Title: Checkmate

Author: officialrachaelrose

Genre / Style / Sub-Genre: Young Adult, Drama, Angst

Tags: #enemies to lovers #young adult #high school #popularity #bad boy x good girl

Reviewer: njdevin529

Summary: When a scandal hits perfect seventeen-year-old Rose in the run-up to an election, she starts to believe that her dreams of becoming Class President are over. But in the shreds of her reputation is where she meets Blake-Archbury High's favorite troublemaker. As morally corrupt as he is handsome, Rose knows that asking for his help is a risk, but it could help to claw back her dignity.

What starts off as a mutual arrangement soon begins to unravel, and as the pair grow close and secrets are spilled in the run-up to the election, Rose starts to learn that maybe perfect isn't everything.

Review:

Relatability. Most of us pick up a book for the chance to escape from the stresses of our daily lives, and one of the things that helps is relatability. And teen dramas that take place mostly in a high school provide a setting and social pressures that resonate with the target audience. When we meet Rose Matthews, the mood is instantly dour as we stare from the passenger seat of her mom's car at the high school courtyard swarming with backstabbing ex-best friends, vindictive ex-boyfriends, and cruel looky-loos, none of whom Rose can count on to be in her corner. To make matters worse, Rose has to hit the ground running in order to win the election for class president, something she has worked toward for years and now seems entirely out of reach. While we walk through the halls feeling the weight of everyone's eyes and hearing the exaggerated rumors whispered, not too softly, we're about to have a breakdown and rush outside for fresh air, and run right into the high school's criminal delinquent.

Blake O'Hare is a pot-smoking loner who is most known for truancy and scamming people for money. What would preppy, perfect Rose Matthews possibly accomplish by working with him? Still, Blake has a way with people, a way that gets them to do what he wants, and Rose intends to use every resource possible to ensure she wins this candidacy. Even if it means trusting Blake, even if it means lying to her parents, even if it means completely stepping out of her comfort zone. Because one mistake can't erase everything she's worked for, can it? Except Chase, Rose's ex-boyfriend, is determined to see that it does. No matter how many strides Rose makes toward winning the presidency and her own self-growth, Chase continues to throw more obstacles in her path. It takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of one sabotage attempt after another. You just never know what Rose will face next. But as the attacks from the competition grow more fierce so does Rose's confidence and her attraction to Blake.

One of the best parts of a book is the chemistry between the characters. Sometimes it's side characters, but in Checkmate there's this fascinating juxtaposition between Rose being so transparent and candid with her feelings and expectations while Blake is more of an enigma, very mysterious and blatantly cagey about his circumstances. The reader is able to empathize with Rose while being mystified by Blake, and that contradiction compels the audience to keep reading hoping for the next time we get to see how they interact with each other. Which is a fabulous segue to the last thing I want to mention about Checkmate, the romance.

The romance that builds between Blake and Rose is my favorite kind! Yes, sexy scenes are great, but the pull of a "clean" romance can be overshadowed by titles such as After and Fifty Shades of Grey. Sometimes the anticipation of a slowly-growing attraction between two characters who try to convince themselves there's nothing between them has an even greater satisfactory payoff than a hot, impulsive love scene. Both have their enticement for the reader, but the buildup of a lingering gaze across the room possibly leading to a conversation that might be taken "somewhere more quiet" or the anticipation of his hand resting so close to your knee if you shift even slightly, he just might reach for your hand is so tantalizingly delicious, the craving builds with each turn of the page. It's those small, subtle steps forward that leave the reader staying up much later than they should hoping the next time the main characters interact could lead to that long-awaited first kiss!

To the Author: I love your writing style and your approach to a "clean" romance. While I do enjoy the occasional graphic scene as long as it fits the storyline, the slow-burn, subtle intensity is a massive attention-grabber and creates a real page-turner. I was getting some serious Pride and Prejudice vibes from this book, and that is one of my FAVORITE stories!

About the Author: Tea-drinker, professional cat-napper, and published author, Rachael Rose is a romance writer and cat lover. Having joined Wattpad seven years ago, she has written over twelve stories on Wattpad, including her published novel Gaslight. Check out her Wattpad profile and Instagram for more information.