A cute, fluffy, sapphic sports romance. It sounds like everything I’d love!

Both Phoebe and Grace set out from nearly right at the beginning that they’re going to be friends with benefits. I felt like the “rivals” part was missing mostly. I also felt like they got together so fast for something marketed as “rivals.”

Even though they have this arrangement and are friends and teammates, this book is RIDDLED with miscommunication. At every possible turn, the two of them use sex to distract each other for forming a deeper connection. At one point one of them thought they were in an exclusive relationship, and the other didn’t even know 🤦🏻‍♀️

Phoebe and Grace both present as neurodivergent, but when the topics are talked about, Phoebe reacts with anger and a seemingly internalized stigma against neurodivergence/ADHD. When Grace tries to help her, she turns to tiktok of all places for information on ADHD. Please, y’all, don’t self-diagnose on tiktok.

I enjoyed the found family vibes and the team dynamics. It’s one of my favorite parts about reading sports romances. While the friends with benefits is pretty fast, the actual relationship development is pretty slow burn.

If you’re looking for a low stakes, sapphic friends with benefits sports rom this is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillion Audio, and St. Martins Press for the advance listers copy!

I struggled with this one. I really kept waiting for Grace to not be the most miserable person ever and I gave up at 75%. This wasn't really grumpy/sunshine it was more like overbearing/unbearable. I think probably the biggest misstep was the exposition masquerading as introspection especially since it involved mostly miscommunications. I can't stand a plot that relies on miscommunications and wont have the characters just talk to each other. Plus I think the inner monologue would have benefited from a little romance, at least it would have drawn me in more. Instead they were mostly just friends with benefits and then would info dump stuff while turning things over in their minds. Yes there was lots of steamy scenes but I didn't like the characters and found their one upmanship and dirty talk a turn off. Dana Varden and Zim Avaltrades were great narrators and I enjoyed their contributions. I really wanted to like this because I loved Mistakes Were Made and I requested an advance copy as soon as it was available. Unfortunately this just really didn't work for me. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Edit to add that I learned that both characters are supposed to be neurodivergent coded. I think that maybe if we opened the book with Grace and got to know her habits and comfort zone then maybe I would be in a better spot to empathize with the disruption Phoebe brings...maybe. There really isn't great rep for either ADHD or autism.

2.5
I really wanted to like this, but I really struggled with Grace the entire book. I find it really infuriating when a character makes all these assumptions rather than just having a conversation with anyone and then they self sabotage and blame others. It was extra frustrating with these two because Phoebe is sooo communicative and really works with Grace to help her get more comfortable verbalizing her thoughts, feelings and needs, and while there ends up being a reason for why Grace has a hard time with it (and I'd like to mention I didn't particularly care for how that was revealed and casually tossed aside). I just really didn't enjoy being in Grace's head very much.

And I don't know if I just don't listen to enough romance (I definitely don't), but the dirty talk in this just didn't work for me, especially the use of the pet name "baby girl"....I had a big ick every time it was used.

***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Even though she's only 26, Grace is beginning to feel old. Perhaps it's because she's been playing soccer professionally for 10 years. Perhaps it's because her hip is starting to hurt her. Or maybe it's because her newest teammate is full of youthful exuberance. Phoebe is bold, brash, and ready to play. Grace struggles with her attraction to Phoebe. She doesn't want a relationship, but she doesn't want to stop spending time with Phoebe. But when an injury threatens to sideline Grace, she finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about what she wanted.

I loved Grace's story. It felt so similar to my own (even though we are in completely different worlds). Although she is doing something that she loves, she's let expectations steal away her joy. I really enjoyed following her journey. There were so many times I wanted to hug Grace. As the book went on, it became obvious to me that she is autistic and although it was never addressed, it was good to see her recognize that she needed to learn about that part of herself that she'd never really addressed before.

I struggled with the repetitive nature of the inner monologues, both Grace's and Phoebe's. There were times I had myself checking that I hadn't accidently rewound the audio book because I could have sworn that I'd already listened to an exact passage earlier.

Vibes: soccer babes obvi, grumpy/sunshine, undiagnosed ASD, "it's no strings attached what could possibly go wrong"... come on now.

