'Cleat Cute' was, for lack of a better word, so cute!

I really enjoyed the back and forth between our two main characters, Phoebe and Grace. They spent a lot of time in their own heads about their feelings/each other, which is hysterical for me, an avid overthinker and generally anxious human in most situations. Growing up a yearbook nerd and (sometimes) dancer, the soccer lingo was a little bit confusing for me at first, but didn't take away from the storyline for me at all!

Overall, I thought this book was super fun and unique and will be recommending it to some of my friends/coworkers!

This is the second book by this author I have read and the second book that I really did not like. The characters are incredibly one dimensional, even within the grumpy/sunshine trope. While I initially was super interested in the pro soccer setting, it quickly fell away to juvenile interactions and sorry - extremely cringey sex scenes. There is no plot to speak of and everything feels forced and childish. Maybe I’m too old for books like this? I sped through the end just to finish but this will be the last book from this author I ever read.

Meryl Wilsner for the win again. Her characters are always interesting and complex, and the chemistry is always off the charts. Phoebe Matthews is a bubbly and energetic soccer player who wants to move up the ranks. Grace Henderson is an idol of Phoebe’s even though they are only four years apart in age. They are instantly attracted to one another, and at the same time, they are two very different people. Phoebe has undiagnosed ADHD, is chronically late, and has a hard time focusing if it’s something she’s not interested in. She’s also super open with her feelings. Grace keeps things much more tightly wound. She’s been burned from starting something with another soccer player in the past, so is reluctant to do so again. Of course the two can’t stay away from each other. The sex scenes are HOT, and their talks about dates are also really very sweet. I just loved the character development between these two as they navigate how to be in an adult relationship, communication, the soccer world, and New Orleans. I loved this book.

Phoebe thinks all of her dreams are coming true after signing with a professional soccer team- and that’s before she even gets to meet her childhood idol and team captain, Grace. Their rivalry turns into a friends with benefits situation but do they want the same thing?

What I loved:
- spicy!
- ADHD representation
- loveable characters
- grumpy/sunshine

I really enjoyed this book although the narration style did take away from the extremely loveable characters and their evident chemistry for me. There is some miscommunication in this one which is typically a pet peeve of mine, but there were also some parts with excellent communication so I’m calling it a win overall. If you’re looking for a spicy, sweet, sapphic Ted Lasso-esque romance, this might be the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy!

Officially 4.5!

It's got a grumpy/sunshine sports romance plot like Everything For You by Chloe Liese & alllll the spice like Delilah Green Doesn't Care 🥵 Best of both worlds!!!

A little too much of internal monologues & felt like it wrapped up a little quickly, but absolutely loved it otherwise!!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC :)

This book was incredibly cute. Not often there’s a football (soccer) story that has a good plot and focuses on the sport as well. It was a great balance.

This was an ARC I was given in return for an honest review.

Liked:
⭐️ Cute banter here and there
⭐️ LGBTQIA+ rep! 🌈
⭐️ Good descriptions of soccer games

Disliked:
⚫️ Using 3 different names for the characters— a nickname, first name only, or last name only. Really confusing and hard to keep up with.
⚫️ I was not expecting this “rom-com” to be so open-door spicy!
⚫️ Weird mental health assumption and making of a doctor’s appointment for a friend without consulting her first.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

<b> Thank you to Meryl Wilsner, St Martin's Press/St Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the ARC for this book. </b>

Small town, Pheobe Matthews can't believe it. She was an early draft to play for the New Orleans Krewes and has been called up to train with the Women's World Cup Soccer team with her childhood idol Grace Henderson. Grace a soccer prodigy, is introverted, serious, quiet, and slow to trust newcomers. Pheobe is the loud and proud, high-energy, class clown who flirts with all the cute girls. While she's the polar opposite of Pheobe new-kid joy and love for the game reminds Grace of what playing soccer used to be like for her when she started her career 10 years earlier. At first, Phoebe is star-struck by Grace but soon she finds that Grace is everything she wants to be as a player and be with as a partner. But how does she convince Grace (who isn't out to the public) that she not only isn't vying for her spot on the National Team but that she sees Grace as more than just a rockstar soccer player?

Pheobe Matthews is one of the best embodiments of a dynamic woman with ADHD I've read in a very long time. The way she is written is textbook and yet quippy and fun. It isn't until the end of the book that she is diagnosed as an adult but if I could show you my copy you'd see almost every page is marked by moments of impulsivity, overthinking, oversharing, time blindness, and more. Her communication style is somewhere between awkward oversharing and timid is incredibly poignant. Grace is clearly coded as Autistic and the end of the book implies that she too will consider looking for seeking a diagnosis. But Grace's lack of understanding of social cues combined with Phoebe's class clown self-defense mechanism leads to an interesting combination of misunderstandings in which two people so much on the same page actually end up being almost lost in translation.

