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I really love being able to bring y’all reviews in groups of three where I really enjoyed all three books and that is what we have here today! Bold Moves by Emma Barry came out in April, sorry about the delay, and if you haven’t read it yet, you simply must pick it up. Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli was a sexy The Hating Game vibes book that you need in your hands immediately if you liked the Sally Thorne hit even a little bit. And finally, Love in Focus by Lyla Lee is a sapphic second chance that was really lovely. So shout out to the respective publishers for the ARC/ALC copies that I received via Netgalley. Now let’s get to the fun part, talking about these books!

Bold Moves by Emma Barry

“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.

Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli

It is possible that reading this book the day after I watched The Hating Game may have created the inability for me to not compare Not Safe for Work to Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, THG was so incredibly popular, hence it being made into a movie. I will say, though, that for me, Not Safe for Work worked better for me overall. I really enjoyed the audiobook, for the record, and thought Soneela Nankani did a fantastic job solo narrating the book. But essentially, these two, Tris and Rafe work for the same company and Tris has created this whole rivalry narrative in her head with Rafe. I will say that it does seem like she has several legitimate reasons for her frustration with him, especially considering it seems clear that nepotism is why he got a promotion that she should have been given. But at this point, Tris is disillusioned with her company and so has sort of given up. And then she gets selected to go on this fancy retreat situation in Hawaii.

I loved, so much, the way Tris and Rafe wind up having to share a hotel room (yes, it was fantastic). I loved the way Tris has this personal journey about discovering (re-discovering) who she is. I loved the way Rafe and Tris have INCREDIBLE chemistry together. Honestly, I just really loved so much of this book. There are heavier themes paired with the overall fun vibes of this book, because Tris has an ex boyfriend who thought revenge porn was a totally chill thing to do. (It’s not and it’s a felony now in North Carolina, at the very least. If it’s not yet a felony in your state, I would recommend some advocacy in that area because revenge porn is super messed up.) So Tris has some pretty intense trust issues (merited) and I really loved how the two of them navigated her concerns. Additionally, Rafe is dealing with an ex-girlfriend who is really, truly not ready to let go of their relationship. (This gets annoying, I will say.) But, all in all, I had a truly fantastic time with this book and I’m so excited to read more from Tuli! I have her romantasy series, but haven’t read it yet, but now it’s definitely shot up the TBR!

Love in Focus by Lyla Lee

Love in Focus was such a cute sapphic second chance romance! It follows Gemma, whose seven year relationship just abruptly ended, despite the fact that the two of them were engaged. Now Gemma’s trying to figure out where to live and wondering exactly what went wrong while also taking on this really amazing opportunity at work to write an article entitled Love in Focus. The catch? The photographer she’s been paired with is Celeste, who also happens to be her ex-girlfriend from college who one day just disappeared from Gemma’s life.

I loved the way the work aspect of this job is truly what brought the two of them back together. I felt like getting to see these various couples talk about what love is to them and seeing how they love one another was such an important piece of this book. And actually, the sapphic elders? The best inclusion. In fact, one of the best aspects of this book was how much social commentary there was. I will say that the reason for the break up originally irritated me a bit, but I can see how college students could have made the decisions that led to this happening. All in all, I enjoyed this one and I hope that you will too!

As for the audiobook, I loved the narrator for Gemma, but didn’t vibe quite as much with Celeste. I hate when the tempo of the narrators doesn’t match because then the speed you read a book at feels like you need to switch between narration styles. However, there aren’t as many chapters from Celeste’s POV/narrator so it wasn’t too big of a deal for me. That’s obviously a personal problem, so hopefully you will enjoy the entire audiobook if you were to pick it up!

Closing Thoughts

All in all, three great selections for me from Netgalley this go around. I hope these reviews are helpful and I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these three since they are now all out in the world. Let me know what you think if so!

xx