Phoebe Matthews has always wanted to be drafted for the USWNT, and she's long idolized star player Grace Henderson. But never meet your heroes, because Grace is cold and rigid... until she and Phoebe start hooking up on the low, no strings attached. Well, she's still cold and frigid after--but is that really what's going on? When unexpected issues throw Grace and Phoebe into a true rivalry, they're forced to confront what the hell they're doing and what it actually means.

This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I loved the setup, I loved the personality clash between Grace and Phoebe, and I loved the issues the book touched upon (also, the sex scenes). But a stylistic choice or two kept me from connecting with the book quite as much as I would have otherwise.

Quick Takes:

--This is a true grumpy/sunshine, albeit with some thoughtful exploration of what "grumpy" actually means. Grace is all business, and Phoebe is bouncy, full of nervous energy and chatter. I'll be honest: I did like Grace more, and that may be because I relate to her more. Phoebe is... a lot. But she's also a sweet person, and it's easy to see why Grace can't get her out of her head. Plus, the friction between them just makes Grace's obsessive thoughts more amusing.

Thing is, Grace's "grumpiness" clearly comes from her being on the spectrum and undiagnosed, something I feel the book explores with sensitivity. It doesn't feel like you're having diagnoses summarized before you; a lot of it is communicated through clear indicators in Grace's inner monologue. She's so in her head, and that's what's really keeping her from truly bonding with people--it's not a lack of care (if anything, it's the opposite).

--The soccer setting is great, and at the end of the day, I kind of feel like in general... we need more sapphic sports romances. Like, this is a genre-wide issue, but the amount of M/M sports romances compared to F/F sports romances... really doesn't seem to reflect reality, at least in terms of out players. The book does begin with a very correct Megan Rapinoe quote, much appreciated.

That said, the soccer part isn't hard to understand if you're not an expert. I'm not an expert, just a casual viewer during World Cup Times. I wasn't confused at all.

--A lot of Grace's issues in general are so relatable. She feels basically useless and like she has no point when she's not pushing for the team. So much of her identity is wrapped up in this one thing that when she's without it, even temporarily, she has no idea what she's here for. It definitely hits hard.

--So, why wasn't this a slam dunk for me? I struggled with the tense choices and heavy inner monologue. This is third person present tense, which I'm not inherently against, and it may work better in a traditional reading experience (my ARC was an audiobook). As it is, I felt a bit removed from the story, and it's a lot to hear "Grace thinks", "Phoebe thinks", over and over. It doesn't give you the sense that you're really living the story with the characters. You're just experiencing it on the sidelines.

That said, there are absolutely people who will love the effect this has, and they probably won't interpret it in the same way I did. I do think this is less a "mistake" and more "it's gonna hit for some and miss for others" issue.

The Sex:

It starts early and it starts good, and it doesn't let up. I loved the sex scenes in this book, and the way pleasure was handled in general. Like I said, Grace gets in her head a lot, and not only is Phoebe able to get head out of her head (with some head) she also has great conversations with her about pleasure and what it means. The book doesn't chase almighty climax (though there are plenty of those). It demonstrates how sex is about other types of pleasure too, as well as--sometimes--emotional intimacy.

But yeah, there's a lot of sex in this one and I do approve.

While I liked a lot about Cleat Cute, and I for sure think it's going to nail it for a lot of readers, the tense choice did keep me from fully connecting with it. I would, however, recommend this to many readers.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I flew through this book despite not being too interested in soccer (I learned a lot about the sport though) since I did really like the characters. I loved the team camaraderie described and both Phoebe and Grace's devotion to soccer. There was great chemistry between the main characters. What didn't work as well: there was certainly a lot of miscommunication in this book which at times felt a bit unbelievable. I was also frustrated with Grace in terms of assumptions she made about Phoebe's mental health and the initiative she took to "help" Phoebe thrive, as well as Phoebe's immediate willingness to forgive Grace- repeatedly.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for a chance to review this book.

