Cleat Cute

by Meryl Wilsner

A sapphic rivals to lovers rom com for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, where two soccer teammates are at odds before falling in love as their team gears up for the World Cup.

Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

Phoebe Matthews 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 mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.

As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Sports, Contemporary, Fiction

328 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2023

About the author

Meryl Wilsner writes happily ever afters for queer folks who love women. They are the author of SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT and the upcoming MISTAKES WERE MADE. Born in Michigan, Meryl lived in Portland, Oregon and Jackson, Mississippi before returning to settle in the Mitten State. Some of Meryl’s favorite things include: all four seasons, button down shirts, the way giraffes run, and their wife.

Reviews

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only thing there was more of in this book than steamy sex was internal monologuing ☠️

I'm really on the fence about this one. There were things I really liked about it, there were some mediocre things, and then there was this overall style of storytelling that just blanketed the whole thing, dampening the entire experience. I didn't love this book, I just read it and felt very little about it, to be honest. Consequently, it took forever to finish because I just didn't care 🤷

The things I really liked, maybe even loved?

Well, there was a lot of sex and it was good sex. Even if I found some of the specifics of their communication cringey, I liked that they checked in with each other, that they talked, and really got to know what the other person needed. I love that Wilsner chose to depict a sexual relationship that wasn't the standard "I come. You come. We all come. Hooray!" I love that she addressed that some people struggle to reach orgasm because they get stuck in their brains and that sex doesn't have to be about orgasms, it can just be about intimacy and pleasure. That was a nice and healthy perspective to see.

I also appreciated that both characters were neurodivergent (though that ended up being a double-edged sword in my opinion, which I'll explain later). One character has ADHD and the other is likely somewhere on the spectrum (introverted, overly structured, struggles with social cues, etc). It's always good to see those depicted and having some consequence in the story, not just depicted as an inconsequential personality trait; those who struggle with these sort of things know just how much it can affect your life, so I appreciate when neurodiversities aren't played down in a story.

Additionally, the relationship between the two MCs is cute. I enjoyed the friends-to-lovers-to-FWB-to-more-but-not-quite progression. It was sweet and they both did nice things for each other because they got each other in a really significant way. The misunderstandings were a not altogether annoying plot device as they were caused by their respective neurodivergencies, so no complaints there.

By this point, you may be thinking, "This sounds great, so why 3 stars??" I'm glad you asked...

HO-LEE-SH*T the inner monologues. Combine the overabundance of introspection and ridiculously long and frequent paragraphs of rapid-fire thoughts with the third-person present tense...that was just a big old NOPE for me. I get that these sort of thought patterns could be due to their conditions, but for my part, the author took it too far. Why this is especially problematic is that Wilsner really leans into tell-not-show. There are so incredibly many instances of "Grace does this", "Phoebe likes that", "She's always been great at this". Really, please SHUT THE F*CK UP AND SHOW ME!!!

Sadly, that overarching style of storytelling was detrimental to the point of losing an entire star, possibly more. It's hard to say for sure because the near-singular focus on character development (with an uneventful soccer story arc for ambiance) really precluded there being much actually happening in the story. Don't get me wrong, I like a character-centric story as much as the next gal, but not when the author dictates it to me through direct character thoughts.

What to expect?
* Sexy AF in a steamy yet wholesome way
* Cute, endearing characters
* Good neurodivergence rep
* Soccer (though not focal)
* A whole lotta thinking (not you - the characters!!)

I won't recommend it 🤷 based on my review (and be sure to read others's as well), I'm sure you can decide for yourself if it's right for you.

*Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

[Laynie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

five stars 10/10 sports lesbians everywhere rejoice, this book is fucking phenomenal. I'll probably do a longer review at some point but right now just AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH LESBIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay some more thoughts: This is, without a doubt, Meryl Wilsner's best work so far. From start to finish, I was completely sucked into Phoebe and Grace's story. This grumpy captain/sunshine rookie, teammates with benefits romance was big hearted and sexy (my god, so sexy) and geniunely a delight to read. It's also a deeply lesbian book, with Phoebe being an out lesbian and Grace not quite out, not to the world, and I think it had some really lovely things to dive into with queer atheletes and what it means to be out and be representation vs protecting parts of yourself from the ever present public eye. I've really been into queer sports romances recently and I think this is an exquisite example of the genre and all the wonderful tropes and niches and dynamics that can be explored within it. Love love loved it, can't wait for everyone else to read it!

[ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

yet another one i’m SO upset about😭😭 2.5 stars

[Jessica J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine if Ted Lasso was about American lesbians instead of (predominantly) straight British men. Now imagine that Ted was a rookie player instead of the coach, and that he and Roy Kent banged it out.

[Rach A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can confirm, soccer lesbians delivered

———

Wow, Meryl Wilsner's gonna get me to read a book about sports

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was certainly a choice both my decision to continue listening to this book despite not liking it and the decision to write the book at all. I mean really? Can you really consider a book rivals to lovers if the characters are on the same team and they're not rivals at any point in the entire book? They're not even enemies? Hell they don't even dislike each other. In what world does this classify as a rivals to lovers?

