Review: Check & Mate

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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 rookie 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...)

Genre: contemporary romance

Publication date: November 2023

Mature content: yes

 

Review: I absolutely loved it! After a bit of a slow start - probably due to the fact that this is not the typical women in STEM romance novel by Ali Hazelwood - I just couldn't put it down.

 

It's not just the romance between Mallory and Nolan, especially since he's so patient and sweet and Mallory seems to be totally oblivious most of the time. 

It's also the whole chess concept which, quite frankly, I found original and interesting. I'm probably the worst chess player in the world, since I never can remember the rules, so having all these people playing chess (virtually in their minds sometimes) made it really compelling. 

And it's also the way the author makes us analyse and think about people and relationships, while still keeping the tone light and airy. 

I'm smiling as I write this, pretty much as I was smiling throughout most of this book. And a book that makes people smile is the best kind of book there is.  

Happy readings,

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