Thank you NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this arc!

Unfortunately, this second chance romance was not for me. I came for the chess and the potential romance but found it lacking. The writing is pretty decent. I just didn't care for the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Montlake for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start out by commenting on the cover - I mean, chess - okay? I never even noticed the shadows until I went back to look at it after realizing Scarlett (the FMC) is a grandmaster in chess!! That revelation combined with this cover - the colors, the font, the shadowing is just incredibly perfect and well done. Major props to the artist and designer of this one!!

Scarlett is FIERCE. She came from very little and has truly clawed her way to the top on HER terms. She's independent to a fault but I just loved her strength, Jamie started off as a bit of an ehh for me but as the chemistry grew and the characters themselves grew I really started loving him as well. She's a perfect mix for him and I just really loved how they worked together - they both had to truly do some work on themselves to make that happen. I also loved the side characters!

Really good book for a chess lover (it gets way too technical at points to be enjoyed by a non-fan) and a lover of true second chance romances.

High school exes reunite when Jamie, now an up-and-coming documentary filmmaker, approaches Scarlett, an infamous chess pro, to get the rights to her memoir. The two balance their history (and the all-important question of why did Scarlett leave him as a teenager) as they try to develop a working relationship.

The dynamic between these two is so intriguing: Scarlett is prickly, if not downright mean, on the outside, and Jamie is in such a tenuous position in proving his ability as a filmmaker. And underneath it all, they're still both so scarred by their former relationship and how it ended. Their journey isn't easy: rebuilding means being honest, and being honest means revealing all the ways they've hurt each other. Watching them work through their baggage and manage their ambition creates such a rewarding, emotional journey.

Emma Barry’s co-authored, 1960s-set historical romance series, Fly Me to the Moon, is one of my favourites. But she has also written several contemporary romances with a good balance of heart and heat and Bold Moves follows that trend, giving us an inside look at the world of professional chess in an emotional second chance romance.

High school sweethearts Jaime Croft and Scarlett Arbuthnot had had it all – until they didn’t. When Jaime’s dad was convicted of a drugs and money scheme that tore their small town of Musgrove, Virginia apart, it also spelled the end of their relationship. Scarlett left Jaime in order to pursue a career as a chess grand master and Jaime was left to pick up the pieces of his family’s life. He’d become the man about the house and kept his sister and mother from despair. Years later, he’d turned the experience into a gritty documentary film that garnered critical acclaim and awards.

It’s been seventeen years since the events of that awful time, and Jaime is looking to make another movie. Specifically, he wants to adapt Scarlett’s memoir, Queen’s Kiss, but it’ll be a tall order, especially since they haven’t spoken since she left town as a teenager. And Scarlett’s agent has made it clear that Scarlett isn’t interested in selling the rights to her story – now or ever. But this hasn’t stopped Jaime from going in person to try to convince her to let him tell her story.

Scarlett never expected to see Jaime again, and when he first pitches his idea to her, she turns him away. But seeing him again triggers long closed-off memories, and she knows that if she were to give the rights to her story to anyone, it would be to Jaime. After all, he was there when the chess bug first bit, the start of her success, and he had known her, really known her, back then. Surprising even herself, Scarlett changes her mind and next thing you know, she and Jaime are back in Musgrove, working on her story and re-discovering what had drawn them together in the first place. But as old secrets come to the surface, will their second chance at romance crash and burn?

Bold Moves isn’t a light-hearted rom-com. It’s got some deep emotional territory to cover with both of their pasts, as a couple, and as kids growing up in a small town. Then there are Scarlett’s experiences as a woman playing what has most often been identified as a man’s intellectual game. The sexism and misogyny of the chess world is put on full display, both in the live games Scarlett prepares for and plays, as well as in her memoir.

Scarlett and Jaime tiptoe around each other at first, hesitant to open old wounds, so there is a slow burn to their on-page romance, understandable given Scarlett’s abandonment (for Reasons) of Jaime at the worst possible time of his life. But they get past that eventually, and think only of the present, and the delight they have in each other as adults. They never had any problem with sexual intimacy before, and they don’t now, but while the sexual tension leads to some steamy scenes, that isn’t going to be enough to keep them together without their being prepared ot bare their souls and fight for a future together. Bold Moves is engrossing and real and relevant to today’s real-life problems. I recommend this heart-wringing romance to readers who like some emotional heft to their stories and appreciate flawed characters learning from their mistakes in their quest for happiness.

"Scarlett didn’t want to be known, thank you very much. She wanted to remain mysterious."

I am starting my review with the above quote because honestly, I think that quote tells you so much about Scarlett in a way that really helps you understand everything about how this book unfolds. In high school, Scarlett allowed Jamie closer to her than most people, but when she had to choose between him and pursuing her professional chess career, there was no question. She had to follow her chess dreams because Scarlett grew up rough, unlike Jamie, who grew up extremely privileged. But now, they're back in one another's life because Jamie has convinced a film company to option Scarlett's memoir and to let him work on the script and producing it.

You might be wondering how on earth someone can write a memoir and yet still not want to be known, but that's the thing about Scarlett. She's good at telling people facts about her life. What she's not so good at is letting down the intense walls she keeps around her heart, guarding her emotions from those around her.

