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. You then follow along with these women as they navigate their complicated friendship, as well as their equally complicated careers. Meryl Wilsner is a go-to author for sapphic reads." - Culturess, "10 queer romance releases to keep Pride Month going in 2023"

Phoebe Matthews has consistently held a deep admiration for Grace’s exceptional abilities, and she experienced a sense of awe and admiration when given the opportunity to train alongside her esteemed idol. However, she rapidly discovers that her perception of Grace extends beyond that of a normal comrade. Following a single audacious kiss, she becomes captivated. Grace is the culmination of all that she has eagerly anticipated. I don’t even know where to begin! Cleat Cute was such a fun and exciting read. It has the perfect amount of romance, drama, and just enough spice! I absolutely loved Grace and Phoebe, and I especially enjoyed the the secondary characters like Gabby, Madeeha, and Fish. I almost wish Wilsner didn’t write such interesting secondary characters because I just wanted to keep reading about them!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. He isn’t wrong—she’d had to dig through her drawstring bag, thinking all hope was lost until she found a bill in the bottom corner. A] hilarious, high-heat rom-com...by coupling raunchy humor and genuine connection, Wilsner’s sophomore outing offers plenty to love." - Publishers Weekly

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 🤷 Still, she’d take him with if she could. Her only reservation about heading to Louisiana at the end of the month is how far she’ll be from her family. College was one thing—Mapleton was close enough to bring her laundry home. Moving to NOLA will be her first time living outside of Indiana in her twenty-two years.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. 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?” 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.” 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. 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.