The Fried Lover Attack

A preoccupied queen.

An awkward king.

It can't possibly be a good combination… or can it?

Single mom Caroline Dunleavy is not having the easiest of times. Her job is unfulfilling (and the pay is not nearly good enough to compensate). Her dating life is nonexistent—while her ex-husband has found a vivacious new girlfriend. And her very smart, easily bored daughter Chloe is struggling at school.

There is one promising new development, though: Chloe's newfound love of chess. Caroline has never played chess in her life, and doesn't feel smart enough to start. Which isn't going to stop her from bringing Chloe to Queen City Chess, the most happening chess spot in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But stepping into the chess world, even as just a mom supporting her kid, means discovering big egos, obscure lingo, and international intrigue. And it also means meeting Queen City Chess's newest—and least sociable—coach, former super-grandmaster Mikhail "Misha" Kotenkov, who seems hard pressed to recognize a real world beyond the chessboard. Surely this man is not going to be the solution to any of Caroline's problems.

Only then she has to deal with some new challenges, including the unearthing of long-buried family secrets. It turns out that she and Misha are more alike than either of them realized. And that sometimes love can show up in unexpected places—even in the midst of a major chess tournament…