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A review by ashley_mrose530
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another decent romance from Ali. I still loved the characters but the plots are just so repetitive. I loved the romance aspect which is the main point of a romance book, but she really needs to switch up her plots more.
She's fantastic at making you feel the chemistry between her characters and having you root for them to get together and waiting for that moment that they finally do. I love the slow-burn in most of her romances and this one was no exception. I was so happy when Mallory finally kissed Nolan and acknowledged her feelings for him. I do wish she had more time to come to terms with the fact that they were already in a relationship even before the kiss though. Like they were fully dating and even living together and she didn't realize it until she finally kissed him. And then all of the sudden the truth about him being one of the donors for her fellowship comes out and she doesn't even get to fully realize that she was already his girlfriend. I feel like she could have freaked out about that for a minute before we jumped right into the big "plot twist" and she ran away.
I did think it was weird at first though. Like their meeting was cute but she runs away from him and then he just shows up at her house?? They hadn't even had a conversation at all before he just shows up?? That's creepy and weird and gave me the ick for sure. But after that it pretty cute and I liked their interactions together.
But if we look at just the plot of this book, it's again almost indistinguishable from her other three novels. There's an incredibly sexist guy who turns out to be the bad guy and spills the secret that the main male character has been hiding which makes the female mc run away until she can come to terms with the fact that she's stupid for running and being afraid of this relationship. I've read multiple romance books from other authors and they don't all have this same kind of cookie-cutter plot line so it's really something that Hazelwood and her editor needs to work on. I'm planning on giving Bride a try just because she mixes the genre up a little bit so maybe that'll force her change her plot too, but we'll see.
She's fantastic at making you feel the chemistry between her characters and having you root for them to get together and waiting for that moment that they finally do. I love the slow-burn in most of her romances and this one was no exception. I was so happy when Mallory finally kissed Nolan and acknowledged her feelings for him. I do wish she had more time to come to terms with the fact that they were already in a relationship even before the kiss though. Like they were fully dating and even living together and she didn't realize it until she finally kissed him. And then all of the sudden the truth
I did think it was weird at first though. Like their meeting was cute but she runs away from him and then he just shows up at her house?? They hadn't even had a conversation at all before he just shows up?? That's creepy and weird and gave me the ick for sure. But after that it pretty cute and I liked their interactions together.
But if we look at just the plot of this book, it's again almost indistinguishable from her other three novels. There's an incredibly sexist guy who turns out to be the bad guy and spills the secret that the main male character has been hiding which makes the female mc run away until she can come to terms with the fact that she's stupid for running and being afraid of this relationship. I've read multiple romance books from other authors and they don't all have this same kind of cookie-cutter plot line so it's really something that Hazelwood and her editor needs to work on. I'm planning on giving Bride a try just because she mixes the genre up a little bit so maybe that'll force her change her plot too, but we'll see.