120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery 🚀 We’ve moved into our new bookstore and warehouse 🎉

Check & Mate

the instant Sunday Times bestseller and Goodreads Choice Awards winner for 2023 - an enemies-to-lovers romance that will have you hooked!
By Ali Hazelwood
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.94 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 334,216 ratings, 53,582 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Check & Mate, Mallory Greenleaf's unexpected chess prowess puts her on a collision course with the competitive world of chess and its reigning star, Nolan Sawyer. As their rivalry intensifies, so does an undeniable attraction, blending high-stakes competition with a heartfelt romantic journey.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
Elsewhere:
$2799
Backorder
STOCK ARRIVING MID OCTOBER Order now to secure your copy from our next shipment

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you love a blend of romance and chess, with strong, relatable characters, clever dialogue, and a captivating plot that keeps you hooked from the first move to the last.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Are you ready for something a little different from Ali Hazelwood? Get excited for Check & Mate, the new hit from the globally bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
In this clever and swoonworthy new novel from the New York Times and Sunday 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 mum, 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 realises 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...)

This novel is suitable for both young adult and adult audiences.

Lists

Lizzy's Favourite Young Adult Romance

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood has been praised for its engaging characters and witty dialogue. Reviewers appreciate the chemistry between the protagonists and the author’s fresh take on contemporary romance, making it a delightful and enjoyable read.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781408727614

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 November 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Sphere

Audience: General / adult, Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 253g

Pages: 368

Collections

Ali Hazelwood Children’s, Teenage and Educational Contemporary Romance Cosy Romance Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Young Adult

About the Author

Ali Hazelwood is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Love Theoretically, Check & Mate and Bride, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Also by Ali Hazelwood

View all
  • Mate
    A Human hybrid and an Alpha Were claw against the bonds of fate in the highly anticipated companion novel to the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Bride. Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Deep End
    A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis. Deep End follows Scarlett Vandermeer, a junior at Stanford and a dedicated student-athlete who specialises in platform diving. Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Love Hypothesis
    The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is a delightful and intelligent contemporary romance that superbly marries brainy academic life with the escapism of a heartwarming love story. Olive Smith, at the crux of her third year as a Ph.D. candidate, is a woman who firmly casts aside any belief in the endurance of romantic relationships. However, her best friend Anh...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Problematic Summer Romance
    What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It's such a cliché, it almost makes her heart...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Love Hypothesis
    The Love Hypothesis
    A stunning hardcover collector's edition of Ali Hazelwood's debut novel, beloved bestseller and TikTok sensation featuring: A shimmering, revamped cover Endpapers with all new art from Lilithsaur featuring Olive and Adam STEM stencilled spredges A sunny, foil stamped case ...and a brand new bonus chapter featuring THAT KISS from Adam's point of view! When a fake relationship between scientists meets...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Hardback
    $4500
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Bride
    A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis. Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast - again. Her days of living...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Love Theoretically
    From the author of TikTok sensations and global bestsellers The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain. Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom. The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Not in Love
    A forbidden, secret affair proves that all's fair in love and science - from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood. Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on; the financial stability she yearned for as a kid; and a successful career as a biotech engineer...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Love on the Brain
    Your world is about to be rocked. Elena Armas, author of The Spanish Love Deception 'Hopelessly, brilliantly, wonderfully romantic. I loved it even more than The Love Hypothesis, and I didn't think that was possible' Cressida McLaughlin From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Love Hypothesis
    A BuzzFeed Best Summer Read of 2021 When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is a witty and heart-warming romantic comedy set in the demanding world of academia, where logic and evidence reign supreme, yet love proves to...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Two Can Play
    *This edition includes exclusive four-colour interior artwork by Lilithsaur ft a very steamy scene, plus a brand-new bonus chapter*An enemies-to-lovers spicy novella set in the world of video gaming from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Deep End and Mate - now in print and ebook!Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on...
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Bride
    #1 Indie Next Pick! A Hall of Fame LibraryReads pick! One of People’s Best Books to Read in February A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis....
    By Ali Hazelwood
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    By Caro Claire Burke
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
    Carl and Princess Donut have to team up with other contestants to not just survive, but to solve a deadly puzzle in this third, mind-twisting novel in the addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition! Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4700
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Fourth Wing
    THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NUMBER ONE GLOBAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON! DON'T MISS OUT ON THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'This book contains an addictive, drug-like essence that will make you relinquish all responsibility until the very last word. Do not say I didn't warn you' Glamour 'I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, and when I finished, I...
    By Rebecca Yarros
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Shirl's Pick Shirl's Pick
    Taipei Story
    TAIPEI STORY is the electrifying new novel by bestselling literary phenomenon Rebecca F. Kuang, a profoundly moving coming-of-age story that explores first love, second language and final goodbyes – all set against the backdrop of one unforgettable summer in Taipei. Yale student Lily Chen arrives in Taipei hungry: for family, for culture, for connection. But her summer of discovery quickly...
    By R.F. Kuang
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Gate of the Feral Gods
    The fourth book in the explosive LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent. Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $6000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Iron Flame
    The instant number one Sunday Times bestseller and thrilling sequel to the global phenomenon, Fourth Wing! DON'T BE THE LAST TO DISCOVER THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'Yarros is the true inheritor of Harry Potter and inspires Hunger Games levels of devotion' Guardian 'Fear not, levels of fighting, rebelliousness and all-round sexiness are still sky-high' Daily Mail...
    By Rebecca Yarros
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Haunting Adeline
    VIRAL BOOKTOK SENSATION AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR! The Manipulator I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me. I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh. But my words don't affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave. He's always there, watching and waiting. And I can never look away....
    By H. D. Carlton
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses
    The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan – Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift sass, Fifty Shades-level athleticism – The Sunday Times With bits of Buffy, Game of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all