All right all right all right let me set the scene. We have Phoebe Matthews who is a rookie and has just been drafted for some level of professional soccer playing. Do I understand what level? Absolutely not because they switch between code names for these different teams so many times and have so many teammates but that's a different section. Phoebe starts and she is overeager and chaotic and loud and oh yeah, she absolutely idolizes one of her teammates Grace. Grace despite only being 26 has been playing professionally for 10 years and Phoebe has a massive crush on her. Grace finds Phoebe annoying to start with but she doesn't dislike her. She respects her skills and even though she wishes she would be on time and that she would shut up every once in awhile, there's no active dislike. Even knowing that they play the same position and Phoebe could replace Grace, that's never an actual serious contender of a situation for it to qualify as a rival situation.

Moving on. This book is a mess because I could not tell you the time frame that it takes place over. They start out in a training camp and then then they're in New Orleans and then they're starting for one team but then there's so many discussions of playing world cup or nationals or whatever and as someone who is not a sportsball person, I was so confused the entire time because there's no underlying explanation of the fact that these are different teams. There are people that are in the training camp that are not in New Orleans and then there are people that are in the Nationals that are not in either and then some are in all of them and without a freaking flow chart of which teammate belongs to which team and where each team is located I was lost. The teammates also all blend together. I know that there's a couple with the baby, there's the asshole ex-girlfriend, and there's a non-binary goalie but that's it. I couldn't tell you what their names are or what they look like or anything about them. All of the teammates could have been either not existent or replaced and it wouldn't have made a difference. That's how little character development there is.

Let's talk briefly about the secondary characters. I think the one thing that this book got right was inclusivity in its secondary characters kind of. There's a trans masc sibling, there is a pansexual sibling with adhd, there is a non-binary / genderqueer aroace coworker, and there's a lot of sapphics. And then our main characters are both lesbians one with undiagnosed and unresearched autism and one with undiagnosed ADHD. I mentioned the unresearched autism because it's really clear that the character is autistic to me who is an autistic reader and knowing that this book was marketed as having both autistic and ADHD representation. The book does not reflect that. The character shows traits of being autistic but the only actual labeling that's on page is when she is researching ADHD for her friend with benefits and makes a comment about how she should look more into autism. That's it. The undiagnosed ADHD is discussed more and I think that that was better representation but even that wasn't stellar for me. I think labels are great and I think that literature is a way to show people the power of labels but also you don't have to have a label or a formal diagnosis for that matter for your disability or neurodivergence or queerness or literally whatever to be valid.

Let's get into where this book went wrong. One of the things I loved about this author's debut was the slow burn. I think that it spent so much time on character development and character communication and didn't allow sex to be a filler for those really important parts of the book. The author's second book which is quoted as the MILF book was okay and I liked it enough but it wasn't as good. This one is the worst. Instead of communicating at any point in this book The characters have sex. And like, if that's your jam that's your jam whatever, but I'm going to need some actual plot and/or character development or communication or talking. I don't even need plot to be completely honest but I do need likable and interesting characters. This book does not have those.

Both Grace and Phoebe are so annoying and they're not annoying because of their autism or their ADHD. They're annoying because they're freaking wishy-washy. This book starts okay with Phoebe flirting really really hard and after Grace says that she's not interested in sex or relationship, Phoebe immediately backs off. I love that I thought it was great and I thought that they were going to develop a friendship that would lead into more. But no, they go out to a Mardi gras pride float thingamabob of some sort and Phoebe flirts with someone else and Grace has the absolute audacity to be mad. Like actually upset that Phoebe wasn't flirting with her anymore and was showing someone else attention. Like girl, you just told her you're not interested anymore and what, she's just supposed to ignore that and continue flirting with you? You set a boundary and it was respected and you're mad about that? That was the beginning of the end for me. I was shocked at why she would be so upset.

So then like the next day or something they're in the locker room and Grace initiates physical contact and then all of a sudden they're fucking in the locker room. And when I say fucking I mean a legitimate 30 minute audiobook sex scene. I didn't look up the actual page count of the scene but I do know that it is 5% of the book in one spot. And there are multiple other sex scenes that are not quite as long but take up a big chunk.

So then they're just casually having sex. And I mean, whatever. But it turns into a situation where anytime there could have been drama or angst or an opportunity for a conversation, one of them is horny and they have sex. This was so frustrating.

There's the moment where Grace is injured and she doesn't want to tell the trainer / physical therapist that she's injured because she knows it's going to bench her and even though Phoebe pressures grace to tell the trainer she is going to let Grace do it herself supposedly. She does withhold sex until Grace talks to the trainer. Then when Phoebe is upset about something talking to the trainer she casually lets it slip that Grace is the one who really should be talking to them about her own injury. And I get that this was a moment of ADHD impulsivity but it was wild to me that there's never an apology. Phoebe also just lets grace think that the trainer noticed her injury instead of telling her that she was the one who let it slip. That is until they're arguing over text one night and Phoebe said she's glad she did it. Grace is obviously upset about this and stops responding. Instead of waiting to talk in person or waiting until the next day or literally anything else, Phoebe shows up outside of Grace's house at 10:00 p.m. at night after getting off the flight with her fully packed suitcase and forces Grace to talk about it. Do they talk about it? Not really. They have some vague conversation about exclusivity which Phoebe takes as they're dating and Grace takes as they're clear for STIs and then they fuck. And then they go on about their lives. Phoebe thinking they're dating and Grace thinking they're friends with benefits. Again an opportunity that could have been solved with one conversation instead of sex.

