I loved Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner last year, so I was excited to dive into this one! I've been on a huge sapphic romance kick lately and this one was sooo good. And I'm one of the romance readers that only likes sports when they're in my books, so I loved that this one was a rivals to lovers soccer romance!

First I have to make sure everyone knows that it's HOLY STEAMY SCENES. As the author showed me last year, they are great at writing them and that continued on in this book. Besides the sexy times, I really enjoyed both Grace and Phoebe - I related to both at times and it turns out they neurodivergent so it makes a lot of sense! It was really interesting watching the two of them figure out how to be together and what that looks like for them - they were both quirky in their own ways, but I personally felt it was realistic. I also learned so much about soccer and the USWNT, which I only really know what makes the headlines (unfortunately).

I definitely recommend this book - it's a fun read with some bits of seriousness included in ways that make sense and it's SAPPHIC! If the age gap in Mistakes Were Made wasn't for you, then definitely give this one a chance since you get all things Meryl Wilsner does well without the age gap!

Note (slight spoilers):

I'll be honest that the book has a lot of internal monologuing with both characters, but knowing they are ND it really makes a lot of sense because of how their brains work. The one thing that disappointed me is how late in the book it was revealed that the two characters might be ND. I know some people DNFd because they found the characters "annoying", but I do wonder if that could have been addressed earlier on to maybe generate some empathy. I could see it from a mile away, but I'm like them. I know people may still find them annoying even with that knowledge but it might convince some more readers to stick around!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy. All opinions are my own.

eARC received for review from NetGalley

2.5/5⭐️

I was so excited to read Cleat Cute which is why it is so disappointing that I disliked it so much. I found it so easy to put the book down and not return for days because it (the plot, the characters, etc.) we’re easily forgettable. Other that the representation, I find it hard to find something I really even liked about the book.

Besides the lack of interest I felt, my main contention was how much I truly hate 3rd person POV. Sometimes I can ignore it but I think if Cleat Cute had been written in almost any other POV it would’ve been so much better. The story seemed to just fall flat like there was no depth the any of the characters or plot points. While yes, there are multiple “turning point” events in the book, it was almost like every page was just a bullet point list of occurrences.

I can see this book being a huge success but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 Stars!

I really really enjoyed this book. It was the first book i've read in a long time where I just wanted to savour the story. I only read a few chapters every night, as I didn't want to fly through the book and have to say goodbye to the characters.

I've never been into sports, much less soccer, but I am a Ted Lasso fan, so I could keep up with some of the soccer references.

I loved the neurodivergent representation, Phoebe with ADHD and Grace possibly being on the autism spectrum. I was able to relate to some of what they were going through.

The progression of their love and relationship was very wholesome.

I did have a bit of a hard time to adjust to the writing style at first, but once I did, I started to enjoy it. I will definitely be checking out Meryl's other books and I can't wait!

This is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year and I can tell it'll be one that i'll be thinking back on for awhile.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Yo I friggin loved this!

I was thinking maybe Meryl Wilsner wasn't for me- I liked their debut ok but I just couldn't get into Mistakes Were Made. But I decided to give them another try because this just ticks so many boxes for me and I'm so glad I did!

This book was fun and sweet and funny and hot as hell. I loved all the soccer talk (idk why because I have never watched a game outside of when my best friend played in high school but I love soccer books) and the different dynamics between the different players on the teams. The progression of Grace and Phoebe's relationship was perfect and I really loved them both.

By god Meryl YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN. This book is everything i've wanted in the wlw romance genre MY WHOLE LIFE. i will read anything you write seriously. the grumpy sunshine aspect *chefs kiss* we all know a type a woman like Grace, how could you not fall for her??? anyway kudos you're exactly what we needed

4/5 Stars

Overall this was such a fun read! I've been in a soccer mood since the last season of Ted Lasso aired, so this was perfect for me!

I thought that at times the story dragged a bit and it tended to repeat itself at times; however, the relationship with Phoebe and Grace thoroughly made up for it. They were the cutest and I loved the juxtaposition of their relationship with the sport of soccer. It was interesting to read the perspective of someone who is just starting out in the professional sports world vs someone who has been in that world since she was 16.

I loved the representation throughout this story with queerness as well as ADHD and Autism, along with the stigma around diagnosis of neurodivergence. It was beautiful to see Grace's care for Pheobe in wanting to get her help with her ADHD symptoms.

I felt that there was entirely too much miscommunication for me, but the conversations had between the lovers were extremely mature and felt very lifelike.

Overall, a blast and I can't wait for it to come out in September!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Meryl Wilsner for this EARC in exchange for my honest review!

Calling all Ted Lasso fans!

"Cleat Cute' was exactly the dose of soccer love I needed following the end of season 3 of Ted Lasso. Picture if Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt were lovers without the rest of the team knowing about it. This book was quirky, sporty, and definitely very steamy in several moments.

I enjoyed the back and forth POVs of the two main characters, but I did feel as though it occasionally made the story just feel...disjointed. One character would be feeling something and the chapter would end and immediately switch to the other main character, so it felt like lots of thoughts and feelings were just being mentioned for the sake of acknowledging them with no resolution. There was also A LOT of internal monologuing. A looooot. I struggle with that more often than not, but the subject matter and characters kept me invested in the story. This was a good pride month read for me. Three stars.

A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC of Cleat Cute in exchange for my honest review!

Not many authors could get me to read a book about soccer, but Meryl Wilsner is one of them. I’m always a sucker for a good sapphic contemporary romance, and while this wasn’t my favorite by this author, I still enjoyed it because was unapologetically queer and had really well done neurodivergent representation.
My only dislike of this book was that there was so much internal monologue that the story felt clunky in places and kind of dragged the pacing. Besides that, Phoebe and Grace were a really cute couple and I enjoyed getting to read about two people who just genuinely get each other.

