Hey everyone! I’m Lila Macapagal (LEE-la to my family, LY-la to everyone else). I thought I was living every girl’s rom-com dream: I had escaped my tiny, ridiculously named town of Shady Palms, Illinois, to go and thrive in Chicago. Honestly, if you had Googled “perfection,” there’d be an entry about my life right on the first page. My fiancé, Sam, was rich, gorgeous, and a rising star in the culinary world. Thanks to him, I was part of the Chicago restaurant scene and got amazing internships to help with my business and restaurant management degree. We lived in a high-rise apartment by the lake, where I enjoyed daily runs with my beloved Dachshund, Longganisa, and hosted lavish parties for all of his friends. Sure, these soirees were stuffy and boring compared to the karaoke parties we’d throw in my aunt’s restaurant. And sure, I may have put my degree on hold to help him set up his restaurant. But it was all training to help me achieve my dream of opening my own cafe. Everything was going so well, it was sickening.

That is, until I walked in on Sam and our next-door neighbors getting down and dirty to the Spotify playlist that I personally made for him. Who recycles a seduction playlist? The sheer laziness of it all. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, my Tita Rosie called me to say the family restaurant was in danger and they needed me home ASAP.

So here I am, twenty-five years old and living at home with no degree, no fiancé, and no hope of opening my own place. Instead, I’m trying to make the restaurant magically turn a profit while dealing with my godmothers’ (yes, plural) meddling and my ex-boyfriend’s desire to destroy my family’s business.

Speaking of my ex-boyfriend, that whole mess with Derek. . .I can’t even begin to explain. It had all started as a typical day: I woke up super early to go on my jog with Longganisa; the Shady Palms Riverwalk was no Lake Michigan, but I needed to keep up my routine to stay in reasonable health. You need staying power if you’re going to make it in a professional kitchen—and if you have to deal with my aunties all day, every day, like I do. Anyway, my run was followed by a quick shower then my usual beauty routine, and I was off to Tita Rosie’s Kitchen, my aunt’s restaurant. I ate breakfast with my aunt and grandmother, dealt with my godmothers’ critiques as I served their meals, and was going about my business when who should walk in but my ex-boyfriend-turned-food-critic, Derek Winter, and our landlord, Mr. Long. We maaay have been slightly behind on our restaurant payments, so seeing those two together let me know we were in for a world of trouble.

Though I have to say, I thought that trouble would be us going to court over debt collection, not murder. . .

Arsenic and Adobo, A Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: May 2021
Purchase Link

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer. . .

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block. . .

Meet 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. Her debut novel, Arsenic And Adobo, released May 4, 2021 with Berkley/Penguin Random House.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @MPMtheWriter or check out her website at miapmanansala.com.

All comments are welcomed.