They continue on in this fashion of willful ignorance because they never talk about anything until after a game when Grace makes a comment about Phoebe struggling with meds or something assuming that Phoebe has ADHD and that Phoebe knows about said ADHD. This results into what they consider their first fight and then somehow winds up with Grace making a doctor's appointment for Phoebe like her damn mother and Phoebe taking it as a sign of affection. This was a super weird thing for me because had they talked about it more maybe I can see that as someone who hates making appointments but to do that out of the blue for a friend with benefits who you have no defined serious relationship with, platonic or romantic, was insane to me. The fact that this was talked about with a secondary character and they were like yeah sure go ahead they're just going to know how much you care about them. Making a doctor's appointment for someone that you are not in some sort of serious relationship with seems like such a boundary crossing thing to me. I don't know.

Then of course there's the iconic line of "how could I have ADHD when I can focus on eating your pussy for so long ". That was a decision and it was a bad decision to write that line. Not only is it crass and in poor taste, It was just not a good look for anyone.

So yeah you could say that I don't like this book. I have some serious and legitimate issues with some of the problematic moments but I do think some of it is just me personally not liking it. I wouldn't necessarily say this is outright problematic in terms of any of the representation and if you're someone that likes a lot of sex in books You might be able to get over the lack of communication. I like a good smutty read I just need our characters to discuss what's going on too. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I don't think that I would outwardly recommend this one but I also wouldn't outwardly say people shouldn't read it or give it a shot. I do think it's going to be one that is up to the individual on whether or not it's in their taste. I also think that people who know and understand soccer are going to be able to like it a little bit more too. Not even because soccer is a big part of it (it is a big part but not the point) but because you'll understand more of the dynamics that go under explained. This one was just not it for me and I don't know if I'm going to continue to read this author's books.

[megs_bookrack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleat Cute is the latest release from Romance author, Meryl Wilsner. I have read all three of Wilsner's releases thus far and this one falls direct middle of the road for me.

In this story, we follow professional female soccer players, Phoebe Matthews and Grace Henderson. Grace is a veteran player, having played professionally since she was just a teen. While Phoebe is the hot new girl in the league, recently being called up after her stellar college career.



As a younger player, Phoebe grew up idolizing Grace Henderson, even hanging a poster of her over her bed. Now she is getting the chance to play with her; in her league. Phoebe can hardly believe this is her life.

Moving from Idaho to New Orleans will be a big change for Phoebe, but she knows she can make it work.



Phoebe throws herself into her new life with her signature gregarious style. Grace, of a much more subdued nature, is a bit taken aback by the new girl. The more time she spends with Phoebe though, the more drawn to her she becomes.

Over a series of increasingly personal encounters, the two women end up becoming friends. More specifically, friends with very incredibly hot benefits.



You then follow along with these women as they navigate their complicated friendship, as well as their equally complicated careers.

Cleat Cute features a well-developed romance, with plenty of miscommunication causing tension and growth, however, for me, my reaction to it throughout was mixed.

There were moments I was completely invested and enjoying the topics that Wilsner was examining. Then something would happen that would turn me off completely. It always took a while after the turn off to become invested again.



Phoebe's character generally drove me a bit batty, but initially I felt like Grace was someone I could really get behind. Then there would be moments, where in order to provide a conflict, or miscommunication, it seemed like Grace's personality would completely change in order to make that feasible.

I just didn't like that aspect. I may be completely off base with this too, but to me it seemed like Grace was experienced and confident and then she would have these interactions with Phoebe that felt like she had never talked to another human before.

It was strange. It was like the conflict needed to be there and we were going to make it happen no matter how out of place it seemed.



It was those types of situations that made it feel slightly inconsistent to me. By the end though, the characters had won me over and I was fully behind their new-found open communication and expression of tenderness.

There were also some discussions, particularly with Grace, who was grappling with a hip flexor injury, about where she wanted to go with her career. She was benched for a while during recovery and she had to decide if she wanted to step back into a lesser role when she returned.

As a sports person, I enjoyed that, getting the chance to delve more into detail on Grace's thoughts and emotions regarding her career and responsibility to her team.



I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a steamy sapphic romance; extra points if you enjoy a sports romance. The audiobook was well narrated, so definitely recommend that as a format for as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Griffin and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I will continue to pick up Wilsner's new releases.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars

So, I have a feeling I’ll be an outlier with this one because I didn’t love this.

I admit that I’m not a sports fan so I was a little skeptical about accepting this arc. But I enjoyed Meryl Wilsner’s last two books and decided to give this a chance. Luckily, there’s not too much actual soccer. However, there are enough technical terms that if you know nothing about the sport it will all go over your head. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the soccer aspect that was the issue for me.

The biggest issue I had was Phoebe. She is a lot. I had a similar issue with Cassie in “Mistakes Were Made” in that the character just annoyed me in the beginning. Cassie eventually grew on me but Phoebe never did. I don’t know if it’s just that my personality has limited patience with Phoebe’s personality traits or what but I never liked her. She’s loud and can be overbearing and I just kept wanting to tell her to back off and give Grace some space. There is a lot of internal monologue and I would get annoyed every time it was Phoebe’s turn. I know that she was probably written this way on purpose as she has ADHD but it seemed like too much.

