Challenge Corner discussion

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...)

Started

Part 1 (view spoiler)[Well I wasn’t really expecting her to have money troubles, but excited to see where this romance leads now that she is going to take the fellowship. (hide spoiler)]

Through chapter 12 (view spoiler)[this is cute but not loving it. I don’t know how I feel about him showing up and offering to pay her to play. Also I hate Sabrina. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 14-20 (view spoiler)[I love that he just wants her to play because she is good. Both have baggage that needs to be addressed though. And finally they kissed! (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[That ending was terrible. We didn’t get to see the big chess match and the way we learned how she won was very dry to read. Actually we didn’t even get to see the couple together as an actual couple. Very disappointed with the ending. (hide spoiler)]

Read this tonight.

Prologue - Chapter 8
(view spoiler)[
This is cute so far. Mallory has way too much responsibility for an 18 year old girl. I wonder why she keeps thinking she's the reason her family is struggling? I wonder what happened? Also her sisters are complete brats (mostly Sabrina) and I really don't like them. This whole fellowship thing is interesting and I'm glad she took it.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 9-16
(view spoiler)[
I love how enthusiastic Darcy is about all the chess stuff Mallory is doing, it's cute. Sabrina on the other hand still sucks. I'm liking the connection between Mallory and Nolan so far but I was expecting things to be further along by now (I think I'm too used to adult romances). Mallory ending up in the Challengers tournament is interesting and I liked what Defne had to say about it.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapters 17-24
(view spoiler)[
Ok look, was she right to blow up at her family that way? No. But they were being seriously ungrateful after everything she's done for them. They wouldn't even have a home if it wasn't for her. Also, things were do good between Mallory and Nolan and then it all got messed up thanks to Koch. I really hope she decides to go to the World Championship, she does deserve it.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 25 - Epilogue
(view spoiler)[
I'm glad those two made up before the championship and that Mallory worked on a lot of her issues. I do wish we had gotten to see the matches as well as more of them as an actual couple but overall this was cute and I enjoyed it.
(hide spoiler)]

Just started

Chapter Five
(view spoiler)[ Really enjoying this set up. Though I do feel bad for Mallory being forced back into chess. What's the deal with her dad? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Nine
(view spoiler)[ What a joke this is bullshit. I can't believe she's getting disqualified for doodling. God, I love Nolan already. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Eleven
(view spoiler)[ Omg her dad died, this whole time I was thinking he left and abandonned them. Her fault he's not around? What the hell happened to him? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Sixteen
(view spoiler)[
Defne thinks she can win the world championships holy shit. I mean it seems like she can but still holy shit. I was not expecting to be this into this book but I really love it. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Twenty One
(view spoiler)[ Yes, love that they are finally together and oof that story with her dad was rough but seriously Mal don't blame yourself. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ I really loved this but man I wish we had seen what happened at that world championship. Objectively I can appreciate the choice but ugh I wanted to see it. I feel somewhat cheated and I'm really hoping Ali Hazelwood has some bonus content of that available somewhere. (hide spoiler)]

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RESTARTING JUNE 20TH, 2024

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Starting this one today :)

Chapter 3: (view spoiler)[ I enjoyed the prologue. Thought it was a nice introduction to Mallory. I really want to know more about why she quit chess and how her mother being sick is her fault. Also, she has the patience of a saint with her sisters because I would not be that nice if they were acting like that. And the older one, what was she - 14? She's old enough to know a little about money. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7: (view spoiler)[ of course the next time she sees him shes pretty much naked in a pool - and still doesnt speak to him. Also i feel like theres an overload of pop culture references. Like i love me a good reference here and there, but this is a lot (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 15: (view spoiler)[ i do like the interactions with Nolan i just wish they were more in depth. So Nolans a virgin and shes the more experienced one, you dont see that too often. Also i want more story on her dad. Still dislike her sister (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[ there were parts i really liked and parts that were just okay. Wasnt a fan of the 3rd act breakup. Wish her mom would have said something to her earlier about knowing about the chess playing, feels like it could have saved a lot of drama. Overall cute but not amazing (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to post every 8 chapters. It's broken down to Prologue, PART ONE, PART TWO, PART THREE and an Epilogue; however the up to PART TWO is only 58 pages on my ebook and then PART THREE doesn't start until page 293, so I'll just do every 8 and using the Epilogue as "chapter 32" even though it's not. lol

Through Ch. 8

(view spoiler)[What would be the chances of her beating the world's greatest player in real life? lol She must be far better than she gives herself credit for. I mean she's going on for the quarter finals, so yeah, the wins weren't flukes!

It's a pretty funny/cute story so far, but it is a bit overloaded with references; however, I tend to like allusions IF I recognize them.

Her being in the pool naked...why on earth would she be anyway? lol (hide spoiler)]

Did we want to buddy read this for the other group and get the points over there too?

Most definitely! :)

I never got past chapter 8 because we ended up having a swim day over at my daughter’s house and a bunch of my grandkids were there so once I got home, I dozed off until my husband got home from work. So I’ll finish this one tomorrow.

Through Ch. 16

(view spoiler)[I just think Darcy is so adorable but the other sister, Sabrina is kind of a brat. lol But the questions Darcy asked Nolan would definitely have been embarrassing AND a bit too much for a girl of her age to be asking anyway!

Honestly, it seems to be me like she's better than all of the other players. I think she'll win the Challenges!

A virgin? I'm shocked that he's a virgin at 20 years old but pretty cool. (hide spoiler)]

Through Ch. 24

(view spoiler)[Jeez, I really felt for her story about her dad. All so sad. She's done so much for her family but you can't always expect appreciation or "payback" unfortunately. I think even though things got messed up between her and Nolan that they'll end up with their HEA. And I am sure she'll most likely go to the World Championship and win! (hide spoiler)]

Finished

(view spoiler)[I had a hard time with Mallory. I thought she was just too much. Bitchy, self-absorbed, hecka rude to her mother and sisters when she called them all a bitch. I just got tired of listening to her. lol

I was also not happy with the ending. Why wouldn't they have let the reader know how the tournament played out? I am glad that they made up after their big argument/her getting SO upset with Nolan. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 8

I agree (view spoiler)[ this one is just silly
her swimming naked - not gonna happen.

and yeah, beating Sawyer at some random tournament. I just can't even imagine it.

I like Defne and Oz. I'm sad she has to pay for so much stuff. hopefully these tournaments will help her pay for stuff (hide spoiler)]

*sigh*

lol not loving it so far
(view spoiler)[ I think it's just silly that Nolan is a virgin and not really necessary for the storyline.

I found Defne's statistics interesting but man, I just am not loving Mal or Nolan

Mal's family was pretty awful. I'm glad she went anyway. Glad that maybe her mom is stepping up

again, just ignoring reality and rolling with the fact they chose her for the tournament!

hopefully there won't be any questions about propriety if she beats Nolan again (hide spoiler)]

and I'm done!

so sad because I thought this book had an interesting idea
just not an execution that worked for me

(view spoiler)[ I found it felt very cliche YA
the absent parents, the oldest working, the siblings just being awful

I even found the bad guy (suddenly his name jumped from my head. Koch? Keach? Koech? anyway) over the top. Like, he threw it all away and cheated?! crazy

meh. I didn't love the main character, I didn't love Nolan - I did really like Defne and Oz. (hide spoiler)]

ha! we were really close with matching reviews on this one (and ratings!)

I hope our next one is better!