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…)
