Cleat Cute

Product Information

Oh my God, I’m so sorry for—I shouldn’t have—I didn’t mean that. When I said to shut up, it was just an expression. I’m—wait, are you really serious? You’re inviting me to camp?” My only problem with this book is that I wish it was longer! We obviously got a lot of Grace and Phoebe interactions throughout the whole story, but I would have loved to read more of them actually together in a relationship. I just didn’t want this story to ever end! 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.

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. Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women's National Team since she was 16. But when she's side-lined with an injury at just 26, 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 has lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends-with-benefits with this class clown. 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. The perfect blend of funny and steamy, Meryl Wilsner's Cleat Cute is about being brave enough to win on and off the field.so what is this supposed to be? She has no idea, but she is letting herself have it. It feels too good not to.” 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. Cleat Cute also has it all if you’re looking for diversity and representation. Wilsner always does an excellent job writing queer and poc characters, and in this book they focused a lot more on neurodivergent characters. It was refreshing to read a book that included all of these characters. Phoebe Matthew’s chances of playing professional soccer is very slim as she played for a small college in the midwest. Being drafted to play for the same professional team her idol plays on is a mind blowing dream come true for Phoebe. 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. 22-year-old 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 teammates with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

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 wanted to congratulate you on being drafted last month,” the person says. “You’ll do well with New Orleans. But more specifically, I wanted to invite you to training camp with the national team in a couple of weeks.” Cleat Cute is a rivals to lovers story that is lighthearted and fun with splashes of seriousness folded in. Soccer is the setting but the story revolves around the players more than the game itself. We are inside the minds of both main characters riding their emotional ups and downs as they play out. Phoebe Matthews is too focused on her first season as a professional soccer player to think about seducing her longtime idol. But when Grace ends up making the first move, they can’t keep their hands off of each other.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.)