Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner was - mostly - a joy! The Roy Kent-like main character and dual POV really ensnared me immediately, but after about 50% of the way through the novel, I found my interest really waning.

Meryl Wilsner knows how to write the best chemistry between love interests. I know nothing about soccer but was enthralled the entire time. Really good queer representation throughout (two lesbian main characters, trans masculine character, bisexual and pansexual side characters). I really connected with Grace’s character and I thought Phoebe’s character was unique and so much fun. Absolutely one of the best sapphic romances I’ve read (but Meryl’s Mistakes Were Made will always be my fav by them).

Phoebe Matthews receives the opportunity of a lifetime when she is called up to the practice with the U.S. Women's Soccer national team ahead of the World Cup. Even better, she'll be practicing with Grace Henderson, her childhood soccer crush. Grace meanwhile has lost her love of the game and is feeling bogged down by media appearances and a twinge in her hip. When a new recruit joins the national team for camp, at first she finds her annoying, but very attractive. After a lost best results in a secret kiss, Phoebe and Grace fall into a friends with benefits situation, which they're both happy with for a time. However, the more time the two spend together, the harder it is to deny their deeper connection.

Cleat Cute is hilarious and heartfelt, with strong representation throughout. Grace and Phoebe's relationship is well-developed, and both women grow into their relationship together as they mature individually. Readers will find themselves rooting for the main characters as well as the side characters, including Phoebe's friend Gabby and her brother, Teddy.

Arc received from netgalley! Cute story of sports victory. Braiding hair is definitely flirting. Lived the representation of adhd and autism in adult women. Character development could have been more. Definitely interested in this author in the future

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Meryl Wilsner has done it again.

I love sapphic romances and I love sports romance, but this was my first time reading a sapphic sports romance. My standards are impossibly high now.

The romance is amazing. We have Phoebe and Grace in an opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, coworkers romance. Both characters have incredible development as they work through the issues in their life with help from the other.

The cast is filled with diverse characters. The novel also touches on harder subjects like the impacts of stardom on celebrities’ personal lives in addition to the importance of physical and mental health.

I loved this book and I can’t wait to read Wilsner’s next one.

Another cute Meryl Wilsner novel! Grace and Phoebe were great as individuals and great as friends with benefits. This book also brought great autism and ADHD representation. The story moved quickly and was engaging throughout.

Grace and Pheobe are both teammates and professional soccer players. Phoebe is new, drafted right out of her last year of college, flirty and great at soccer. Grace is the team's star player, questioning her passion for soccer, doesn't like to lose and is quite stoic.

Meryl Wilsner is the queen of steamy sapphic romcoms. I loved this book and the deep dive into both Grace and Phoebe as individuals and as friends with benefits. The autism and ADHD representation was handled extremely well, and I felt excited when Grace identified with autism through TikTok, as I did too. The story moved quickly and I was engaged the whole time. While miscommunication tropes don’t always sit right with me, having the dual POV and inside knowledge with each characters stance on their relationship made it extremely compelling.

This book was, as the title suggests, cute! Every character felt authentic and stayed true to themselves. I wish we had spent more time with the supporting characters- I would have loved to hear more about there stories! Overall a very fun romance!

A sapphic grumpy x sunshine sports romance?! Sign me up

As with any book I’ve read by Meryl Wilsner I ate this book up and read it in one sitting.

I will always love a well done grumpy x sunshine book but make it sapphic and it’s 10x better. The characters in this book were believable, the conflicts were very realistic and don’t get me started on the disability rep. I felt so seen reading this book. The struggles Phoebe has with her ADHD and Grace with her autism (although this was never confirmed it was pretty clear to me that Grace was to be portrayed as autistic). Overall I loved every part of this book.. the soccer, the spice, the humour, and oh boy the way phoebe and grace contrasted each other was A+.

