Title: Deep End
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance
Pages: 464
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤

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Deep End

Scarlett Vandermeer is a dedicated student-athlete specializing in platform diving. She’s focused on getting into med school while still recovering from an injury that nearly ended her career. The dive that caused her injury continues to haunt her, and despite working with a therapist, she struggles to overcome the fear. With so much on her plate, Scarlett has no time for distractions—especially not relationships.

Luke Blomqvist, a Swedish swimmer, is at the top of his game. At first glance, he and Scarlett seem to have little in common, but they soon discover they share one undeniable interest. What starts as a simple arrangement quickly turns into something more. Much more.

Review

I either really enjoy Ali Hazelwood’s books, or I find myself getting bored while reading them. Unfortunately, this one fell into the latter category for me. But that’s just how it goes sometimes—not every book resonates the same way for everyone. And clearly, plenty of people love this one since it has a 4.15 rating! It wasn’t a bad book by any means—I’ve definitely read books I liked far less—I just wasn’t as invested in it as I’d hoped to be.

Let’s start with the positives. I’ve read a lot of sports romances, but I don’t recall ever reading one about a swimmer and a diver. That felt fresh, and I appreciated that. The characters were likable enough, and I was happy to see Scarlett’s personal growth, especially in the last part of the book—she was mentally getting stronger, which I loved. Luke, on the other hand, was just okay for me. I didn’t dislike him, but I didn’t feel particularly attached to him either.

The storyline itself was solid. It balanced spice with an actual plot, which I appreciated. Both Scarlett and Luke are competitive athletes training for the Olympics, which added an interesting layer to the story. Bonus points for the Amsterdam/Netherlands mention! As someone from the Netherlands, I always think it’s cool when my small country pops up in books. Also, this book briefly made me want to learn Swedish—though considering I’m already relearning French on Duolingo and also want to tackle Spanish, Korean, and Italian, I’m not sure Swedish will make the cut.

Now, onto the part that didn’t quite work for me. This book revolves around the fact that both characters share a specific interest in the bedroom. They even go as far as making a list of their kinks, ensuring they’re on the same page. Naturally, this gave me some Fifty Shades of Grey vibes (even though I never actually read those books). So, I was expecting some wild spicy scenes. And sure, there were steamy moments, but they were just standard rough sex—not exactly what I anticipated given the buildup. It felt odd that the book made such a big deal about their shared kinks, only for it to not really deliver on that front. There was even a content warning at the beginning, which made me expect something a little more intense.

Overall, this book was just average for me, mainly because I wasn’t emotionally invested. I didn’t really care what the characters were doing or what happened in their lives. I think part of that comes down to not feeling any personal connection with them—except maybe relating to Scarlett’s perfectionism a little. And, again, the whole buildup about their kinks leading to… pretty standard spice was kind of weird. I went in expecting Fifty Shades, and it just didn’t deliver.

The post Deep End – Ali Hazelwood | Book Review first appeared on A happy life.

Title: Check & Mate
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: Romance
Pages: 362
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤

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Check & Mate

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess, but when her best friend Eaton asks her to be a part of her chess team for just one time, she agrees. Just one time playing chess and then she will be done with it for the rest of her life. But then she defeats the current world champion, Nolan Sawyer. No one can beat him except Mallory. Now Defne wants to hire her to play chess. She eventually agrees but does not tell her family about it. But the more Mallory plays the more attention she gets from the media and suddenly it is hard to keep everything a secret. Especially when she starts hanging out with Nolan as well. Everyone knows him, because he is the best of the best.

Review

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to rate Check & Mate. I am still torn between 2 or 3 hearts, but I guess I decided to go for three hearts just because the cover is pretty (cool).

When I read a romance novel, I know it is a good book when I can’t put it down. Or when the author can make you feel things. For example, when the two characters break up and it is a good book, I feel it and I feel sad. Or I get excited when they finally kiss for the first time. I had none of that with this book, to be honest. I am even wondering if it is a romance novel. Sure, Mallory and Nolan are in a relationship at a certain point, but I wasn’t feeling it. Barely any chemistry.

I am also a little bit confused because this is not the first time I read one of Ali Hazelwood’s books. I’ve read ‘The Love Hypothesis’ and the ‘Loathe to You’ mini-series. I believe I liked all of them. I know you can’t simply like every single book, but it felt like a different author wrote this book. I had the feeling that the writing style was completely different. I haven’t checked it yet, but it definitely feels like that.

The book is also about characters who play chess and I know nothing about it. I think it is pretty cool that people know how to play chess, but I don’t think it is for me.

I also had nothing in common with the characters. Mallory is taking care of her family. Her mother is sick and can’t work, so she pays for the mortgage and everything else. Her sister Sabrina is a pain in the ass and super ungrateful. She says she isn’t ungrateful, but her actions tell something different. I am also still confused as to why Mallory thinks she can’t play chess. Just because her father was a stupid man and died? Her family doesn’t even care and they were actually waiting for the moment Mallory would start playing again.

Nolan Sawyer was just boring, he just talked about chess. I am still not sure why the media wrote about him like he was a sex god or something. He says that the media write whatever they want to write, but still, that doesn’t make any sense. For the record, he was a virgin. But he must have given the media a reason why they thought he was a sex god.

Why do I still want to give it 2-3 hearts? I know Ali Hazelwood can do better than this. I am also trying not to be too harsh just because I have nothing in common with the main characters. The cover of Check & Mate is still pretty and the idea itself is cool too. No girl/woman was ranked high and there was a lot of sexism towards women in the competition and Mallory changed that. The book itself is pretty easy to read. I finished it in two nights and it has short chapters. I am a fan of short chapters, so it made me happy. But overall, I am just disappointed.

The post Check & Mate – Ali Hazelwood | Book Review first appeared on A happy life.