This is a dramatic and romantic second chance love story. Scarlett is a grandmaster chess player, well known for being one of the few women who have been able to climb to the top of the highly competitive and biased chess rankings. She’s an excellent character, determined and talented, and also hoping to pull others up alongside her. When her ex Jamie shows up with an offer to adapt her bestselling memoir into a TV show, she initially brushes him off — but comes back around with some strict conditions in place. Namely, she wants to help write it, and in person with him.

Jamie and Scarlett’s past is messy, especially since their time together was as teenagers, and in secret. Spending time together brings up a lot of the past, with especially painful memories haunting them both, and it was compelling reading how they both came to terms with their past and could finally think about a future where they could be together.

I admit that Jamie wasn’t my favorite character — there were definitely times I wanted to sit him down and give him a good talking to, because he needed to get his act together about Scarlett! Thankfully, he gets those conversations on page. It was interesting reading about the chess world and the process of adapting her memoir first as a TV script, and then on camera, and I appreciated how the process helped Scarlett work through some of her own trauma and reevaluate how she’s perceived by those around her, not just for her talents in chess.

An engaging and emotional read that I’ll be sure to recommend to contemporary romance fans!

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to read a romance featuring a plus-sized woman as a total bombshell but WOW I absolutely did! This was a delightful read from start to finish—I loved the romance, the tension, the spice, the feminism, everything!

It’s unusual: giving a romance book four stars based on the strength of the characters and quality of the writing, all while not being fully sold on the central relationship. And yet, that’s where I find myself.

This book was so close to being great, filled with the kind of long-term angst and pining that I love in a good second-chance romance. I found Scarlett to be immensely likable, even in all of her prickly independence. Jamie, maybe a little less so, but I understood his motivations as a character even when I didn’t agree with all of his decisions. The overall premise of the book is great, and I do love a story about TV and/or movie production.

Where the book fell flat for me was the execution of Scarlett and Jamie’s relationship. As a couple, their chemistry was apparent. Their compatibility, however, was often questionable, ultimately causing the resolution to feel unearned. Things started strong, but so much of the book was spent in limbo, with one or both characters unwilling to be trusting or vulnerable. By the time they finally ended up together, I found myself somewhat emotionally disconnected.

I’ll continue to read (and love!) Emma Barry, and in many ways this is an excellent book, but I feel that the relationship between Scarlett and Jamie should have been a little less fraught.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I adore second chance romances and this one was such a great read. Scarlett and Jaime had great chemistry and seeing their relationship re-bloom was a wonderful ride.

Enjoyed this one so much - I really like a whip smart heroine, and second chance romances are one of my favourite tropes.

3.75 stars

This was my very first Emma Barry book that I read and I really enjoyed it.
The characters were fun to read about, the pacing was fast and the story was very gripping.

I am totally going to read this again in the future.

Second chance romance is my favorite trope and this one really did it for me. I was already an Emma Barry fan after Bad Reputation and Bold Moves just made me love her more. This book broke my heart multiple times but I think the way the characters handled their relationship was pretty realistic. I loved how Jaime and Scarlett each went down their own path of getting over themselves before ultimately, FINALLY, coming together for good. Loved the tension, loved the banter, loved Scarlett’s realization that she didn’t have to be alone, just pretty much loved it all.

For fans of Ali Hazelwood's Check & Mate, this Second chance romance and forced proximity WITH some chess sparkled on top will have you falling on your needs....I love it when an fmc melts her walls and goes soft only for the mmc 🤭.

I hate that I couldn't connect with this story because I've loved Barry's other Contemporary Romances, but I never found myself rooting for Jaime or Scarlett or for their reconciliation. I would have liked to see more of their past and romance as teenagers to really dig in to the Second-Chance aspect of their story. As great as Barry is at the emotional connection between characters, I found it lacking here as well - it seemed much more based on lust and obsession over the past.

oh i loved this!

i'm a real big chess fan, so i can be super critical with chess romances (though this is literally only the second i've ever read). however it became very clear that emma watches chess and understands the world of professional chess! this become real clear after reading her acknowledgements at the end, but i still love how accurate that aspect was.

as for the romance, the story, the characters, i loved it. this book was full of great big messy people living great big messy lives and trying to make it work. it touched on so many topics! wealth inequality, the opioid crisis in appalachia, rights for incarcerated peoples, the pop culture and news industry, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and more. not a single thing in this book was black and white. jaime's dad was a convicted criminal who did a horrible thing and hurt his family and his town, killed people even. everybody in the book recognizes that, and then also has no issue recognizing he still deserves rights and he is still their father who loves them. i loved how scarlett wasn't just like "yeah i can definitely let you in now! all my trust and independence issues are solved" toward the end. she simply said she would try, and jaime felt that was enough.

to me, that is true love, true romance. two people trying even when feelings and life gets messy. it represents the choice to keep trying with each other again and again.

thank u emma barry for reminding me the human experience is beautiful and weird!

Bold Moves is a fun, fresh, second-chance romance between two childhood lovers as they work on a book-to-screen adaptation.

I was so excited by the prospect of a second-chance romance with The Queen's Gambit vibe. It definitely delivered lots of intriguing storylines surrounding the chess. Scarlett is an incredibly complex character, and I loved her will to make chess cooler and more accessible to a more diverse population. I also appreciated getting to watch her growth.

