Checkmate to love

For Mallory Greenleaf, chess is a thing of the past. Now she carefully weighs every decision she makes: after the sport wreaked havoc on her family four years ago, Mallory dedicates herself exclusively to her mother, her sisters, and a dead-end job to pay the bills. At least, until she reluctantly agrees to participate in one last charity tournament and, unintentionally, crushes the famous Kingslayer, Nolan Sawyer: the world champion and the toughest guy in chess.

Nolan's defeat against a champion nobody leaves everyone stunned. But what's most perplexing is that the boy wants to face her again. What kind of gambit is Nolan employing? The smartest thing would be to turn around and leave. Quit. Call it quits. Yet, victory offers her the chance to pocket some much-needed cash, and despite everything, she can't help but feel drawn to the enigmatic strategist...

As Mallory's career skyrockets through the rankings, he struggles to keep his family out of the game that ruined everything. And as his love for the sport he's tried so hard to despise is rekindled, he soon discovers that the games aren't played solely on the board, that being in the spotlight is more complicated than he imagined, and that the competition can be fierce (attractive mind. And smart... And infuriating...).