In 2014, I read Emma Barry’s historical romance, Brave In Heart, and loved it. Last night, an insomniac’s kind of night, I finished reading Barry’s Bold Moves and loved it. What I like best about Barry’s work is how deliberate her literary choices are. Take, for example, the use of a trope, in this case, second-chance. A trope is often used in one of two ways, either the writer uses it as an organizing principle because it’s conventionally what is done in genre romance, or more cavalierly, as a convenience for producing a commodity. Barry, on the other hand, is of a handful of romance writers who think about the trope’s thematic implications and then make choices about characterization, most importantly. In Bold Moves, for example, she makes masterful choices about the love scenes: what does it mean to reunited high-school lovers to be intimate again, with the moiling and roiling of memories, of joy, pleasure, and hurt?

To set us up before I continue, the publisher’s blurb:

Working with your ex isn’t that bad an idea—not with artistic integrity on the line. 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. Surely he’s over it by now.

Or maybe not.

Scarlett is a grand master taking the chess world by storm. If she can handle that pressure, she can handle Jaime Croft. Even if that means working together in close quarters…and constant reminders of how she broke his heart. She didn’t do it without reason, but if he knew the details, he would despise her even more.

As Jaime and Scarlett pore over her memoir, they unlock their own memories, and old feelings rise to the surface. But giving in means abandoning the walls they’ve built to protect themselves, and that’s a move neither one seems ready to make.

Barry builds her contemporary romance around familiar images, ideas, current events, and pop culture. Strangely enough, they’re often issues, ideas, images, and streamed series that leave me cold. In Bold Moves‘s case, the heroine’s life is reminiscent of the Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit (never saw it, don’t plan to, don’t have any streaming services) and, more seriously I think, the US opioid crisis (we have one in Canada too, but we don’t have opioids streaming across the border, just sayin’, and we never did, sayin’ again). Her hero, Jaime Croft’s father was the small-town doctor in its wealthiest and most important family, who supplied the opioids and destroyed lives. But Barry didn’t make the actual crime central. She couldn’t have; it would have scuttled the romance. Instead, she adroitly made Jaime’s story about how families cope with a family member’s incarceration. The actual crime stays in the past and the father himself only makes a cameo appearance. Like Roni Loren’s romance series set around characters who experienced a school shooting, Barry situates the romance many years later and centralizes what broke up Scarlett, leaving town to chase her chess ambitions, and Jaimie, who stayed, took care of his family, and assiduously, slowly, and painstakingly built his career. There is always an undercurrent of politics in Barry’s work: in this case, Scarlett’s chess success becomes a vehicle for her to stick it to the male-dominated chess world and work, harangue, charm, and stick-it-to to demand inclusivity.

This is all fine and dandy, you’d say, but what about the romance? It’s actually Barry’s focus and organized around the reunited-high-school-lovers-second-chance-romance trope because Barry makes Scarlett and Jaime opposites in every way, then and now. So, with raw unfinished stuff from the past, smouldering attraction and lingering feelings in the present, how will these two work things out? When Jaime pitches his idea to make Queen’s Kiss (see the deliberate nod to Queen’s Gambit) to Scarlett and Scarlett, for complicated reasons of her own and none of them admitted to her love for Jaime, or his pitch connected to his for her, Barry pulls another trope out and has Jaimie and Scarlett in close proximity, though there are two bedrooms and beds… Scarlett arrives in Jaime’s home-town and luxurious Appalachian-set “cabin in the woods” to write the script together. Perfect. And perfectly volatile. Scarlett is feral, free, and guarded; Jaimie is domesticated, measured, and disciplined. Which is where the delicious romance comes in: we know, Barry knows, and her characters lie to themselves, these character qualities let’s call them, will come crashing down. Through banter, honest conversation, and sexy times, the one essential element of great romance must come to the fore: vulnerability. It looks like Scarlett and Jaime are older, more mature, have experienced much more of life, and can it be, ready to be together?

