Author Empi Baryeh's Blog

Love to Win is the third in the Fireflies series,  which tells the story of barista Brenna Kinkaid and Restaurateur Dante Caravicci. The Blurb She hates to lose… Competitive barista Brenna Kinkaid loves a challenge, and she’ll do whatever it takes to win, especially when it comes to her nemesis, Dante Caravicci. But when forced to team up to save their best friends’ wedding, Brenna recognizes that Dante might just be her ultimate win. He plays to win… Restaurateur Dante Caravicci won’t quit anything until he can claim success. He’s bided his time, but he’s used to taking big risks and surviving, so he figures he’s got nothing to lose by playing for Brenna. Hearts at risk… These two fall fast, and it looks like a win-win—until a competition pits them head-to-head and one of them goes way too far. A nudge from an improbable source may be the only way these two competitors will ever admit that the only way to win is to lose their hearts. My Review The story starts with a bang...

Love to Believe  by Lisa Ricard Claro is book 2 of the Fireflies series, so after I read - and enjoyed - Book 1 (A Love Built to Last), naturally I had to read the next in line. Here's a blurb A woman in a man’s world…  CPA Rebecca Walker wields a hammer and saw with skill, but it’s like fighting tooth and nail to prove to her chauvinistic father that she’s capable of managing the family construction business. Romance is a luxury Rebecca can’t afford. A man with secrets… Thanks to his past, romance isn’t in Sean Kinkaid’s future, so when Rebecca proposes ‘friends with benefits,’ Sean agrees. It’s the perfect scenario until love sneaks in—and Sean’s secrets tear them apart. Believe… But Rebecca has a secret too, one she fears Sean will never accept. It will take intervention from an unlikely source to convince these two lovers they have the one thing neither of them ever expected to find…a love to believe.

Happy October and welcome to another 3-in-1 review!  Last month we read a Love Built to Last: (Fireflies ~ Book 1)  by Lisa Ricard Claro. The Blurb She can’t let go of her dead husband…  Maddie Kinkaid believes her late husband, Jack, gives her advice on everything from ordering a pizza to hiring a carpenter, so when she finds Caleb Walker’s business card on Jack’s desk, she’s convinced that he’s the guy to remodel her kitchen.  He can’t decide if she’s worth the risk…   Caleb is a single father, and protecting his young son means avoiding romantic entanglements. But there’s heat in every kitchen, and sparks ignite between Caleb and Maddie—until disaster strikes. When Jack goes silent, Maddie’s guilt consumes her, and it looks as if she and Caleb will never find their happily-ever-after—at least, not without a little help from Jack…  LOVE BUILT TO LAST began as the award-winning short story Fireflies, and is now the first novel i...