Check & Mate

"If you, like me, are firmly in the “checkers not chess” camp, you may have been feeling a little FOMO when the chess craze kicked in high gear this year. This YA book is the perfect balm – offering a mix of teen angst, a lot of romantic chemistry and some actual chess sprinkled in. Mallory Greenleaf, who’s 18, hasn’t played chess since it ruined her life a few years ago. When her best friend enters her in a charity competition, she finds herself face-to-face with “bad boy of chess” Nolan Sawyer. As the two make moves on and off the chessboard, Mallory has to decide whether she can open her heart to both the player and the game."