Meanwhile, Jamie finds himself in a situation where he's like, "oh crap, I still like this woman," and is much more open with himself about what he's interested in. What I loved about this book was, well, basically everything. Emma Barry's writing really shines here. She does excellent character work, basically always, but more than that, she's just absolutely brilliant at writing chemistry as well. And the chemistry between Scarlett and Jamie sizzles off the page. But I also love Scarlett learning to let people in, to allow herself to potentially experience community. I loved the epilogue of this book. I loved the casual diversity present in this book. I loved the mental health emphasis. I loved the side characters. I mean, honestly, I really just loved the whole thing. Also, this book is available on Kindle Unlimited as a read and listen and I adored the listening experience, though I did both eyeball and ear reading. Honestly, this book was amazing and I'm so glad writing this review allowed me to revisit it.

I usually love second chance romance, but this was a book where the trope really didn’t work. I had a really hard time believing the FMC and MMC were in their thirties because they were pretty immature. Thank you NetGalley and Montlake for the eARC.

Working on a project together is always a fun concept for a romance. It's even more heightened when you're exes and working on something super personal. In this case, it's putting our main girl Scarlett's biography on screen. It dredges up much of their past and questions about whether they can trust each other - or whether they're the only people to trust with this. I enjoyed the dynamic between them a lot. It felt pretty real in all of its messiness, especially with the strong chess grandmaster personality Scarlett brings to the table. I'm still slightly less sure about the execution of the will-they-won't-they towards the end but overall this was strong.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an engaging read! I enjoyed the plot and would read it again.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

I never really knew why these two were meant to be and I was supposed to just agree that they were a good match from so early on in the book. I was more convinced by half way through that they actually were just a bad pair with good physical chemistry.

I found Scarlett to be pretty insufferable. She didn’t seem to have redeeming qualities and Jamie seemed like a nice, mature adult. I kept getting annoyed at her entire loner thing considering she’s 30+ and seemed almost proud of the fact that she hurts people.

Throughout the whole second half of the book, I felt like the author wanted me to agree that Jamie was being inappropriately mad at Scarlett about what she did, but I felt like he was right the entire time to put space between them, regardless of that fight. Even if he forgave her, he should’ve built a wall to protect himself if she wouldn’t let them be together.

At the end, Scarlett acted like a 20 year old when Jamie said he wanted a true partner. Does she not even love him enough to say “I’ll try to do anything you need to be a mature, responsible equal”? I don’t think these two really know what it takes to make a relationship work and I still didn’t want them to be together at the end without them both seeing a therapist.

My final, most valid issue is that I almost lost my ever loving mind when I read the sentence “where they’d been at”. Why are we ending sentences in professionally edited books like bachelor contestants?

Emma Barry’s co-authored, 1960s-set historical romance series, Fly Me to the Moon, is one of my favourites. But she has also written several contemporary romances with a good balance of heart and heat and Bold Moves follows that trend, giving us an inside look at the world of professional chess in an emotional second chance romance.

High school sweethearts Jaime Croft and Scarlett Arbuthnot had had it all – until they didn’t. When Jaime’s dad was convicted of a drugs and money scheme that tore their small town of Musgrove, Virginia apart, it also spelled the end of their relationship. Scarlett left Jaime in order to pursue a career as a chess grand master and Jaime was left to pick up the pieces of his family’s life. He’d become the man about the house and kept his sister and mother from despair. Years later, he’d turned the experience into a gritty documentary film that garnered critical acclaim and awards.

It's been seventeen years since the events of that awful time, and Jaime is looking to make another movie. Specifically, he wants to adapt Scarlett’s memoir, Queen’s Kiss, but it’ll be a tall order, especially since they haven’t spoken since she left town as a teenager. And Scarlett’s agent has made it clear that Scarlett isn’t interested in selling the rights to her story – now or ever. But this hasn’t stopped Jaime from going in person to try to convince her to let him tell her story.

Scarlett never expected to see Jaime again, and when he first pitches his idea to her, she turns him away. But seeing him again triggers long closed-off memories, and she knows that if she were to give the rights to her story to anyone, it would be to Jaime. After all, he was there when the chess bug first bit, the start of her success, and he had known her, really known her, back then. Surprising even herself, Scarlett changes her mind and next thing you know, she and Jaime are back in Musgrove, working on her story and re-discovering what had drawn them together in the first place. But as old secrets come to the surface, will their second chance at romance crash and burn?

Bold Moves isn’t a light-hearted rom-com. It’s got some deep emotional territory to cover with both of their pasts, as a couple, and as kids growing up in a small town. Then there are Scarlett’s experiences as a woman playing what has most often been identified as a man’s intellectual game. The sexism and misogyny of the chess world is put on full display, both in the live games Scarlett prepares for and plays, as well as in her memoir.

