Check & Mate

Chess, Infatuation, Unexpected Twists, what more could you want?

If you're an eldest daughter and are a former chess prodigy, boy, do I have the book for you (okay, maybe we can scratch the last part but it could still apply!) In Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, Mallory Greenleaf (a former chess prodigy) somehow beats the World's #1 Chess player Nolan Sawyer, after not playing in years, at a charity match. What ensues after this life changing event includes infatuation, high stakes, and complicated family relationships. Also, if you love Taylor Swift and love imagining characters from a book being the "characters" in her songs this is the perfect example (plus Hazelwood even thanked her in the acknowledgements!)