The miscommunication was also quite annoying. It seemed like anytime something serious came up they would have sex instead. Things would have been a lot smoother for both of them had they taken a few minutes and just talked rather than always jumping into bed.

For the fans of steam, this one is for you. I know Wilsner is getting to be known for their steam and they don’t hold back. The thing that threw me off was Phoebe starts this “baby girl” thing that felt very ick to me.

What I did like was the representation we get from Wilsner. There are also quite a few side characters with the soccer teams and just about every gender identity and sexuality it represented. I liked that we are getting more and more neuridivergent characters as well. Although the assumptions Grace makes about Phoebe and how the whole conversation happens really didn’t sit well with me.

I also enjoyed the mutual pining that happens. Even after they start their friends-with-benefits relationship, they both just really like one another and wish for more (if only they would’ve actually talked sooner.)

While this ended up being just an okay read for me, I know others will enjoy it a lot more. I’m looking forward to whatever Wilsner comes up with next.

I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[danie 🏹 · Rating 1 out of 5]

do people not have editors anymore?

[Helen Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hit by Meryl Wilsner!

I absolutely adore their writing style. The book is told in close third person, and some of the author’s thoughts and ways of saying things are downright hilarious–even when the scene itself isn’t meant to be funny.

I love how this book is quite spicy, and even though Phoebe and Grace don’t officially get together right away, their relationship heats up right from the get-go. I typically prefer slow-burn romances, but I discovered that I love Wilsner’s fast-burns with “Mistakes Were Made”, and I’m here for the ride. Please write and publish these books faster! 🥺

I did feel like the angst of the relationship between Grace and Phoebe was a little forced. There was no real rule that teammates can’t be in a relationship. That said, I did appreciate the backstory behind why Grace was so reluctant to be in a relationship with Phoebe. And I adored how the entire thing went down!


Honestly, the reason why this book doesn’t quite get five stars from me was because of all the soccer stuff. This would be okay, if the author had explained some of it a little more. There are a lot of assumptions made. It’s a stylistic choice, to simply assume the reader knows the ins and outs of professional soccer. I’ve read some other soccer romances (Kulti by Mariana Zapata is an all-time favourite), and I’ve felt like those authors didn’t assume the reader would know anything about the sport. Honestly, I know that the sport involves a black and white ball and little else. After reading this book, I still don’t understand training camps, nationals, training and… stuff, though I feel like I should have picked something up while reading this. Oh well, my strengths lie elsewhere. The point of this little paragraph is that I was confused a few times, and I wish that the soccer stuff were either explained more, or glossed over more. This in-between had me feeling stupid. 😂

Despite (still) not knowing anything about soccer, this is a fun, spicy, and lightly angsty sapphic rom com!



*Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for the ebook to review*
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleat Cute is a fun sapphic, rivals-to-lovers, romcom full of tropes including friends with benefits, forced proximity, and opposites attract. The story follows Pheobe, a rookie to the New Orleans Krewe, and Grace, the captain and star veteran of the soccer team. When Phoebe asks Grace to show her around the city, the two forge a friendship that quickly evolves into more as they get to know each other.
While I enjoyed the plot and premise of this sapphic sports romance, the writing let me down. The whole story was told in third person and had a crazy amount of internal monologue that was often repetitive and left me wanting more. Because of the writing, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and struggled to immerse myself in their relationship. Despite that, I loved learning about soccer and the found family vibes from the team! While this book may not be for me, I definitely see the potential and think Cleat Cute would work very well for someone who likes third person and internal monologue.

~Many thanks to NetGalley and Meryl Wilsner for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

[Landice (Manic Femme) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meryl Wilsner has done it again! Every time I don’t think I can love their books anymore than I already do, they outdo themself!

The autistic cat girlfriend/ADHD golden retriever girlfriend dynamic was so much fun to read and like their last book, Mistakes Were Made, there is no third act break-up in Cleat Cute! I wish more authors would take a page out of their book in that regard. There’s still conflict, but it’s so nice to not have that definitive “oh god something has to go terribly wrong in the next few chapters” feeling hanging over your head as you approach the 75% mark.

Highly recommend!

Love sapphic books, too? Let's be friends! Booktok | Twitter

[megan ◡̈ · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf at 61%, 1.5 at best

honestly, my first mistake was trying to read a book revolving around soccer… i assumed it was going to be like most sports romances where the sport is talked about maybe once or twice, a game here or there but my god was i wrong lol. readers do not need to be involved in every single practice. every chapter does not need to revolve around them being soccer players.

i wanted to love this one because i have been dying to find a sapphic romance to gush over but this was a total miss for me.

this book is literally repetitive internal monologue, soccer, miscommunication and sex (which this is arguably the only likable thing about this book).

there is no actual rivalry whatsoever unless you count grace just having impenetrable walls of trust issues as rivalry? they almost immediately become FWB with each other, which when the main characters are actually rivals and hate each other can be extremely hot but this was not the case here unfortunately.

i really dont think that this was a good representation of neurodivergent people at all.. both girls are supposed to be ND however grace just comes off as a total stuck up im too famous for you to breathe near me bitch and phoebe more of a i dont respect other peoples time and i can do whatever i want and you cant be mad at me for it. ive seen others say that grace eventually tries to diagnose phoebe herself at some point and that is just not it.

all in all at the end of the day there doesnt seem to be an actual plot to this book, its more bad fan fiction than anything?

this was my first meryl wilsner book and most likely my last 🫣

[Rachel L · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book by Meryl Wilsner (who I've been meaning to read ever since I saw them at LA Festival of Books in 2023). This book follows two soccer players, one a stoic team captain, the other an outspoken newbie. Attraction sparks right when they meet, but playing on the same team means some conflict and tension.

