I've never read a Sampler before for review. Honestly I didn't even know what a Sampler was. If you're like me and you're unfamiliar... a sampler is the first several chapters of the book - just enough to get you hooked. The three books are similar - all Young Adult, all with 17-18 year old female main characters, all who had to give up their childhoods for reasons out of their control.

House of Marionne by J. Elle
House of Marionne starts with 17 year old Quell and her mom. Constantly on the run and never knowing why. She learns that she has magic and that assassins are after her. She and her mom are separated and she goes to the only place she thinks she's safe. This is a young adult fantasy romance book. This book started off with a bit more violence than I am used to reading about but it wasn't that much and once I got past that part the story gets interesting really fast! Quell doesn't know what's going on, she's wanting answers and there's no time to talk about it because they're being chased by magical monsters.... This was the first book in the sampler and as I finished reading it I was really wanting to read the full story! I've already requested it from my local library and I'm waiting for it to be available. Out of the three books, this one is number one on my TBR list.

Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis
Thieves' Gambit starts similarly to House of Marionne with Ross (Rosalyn) Quest who is 17 years old. She and her mom work together as master thieves. She doesn't have a normal life, she is always on a job. She thinks of a way to get away from her life of crime and unfortunately her mother is taken forcing Ross to do something she wasn't planning on doing. The Thieves' Gambit. It took me a minute to get into this book, it's a young adult mystery/thriller and I've never read book like this. I'm not often a fan of thieves. I understand this is a book so I should not take it so seriously but I need to read more to understand why they are stealing. Once I pushed past the whole family of master thieves part I really wanted to know more. It was a struggle to stay interested but I kept going. By the time I got to the end I was frustrated and wanted to know more. I will have to pick up this book and finish it now! It was a slow start for me but keep going! I think it will improve.

The last book in the sampler was really different from the other two. More of my style but just as interesting.
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Mallory Greenleaf was once a very talented chess player, she gives up playing when her mom gets sick and her family falls apart. Now at 18 she's graduated high school, working at a mechanic shop and trying to take care of her preteen/teen sisters and her mom. Her best friend is going away to college and before she goes she talks Mallory to play one last game. Mallory agrees and goes to the tournament and ends up matched against the "Kingkiller", current world champion. The results of that match have the potential to change Mallory's life. This book is a young adult romance, it appears to be rivals to lovers but, I didn't really read much of the romance aspect. Mostly just the rival part so far. It seems interesting enough. I've read Ali Hazelwood before and I like her well enough to want to finish reading this book. Her sisters are going to annoy me for the entire book, I've not ever heard 12 and 14 year old's speak as Ali writes them. I'm sure some do but it was a bit much. I also really want to know more about Mallory's parents. What happened to her dad?

I love these samplers, it gives a great view inside the books, a teaser if you will. I love Ali Hazelwoods writing and will definitely be buying that book. But it opened the door for the other 2 authors that are new to me as well!

I requested this book just for the Check and Mate sample. I'm a big fan of Ali Hazlewood and was excited to read her debut YA novel. Mallory is a little down on her luck stuck working at a job she hates, but it keeps the lights on at home for her mom and two sisters. Also her best friend is getting ready to head off to college, leaving Mallory behind. Begrudgingly Mallory agrees to join her friend and play in one last chess tournament for charity. She creates a whole lot of unwanted buzz after she ends up being the reigning world champ, Nolan Sawyer. Defne, the head of the Zugzwang chess club is so impressed she offers Mallory a fellowship. They would teach Mallory and pay for her to compete in tournaments. This would mean she could quit her crappy job, but it would also mean having to play chess which Mallory has sworn off. I really enjoyed the start to this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the book! Thank you to NetGalley for the oppurtunity to read and review this sample.

Great sampler! Definitely excited to read some of these now. Some books I was already excited for and some new to me ones.

A sample of three titles that will give you a taste of what these books are. In “House of Marionne” 17 year old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother are fleeing to keep Quell’s deadly magic from being discovered. Why? It is an exciting magical world of forbidden love, and a dark magic that is rare. It is the first book of a series. “Thieves Gambit” is about Rose entering a competitive game (secret) between thieves to win enough money for her kidnapped mother’s rescue. Will she be able to win the competition? The third excerpt “Check & Mate” is about chess. Mallory’s best friend has entered her in a chess tournament. Mallory gives in even though she hasn’t played chess for quite a while. She plays against the number one top ranking chess player in the world. Now she worries about her family’s reaction and the guy she beat. What will happen to Mallory?

While this is a sampler aimed at teenagers, I do think adults would enjoy them too. I enjoyed reading the excerpts and found the to romantic and entertaining enough that I ay check the out at the library so I can read the entire books!

This great sampler offers teens a sneak peek at a fab fantasy, a thriller, and a romance. Recommended!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Opinions are mine.

This is a great resource to find books to expand your TBR. I did end up reading Check and Mate. Unfortunately, I don't think the other two books interest me. I will rate this sampler five stars but here is my review for Check and Mate.

