Cleat Cute

Product Information

Phoebe Matthews is from a small town in Indiana, where she grew up with a poster of Grace Henderson on the wall above her bed.

Initially Grace definitely had a “You kids get off my grass” type of vibe but Phoebe never gave up and as Grace changed so did I the reader. She is also starting to get a little tired of all of the uproar, and when not playing prefers to spend her time on the front porch of her house, alone, except for her cat. Phoebe Matthew’s chances of playing professional soccer is very slim as she played for a small college in the midwest. While the friends with benefits is pretty fast, the actual relationship development is pretty slow burn.Wilsner has wooed me once again with CLEAT CUTE, a tender, sexy sapphic romance between two soccer lesbians. Phoebe’s youthful enthusiasm, work ethic and easy manner pulls Grace toward her like no one else has in her life.

Being drafted to play for the same professional team her idol plays on is a mind blowing dream come true for Phoebe. 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? I loved Phoebe and Grace’s dynamic throughout the entire book, but the hair braiding absolutely took me out and was the best part.

Both Grace and Pheobe have friendships and interactions with other people that deepen their characterisation. 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. other ppl have said, but there was a lot of internal monologuing going on in both povs, and generally, that doesn't bother me too much. 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.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. This grumpy captain/sunshine rookie, teammates with benefits romance was big hearted and sexy (my god, so sexy) and geniunely a delight to read. Like actually upset that Phoebe wasn't flirting with her anymore and was showing someone else attention. I saw how beautifully complimenting they were and how well they helped each other and just how damn cute their story was. Side characters: several BIPOC characters, several queer characters, non-binary side characters, trans side characters.I think it’s done well but I can see how a character having a stronger emotional reaction than the reader might have in a situation can grate at times. i’ve never related more to a main character with ADHD then I have with Phoebe in this book…also meryl wilsner is just such an entertaining story teller! Wilsner does really well to to have the characters voices their own rather than speaking with Wilsner’s voice. It was fun watching how their situation transformed from casual sex to romantic feelings getting involved.

There’s so many small elements that I adored: the hair braiding, the shared love of soccer, the joy in playing the game together, the lovable trans and enby side characters, the sheer amount of queer energy across the teams, and more. This novel makes use of the miscommunication trope in a way that’s frustrating and delightful; when the two finally get on the same page by the end of the novel, I was smiling and satisfied. It's also very steamy which is nice to see but as someone who is checking out of sex scenes more and more.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. 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? She has just graduated from a small college in the midwest where she was the star player in their soccer program. It’s definitely a book for people who already know soccer since there were a lot of terms and such that weren’t explained.