Check & Mate a Review

 

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Going along with this month's theme, today we will be focusing more on romance than mystery. Though I was surprised to find that Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood does include a bit of mystery about the main character and her reasons for vowing never to play or enjoy chess again. Don't worry, I won't spoil that mystery for you. I will only say that you have to keep reading until almost the end to figure out the full story about what happened with Mallory, the main character, and her chess Grand Master father, to make her want to stop playing. That being said, the heart of the story beyond the sport itself, is the romance between Mallory and bad boy of chess Nolan Sawyer. I will admit that this is the first book of Ali Hazelwood's I've read and it also happens to be her debut young adult novel. All of her other books have been geared toward an adult audience. I picked this as a read because one of my book clubs voted on this for our February book discussion and I am very glad we did. I loved reading about Mallory as she struggles to help out her family and in the process falls in love again with chess and lands herself a sweet and very hot boyfriend in the process.

There are so many things I loved about this book. First, I love Mallory as a character. She is brave, smart and loyal. As a recent college grad at the start of the book, we learn that she has chosen to stick close to home rather than go off to college like most of her friends and fellow classmates. Mallory even gives up scholarships that could have paid her way in college to help her mom and two younger sisters. Instead, she continues to work full-time as an auto mechanic. Here again is a plot point that I love. Not only do we have a character who is willing to self-sacrifice to help out her family, but she is able to do it in a field that is a male-dominated one. I learned after picking up this book that all of Ali Hazelwood's novels feature heroines involved in STEM oriented endeavors. Mallory is no exception. All of this info is covered in the first chapter, as well as her family setup. Her mom has rheumatoid arthritis, which makes it hard for her to work, and Mallory's dad is out of the picture completely, though we don't really know why. Added to that pressure, Mallory's two younger sisters are both too young to really be of much help, Sabrina is only fifteen and youngest sister Darcy is twelve. Things, of course, all change when Mallory's best friend Easton, who is set to leave for college across the country in Colorado in a couple of weeks, convinces Mallory to help her out in a charity chess match as a last hurrah style favor to her. Though reluctant, Mallory is unable to pass up a chance to spend some time with Easton, and despite her promise to herself not to play chess again, she secretly can't resist a good reason to do just that for her friend. Enter Nolan Sawyer, heartthrob and World Chess Champion. As luck, or as this is fiction, fate would have it, Nolan ends up being a part of the charity event too and is the person Mallory is matched against. Now here is where some readers may have to suspend their disbelief. After four years of not playing at all, Mallory not only challenges Nolan in their match, she also beats him. Something that she immediately regrets as Mallory remembers what a sore loser Nolan has been known to be in the past. Not even bothering to shake his hand after winning, Mallory immediately flees instead. 

I know, I know, it doesn't seem like a plausible scenario. But as the story develops and we learn more about Mallory, a former chess prodigy, we discover that not only is she good at fixing cars, she is a natural strategist and player when it comes to dominating a chess board. This coupled with the fact that Nolan was doing this for charity and probably not expecting to play against anyone that challenging, made this meet-cute moment plausible for me. At least enough for me to laugh at the outcome and enjoy what happens next. But those were just a few of the many positives I loved about this novel. Others that I will try to sum up for you are the interplay between Mallory and her family and how it juxtaposes so nicely with Nolan and his background. Up until Mallory was a freshman in high school, she had a close family with both parents in the home and her two sisters. Nolan by contrast is an only child who grew up with his grandfather being the only person he was ever close to or felt loved by. Later, this becomes another reason for him to fall for Mallory, as he enjoys being welcomed into her home by her mom and sisters when he makes a surprise visit. Speaking of Mallory's family, Hazelwood does not sugarcoat their dynamics either. She makes Mallory's interplay with her sisters very believable. Both Sabrina and Darcy know how to push Mallory's buttons and enjoy doing so, and as she mentions in the book, the two of them are only united when it involves ganging up on Mallory. Other things I appreciated about the book was the fact that Mallory is unapologetically smart. When she eventually agrees to accept a fellowship that allows her to play as a pro in the chess world, she is surprised to find that it is a very male-dominated field, maybe as much so as being a woman auto mechanic was. That doesn't keep her intimidated for long, though, and despite how hard she has to work to catch up in order to be a true threat against long-standing pros, Mallory has enough belief in her abilities to take them on. My other great love in the story is the romantic lead, Nolan. When he meets Mallory for the first time he is intrigued and thrilled to meet someone who makes playing chess fun again. This appreciation for her as a player soon turns into more as he looks into who she is and gets to know her more and more. What begins as a desire to finagle a rematch with her soon turns into a slow-burn romance with a payoff at the end that is super sweet.

Now you might be wondering with all of these positives about this book were there any negatives. Well, to be honest there were a few. For starters, the intrigue about what caused Mallory's family to implode and her dad to leave was a bit anticlimactic for me. While the resolution for that plot point was believable, I felt it was a bit more cliched than I'd hoped it would be. Another gripe I've seen mentioned about this book was that there were too many pop culture references that some younger readers feel have been overdone by too many writers. As an adult reader, I didn't think of this as a problem at first, as I knew most of these references were geared towards people my kids' ages. However, looking at other contemporary books I've recently read geared toward the same audience and reflecting on the ways they developed their character voice, I can see how relying on pop culture references could come across as too heavily done with this book. I also noted some people not liking Mallory's promiscuity early on in the book. While I can see how some might not agree with that for her character development, I thought the author wove that in with Mallory's misbelief about herself very well. Mallory does not see herself as being worthy of someone else's love or admiration. I could also readily believe that Mallory would only be interested in sex for physical pleasure and shy away from any committed relationships after being traumatized by her parents' breakup. Someone as young as Mallory could very well turn to sex as a release from all the adult pressures and stresses she's had to face at such a young age while still believing she isn't worthy of more. It made her seem more human to me as a character. That being said, all of that makes this book more suitable for an older young adult audience.