I enjoyed this book but it was solidly in the "it's just okay" category for me. I had it on my list for a while and it counts for a reading bingo square for "Olympics" so I pushed this to the front of the tbr. There was just a lot of internal monologuing for me, it was endless to the point that it was either that or sex scenes. Which is fine! But I wanted more the character development earlier in the book (with some more plot) rather than the dump we got later. Otherwise it's a fun sports romance and it was nice to see women's soccer in the mix.

An ALC was provided by libro.fm via the librarian ALC program

[gloria .☆ﾟ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

➥ 4.25 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

Grace wraps her arms around Matthew's neck.
Matthews grins, dimples as deep as the Grand Canyon. "I thought we weren't talking about it."
"Who's talking?" Grace asks, and kisses her.

━━━━━━━━━━━ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Before picking this up I had seen so many reviews tearing this book to shreds: excessive inner monologue, too much sex, too much football etc. So I was worried, because I can be a harsh critic too, unfortunately.

But I ended up having an absolute blast reading this! It was exactly what I needed, I was desperate for an engaging, romantic, giggly football read.

Let me start by stating that the characters were delightful . Shamelessly flirty and always having a laugh, Phoebe Matthews (h) was such a fun character! Sometimes, with romance, only one character is particularly swoony, but both characters were absolute forces to be reckoned with and it made for a spectacular time. Then there's Grace Henderson (h), a bit more stern, disapproving...and so fine. She'd humour Phoebe though, when she wasn't rolling her eyes at her antics, and their dynamic grew more and more charged.

Their dialogue was so engaging, the chemistry was obvious, and the sex was fire. Full disclosure, I knew it would be because this author is really good at writing it. I didn't feel the sex was gratuitous. It was indulgent, tasteful and...sweet. There's so much natural dialogue and exceptional communication. So much emphasis on both characters, and their dynamic was just so playful, they loved to challenge each other.

Of course we see that in the football element of the book too. Maybe it's because I play and I'm interested in football, but I have to disagree with the opinion that there was too much football. It never took away from character interaction in my opinion. The football specifics were written about clearly and I think it really worked. It wasn't too difficult for me to keep track of all characters on the team and football was a very compelling plotline.

I also didn't mind the "show me around the new city" concept, because although it's a little cliche, it really did end up being super cute, and we see both characters outside of their respective roles on the pitch and without an audience. Much more intimate.

I will (sadly) admit that toward the end the conflict soured my enjoyment and other flaws began to stick out to me more. The whole thing where Grace decided Phoebe had ADHD was so jarring. Grace still insisting on calling Phoebe "phenom" felt so forced and tacky. Phoebe still kept saying "baby girl", excessively. Leading up to the conflict, the sex scenes got briefer, vaguer and less memorable. It really emphasised a detachment of the characters.

The dread when everything that was light and romantic comes crashing down is never fun and yet some authors still insist on having it. I was surprised the author did go along with this because in Mistakes Were Made she very tastefully had done without fanning the flames of the huge 3rd act conflict.

Then the resolve of the conflict was this OTT grand gesture. Those always feel more detached and performative than an actual apology and loving communication.

Still though, there were things I couldn't help but love. Even though they were fighting...

Grace watches the game. Of course she watches the game.

And Grace french braids the whole teams hair, and offers once to do Phoebe's. Some things Wilsner definitely did nail.

"I don't think we an be officially dating for a month if I didn't know about it till today," Grace says.
Phoebe doesn't even pretend to consider it. "I don't know," she says. "That sounds like a personal problem."
"You're a personal problem."
Grace digs her fingers into Phoebe's sides. Tickling will hopefully distract her so she doesn't notice how Grace's response doesn't make sense. Indeed, the redhead squeals with laughter and squirms to get away.
She doesn't get away, but she does eventually catch Grace's hands in her own. Her cheek presses against Graces temple.
"Should we go watch the film now?"
"Eh," Grace says. "They can wait."
"Wow, you really have changed. Grace Henderson, late for a mandatory team activity."
"Didn't you hear? I do what I want now."
Phoebe tilts her head, giving Grace more access.
"Unless you think we should go," Grace says.
"No, it's okay." Phoebe is breathless. "I'm used to being late."

Overall, more than worth the read and I look forward to reading more books by this author. Highly recommend to readers who love both football and women 😋💘!

━━━━━━━━━━━ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━

[alli☀️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25
This whole book was nothing but miscommunication, hypocritical, and judgmental. Oh and insta-lust😬. Unpopular opinion but the only reason this rating isn’t lower is because I really liked Phoebe. Also there were a good amount of problems that needed to be fixed but the book just ended without acknowledging them or fixing them. Like what?

[Hannah B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨Bend It Like Phoebe & Grace ⚽️✨

Do I like soccer? No, not particularly. Do I think Jess and Jules should’ve been a thing by the end of Bend It Like Beckham? Yes, absolutely particularly. Both of those statements remain true after reading this book: I still don’t like soccer, but I sure do love when the women playing it fall in love!

