wished was fleshed out more is touching on Grace's possible medical issues because the lead-up hints were so well done but we don't know if she explored it more. And of course, we all want to see if they won their next star. Other than a few characters' names being wrong (changes in the ARC for the coach) it was a solid rom-com and I will definitely be reading more from the author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. glad because I discovered a new author that wasn't on my radar.

I received an advanced copy of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner from the publisher St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Phoebe Matthews has just been drafted to a professional women’s soccer team and to make things even crazier she was invited to practice with the US Women’s National Team, maybe she has a chance for the World Cup after all. So when she meets Grace Henderson who is a bit closed off but also her longtime celebrity crush on the team, she pushes to be friends. However, the chemistry is off the charts and they pursue a friends with benefits situations. But as the World Cup approaches and Grace deals with an injury, can their connection last?

What I Loved: Do I like soccer? Not particularly, I don’t even watch it during the Olympics or World Cup? But was I ready for a romance about two soccer teammates amidst the challenges of making the team, uh YES! I loved this one. I really liked both characters and their chemistry was very hot. These two characters just match well and I loved it. Grace is one of my favorite characters, I found her relatable and I loved that Phoebe still pushed to be her friend. I loved the team vibes and just thought this was good fun!

What I Didn’t Like: I don’t love miscommunication tropes but this one was done in a really unique way so it wasn’t the worst, but still frustrating The third person present tense can be a lot. Also ‘baby girl’ wasn’t my favorite but alas it is not up to me.

Who Should Read It: People who love books centralized on a team. People who wish Bend it like Beckham was sapphic.

Summary: Two teammates find connection with each other in the midst of World Cup.

The characters, especially the main two, seemed very two-dimensional in this book. We could have learned so much about them away from the pitch and apart from each other. Instead, though, we got a lot about who they were together (when they were together) and not much else. It's a quick read, but it just fell flat for me and it's why I'm only rating it 3 stars out of 5. Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy through NetGalley.

“Cleat Cute” is the sapphic professional soccer romance you didn't know you were waiting for. I am 3/3 for highly enjoying each of her last releases. As a major USWNT/WSL fan I have had this book on my TBR ever since the title was released and was super excited when I was approved to read an advanced copy! There’s just something about women playing sports, especially soccer that I just love and Wilsner captures the love and passion for the game wonderfully in this rom com. This is more than just a romance book, it has funny parts and tackles real issues like financial struggles and neurodivergence.

Wilsner did an amazing job describing each action when soccer was actually being played in the book well enough to engage readers who might not have as heavy of a soccer background. I loved how this book leaned into the friends part of the friends with benefits. I loved how Phoebe saw Grace taking care of everyone else, and insisted on taking care of Grace and letting Grace remember all the things she loved about soccer and her life. This was a happy medium spice level wise between “Something to Talk About” and “Mistakes Were Made”. I do like their relationship and the plot line after the spicy scene. The spice is well written and very spicy, if dirty talk is not your thing I would look for something else. The character were relatable and the sports aspect really appealed to me. The representation is also fantastic! There are trans, non-binary, and bi side characters. Phoebe very clearly has undiagnosed ADHD from the beginning. And as we learn more about Grace, it becomes apparent she is likely on the autism spectrum. Having both MCs as neurodivergent adds so much to the story. I also just wanted more of Phoebe and Grace after they officially started dating. When I turned the page and saw epilogue, I had to go back and make sure I didn't miss anything. Obviously, it is hard to include everything in a book because you can't make it too long, but I would have just liked to see more of them together as an official couple. Thanks to Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I Can’t wait to see what Wilsner has in store for us next and I hope that Wilsner continues to write more sports based books.

DNF. I think I finally have to give in and admit that Meryl Wilsner books are not for me. Their writing style is easy to read and plenty fun, but their characters are always where it goes wrong for me. I liked their first novel, despite having an age gap and power imbalance (2 tropes I don’t particularly enjoy), but Mistakes Were Made was simply too much of an age gap for me. I was looking forward to this one since the age gap was much smaller, but I really disliked Phoebe as a character. Her behavior when it came to Grace was really odd to me and it made me uncomfortable how she seemed to view her as a challenge to seduce rather than an actual person with feelings.

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin's Press for such a cute arc!
I absolutely love sapphic romances, especially some rival celebrities. This really checked off a bunch of boxes for me: a bit of conflict, some good friends, and steaminess. I'm not usually the biggest sports book reader but this was really cute and it worked out really well. This book has a fantastic representation of queer characters POC characters and neurodivergent characters. I really loved her passbook and I think she really hit it out of the park with this as well.

Grace is a veteran on the US Women's National Team and on the NO Krewe. Phoebe is a rookie in both places. They have a lot of spicy and steamy sex, then, they don't talk to each other properly, for... well, quite awhile, and it drags on the story unfortunately.

Oh, and, they each are oh so very and super specifically 'unique' and special people. (And, I'm sorry, if you are not some minor's guardian you do NOT get to make Drs. appointments for them, ever, ever Period. I don't care what the situation was.)

Here's the good part? I honestly would have read a book about basically almost any of the other teammates of the two main characters. But, Grace and Phoebe, not my cup of tea.

I do wish I'd liked the book more. And, if I found the right person at the library I'd recommend it to them, but, I'd have to be very very particular about who I did recommend this to.

I love lesfic, love and have played soccer (go Goalkeepers!), but, even those two things couldn't save it.

This was such a cute and heartwarming queer sports romcom! I loved the neurodivergent rep. included as well! Meryl Wilsner writes incredible steamy scenes and this book did not disappoint in that area!

I loved this book! It was so nice to see the characters develop throughout the course of it, both together and individually to be a better version of themselves (and loving themselves more). I thought their chemistry was great and even as someone who doesn't know much about soccer, it was easy to follow along with the setting and challenges the rosters and teams set.