This is a beautiful neurodivergent, sapphic, and sporty romance that hit on a lot of the stigmas that surround the queer and neurodivergent without being preachy about them or making light of them.

I'd give this book 4.5/5 stars and round up to 5. The reason for this is the narrator's voice was slightly off from what I prefer/am used to and at times I found this pulled me from the story. But it didn't detract from the overall awesomeness of the book.

This book was so good! I do wish it would've had some longer conversations to resolve things but I do think it resolved things well! It was fun and cute! It balance the romance with what they were all going through.

I am pre facing this review with the mention that I know nothing about soccer but what I learned from watching Ted Lasso. So as I started reading all I could picture of Grace was Roy Kent and Phoebe as Jamie Tart and they fall in love. I love the grouchy loner with a million responsibilities Grace and how Phoebe just barrels into her life. I am not a huge miscommunication trope but this was perfect and completely on brand with how I picture these two opposite attraction women.
I enjoyed how Phoebe makes Grace open up with who she is and how Grace takes care of Phoebe. I loved the teams and the soccer games. It was enough disruption that I felt I understood the game buy not so much that I got lost or bored.
There was tons of mental health representation which wad great and I loved how TikTok which is so relevant to this age was a huge part of diagnosis.
Major props for an excellent romance with good representation with seeming like it was checking boxes. Very much enjoyed this book and Grace is one of my favorite character this year.
One issue I had and maybe they will fix in the finished copies was the text messages where a little mushed in and it was hard to tell who was typing and when the typing stopped. I had to read some of the dialogue a few times yo figure out where the conversation was.

I would recommend to anyone that like Sapphic, sports, grumpy sunshine opposite attract with great representation and a fun sexy soccer story.

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed Mistakes Were Made by this author, and was a bit apprehensive about reading a book about professional soccer players as I am not interested in sports whatsoever but it was a fast and well written story. I found it easy to connect to the characters.

My favorite of Wilsner’s work so far! I loved the way Phoebe and Grace grew as people and learned to know themselves better as they fell in love. Plus, it was funny and fun and wonderful!

Ugh, I’m so upset with how frustrated I ended up being with this book!

I LOVE Meryl Wilsner and was so excited for this book (sapphics playing soccer?? Yes please!). The first 50% of the book absolutely lived up to my expectations and I was having a great time.

But then (Bum Bum BUM)… the miscommunication started. Although Phoebe and Grace both initially agreed that they weren’t looking for a relationship, when they had the “we’re exclusive” conversation there was a whole CHAPTER where Phoebe went on and on about how excited she was that they were girlfriends now. And I just KNEW Grace hadn’t taken it that way.

Well, low and behold, Grace did not, in fact, take it that way. She was under the impression that they were continuing their friends with benefits arrangement, just not sleeping with anyone else. And because they were keeping things secret to begin with and didn’t change that, this misunderstanding went on for a MONTH until the very end of the book, at which point it came out and it just… wasn’t an issue? Like, if you’re going to have a miscommunication go on for that long, it needs to end up being a bigger thing.

That said, even with how annoyed I was with the way their story played out, I really loved Phoebe and Grace as characters and the way they both helped each other get better at things they needed help getting better at. The part where Grace took it upon herself to set up and appointment for Phoebe to get diagnosed with ADHD because she knew it was overwhelming for her was, as a person who also has trouble making doctor’s appointments and definitely has undiagnosed ADHD, was particularly heartwarming.

So to sum it all up: if the miscommunication trope isn’t your thing, I might skip this one. But I’ll definitely be back for more Meryl Wilsner in the future!

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book.

I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a dnf for me. Phoebe and Grace weren’t likable characters, nor did I care enough about their chemistry to not be icked out by it.

Thank you for the ARC! It was definitely not the book for me, but that doesn't mean others wouldn't love it.

“Cleat Cute” is just that: a (very) cute story about two soccer players who say they don’t want a relationship, but do they really? This book was highly readable, fun, and a bit spicy at times (but not egregiously so). It was one of those where you wanted to keep on reading but at that same time you wanted to get to the…resolution. I may not be a soccer fan but this book had me rooting for Grace, Phoebe, and all the Krewe players!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Phoebe Matthews can’t believe it when she gets to be on the same soccer team as the legendary Grace Henderson. Not only did she grow up with a poster of Grace on her walls, she’s looked up to Grace as an athlete since forever. The thought of being teammates with benefits doesn’t even occur to her, until it does. No one gets under Grace’s skin like Phoebe. Surely if she gets Phoebe out of her system then she’ll be able to focus? When Grace is benched for an injury, Phoebe takes her place in a tournament. If forced to choose between their romance or competing for spots on the team, what will they choose?