But, I thought, I’m only at 55% of this baby, what will Barry do for the romance novel’s second half? Will this be one of those “romances” that end too early, too quickly, and are followed by excerpts and short story additions? Ugh. Well, my friends, this didn’t happen. As a matter of fact, Barry’s romance became a tad too long? If there’s one thing I can fault, it’d only be a certain reader impatience with the pacing. BUT, at the same time, my impatience for the HEA added depth to it by keeping the characters apart and having them think through their relationship and themselves and what keeps them apart and how to fix it. No small feat. So, page length justified *moue of displeasure nonetheless*

What happens next is the coming-home-to-roost raison d’etre of great romance, the most important element, the greatest of romance obstacles, the betrayal. It can be small, or big, internal or external, what it can’t be is unconvincing. While it’s predictable, I “got” it quite early on and waited for the shoe to hit the floor, Barry’s is in keeping with her characterization for Scarlett and Jaime. What’s even more interesting, which Barry also gets right, is how do the hero and heroine respond, react, and return? I am fascinated by the betrayal in romance, indeed I think it’s seminal to the genre, and wrote about it in the early blog days, and Barry has done a magnificent job of it here. Lastly, Barry sets up a wonderful contrast among what Scarlett and Jaime think, what they say to each other, and their love scenes. Their love scenes say what they can’t, do what they can’t, and anticipate their HEA. My only disappointment was that no two characters were better suited to a baby-filled epilogue than Scarlett and Jaime, especially Jaime as Scarlett notes at one point. It’s an excellent epilogue, but it could have been better with a few babies thrown in.

With Bastone’s Promise Me Sunshine, O’Leary’s Swept Away, and Lavine’s Any Trope But You, Barry has written one of the best romances I’ve read this year. They have nothing in common necessarily trope-wise, character-wise, or theme-wise, but what defines great romance is how you handle the trope, your integrity vis-a-vis the genre (that means genuine love of it must come through) and, well, great writing, whether it’s in the wit, the angst, the humour, dialogue, description, handling of setting, the way your themes shine throughout your narrative. No hackneyed phrasing, no commercial crank-it-out impulse, no cynicism. Miss Austen, that greatest of romance writers, would agree and say Barry’s Bold Moves is of “no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Emma Barry’s Bold Moves is published by Montlake and released in April of this year. I received an e-galley from Montlake, via Netgalley. The above is my honest, AI-free opinion.

Chess Grand Champion agrees to let a major streaming service adapt her memoir into a TV show, but is aghast to realize the screen writer and director is her former high school boyfriend, the boy who's heart she broke both purposefully, and secretly, when she left him in their small town to pursue her dreams.

SO angsty, and so full of pining and yearning. Emma Barry just deftly weaves in chess game play in a way that I, a non-chess player, recognize and understand without being overwhelmed. SO sexy. I need to listen to this on audio!!

In this funny and spicy second-chance romance novel, readers follow Scarlett Arbuthnot, chess grand master and celebrity, as she gets ready for the film adaptation of her biography, but the person in charge of the adaptation is Jaime Croft, her ex. Working together in close quarters to adapt her biography and get the chess in the project right, Jaime and Scarlett have to deal with their shared pasts and the growth that they’ve both experienced over the past decade. They know that giving in means breaking down the walls that protect them from hurt, and neither Jaime nor Scarlett are willing to take that risk, even for a happy ending. With a great emotional storyline and fantastic characters, readers will love the tension and chemistry between Scarlett and Jaime and the evolution of their relationship over the novel. The unique backdrop (chess grand master’s biography and the film adaptation) is really fun and adds some excitement to the book with its uniqueness, and the challenges that the two characters have to deal with add great depth to their stories. Entertaining, emotional, and enjoyable, readers will absolutely love the dynamics between the characters, the complicated backstories, and the fascinating details in this fun new romance novel.

The author of Chick Magnet has picked up her queen and made her move in a sexy, second-chance chess romance. She’s the bad girl of chess, exposing the exclusivity of its governing body in her memoir. He’s a film-maker—and her high school ex—who wants to turn her book into a show. But can they move forward across the board with past losses between them?

Such a fun and emotional and interesting book from start to finish I love the premise and I love the interaction between both characters. I love the fact that the chemistry is evident, but yet the relationship is not easy, but they have to work towards really being able to have a life together. It has banter and funny characters yet so many emotions.

A second-chance romance has reeled me in again! I never thought I would find reading about chess to be so dramatic and sexy! I loved it!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This was a romantic look into the world of professional chess, with boatloads of pining and yearning. The story and characters were compelling with emotional aspects that made you want to keep reading. I’m always down for a romance book with an interesting subplot.

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