Scarlett and Jaime tiptoe around each other at first, hesitant to open old wounds, so there is a slow burn to their on-page romance, understandable given Scarlett’s abandonment (for Reasons) of Jaime at the worst possible time of his life. But they get past that eventually, and think only of the present, and the delight they have in each other as adults. They never had any problem with sexual intimacy before, and they don’t now, but while the sexual tension leads to some steamy scenes, that isn’t going to be enough to keep them together without their being prepared ot bare their souls and fight for a future together. Bold Moves is engrossing and real and relevant to today’s real-life problems. I recommend this heart-wringing romance to readers who like some emotional heft to their stories and appreciate flawed characters learning from their mistakes in their quest for happiness.

I really enjoyed this one! A sexy and smart second chance romance! I loved seeing Jaime and Scarlett reconnect and learn to trust each other again (eventually lol). There's so much hurt from their past to work through, but they've grown and are different people now, so they get there in the end. Having zero knowledge of Chess did not hinder my enjoyment of this book. It's so beautifully written with some great one-liners and characters. Scarlett is a gorgeous badass and I loved seeing her walls come down and let people in. She deserves everything! And Jaime LOVES HER! The yearning in this book is so good! Also, the ending was absolutely perfect!

This book is exactly what it says it is going to be. It’s your traditional romance where there are continuous miscommunications between the MCs which eventually they realize (many,many many pages later) that they are meant to be. It’s exactly the fluffy kind of read we all need once in a while.
This book follows Scarlett (the bad girl or competitive chess) and her high school flame Jamie (now a filmmaker). They are thrown together when she agrees to let him do the film adaptation of her book, Queens Kiss. And let the chaos ensue from there.
Overall, 3.5/5 stars for me.
I received an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own

Bold Moves by Emma Barry is so much fun! Will they, won't they? Once I started reading, I didn't want to put this book down because it kept me so entranced that I had to know how the story was going to turn out for Scarlett and Jamie. This was a fun unique story that will appeal to fans of Emily Henry.

Scarlett, a grand chess master who wrote a memoir to try and change the establishment, reconnects with her high school boyfriend,Jaime, who is now a filmmaker. As they work together on turning her memoir into a streaming series they work to see if they can resolve their past in order to make a future together. This is a second chance, slow burn romance for folks who are a fan of the Queens Gambit. I wanted to like this book much more than I did. I felt the pacing was slow and uneven. The characters weren’t clear and hadn’t matured much from their high school selves. It was almost a dual point of view but even that was murky because they sounded the same. I guess I wanted them to get together, but not because I saw the chemistry I was told was so palpable everyone could see it. I wanted them together because their maturity levels matched and they were so hung up on each other it would be unfair to others. If you want to read a good book about sexism in chess and star crossed romance I prefer Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood. 2.5 stars. Thanks to Net Galley and Montlake for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oooohhh, this is a FOURTH CHANCE romance, and it was angsty as hell. I knew Scarlett and Jaime would get their HEA, but WHEW, they really went through it before they got there. I liked that there was a lot of time between their breakup (again) and then being in close proximity to each other. This is. my first book to read by Emma Barry, but I immediately signed up for her newsletter because I will be reading more!

I really related to Scarlett and her hard candy shell. She's been in survival mode since she was young, and had to be the adult, so I can understand why she had a hard time letting people in. As a chess grandmaster, she has to have control of her "tells," and that's a hinderance when all of her feelings for Jaime come back to the surface. Plus, she gets used to him taking care of her while they're writing scripts, and although she's trying to resist, Jaime shows how he feels about people by taking care of them. These two are both trying to be with each other while dealing with deep childhood trauma, and that also added to the additional time away from each other before they can really be together.

The story reminded me a little of Yulin Kuang's 'How to End a Love Story,' so if you loved that book, I definitely recommend this one!

- forced proximity
- second chance romance
- moderate steam
- WDTK? Ch. 13

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a second chance romance where two people are writing and filming a TV show. Jaime and Scarlett have so much history and so much emotion is running through this book. This is the kind of romance book I really love because the author really takes time exploring this couple. Very compelling.

DNF - I was really excited about this book! I just could not get into it. It is dual POV but it never says which character the POV is in, and it felt like it switched randomly?

I really liked the premise, I mean who doesn’t love a good second chance chess story! I wish the book was written in a different tense, but that’s just me.

I received an ARC from Montlake through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Emma Barry has done it again. I loved this modern romance that perfectly melded the second chance with a unique take on "celebrity".

Thank you to Montlake and Netgalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Jaime Croft is determined to prove his directorial range, and Scarlett Arbuthnot’s biography is the perfect project. He once thought Scarlett was his perfect match too, but it’s been seventeen years and he is still not sure that he is over her. Scarlett is a grandmaster taking the chess world by storm. She is sure that she can handle working with Jaime even if it reminds her of how she broke his heart. As Jaime and Scarlett work together, their past is resurrected and their feelings rise to the surface. Yet, they are uncertain whether they can be brave again when their hearts are at stake.
I liked the setting of the chess world, which was quite novel for me. I also enjoyed the two main characters, who were strong in their own distinct ways. Scarlet is very independent, particularly with her dedication to chess, while Jaime is determined to be successful in his career. The chemistry between them was evident from the beginning. However, their attempt to work through their past hurt was fraught with emotion and, at times, quite intense.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.