✨

I loved Phoebe and Grace’s dynamic throughout the entire book, but the hair braiding absolutely took me out and was the best part. It was H O T. Their relationship was opposites attract in the best, most chaotic way possible. I really enjoyed the last few chapters of the book. I didn’t know how it was going to shake out, but I thought the grand gesture was super heart melting. I liked them both, but Grace was definitely the star in my mind. She was a bit Roy Kent but also just her own unique character that felt refreshing.

The “baby girl” vibe we got starting early on is never hot though 😭 I just don’t like it and it was said way too often too quickly. Besides that, the sex was definitely super hot and there were a lot of explicit scenes! But sex was often used as a bandaid or distraction from important conversations and that works maybe once but it happened so frequently that it got exhausting. I think the author even realized this because a scene or two at the end were fade to back because they would’ve felt redundant. So not only was it miscommunication…it was interrupted communication which was somehow worse. Again, I liked the end but it all dragged a bit in the middle.

The conversation around ADHD happened a lot later than I expected—because like Grace, I definitely thought Phoebe was already diagnosed—but I really liked it and how the conversation helped their relationship grow as well. Grace’s potential autism diagnosis also wasn’t really discussed, besides a throwaway comment about learning more about it later (which we never witnessed). I’m more interested in both of these things than soccer, so I would’ve liked the story to develop them deeper.

✨

Personal Me Things:

In more technical terms,the third person present tense POV made reading this book super stressful. I dislike that narrative style and wouldn’t have requested the book if I’d have known. I gave it a chance because reading physically is better than in audio, but the writing just felt so clunky to me. So much of the book felt like telling not showing. I really wish this would’ve been in past tense, because my biggest issue really was the writing style. Sometimes I can forget about the style, but it was just so *present* here.

Then throw in soccer on top of the writing style…and I was definitely hanging on for dear life. I don’t understand the rules of soccer and I quite literally know even less about it, so parts of the book were hard to follow. It’s definitely a book for people who already know soccer since there were a lot of terms and such that weren’t explained. Soccer was a main character—which I’m not complaining about since it’s literally obvious from the cover, title, and summary lol—it’s just on me for overestimating my potential interest in reading about it.

✨

All in all, the cards really were dealt against me here—what with “baby girl,” third present, and soccer—so I’m definitely impressed that I had an overall enjoyable time. It’s not my favorite book ever, but if you don’t have my same hangups, it definitely has great potential!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5


P.S. WHY DOES THE SUMMARY REFERENCE A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN AND NOT BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM LMAO????



Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

[Joce (squibblesreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

wait… is this a fucking play about us??

[Shawnaci Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️

- I had a fun time with this one! It’s the first book I’ve read by Meryl Wilsner and it won’t be my last! There were so many cute scenes in this like the hair braiding scene and the doctors appointment part like omg I was kicking my feet!!
- This book was spicy and I’m not someone that reads a lot of spice so would have loved the book even more if there had been a little less spice. I also wish that there had been more dialogue and less of an internal monologue within the story too. I think I would have connected with the characters even more.
- I loved the pining in this book!! It was giving everything it needed to give. I feel like the pacing of their relationship was so perfect. Would definitely recommend this book!!

[Ash S. H. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cleat Cute is billed as a rivals-to-lovers romcom, perfect for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own. It does not live up to the expectations set by either of these descriptors.

Wilsner’s third sapphic romcom follows Phoebe, a new upstart soccer player in the professional game, and her idol, Grace, the long-standing star of the US Women’s National Team (henceforth referred to as the USWNT). While Phoebe’s jokester personality initially annoys Grace, soon the two become entangled in a spicy friends with benefits relationship. As they spend more time together both on and off the field, feelings also begin to take root. All the while, Phoebe is vying for a spot on the USWNT—a spot which could be Grace’s.

From that brief description, you might be thinking that this sounds spicy and fun, and the rivals to lovers trope could add some much-needed stakes to the story. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t live up to the marketing.


RIVALS TO LOVERS? I THINK NOT.

The most important component to this story would have been the use of the rivals to lovers trope. It would have given the story actual stakes and tension, and given the relationship at center stage more of a roadblock to its fruition.

Unfortunately, there is only an attempt to include that component, one that ultimately fails. Phoebe is vying for a spot on the USWNT, yes, however, it is not Grace’s spot specifically. The two aren’t coming into training camps as rookies together, trying to win the one open spot. They barely even play the same position to make the argument that Phoebe could try to outplay Grace and take her place on the USWNT.

There are only a handful of times where it comes up that Phoebe could take Grace’s spot if Grace’s injury persists, and then again when their coach keeps trying to make Phoebe play Grace’s position which is not her actual chosen position. Because of this, it was really difficult to ever feel like Phoebe is a true threat to Grace’s continued existence on the team.

In essence, the rivals to lovers setup this is billed as felt contrived via a handful of throwaway lines just so the marketing department could flaunt a popular trope in the synopsis. Unfortunately, had that trope been done well, the story would have been a lot more successful.


LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

Another failure of this novel is the way the romance is written. The romance-to-spice ratio is not up to my preference. While the scenes were written well, I always cringe at porn dialogue and there is a lot of it in this book (seriously, the “baby girl”s were killing me). These are just remarks on my personal preference, however.