This was a fun grumpy/sunshine, dual POV, Sapphic sports romance between the veteren and the rookie on a professional women's soccer team. Set in New Orleans, I really enjoyed all the stops around the city and getting immersed in the world of soccer (PSA there is a lot of technical soccer talk sprinkled throughout the book but I didn't mind it personally).

While this book had some good open door spice, I felt like the characters often chose to ignore important conversations by having sex instead. Also, on the one hand it's amazing that both the MCs seem to be neurodiverse. Phoebe is undiagnosed with ADHD and this doesn't come up until near the very end of the book and Grace is CLEARY autistic and this isn't specifically stated at all in the book, which really bothered me.

Otherwise, I liked the story and would recommend for fans of books like Everything for you by Chloe Liese or The long game by Elena Armas. Many thanks to NetGalley and SMPRomance for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5⭐️

I'll update with a longer review closer to the release date. But this was such a lovely read!

This is a great book for those looking for a variety of representation in a sapphic romance story.
As far as I’m aware, the main characters are both lesbians. There are also some brief moments where non-binary, and trans folk are mentioned.
While never explicitly stated, both of the main characters are clearly neurodivergent - one is autistic while the other is ADHD. To be honest, it wasn’t my favorite portrayal of either disability - I felt that it played a little into stereotypes.
Regarding the story itself, I felt that the plot dragged a little.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone who loves sapphic romance.

there were things I equally loved and didn't like about this book and i'm sad that I didn't enjoy it more. i loved grace's character mostly, I connected to her more but I also feel like she wasnt explored much either. i feel like there was so much fighting and they distracted from it with a sex scene right afterwards and it would throw me off. i wish there was a slowburn build up instead. i also feel like the way they handled pheobe having ADHD was very odd. the third person pov was also very confusing for me too. overall, i think the book just isn't for me. I dont connect well with friends with benefits or third person pov but if you like those things id say give it a try.
thank you netgalley and st martin's press for the arc.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Out of the three Meryl Wilsner books I've read so far this one is my favourite - which is saying a lot because I am usually not one for sports romances. The chemistry between Grace and Phoebe was great so I had fun reading and rooting for them as a couple, but they also had solid character arcs of their own which made them compelling individually as well as a together. Phoebe is new to the world of professional soccer trying to figure out her career, while Grace is a veteran who is overcoming injury and emotional burnout of being a high profile athlete. The two bring out the best in each other and support each other through challenges. There was also really good mental health rep in this book which I very much appreciated!

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

3 out of 5 stars for what promised to be a good book, but just didn't hook me fast enough.

Meryl Wilsner is one of the new greats in romance authors out there. They (pronouns on their Instagram) know how to hit a book out of the park.
Cleat Cute has everything that should have caught me up and forced me to never put it down: LGBT rep, Neurodivergence rep, sports romance-- particularly women's soccer!
Unfortunately the timing of me reading this has a negative effect on my ability to get through this book. I am DNF-ing Cleat Cute (for now) and hope to be able to pick it up in the future.

Third time's the charm for me with Meryl Wilsner's book, apparently, and I couldn't be happier about it! I've been wanting to love their books so much and not really connecting, and I'm so happy I finally did.

Something about this romance made me soft from the start. I wasn't sure exactly what appealed to me so much, but then I realized "hey, Phoebe has ADHD". And somewhat later I started thinking "hey, is Grace autistic?" Which for me explains why I loved this so much, because that's my absolute favourite dynamic (being autistic myself).

I loved how much of this book was focused on the characters and the romance, with the plot taking somewhat of a backseat, because while I love sports romance, I don't really care all that much about sports in itself, and especially not about soccer.

Sapphic girl fall!!! I was so excited for this one. As someone who found Bend it like Beckham FORMATIVE, the moment I saw this cover, I knew i had to read it!

...Except I didn't like it that much. There was a LOT of telling-not-showing, and I couldn't handle it. Everything felt so insular to the chracters, that nothing ever felt like it was developing between them. I would hear about how good they were, what they did, but was never SHOWN this.

I just don't think I was buying their chemistry. And it felt so long. maybe that was just the style of the writing, and not the actual length of the story, but sadly this was a miss for me.

I can see it appealing to other folks, so I am excited for it to come out and to stock it at the store, but its not the new fav I thought it would be.

Overall, this was cute and I enjoyed it! I liked the two main characters and their relationship was interesting and felt believable.

I liked how although it was a sports romance, soccer wasn’t a main focus and the story didn’t get too bogged down by the technical details of the game.

The sex scenes were really hot and well-written. Sometimes the dialogue was a bit clunky and sort of threw off the scenes, but it wasn’t too bad.

However, there were some misses - the internal monologuing was almost unbearable. It was so excessive and unnecessary - show don’t tell!

I also felt the mental health component came weirdly late in the story and it kind of threw off the whole relationship dynamic really late in the story.

Cleat Cute is a winner! From the first page, I was charmed by Grace's awkwardness and Phoebe's exuberance. These two are magic together and will have readers rooting for their happy ending, both on and off the field.

Even liking futbol, I'm not a fan of sports related books. This one has me a bit over the fence and I have to revisit it and my review. BRB.

I didn't know that I needed a sweet and sexy Sapphic novel featuring sexy soccer pros until I read this book! Cleat Cute is just the right mix of sport content and romance with a touch of fan fic vibes for those of us who love women's soccer. Grace, the quiet young but seasoned pro, and Phoebe, the loud up-and-coming phenom, make a great couple in this opposites attract pairing. I did NOT want it to end! I loved the messy, neurodivergent characters in this novel. They had me laughing and swooning and coming back for more. I enjoyed every page!