All in all, I plan on keeping this book as a to-read-again. I found it to be fun, heartfelt, and very romantic. Plus, Ali Hazelwood's depictions of the chess matches throughout the book are exciting to read about even if you don't know that much about the game. I look forward to reading more books by this author. If you enjoy contemporary romances involving female characters that are in some way involved in STEM oriented fields, or in this case, STEM oriented sports, (and yes, I looked it up and chess is recognized by the Olympic committee as a sport), you will enjoy this book and likely many of Ali Hazelwood's other adult romances.

Next month, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I will be reading and reviewing some anglophile inspired fiction. Stay tuned!!

Want to Cozy Up With a Mystery This February?

 

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As promised, this month's theme in terms of book reviews will be mystery and romance. For my first pick, I've chosen this cute cozy mystery by Sarah Fox. Murder Most Owl is the first in a new series set in the fictitious town of Twilight Cove, Oregon. Georgie Johansen is a successful screenwriter for TV who lives in Los Angeles. Her expertise is in writing thrillers and mysteries. When she returns to Twilight Cove to help her aunt at her animal sanctuary after she’s broken her ankle, Georgie finds herself embroiled in a real-life murder mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. Olivia is a very likable and believable character. She is someone who suffered loss at a young age with the death of her mother. Afterwards, Georgie and her dad never really have a home base as her father moves them around a lot throughout much of her childhood. Her happiest memories growing up were the few years she spent in Twilight Cove living with her aunt as a teen. But Georgie hasn’t been back since her dad moved her away. It was too hard to leave the first time around. Once back, however, she falls in love with the animals at the sanctuary and is intrigued by her aunt’s new farm manager, Callum, who seems to have some secrets of his own. When Aunt Olivia’s reclusive neighbor Dorothy is killed, Georgie volunteers to take in Dorothy’s two dogs Flossy and Fancy. Though Georgie learns from a town gossip that Dorothy was a witch, it’s her two dogs who actually have special talents.

One thing to note about this novel, if you are expecting heavy fantasy elements with purported witch Dorothy in the vane of a Madelyn Alt or a Shea MacLeod cozy mystery, this is not that type of book. Likewise, if you are expecting the animal characters to have conversations about their human counterparts as they might in a Rita Mae Brown novel, you will not find that here, either. That being said, I really appreciated the clever way this author handled the light fantasy elements that are present in the story. Fox doesn’t have Fancy or Flossy act outside the realm of a normal intelligent dog, and manages to incorporate their abilities into their characters in a way that compliments their normal behavior. Their special qualities aren’t revealed right away either, which adds another element of intrigue to figure out as the story unfolds. I also enjoyed the owl Euclid, who was Dorothy’s friend, and who soon becomes Georgie’s friend and protector. Though for a nocturnal animal, he does seem to be awake in the daytime an awful lot, something even Georgie comments on. Still, it doesn’t stretch the suspension of disbelief too far.

In terms of Georgie as amateur sleuth, I appreciated the way Fox handles how Georgie becomes caught up in solving Dorothy’s murder. At first, it is her normal curiosity that causes her to become unwittingly involved. Unlike other stories, she doesn’t automatically assume she is more qualified to solve the case than the police. But as clues and even deaths begin to mount up, she can’t let the puzzle go and becomes more invested. She even motivates others like her aunt and her old high school friend, Tessa, to help. The clues add a fun element to the puzzle as I could tell when some were important to the plot, and had a suspicion of who the murderer might be. But I couldn’t figure out the connections for all of the pieces provided until near the very end. Another thing I liked about the story was the building attraction between Georgie and Callum. It added a fun touch of romance to the novel, even though, like Georgie, you aren’t sure he’s trustworthy. It is however, a slow burn romance. So, if you like steamier romantic elements in your mysteries, again that is not this type of novel. Other secondary characters like Tessa, Aunt Olivia and her knitting circle, and other less likeable ones such as local journalist Byron Szabo and Shanifa and Mo, local food truck owners, fill out this cast and make Twilight Cove feel like a real place full of real, if sometimes offbeat, people. Something that I can relate to living in a small close-knit community myself. All in all, the only detractor I had for the story was the obvious antagonist at the beginning, the developer Ed Grimshaw. Fox made him a bit too bombastic and two-dimensional for me as a character. Also, the pacing of the story is slower than what you might expect. But this is the first in a series, so the worldbuilding and development of the cast of characters does take as much precedence in this book as the mystery itself.

However, if you like cozy mysteries with a dash of fantasy and a touch of romance mixed in, then I highly recommend you check out Murder Most Owl. It is a fun and easy read and I look forward to reading more in this series.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Severn House for providing me with this ebook ARC to read in exchange for this honest review.

Image copied from Amazon

Check back in the next couple of weeks for my next review, which will be of this young adult romance by Ali Hazelwood. Here is a blurb, courtesy of Amazon, to help wet your appetite.

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…)