However, while I was able to get behind so much in this book, the relationship was the one thing I struggled with. There seemed to be a lot of unnecessary dramatics on both Jaime and Scarlett that I did not love. Despite this, though, I was still satisfied at the end, which is a sign of a successful book!

I do think that this is an important read because of its message about diversity and female empowerment. For all of her faults, Scarlett is such a powerful character that I wanted so badly to succeed. She is easy to root for because despite all of her successes and struggles, she is working to make the chess world a better, more welcoming place.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to Emma Barry, NetGalley, and Montlake for an ARC in exchange for a review.

Oh, checkmate Emma Barry. I loved this angsty, slow-burn second chance romance set in the chess world.

Jaime Croft and Scarlett Arbuthnot are former teen sweethearts until they graduated and Scarlett dumped Jaime to head to Japan to try her luck in the professional chess world. Over a decade later, Jaime, now a celebrated documentarian is desperate to adapt Scarlett's memoir about chess and the misogyny she and other women and non-binary players face.

This book has it all - a crackling chemistry, a tonne of push/pull, angst and secrets galore. I adored Jaime and Scarlett and I loved that we have a complex female heroine who is an utter porcupine in contrast to our more optimistic male hero. At times it was so frustrating as both push each other away at different times due to their inner turmoil and self-sabotage. These are two scarred adults with a lot of baggage. I really felt the character's vulnerabilities and how that made them not communicate directly with each other.

This book was so well-written and plotted, I am such a big fan of Emma Barry's writing. She truly knows how to write complex and compelling characters.

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Publishing for the advanced reader copy.

4.5 stars

When Jamie decides that he's going to adapt Scarlett's (one of the few female chess grand masters) memoir, he knows it will be a highlight of his career...if only he can get her to agree to let him do it. The only thing standing in his way is the fact that he and Scarlett were high school sweethearts and she broke his heart seventeen years earlier. Once they are thrust together, adapting and then filming her story, old feelings emerge, but Jamie's heart is threatened once again when Scarlett finally reveals one of the reasons she left him behind all those years ago.

I thought only Ali Hazelwood could make chess feel sexy, but Emma Barry manages to bring lots of heat to the staid industry. Both Jamie and Scarlett are fun and messy characters to follow, and their story felt satisfying at the end, beyond just being a HEA. This is a great read for someone who wants a steamy romance but with shades of more serious themes and plot. My only quibble is that sometimes the dual points of view bled together, so it was hard to tell whether we were in Scarlett's or Jamie's POV.

Bold Moves is out April 22, 2025

I loved this story. So unique and second chance is my favorite for this reason, I loved the writer connection and the buildup

The first five chapters of this book were beautifully written, even if the rest of the book was a flop (which it absolutely was not!) those i could have read over and over.

Starting with a Taylor Swift reference, followed by a description of a home which led my mind straight to Twilight, a few lines later a Cullen House reference my millennial heart was hooked.

As i continued into this book it was a little on the slow side but only because of the immense amount of emotion and life she described. This book truly read like a song, lyrics flowing off the page. Taylor Swift herself would have struggled to fill 331 pages with such story and emotion and real life.

This is not normally a book i would have picked up, and honestly this book changed my perspective on what i should be reading. The slower pace let you feel apart of the story, it kept you in even with out slamming the pages quickly to jump to the next.

If you’re into chess, cinematography, relationships, healing, forgiving, moving on, growing up, making your dreams a reality & expanding them into the later years of life. Read this book.

The book is about Scarlett, who is a chess champion - a Grand Master, and Jamie, who is a TV producer who wants to adapt her memoir into a TV show. Scarlett and Jamie have a lot of history, not all of it good, some of it great, from when they were teenagers. There's a cataclysmic event that happened when they split up, and the effects of this are still reverberating down Jamie's life, certainly, and possibly Scarlett’s as well.
Bold Moves is about a lot of things - hope, longing, healing, learning how not to be alone. It's also about chess and playing strategically, and how Scarlett sees the world as move and counter move and strategy. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and whether or not we can change them.
These people have been deeply hurt and I genuinely cared for them. By the end of the book, I was desperate for them to get back together. It's a lovely, lovely story, really deeply written. (For those who need to know - it’s very spicy). As with all of Emma Barry’s books, it was wonderful, I really enjoyed it.

Such a well- written second chance romance. I loved the development of Scarlett and Jaime and appreciated how in depth the characters were. The tension was built up but I did feel a tad let down by the peak of it. But overall I would recommend this book!

a romance novel about chess. loved the time frame and that it took a while for the couple to come together. loved them together and her friends. Great book and loved his sister.

Bold Moves by Emma Barry is the kind of book that sneaks up on you in the best way. I went in expecting a fun, flirty romance, and while it is that, it’s also full of heart, ambition, and two characters who feel so real you could run into them at a coffee shop.

The dynamic between Katie and Ian crackles—she’s determined and fearless, he’s reserved but steady, and together they push each other in ways that feel both frustrating and deeply satisfying. Barry’s writing is sharp and engaging, making every interaction between them feel like a mix of challenge and chemistry.

What I loved most was how Bold Moves isn’t just about falling in love—it’s about finding yourself, taking risks, and figuring out what you really want. If you’re into smart, character-driven romances with a lot of heart, this one is definitely worth picking up.

This was an enjoyable read! The characters were well-developed, and the pace was good.

I'll be recommending it to anyone who likes:
- 2nd chance romance
- first love 2nd time around
- slow burn/spicy romance
- chess/strategy games
- filmmaking/celebrity behind the scenes

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the chance to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.