Author Empi Baryeh's Blog

Happy Friday and welcome to another edition of Prah, Constantine and Baryeh Reviews (#PCBReviews). We went with a (Chinese) cosy mystery: Raining Men and Corpses (A Raina Sun Mystery Book 1) by Anne R. Tan. Here's the blurb : When it rains, it pours … and this amateur sleuth may be in over her head. Graduate student Raina Sun is trying to keep her head above water as the bills roll in when her dashing college adviser cons her out of several months of rent. Her quest to retrieve the money sets in motion a streak of even worse luck. First, she stumbles on her advisor's dead body and becomes a suspect in his murder. Next, the only man she's ever loved reappears as the lead detective to the case. Raina's having trouble interpreting his signals--does he want to reignite their passion, or just stay close to his prime suspect? Her life careens further out of control when her grandma shows up at Raina's postage-stamp-sized apartment, dragging a red suitcase an...

I received a free audiobook of Hurricane Crimes, making it my first ever audiobook download! (I know, I know). Listening to the book instead of reading it was interesting, and I'll be sharing my thoughts in a future post.    BLURB After her car breaks down, Beth Kennedy is forced to stay in Florida, the target of Hurricane Sabrina. She stocks up supplies, boards up windows, and hunkers down to wait out the storm, but her plan unravels when she witnesses a car accident. Risking her life, she braves the winds to save the driver. Just when she believes they are safe, she finds out the man she saved could possibly be more dangerous than the severe weather. Donovan Goldwyn only wanted to hide from the police, but the hurricane shoved his car into a tree. Now he's trapped with a beautiful woman while the evidence that can prove his innocence to a brutal crime is out there for anyone to find. As Hurricane Sabrina wreaks havoc, Beth has no other choice but to trust Do...

I decided to read this story after reading Hook Shot (book 3 of the series). I actually ended up buying both the ebook and the audiobook, because I wanted to be able to continue the story even if I wasn't in a situation to read the ebook (like when I was driving). Here's the blurb: FORBIDDEN LOVE SET IN THE EXPLOSIVE WORLD OF THE NBA... . Think you know what it's like being a baller's girl? You don't. My fairy tale is upside down. A happily never after. I kissed the prince and he turned into a fraud. I was a fool, and his love - fool's gold. Now there's a new player in the game, August West. One of the NBA's brightest stars. Fine. Forbidden. He wants me. I want him. But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go. *Contains domestic/sexual abuse not involving the hero. Read reviews for guidance. MY REVIEW August and Iris meet a day before one of the most important games of August's career. They hit it off like a...

BLURB Regina Hobbs is nerdy by nature, businesswoman by nurture. She's finally taking her pop culture-centered media enterprise, Girls with Glasses, to the next level, but the stress is forcing her to face a familiar supervillain: insomnia. The only thing that helps her sleep when things get this bad is the deep, soothing voice of puzzle-obsessed live streamer Gustave Nguyen. The problem? His archive has been deleted. Gus has been tasked with creating an escape room themed around a romance anime…except he knows nothing about romance or anime. Then mega-nerd and anime expert Reggie comes calling, and they make a trade: his voice for her knowledge. But when their online friendship has IRL chemistry, will they be able to escape love? MY REVIEW Reggie is battling with a case of insomnia which is messing with her work. She can't have that so she decides to take care of it, and the only fail-safe cure is the soothing voice of a man she met online. I wondered why she didn...