An issue that isn’t personal preference lies in the progression of the relationship and how it was written. Grace and Phoebe spend most of the book in a fuck buddy relationship, and then the rest of the book with one of them thinking they’re exclusive and the other one not realizing that they are because they never have a clear conversation to define the relationship. Because of this set up, there is a lot of sex, and very little of them actually being vulnerable with each other. When they confess their love for each other by the end, it felt very rushed and difficult to buy as a result.


YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT…JK, WHAT DO THE ROLLING STONES KNOW ANYWAY?

The last glaring issue in this novel is really threefold: There are no stakes or tension, and the characters get everything they want with little to no effort or barriers. Ultimately, this is a book without a plot.

Phoebe starts out the novel wanting a spot on the USWNT. Her pervasive desire for this disappears completely when she enters into a relationship with Grace. She does next to nothing out of the ordinary to work toward that goal. It just exists in the background and she is stagnant around it.

You could say she also wants Grace, but they start hooking up at around the 25% mark, and they only have a few quickly-resolved conflicts that never feel like true threats to the success of their relationship.

As for Grace, she wants Phoebe, but no relationship. This changes over the course of the book. But again, because she gets Phoebe in exactly the way she wants her almost instantly, she doesn’t need to actually take an active role in the story to make that want come to fruition. The only time she switches from a passive role to an active role is when she realizes she wants to take steps to show Phoebe she wants a real committed relationship. This takes place in the last 15% of the novel. At that point, it was too little too late.

These issues ultimately lead to Phoebe and Grace taking on rather passive roles in this story, completely erasing any of the juiciness that stakes and tension bring. I never once worried if they would get together because there are no super big glaring issues in their relationship, no will-they-won’t-they, and no outside forces that could threaten their success. As a result, the story just kind of meandered along without an actual focus. It felt like more of a slice of life story than an actual novel. There was no plot to be found.


FINAL THOUGHTS

I picked up Cleat Cute hoping for a cute sapphic soccer romcom. Technically, all of those things were executed in this novel, but they were not executed well. Ultimately, there were no stakes, no tension, and no plot; Grace and Phoebe got everything they wanted with almost no effort; and the romance was 95% sex and then 5% them actually being vulnerable. In the end, this just didn’t work for me.

I know from looking at reviews of Wilsner’s previous romcoms that they had the same issues in this novel present in those. It’s disappointing to see that they haven’t remedied these problems in their plotting and storytelling. Hopefully their next novel can avoid these pitfalls.


Overall Rating: 1 star

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had so much potential but it's just the worst. Where was the angst or ANY major plot point or conflict? Also can we not glorify tiktok diagnosis? Maybe? 🙄

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

This likely would've been a three star if we'd had some resolutions on a few things a little sooner than we did. Because, yo, this was exhausting. The relentless internal monologuing (and some external ones, too), the overthinking, the spiralling, the return-to-agonize-over-it-again, and yes, a lot of this can be explained for Reasons but we also don't get those reasons, like I said, until way too late. So by the time we get some things sorted out, I don't care, I'm unmoved, and I'm just all.. "yeah, I know, so fucking what!" about it all. Which is maybe harsh but like, I'm really struggling to find time to read and so when I finally did pick something up.. I just didn't want to read it. At all. But alas here we are. And we made it through. Somehow.

I'm sure there are worse things to pick up if you want something sapphic and sporty and yes it's a grumpy sunshine but not my favourite example of the trope. It's also very steamy which is nice to see but as someone who is checking out of sex scenes more and more.. personally it just meant more paragraphs to skim. So elle oh elle to me.

Also, baby girl. It was a thing. I hate it coming from a man and I hate it just as much coming from a woman. Nope to this.

For some more specific rants, I did drop into this review about halfway through reading the book to jot down some notes in the event I gave into the DNF. I didn't, obviously, and most of these points still apply even after an additional fifty percent of reading. Enjoy.

Early thoughts : I am frustrated by Grace's whiplash emotions about soccer. It's all she is, all she knows, because of how early she started playing, and how that makes her feel aged (which I'll get to in a second..) and she is grumpy and bad at being social -- she basically just sits silently whenever Phoebe is rambling or talking or asking questions about non-soccer stuff and I think there's something more to this, or at least I hope there is, because otherwise it feels kinda.. baity -- and then she'll get all bent out of shape and butthurt if Phoebe comes to her with soccer specific questions or inquiries. So like.. what is it? Are you only soccer or can you be both and if you're both why are you mad when someone talks to you about the former? This gave me a headache. Second issue is that.. this is a twenty-six year old person who acts and behaves like she's a hundred years old. Complaining about her body (but, despite being a pro athlete, refusing to deal with her injuries and potentially making them worse..) being old and broken down and acting the same and I just.. I don't know. I expected this to be a lot more fun and and wholesome based on the Ted Lasso pitch and it was not.

But don't worry, Pheobe annoyed me, too! Out of nowhere bitching people out for not telling her that they might be eating out and how "some people have to budget" like.. I get it, yes, expectations should be set but also I feel like this could've been discussed in a more tactful way? I don't know. It really rubbed me wrong somehow. And all the dirty talk.. ugh, I know, sapphics deserve dirty talk too but honestly I'm over it when it happens in most romances no matter if it's hetero or m/m or what. So that's a me thing.