It's very cute, but I do feel like my hopes were so very high after her last book that I was a bit disappointed in the romantic side. The soccer storyline and the will-they- won't-they took up so much that the actual relationship seemed to lose focus. 3.5⭐️ overall, anyways, for a lighthearted, steamy Sapphic romance, we definitely don't get enough of those

***4.5 Stars***

Overall,
Meryl Wilsner is quickly becoming an instant buy for me! As a former Soccer girly this book hit all the spots and all the feels. I absolutely love the characters. The disability rep is fantastic, the Sapphic love is spicy and the story is beautiful. I love them and want to be their best friends. Oh and the hair braiding hit home so hard. I was the hair braider for my team!

Recommendation,
If you love romance, looking for a good Sapphic romance and want to add a little sports romance in there this book is for you.

***Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Griffin for the chance to read this early in exchange for my free and honest review***

✨ Review ✨ Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner; Narrated by Dana Varden; Zim Avaltrades

This book was the absolute cutest! Rookie Phoebe Matthews and long-time soccer star Grace Henderson meet up at a training camp for the women's national team before their season will start on the same New Orleans women's team. Grace is cool and collected and Phoebe is a ball of chaotic energy, but as Phoebe arrives early for the pre-season they begin to build a friendship. Despite their very different backgrounds, they start to hit it off, and this story is just so adorable!

I loved how this book also explored neurodivergence in adult women -- both Phoebe and Grace have certain traits that lead to them exploring these things. I thought it was shared positively and in a way that was relatable!

The book is also just a really lovely celebration of queerness in women's sports communities!

Overall, I loved this read, and didn't want to switch from the audio to the ebook because the narrators were just so good at hooking me into the story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: contemporary f/f romance, sports romance
Setting: New Orleans and with the national team's training
Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
Pub Date: 19 Sep 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ women's soccer + queer relationships
⭕️ friends to lovers
⭕️ New Orleans and delicious food

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Griffin and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Gah I wanted to connect and love this one so much but it fell short for me unfortunately. I’ve played soccer my whole life so it wasn’t the soccer setting or terminology but rather after a strong opening, the plot just seemed to stall.
I connected with the undiagnosed ADHD/Autism representation and really liked/connected with Phoebe but overall found the connection between Grace and Phoebe to be immature and forced. The steamy scenes are well-written and super spicy but because I wasn’t invested in the couple’s connection they also fell flat for me. They heaps of miscommunication was what finally rounded out the shortcomings for me as well. Love the author, love the idea, and I think others will connect and enjoy this book, but it was not a home run for me. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the advanced listener’s copy in exchange for my review. Kudos to both narrators who did an excellent job conveying the full personalities of both unique characters.

Whew this was ROUGH to listen to. Third person present tense? I searched the ebook and “Grace” is said more than 1000 times. It was slightly better to read when I switched to the ebook but audio was basically intolerable for me.

The plot line was good, I liked who the characters were, just the writing style choices ruined it for me. If you don’t care about that, the book is solid.

The plot is cute and the story flowed well with lots of inclusion.
Why did I rate it 3 stars then?
I hated Grace.
I hated her inner monologues, her general personality and her trying to tell Phoebe who Phoebe is.
She just rubbed me the wrong way in every single thing she said or did.
Loved Phoebe, and the sexytimes were hella hawt, so I would still recommend it, especially since I think I hated Grace so much because she reminded me of an ex.
Much love to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for my ALC.

I have a feeling I’ll be an outlier with this opinion but I really didn’t enjoy this and chose to not finish it at about the 50% mark. I loved so much about the premise - the queer take on a sports romance (which are so popular right now!)! meeting your idol/celeb crush and hooking up with them! Incredible feminine energy! But it just wasn’t working for me. I couldn’t connect with neither Grace nor Phoebe and felt their communication styles did very little to encourage me to continue following their stories. They felt quite juvenile and despite not having made it to the big conflict I’m fairly confident it would have boiled down to miscommunication that could have easily been avoided.

The narrators were great and I don’t think there was anything wrong with the writing itself. The characters and their personalities just didn’t vibe with me personally. I have a feeling a lot of people will really enjoy this book though (what spice I did get to was HOT) so even though it wasn’t for me I’m not going to dissuade anyone from giving it a go!