This was my first book from Meryl Wilsner, but definitely not my last- I loved it!! Readers who enjoyed A League of Their Own and the sapphic blend of romance and sports will love this book. Grace and Phoebe have incredible chemistry and very steamy scenes. Phoebe is such a fun-loving and warm character who matches up so well with Grace! Grace has needed to be serious about soccer for such a long time to accomplish her goals that she’s forgotten some of the joy. I liked the ADHD and autism rep and it seemed very well done. There was fantastic LGBTQ+ rep throughout the entire book! The dialogue was filled with witty banter. There was a strong supporting cast in the team that brought out the best in Phoebe and Grace. I loved their adventures touring New Orleans, the hair-braiding scenes (!!), and the scorching tension between them.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone! Readers who loved Fly With Me (Andie Burke), Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail (Ashley Herring Blake), and Count Your Lucky Stars (Alexandria Bellefleur) will love Cleat Cute. Readers who enjoy sapphic sports romance, A League of Their Own, steamy scenes, and engaging characters will absolutely love this book!

Thank you to Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!
There were some things I loved about this book and some things I hated. I think my expectations were too high just based off of the premise - sapphic sports enemies to friends to lovers 🥵 but half of the book was kind of repetitive sex scenes (that used the c word way too much 😵‍💫) and I feel like the ADHD/autism took a lot more of a front seat than I expected. I would have rather read more about soccer, tbh. The writing also felt pretty juvenile. I did really enjoy the soccer bits, and I liked Phoebe’s character especially. Wish there was more of the siblings because they seemed really promising. Still a good book but could use some really good editing before publishing.

Lesbians and soccer, a pairing as old as time. A cute read in a world cup year. This book has Meryl’s trademark spice (so a lot of it, and it’s good), plus loveable main characters Phoebe and Grace are so compelling that I rushed through the book in a day.

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

First off, let me say thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Grace Henderson has been the star of the US Women's National Soccer Team for 10 years, starting her career at the young age of 16. But when she's sidelined with an injury, the bold rookie, Phoebe Matthews, fills in for her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn't - loud, energetic, and a big jokester. Phoebe 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 teammate. The last thing either of them expect is becoming FWB, and both are catching feelings in secret. As the tension grows from both the season and their situationship, will both players realize they care more about each other than making the roster?

What I liked:
- The premise - in the popularity of sports romances, I was stoked to see a WOMEN"S sports romance.
- The pining and flirting in the first portion of the book! Grace & Phoebe's bet in their training camp kind of set fire to their little playful romance and I liked that the other players were in on it too.
- There was neurodivergent rep! I definitely assumed Phoebe had ADHD (as Grace did throughout the book) but it made her a little feisty which I liked.
- The spicy scenes! There was the perfect amount of spice, and it was done REALLY well!

What I didn't like:
- How the neurodivergent rep was handled. If there was going to be talk about autism/ADHD, especially in the two main characters, it should have been done WELL before the last 50 pages of the novel.
- THE WRITING. I have zero issue with third person writing (I prefer first person, but I don't feel I'm alone on that) but the way this was handled took me right out of my enjoyment of the book. It was third person present tense, but also from both MC's POV, so not only did I get confused as to who I was supposed to be following, there was also WAY too much inner monologue. The whole "Grace did this" & "Phoebe said that" thing was so overdone - it was very heavy on the tell-not-show style of writing. Like... just show the reader what they're doing? If this was written in first person POV maybe it would have been better? I just couldn't get into it.

Because I love a good sapphic love story, I did pick up Meryl Wilsner's other two novels she has out to see if they're written any different, so I'm not completely writing her off. Honestly, probably because DAMN she knows how to write some spice. However, I won't be recommending this particular novel.

Meryl Wilsner really knows how to write characters you as the reader will fall for. Cleat Cute is no exception to this. Grace Henderson is the quiet, reserved captain of the women’s soccer team, and Phoebe Matthews is the talkative, make friends with everyone new recruit. At first they clash, and then they learn more about each other as the story goes on and they fall.
I couldn’t read this book fast enough. I was eating it up as the teammates worked together to overcome so many obstacles and emotional challenges in their lives.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.