Check & Mate

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York 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 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…)