Final rating: 4.75/5⭐️

I devoured this book! I know very little about soccer as it’s not my favorite sport. Yet, as a queer athlete myself, I found myself relating to the characters in this book so much it brought tears to my eyes. I giggled at the conversations between the teammates, my hurt clenched when things got intense, and I was left feeling seen and recognized rather than overlooked.

I have already raved about this book to anyone who will listen and I intend to continue to rave about it. I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy of this book once it actually comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for choosing me as an ARC reader. This book has given me immense joy to experience.

Is it possible to like a book TOO much? Meryl Wisner has written some of my favorite books so I was delighted to get early access to "Cleat Cute." I'm not a "sports gay" but Wilsner had me invested in every aspect of this sweet, spicy, sapphic soccer story. The fun banter between perfectly imperfect teammates Phoebe and Grace as they navigate their "situation" and life's obstacles made it hard for me to put the book down.

Oh, boy. Consider me a Meryl Wilsner stan!

After reading Mistakes Were Made and finding out a new book by Wilsner was in the works, I knew I needed to get my hands on a copy ASAP. Luckily, this book did not pale in comparison to my hype. Cleat Cute follows two at-odds teammates, Phoebe and Grace, as they work through the world of professional soccer playing. Phoebe Matthews is new to the team, being drafted right out of her last year of college, and Grace Henderson is the team's star player, a wunderkind who is starting to wonder if soccer is still her passion. Phoebe is flirty, high energy, and too good at what she does to ignore; Grace is stoic, solitary, and doesn't like to lose.

It's a match made in heaven.

This book has it all: steam, sweaty, dirty talking, typical sapphic I-didn't-know-we-were-dating plots, and a lot of fun. Fans of Wilsner know she doesn't disappoint when it comes to that "unhinged cartoon cover" romance and this is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed a solid 85% of this book, though I have to there is a underdeveloped plot like about Phoebe's possible ADHD that pissed me off a little bit (I don't like the idea of someone suggesting a person be medicated).

Overall, this takes home the gold. Get it? Because sports?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A Sports romance with sapphics and grumpy/sunshine? Love! Overall, I really loved the characters and the setting and how the characters developed. I personally thought they had great chemistry and spice! All that to say, I wanted more conflict! I wish they’d leaned in a bit harder to the jackass coach being bad at his job or the poor miscommunication about their relationship. Like I kept waiting for that shoe to drop and it just didn’t. Overall, I still loved it though!

Meryl Wilsner does it again with a sweet and spicy sapphic romance where the conflicts aren't contrived or solely based on miscommunication! If you enjoyed their previous books, this one should be next on your list.

I'm a sucker for FWB to lovers so I absolutely loved this story. Grace and Phoebe's romance was tender and messy, the steamy scenes were plentiful and hot, and the supporting characters—specifically their teammates—felt like they were well-integrated into the story (which is usually my main gripe about romance novels). I'm not a sports dyke at all so was a little worried that everything related to the setting would go over my head but thankfully that wasn't the case (nor did I feel like things were being overexplained for my sake).

CW for explicit sexual conent, some familial bullying (challenged), alcohol use, panic attack, toxic relationship (past, off-page)

Thanks to NetGalley and Rivka Holler at St Martin's Press for the digital ARC!

First of all let me state that when I leave reviews I tend to focus on the writing and how I connected to the story emotionally vs summarizing the story, especially if it is already well done in the description (which this book is).

With that being said, Cleat Cute is a well-written grumpy sunshine rom-com with low angst and plenty of adorable and swoony moments. Wilsner’s writing is sharp and comedic, with fresh and witty dialogue and a fleshed out cast of supporting characters. Oh and props for the trans/enby representation too!

