Book Review: Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
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…)
Mallory was once a chess prodigy, but she’s given up the game for good to take care of her mom and her two younger sisters. She’s just graduated high school and she needs to get a real job. But her best friend talks her into playing a charity chess tournament as a favor to her. She ends up playing the reigning world champion Nolan Sawyer and kicking his butt! Well, after that, she gets sucked back into the world of chess and finds herself drawn to Nolan, against her better judgment.
This was such a cute YA romance. I loved Mallory’s sex positive attitude. Nolan is the one who is inexperienced, and I thought the role reversal was refreshing. Because they are teenagers, they have an innocence to them, and their relationship was adorable. How many different ways can I phrase just how cute I think this book is! Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. She has once again created a smart, strong female lead character. This is a YA book, but I would consider it “upper YA”. It doesn’t talk down to the reader. And the main characters are all over eighteen, not teeny boppers. The bedroom scenes fade to black but that’s really the only thing reminded me that it was YA while I was reading it. I highly recommend Check & Mate for Ali Hazelwood fans and romance fans of all ages!
***Check & Mate was one of my November 2023 Book of the Month Club selections. You can join Book of the Month with this link and get a hardcover book for only $5 with no obligation to continue your membership.***
