Review: Check and Mate - Ali Hazelwood

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Review: Check & Mate - Ali Hazelwood - November 2023

After discovering Ali Hazelwood last year and reading her first two books in her The Love Hypothesis series and enjoying them, I was excited to read her YA book Check and Mate. Of course, since it was a Book Shoppe Book Box book, I had to wait for a good time to sit down and read it in one sitting and enjoy the full experience of opening the wee gifts as I went along with the story. Check and Mate introduces us to Mallory Greenleaf who as a child, was a chess prodigy, and her dad Archie Greenleaf who coached her was a Grandmaster. Chess was her life until a series of incidents happened and caused her to stop playing Chess is what she saw as the downfall of her life, it ruined everything. Now a couple of years later, Mallory has been allowed to play chess as a job and earn money which can help pay her family's mortgage and bills especially since her mum is sick and can't work full-time anymore. During this book, Mallory will find herself back into the world of playing Chess but this time - she is doing it with the help of new friends and even a potential love interest Nolan Sawyer who is the Number #1 Chess Player in the world. I also loved the angle near the end of Mallory being an icon for women in chess as even these days, Chess is naturally a male-dominated sport when it comes to the top rankings.  If you love YA/NA crossover stories, quirky characters, and a world of geeky fun - then Check & Mate is the series for you. I am now looking forward to reading the last two books in The Love Hypothesis series and her latest release and go at a Paranormal Romance - Bride.


Amazon: https://amzn.to/4brOBSo





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