Check & Mate
⭐️⭐️⭐️

“You can let yourself want this because you already have it. You have me.”

Somehow, this is my first book by Ali Hazelwood! There was something about this one that intrigued me so I decided to give it a go!
I can successfully say that this is the first chess romance I’ve read. LOL. I think that aspect was cute and original. I did love the dynamic between Mallory and Nolan. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t giggling and smiling at their banter!
There were a lot of pop culture references, which I find common in YA books but it felt like a bit much at times.
I still enjoyed this book for the romance aspect and the storyline of her internship. However, the scenes with her sisters just didn’t work for me.
My biggest critique is that this is being marketed as a Young Adult book.
I do not think this is a suitable young-adult book. There are too many references to dating apps, casual sex, and hookups. The thought “How is this being called a YA book?” came into my head MANY times while reading.
I still recommend this book though! I suggest reading if you like chess, coming-of-age romances, rivals to lovers, and he falls first.

Loved this sampler! Thieves Gambit and Check & Mate were both books I was interested in purchasing for my library so it was great to be able to read a sample of each!

I admit that I requested this sampler to get a peek at Check & Mate since I have so many patrons reading Hazelwood's books and I wanted an early look at her foray into YA. This was a cute story of a chess meet-cute, but with an underlying sense of loss around Mallory's father and trauma around her mother's illness that I'm eager to find out more about.

I also enjoyed House of Marionne and the character of Quell, though magical realism is not my favorite. I have a lot of teen patrons that love this genre, though.

I was pleasantly surprised by Thieves Gambit! Lewis brings together a great cast of characters and a thoroughly enjoyable, original concept of a family of thieves. I adored the little bit of Rosalyn that I got from this excerpt and look forward to reading the whole book and recommending it.

All in all, this was an outstanding sampler and I look forward to recommending each and every book. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers and NetGalley for the early access in exchange for my honest opinion.

This sampler contains extracts from House of Marionne by J.Elle, Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis and Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood. This sampler was a great way to get a taste for the story and the author's writing style before committing to buying the book.

House of Marionne is a fantasy romance which revolves around Quell who must prove herself worthy of joining the Order to save herself and her mother. Although typically fantasy isn't really my thing, I enjoyed this and would be intrigued to read on.

I've already read Thieves' Gambit and it is one of my favourite books I've read so far in 2023. The premise of this book is essentially a combination of La Casa de Papel and Squid Game where thieves have to carry out different heists in a reality competition style format. I loved the plot of this and it was so fast paced and gripping from the start.

Check & Mate is the main reason I requested this sampler as since reading the Love Hypothesis, I've wanted to read more books by Ali Hazelwood. I really enjoyed this extract and loved that we got to see Mal's family life and friendships as well as a potential love interest. Hopefully this will add more depth and backstory to her character which is what I felt was missing in the Love Hypothesis. I'm now desperate to get my hands on a copy of this so I can read on!

I flew through this sampler and really enjoyed it! Originally, I was so excited about it when I saw that Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood was included as she is one of my favorite authors, but I found that I also really liked the excerpts from the other two novels. I was especially intrigued by Thieves Gambit, which I immediately placed a hold on at the library and will definitely be reading. I was very impressed by the quality of books included in this sampler and I liked that it put a book on my radar that I otherwise wouldn't know about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

5/5 stars!! Another great sampler! Before reading, I was not sure what to expect from some of these titles as they are not my typical book; however, the excerpts were breathtaking! Bestsellers, for sure! I will be purchasing all after they release and pre-ordering!

Penguin Teen Blockbusters Sampler by Various Authors was a great little piece.
This set includes excerpts from three talented writers.
House Of Marianne by J. Elle
Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
I loved diving into these little samples and getting a sneak peek at them.
Three fantastic YA reads that are bound to be binge-worthy.
The writing was intriguing which had me wishing they were longer.
I can’t wait to read each of these titles and see what they are all about.
It’s going to be fun.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

As a lover of all YA fiction I can not explain how excited I am for these novels. If I had to pick a big three genres it would always be fantasy, thriller, and romance so I had high hopes for these teasers. I am so excited to continue them when they are released.

Excited for Check and Mate which was the main reason I downloaded these teasers. Have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this one (but maybe not as much as I loved Loved Theoretically)

All of these teasers were captivating -- I think I'd read any of them, though Check & Mate was my favourite (what can I say, I really liked Queen's Gambit).

I mostly chose to download these excepts because of my interest in Check & Mate. However, I was pleasantly surprised by House of Marionne and now plan on reading that book as well. Thieves Gambit is a toss up for me, I am interested, but I am not sure if I will continue the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the book sampler!

I always like to check out these samplers when they're available on Netgalley. It helps me find new books that I may be interested in and gives me an idea of the writing styles.

I love reading these little samplers of potential bestseller books! Can't wait to read a few of these when they are released.

Interesting stories...there are stories worth investigating a little further in there. It was nice to get a sneak peek of the books.