And there we have it. Final thoughts? I don't think I would read Wilsner again. I really disliked the way this was written (third person present? I think? I'm bad at knowing this) and the book felt extremely long considering so little happens. Which, hey, fine, character-driven stuff with minor background noise is good but man when it feels like it's dragging, and there's nothing to distract you, and you're getting hit with sex scenes and monologues left and right, featuring not just one but two characters you can't really stand, ontop of stupid misunderstandings which cross the line into miscommunications, well.. it adds to the not-having-a-good-time-ness. But I think this'll hit all the right notes for a lot of people. I'm just not one of them.

** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[monica ✨ romantasyreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book I've read by the author but it certainly won't be the last.
Wilsner's writing easily pulled me into this romance with the backdrop of soccer. Love and soccer are front and centre but neither overwhelms the other. Grace, the veteran player now injured is faced with a newbie player in Phoebe. Two players but only one position on the national team. Who will win, the upstart or the veteran? If only it was that simple! I was treated to a fine romance between Grace and Phoebe with the game of soccer beautifully interspersed in the storyline. Location descriptions and events were on point but I loved the connection, growing feelings and caring, the emotional ride and back and forth between two women who shouldn't click but eventually do. The book cover works too!!
A sports romance that hits the spot.

[Ashley (wickedreads)]

Holding my review until after the SMP boycott

[lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

idiots to lovers final boss

[glavreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

edit: after thinking more about it, the spice and narration were 99% of what i liked and there were actually a lot of issues so it gets reduced a star 💀

3.5 stars-ish?

i listened to this on audio and started out really loving it. the narrators put a lot of life into this story and it was giving me kulti/everything for you vibes and serving grumpy x sunshine soccer players, rookie and veteran, and lots of spice.

buttttttt, it fell flat for me. third person was an awful choice for this book. there is SO much internal dialogue for each of the main characters and third person just made it so cringey and weird. phoebe was annoying with how much she spoke but i didn’t like grace either. she didn’t like phoebe until like 65% into the book??? also grace casually armchair diagnosed phoebe with adhd and asked if she was medicated (while they’re just outside the locker room) when she clearly had some kind of neurodivergence that was not explicitly stated in the book. AND THEN BOOKS HER AN APPOINTMENT TO GET DIAGNOSED WITHOUT TELLING HER??????

the spice was good and the narrators made it an entertaining book to listen to but they were given hardly any chemistry outside of the bedroom and both of them seemed like they could take or leave the relationship.

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilser
Contemporary sapphic (F-F) sports romance. New adult.
Phoebe Matthews gets her greatest wish and is drafted to play soccer on the U.S. Women’s National Team. She develops a crush on the Captain of the team, Grace Henderson, and the two start a relationship as they manage life, career and outside pressures.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook version of this story narrated by Dana Varden and Zim Avaltrades. Each did the chapters from their character POV. The voices are close in tone and rhythm while different enough in pitch that you can hear when the POV changes. Both did a great job portraying a twenty-something female with changing emotions and career concerns.

New adult romance is not a regular genre for me as I don’t appreciate the angst or roller coaster confidence issues. I was pleasantly surprised by the two women and their specific personalities as they kept their professional lives separate from their personal issues. Phoebe kept her joy of playing front and center even while other parts of her life were chaotic.
I would recommend this for any romance reader that likes a bit of sports and teamwork in a story. And passion, because that’s included as well as an hea.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher.

[Jess G · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only interesting character was the cat.

1,5 ⭐️

[Anne Hartley Pfohl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed. I really love Wilsner's Mistakes Were Made, it's just a great book, great characters, full and realistic, a great supporting cast, everything I look for in a sapphic rom com. This one missed the mark on a number of important levels. I do not think Grace is likeable for most of the book. And I'm not talking about the stereotypical "women need to be likeable" mistake. I have to care about main characters in a story, and I found Grace irritating, crabby, and unlikeable. It's one thing to be an introvert and reserved, it's another to lack a personality other than being a hard ass. The only reason Phoebe would be interested in Grace is idolizing her and not really knowing Grace as a person. The supporting characters in the team are pretty two dimensional. It would have been better to focus on just a few close friends on the team rather than try to have so many of them play critical roles in the plot. Also, the Kelsey dynamic was very stereotypical. She was an easy villain and felt gratuitous. The final straw for me was Grace's epiphany that Phoebe might have ADHD and that Phoebe ends up being okay with her soccer pro girlfriend diagnosing her. Bringing up medication while her family is waiting in the hallway? Planning to make sure all Phoebe's family's health care needs are taken care of with her money? Researching ADHD on Tiktok? And all of this out of nowhere in that last seven chapters? Wow. Not at all okay. Is Phoebe her girlfriend or her charity case? Did Grace become a licensed physician or psychologist somewhere in the book and I missed it? If someone tried to pull that crap on me because they said they loved me, I'd get away from them as far and as fast as I could. And I'd make sure anyone I loved did too. I recommend Mistakes Were Made on a regular basis. It's one of the lesbian rom coms featured in our romance display for Pride this month. I will not be recommending Cleat Cute to any of my customers. Rated 1 out of 5, Written on Saturday, June 17, 2023