Check & Mate
Check & Mate - Ali Hazelwood
my review : ✮✮✮✮
This is not for everyone, but it was for ME. This book contains an absurd amount of references that I am either too old or too lame to understand. I can see how that would be distracting to some readers, but I was able to look right past the references so I could make eye contact with the dreamboat who is our leading man.
The tension was perfection. This story was everything I wanted. Teach me about chess and MAKE IT SEXY. Show me a smart, badass leading lady who doesn’t apologize for being brilliant! Bring me a tall, hulking man because would it be an Ali Hazelwood book if there wasn’t a significant-to-the-point-of-distraction height difference?
Here’s the scoop on this story: Mallory is an excellent chess player—or she was before she quit 6 years ago after the sport caused her family to implode. Her days now are filled with working at an auto shop and struggling to support her mom and two sisters. When she gets bamboozled into playing one last chess tournament for charity & beats the #1 player in the world (who happens to be devastatingly handsome), she gets a lot of attention, and a big chunk of that attention is coming from the aforementioned tall, dark, and brooding chess genius….
I was so disappointed when I heard that this book was going to be YA when it was first announced, and it turns out I know nothing. It was typical Ali Hazelwood brilliance with just a little less nudity! This book shows me that I have no idea what qualifies something as YA. The story is about 18 & 19-year-olds, but it doesn’t remind me of any YA books I’ve read before. It’s closed door…ish and I probably wouldn’t want my 13-year-old to be reading it. I don’t know; I found it unbearably sexy. Chess! Sexy!
If you’ve loved Ali’s past books, don’t even think twice; just pick this up. If you’re new to her, I recommend starting with The Love Hypothesis. If you hate her books, get some taste! KIDDING!! hehe 😜
Who has read this? Give me the scoop; we loved it, right?!?!?!? Also, are we all equally confused as to what YA is these days?
you’ll love this book if you love:
Ali Hazelwood (who doesn’t?!)
A super tall male lead
Making chess sexy (again?)
