It’s not easy being a small business owner, especially when your best friend and business partner has a habit of stumbling across dead bodies and getting involved in murder investigations. Not that I can blame her–everybody in her life (including me) is nosy AF and all too happy to get involved in other people’s business.
What’s a typical day for me? I wake up at the crack of dawn (is dawn an actual time? Whatever, I wake up EARLY) and stumble into the bathroom to make myself look somewhat human. I don’t have the patience for the fifty million-step skincare routine that my bestie and business partner, Lila, does, but I do take special care with my hair: making sure my undercut is tightly shaved and my wavy, magenta-streaked hair is wild and voluminous, just the way I like it. Some people ask how someone so small could have hair so big, and I tell them it’s because it’s full of secrets. Usually they’ll just smile and nod, but once in a while I’ll find someone who gets the reference and I know I’m among my people.
Once that’s done, I get dressed, making sure my outfit is nice and colorful so that Lila will shudder and look away as if the brightness literally hurts her eyes. She thinks her dark wardrobe makes her cool and sophisticated, but really, she’s just leaning into her bruha/witch aesthetic too hard. Nobody said witches couldn’t have a little fun with their fashion. Today is my girlfriend Elena’s day to drive to work, and I wait for her to pick me up. I’m dying for my first cup of coffee, but the stuff my family has at home doesn’t hold a candle to the drinks I brew at the cafe, so I hold out till I get to work. Luckily, Elena arrives soon(ish) and we get to the Brew-ha Cafe with plenty of time to spare.
Lila’s already baking in the back, the citrus tang of calamansi, the vanilla-like aroma of ube, and the warm spices of cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, and black pepper lingering in the air. Elena makes her way to the sink to fill her watering can and tends to the plants and herbs that she and her mother cultivate in their greenhouse for us to sell. I go behind the counter to get the espresso machine and drip coffee going, and check on our various syrups, milks, and other flavorings to make sure everything’s ready to go. Once the three of us have our various stations in order, we gather at a table for our morning ritual of drinks, sweets, and Lila’s taste test.
Lila will then take her adorable Dachshund, Longganisa, for a quick walk while Elena and I get ready to greet the customers. We’ve only been open a little over a year, but we’ve managed to build up a good customer base and stay pretty busy most days. Our teenage apprentice, Katie, is a godsend, especially since right about this time Lila is probably running around amateur sleuthing it up while the rest of us are at the Brew-ha Cafe, gathering gossip and keeping the ship running.
We close by six pm most nights, unless we’re hosting a special event. If we’re lucky, Lila’s aunt and grandmother will have Elena and I over to dinner. I make a point of only buying pants with elastic waistbands because if Auntie Rosie is cooking, I will eat until I hate myself and then eat some more. If it’s not a night where we’re dining with the Macapagals, Elena and I are probably taking some kind of fitness class at our friend Sana’s studio or hanging out at El Gato Negro, the Mexican restaurant Elena’s mother runs.
Because of our early mornings, Elena and I usually call it a night around ten pm and we go to our separate homes since we still live with our families (fingers crossed that changes by the end of the year). I then do my half-assed nighttime routine, get into bed, and then rinse and repeat the following day.
It’s a pretty good life, isn’t it?
Blackmail and Bibingka, A Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #3
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2022
Purchase Link
When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can’t be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo.
It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she’s taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he’s back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.
She’s soon proven right when Ronnie is suspected of murder, and secrets surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer . . . right?
About the author
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and certified book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture, and is the author of the award-winning Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series.
Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @MPMtheWriter or check out her website at miapmanansala.com.
All comments are welcomed.