Bold Moves
Author: Emma Barry
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: B
What I’m Talking About:
Bold Moves is an emotionally gritty second chance love story between two high school lovers that were destined to orbit one another and eventually collide with an explosive impact.
Jaime and Scarlett had amazing chemistry and energy from the moment they met their junior year of high school. However, it wasn’t enough to build a relationship. Scarlett grew up poor, with a single mom who was more friend than parent, so at an early age, she learned to be independent and rely on no one. Jaime lived a life of comfort with his respected and stable family and large home. Her dreams to become a world-class chess player took her out of Muskgrove as soon as she graduated, leaving Jaime behind to pick up the pieces of his heart while holding his family together after his father was sent to prison for dealing opioids.
Fast forward seventeen years and Jaime is an award winning television show producer, his first series a docu-drama about his father’s arrest. Scarlett is a celebrity, taking the chess world by storm, with her recent autobiography a huge success. After denying all others the right to adapt her book, she agrees to work with Jaime, selling him and his studio the rights to her book, Queen’s Kiss.
Jaime and Scarlett’s romance takes place over the course of years, with fits and stops along the way. They never deny their bond which draws them together regardless of drama, time, and emotional well-being. Both feel better when they are with the other, but there is always something that blocks them from a true emotional connection. First, it’s Scarlett’s need to leave Muskgrove. Then it’s a huge secret that Scarlett has held on to for seventeen years. And then it’s Jaime’s pride and need to be the fixer. The couple ebb and flow, at times a trickle and others the rush of Niagara Falls.
Bold Moves was tougher on me than the author’s previous titles. But I am such a sucker for emotional second chances. And honestly, if I didn’t know and trust Barry as a romance author, I would have been worried for the ending. There just seemed to be so many obstacles keeping the pair from finding their HEA. Both have baggage that they need to unpack. For years, the chip on Scarlett’s shoulder kept her from letting anyone in; she holds any potential friends at arms length, believing they wouldn’t want to know the “real” Scarlett. But also, she doesn’t want to be vulnerable and exposed. She views life as a challenge to overcome.
Meanwhile, Jaime is driven to take care of his broken family and fix problems. He needs to be in control and sees the world sometimes as black and white. When her learns Scarlett’s secret, he’s not hurt so much by what she did as that she didn’t give him the chance to participate in making a decision that impacted his life, as well as mad at himself for not seeing what was happening in his own home.
It takes time and work to bring these two to their HEA. Scarlett learns to trust others and that life is better, richer when she’s not going it alone. And really, that’s what Jaime learns… he doesn’t need to be the one fixing everyone/thing. I have to admit, I was a little mad on behalf of Jaime that no one took “his side.” While he needed to figure it out his feelings and grow from the experiences, I do wish someone had told him, you have the right to be angry… and then get over it.
Bold Moves is gripping, emotional, and ultimately rewarding. My heart broke when either Jaime or Scarlett would bare their soul, only to be ignored or turned away. It’s an up and down journey that needs the time to blossom into an HEA, and it’s a journey worth taking along side the pair.
My Rating: B
Jen
About the Book:
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.
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Publisher: Montlake
Series: Standalone; set in same world as Bad Reputation
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (331 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: NetGalley