As a soccer player and a lover of queer fiction, I was enraptured by this book. Wilsner's writing is fantastic, her word choice feels very "adult" in a way that most queer romances don't feel like. All of the writing was serious, but light-hearted. It made me laugh, almost made me cry, and had me all up in my feels. Even the sex scenes were written really well, with constant communication and the idea that sex isn't always a race to the end quite prevalent (although for me, some word choice had me cringing). The miscommunication between the two main characters, Pheobe and Grace, had me wanting to scream at times; which is how you know it's well-written.

Everything about this book is amazing, even the narrators of the audiobook. This was my first introduction to Meryl Wilsner's works, and I definitely will be picking up the others. Can't wait to buy this book when it comes out!

Women, Soccer, rivals to lovers....

Meryl Wilsner wowed me with Mistakes Were Made and I looked forward to reading another one of Wilsner's books. In Cleat Cute, Grace, has been the star of the US women's national team for ten years. She has made a name for herself and is anxious to compete in the World Cup. But an injury sidelines her, and her spot is taken by Phoebe Matthews, a new member of the team and a huge fan of Grace's skills. Phoebe is outgoing, loud and a jokester; basically, all the things that Grace is not. The last thing they expected was to be friends with benefits.

I had both the book and audiobook for Cleat Cute. I thought the narrators did a great job. You do not need to be a fan of soccer to enjoy this book. There is not a lot about it in terms of terminology or game play (but there is some). This book is more about the characters and the journey they both are on individually and together.

This was a fast read/listen and my one beef is that it felt like a steamy YA book at times to me. Like most romance books, there is an issue with communication and over thinking. Talk, talk, talk, I wanted to tell them. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book and the journey that both characters went on.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a good sapphic romance, but something about this just didn’t work out for me. Overall the storyline was mostly alright but it came very much 2014 Wattpad fan fiction in away. The narrator also sounded to me like they were entirely too old to be voicing characters so young, so hearing the “steamy” scenes from the voice of someone of a seemingly completely different age range of the characters just really threw it all off. I’m giving the audiobook 3.5 stars but I do plan to revisit this book as a physical or ebook to see if I enjoy it more that way.

Thank you to MacMillan audio and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this audiobook.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me! I love sapphic romances but there’s something about the way the author writes that feels like fanfic to me. Also I can’t stand the miscommunication trope so that’s a no in my book. Swing and a miss!

I would like to thank NetGalley and McMillan audio for the ARC audio version of this book! Sapphic romances are right up my alley and I've enjoyed some really good ones this year. Unfortunately, this one was just not for me and I had to DNF. I was really enjoying it but at about the 25% mark it just became too steamy for me. I primarily listen to audiobooks on my commute to and from work, and this just really didn't fit the morning vibe lol. I really like romances but am not into long, drawn-out, explicit sex scenes, especially at 7:30am on audio. I really don't think this had anything to do with the book and more so about what I was looking for in a audiobook at the moment. I may revisit this in a different format in the future!

The narration was pretty good. It was definitely not my favorite but not the worst I’ve ever listened to.

I did like that there were different narrators for Grace and Phoebe.

This book was so cute! It’s a sapphic soccer rom com. Even though I am not a very athletic person and I don’t really watch any sports these days, I really enjoyed it. It actually made me want to watch women’s soccer! It’s the one sport I really enjoyed playing as a kid.

The two main characters were both interesting and unique, and we got to see each of their perspectives throughout the book. I listened to the audiobook which had two narrators and I thought they did a fantastic job portraying the characters. Their voices were different enough that I was never confused about whose head I was in. Also, the romance in the book was a bit spicy which was a surprise, but also very sweet and romantic.

I did feel like there was a weird thing toward the end of the book where one character takes it upon themselves to make a doctor appointment for another character and sort of continually browbeats the other person into getting a diagnosis for a disorder they think they have. It felt out of left field to me (sports pun-baseball maybe? lol). I felt like the author wanted the reader to feel like it showed how much they cared for the other person, but to me it came off invasive and overbearing. Or maybe that’s just me being hyper-independent.

Overall, a great book! Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to an ARC copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!