The spice level was perfect for this kind of friends with benefits to lovers story. I love how the author still maintains somewhat of a simmering build up due to an interesting kissing bet that backfires. And that locker room scene?!?! *chef’s kiss*

The only critique I really have and the reason I didn’t give it a perfect score is at times I felt that the book relied on humor a little too heavily and some of it was a little repetitive. Also (minor spoiler ahead) there are mental health issues mentioned for both characters but I felt that more focus on Grace’s possible autism diagnosis could have been expanded upon earlier in the book. It would have lent to a deeper emotional connection and understanding of her decisions and personality early on and a more fleshed out character overall.

Meryl Wilsner delivers big with her 3rd published novel, a sports themed romcom Cleat Cute. Sports romance’s are my absolute favorite and this was a treat to read. We are introduced to Phoebe Matthew’s a fresh out of collage and newly drafted NWSL player just getting her first taste of USWNT and Grace Henderson a USWNT veteran and Phoebe’s NWSL Captain to be.
I really connected to Phoebe’s character because i have ADHD myself and struggle with so many of the things she does it was an unexpected pleasure to read about. Phoebe and Grace’s chemistry was great from the start and the evolution and growth of these two wonderful people was a joy to experience.
10/10

Cleat Cute is the first book I’ve ever read with a sports theme to it and I’m not going to lie I was worried I wouldn’t be into it. Let me tell you I loved it. Now I am not coming from a big soccer background, I’m not sure I’ve ever watched a soccer game outside of taking pictures for my high schools yearbook. I was hooked though! Meryl did a wonderful job at making the soccer aspect easy to understand even if you’re like me and don’t know much about the sport. Cleat Cute has in my opinion amazing neurodivergent and queer representation. I really related to Grace and felt so seen in ways that I have not experienced in other books and believe me I’ve been looking for this type of representation for awhile now. If you’re looking for a sapphic romance that tackles the undiagnosed neurodivergent experience (not the main theme, but it’s there), or love friends to lovers, and a grumpy/sunshine dynamic I highly suggest picking this one up!

Cleat Cute is a super fun sports romance of telling the story of the rookie soccer player Phoebe joining the team of her idol, Grace, and their discoveries and growth as they fall in love with each other and redefine their relationship to the sport. This book was super steamy, which I loved! What starts out as a vaguely defined, smoldering friends-with-benefits relationship grows into something more, and the characters definitely explore that through their sexual dynamic.

I think this book is really a love letter to queer sports fans. I also love that it includes topics such as neurodiversity, with two main characters whose brains work in different ways. I do with that Phoebe was given a little more space around her ADHD, it felt like others were making decisions for her.

I reduced. a star because of pacing. I felt that things were a little stop-and-go. I think its good when sports stories build momentum around a particular tournament or season, but this didn't really have that through line. If you're more into soccer than me it might not matter, or if you're really into the steaminess (haha).

Thank you to Net Galley, Meryl Wilsner, and St. Martin's for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I loved Mistakes Were Made and I don't want to compare books at all as they're completely different, that said, MWM felt like a more centred novel. The grumpy/sunshine dynamic between Phoebe and Grace was sweet and they complimented each other well, yet Grace felt developed at the start and then underdeveloped by about 70% through when the miscommunication trope came in. I felt like we didn't have enough context with Grace's sister to understand why Grace would assume Phoebe was on medication; that was a conversation that didn't feel set up by the previous chapters. Additionally, the miscommunication was not solid here - it went so fast I didn't realise Phoebe had assumed they were girlfriends and this miscommunication lasted a full month before the word girlfriend was said aloud? I found that hard to track given that the start had such solid bones.

I'm excited to read this book again once it's released and will purchase it as I'm a Wilsner fan and know I'll enjoy the reread!

I'm usually not someone who picks up sports romances, so I was surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this story. Meryl Wilsner is quite talented at making miscommunication as frustrating as it can be in real life, but the end made all the tensions ease. While the story involves playing for a women's soccer team, it's not the main focus by any means. I had a lot of fun reading this — cried a little, laughed a lot, and also blushed a bit at the spicier scenes. My only complaint is calling the labia "wet folds." Something about that particular phrase instantly turned me off.