Chess Not Checkers

Title: Chess Not Checkers

Series: RomCom University #1

Author: Annah Conwell

Narrators: Cat Protano and Keval Shah

Source: Hoopla

My Review:

I am not the target audience for this book. It is a young adult novel, which I did not realize before starting it. That is on me. However, I have loved everything I have read by Annah Conwell, so I was curious.

Overall, I liked the story.  I enjoyed seeing characters from other books. I liked the message of the story. But to get there, I had to deal with some things that I did not like.

This story has all the angst of a teenage romance. Some make-out descriptions are too much. I do not need to know that he was running his tongue across her lips. If that makes a prude, so be it. There was also underage drinking, which I also wouldn't want in a story marked for teenagers/young adults. While the main characters did not partake, and one of them even stated it is illegal for them to drink, it just seemed unnecessary to the story.

While I liked the story, I will not be continuing the series. I need to remember that young adult stories are not my cup of tea, and leave them for those they are intended to reach. I will continue to read other stories by this author. 

★★★/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):  

She thinks he’s an arrogant jerk.

All Jasmine Chamberlain wants is to make her family proud. She owes them everything and intends to pay them back by being the best student, cheerleader, and chess player the university has ever seen.

Unfortunately for her, on her first day of chess club, she gets paired with an arrogant, flirty, hotshot quarterback with an affinity for pushing her buttons. Even worse? He’s better than her at chess.

He thinks she’s gorgeous.

Shepherd Kingsley is on a mission to escape his brother’s shadow. At every press conference and on every sports network, Shepherd is being compared to his undefeated brother. Determined to be known for his name and not his brother’s, he decides to beat every record Jason set.

It’s all going according to plan until Jasmine shows up on campus. Shepherd is drawn to her fire immediately, but dating cheerleaders is forbidden, and he can’t risk being benched.