Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood #bookreview #youngadult #contemporary #romance

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Title: Check & Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November 7, 2023

Page Count:  362

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.

Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist….

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood is a young adult contemporary romance novel. I was familiar with the author’s adult romance so I had to check out this new young adult and was happy to find I also enjoyed it too.

Mallory Greenleaf has not had anything to do with playing chess since everything in her world fell apart several years ago. Mallory’s father had taught her to play and to play well so when things tear them apart Mallory put the game into the past with her father.

When a friend convinces Mallory to play chess again for charity Mallory never expected to be seated across from the number one player. Mallory certainly also didn’t expect to manage to beat “Kingkiller” Nolan either but before she knows it she’s being swept back into the world of chess tournaments and getting to know Nolan more than she ever expected.

First, let me start off by clarifying that I know very little about the game of chess so if anyone is looking to see if that side of the book is accurate I can’t help with that. The author certainly sounded like she knew a good bit about competitive chess and she convinced me I was spending time in the chess world getting to know these characters though. Along with the romance there was also a lot of character growth which I also appreciate so I was definitely hooked into the story and glad I returned to this author despite the younger characters.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Ali Hazelwood is a multi-published author—alas, of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, crocheting, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).