Lola Cruz first appeared in Living the Vida Lola and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Lola.

What is your name?
Dolores Cruz. Dolores is an old-fashioned name, but I use it professionally. My friends and family call me Lola.

How old are you?
29, which is approaching old-maid status in my mother’s view.

What is your profession?
That depends on who you ask. My family owns Abuelita’s, the best Mexican restaurant in Sacramento. Since my brother, Antonio, can’t keep his hands off the waitresses, they’re always short-staffed, which means I am always filling in.

But. . .my profession, much to my family’s dismay, is private investigation. I work for Manny Camacho, who runs Camacho and Associates.

Do you have a significant other?
Depends on the day. I’ve wanted Jack Callaghan since I was in high school. Now he’s in my life again, but things are complicated. He’s got an ex who, well, let’s just say that she has some problems and keeps sucking him back into her life.

Then there’s my boss, Manny, who, according to Jack, has some serious attraction to me. I choose to ignore the electricity that fires between us.

What is his name and profession?
Jack? He’s an investigative reporter for the Sacramento Bee, but has also done some freelance work. He wants to break into a bigger market. He’s handy to have around because he’s got some good resources.

Manny? Like I said, he’s my boss.

Any children?
None, but Jack told me once that he wants a passel of kids—with me. He’s really good with them, too. We babysat my cousins kids and he was a natural. Made my heart skip a few beats, actually. So it may be in the cards.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
My sister, Gracie, is a school teacher. Pregnant. She is the perfect child in my parents’ eyes. She has a good husband, a safe and respectable job, and they wish I was more like her.

Antonio runs the restaurant with my dad. He’s thirty-one, and has no intention of growing up anytime soon.

Do your parents live near you?
What do you define as near? They live downstairs and I live upstairs in a separate flat. Yes, I need to find a place not so connected to them, but that takes money. I’ve been living with Antonio, but we both are saving to get out and find our own places.

Who is your best friend?
That’s a tough one. Lucy. She’s married to my cousin Zac and they have three kids. She loves all Birkenstocks, is a California blonde whole-earthy beach girl, and has a “strip” list. George Clooney is at the top of it.

Then there’s Reilly. She is the Jill-of-all-trades at the office. She’s everyone’s assistant and go-to girl. She changes her hair color nearly every other day, she’s a wannabe JLo, and she has an indefinable “thing” going on with Neil Lashby, the techy PI of our small firm.

Then there’s Coco, my oldest school friend. I don’t see her near enough, but I can count on her no matter what. . .even when I find an open box of For Her Pleasure Trojans in Jack’s bathroom.

They’re all my best friends.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
Salsa is my sweet boxer.

What town do you live in?
Sacramento. Midtown.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
My mother’s kitchen downstairs from my flat. There’s always good food and she has an open-door policy.

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
Oh, well don’t tell anyone, but Mapo Tofu, from Szechwan House (which is conveniently right next door to Camacho’s) is my all-time favorite. Anything at Abuelita’s is great. I do love chicken mole. And I love fortune cookies, but that’s mostly for the fortunes inside rather than the actual cookie.

Favorite hobby?
Besides crime solving?

Favorite color?
Red. Fiery red.

Favorite vacation spot?
We never took many vacations. Santa Cruz or San Francisco, I guess.

Favorite sports team?
Sacramento Royals basketball. I worked undercover for the dance team, so now I’m hooked.

Movies or Broadway?
Neither. Give me a salsa club and I’m in heaven.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Both, I’d say. I like to get up and run first thing, but I like to stay out dancing, too. Depends on the day, I guess.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Professional, though I’m a novice and still rely on Manny to give me guidance.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Manny, of course. Neil Lashby. He’s a nonverbal Neanderthal-type, but great with all things tech and he’s loyal to Manny. . .and to Reilly. Reilly is my go-to girl. And then there’s Sadie Metcalf. If I had an arch-enemy, she’d be it. She goes out of her way to pick on me and she has some sort of complicated relationship with Manny. Why he keeps her around is a mystery to me.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
One of the things I love about my job is that everyday is different. I may start with a run, or do a little yoga. I always visit the restaurant and my mother’s kitchen. The rest of each day is determined by what case I’m on. Stakeouts, surveillance, snooping around the marina, going undercover as a dancer or at a nudist resort, or working in a salsa club. . . it’s all part of the job.

You can read about Lola in Living the Vida Lola, the first book in the “Lola Cruz” cozy mystery series, coming January 29, 2019. The first three books are a re-release.

Meet Lola Cruz. After paying her dues as an intern, she’s now a full-fledged detective at Camacho and Associates. Her boss is Manny Camacho, a muy caliente former cop with a mysterious ex-wife, a Lara Croft look-alike girlfriend, and a sudden personal interest in Lola.

Her first big case? A missing mother who may not want to be found. And to make her already busy life even more complicated, Lola’s helping her cousin plan her quinceañera and battling her family and their old-fashioned views on women and careers. She’s also reunited with the gorgeous Jack Callaghan, her high school crush whom she shamelessly tailed years ago and photographed doing the horizontal salsa with some other lucky girl.

Lola takes it all in stride, but when the subject of her search ends up dead, she realizes she has a lot more to worry about. Soon she finds herself wrapped up in the possibly shady practices of a tattoo parlor, local politics, and someone with serious—maybe deadly—road rage. To top it all off, her treasured post-coital pictures of Jack are missing!

Still, Lola is well-equipped to handle these challenges. She’s a black-belt in kung fu, and her body isn’t her only weapon. She’s got smarts, sass, and more tenacity than her Mexican mafioso-wannabe grandfather. A few of her famous margaritas don’t hurt, either.

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About the author
Melissa Bourbon is the author of the Lola Cruz Mystery series, A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, and the Bread Shop Mystery Series, written as Winnie Archer, as well as a few top-secret projects. She fantasizes about spending summers writing in quaint, cozy locales, has a love/hate relationship with yoga and chocolate, is devoted to her family, and can’t believe she’s lucky enough to be living the life of her dreams.

She also has written two romantic suspense novels, a light paranormal romance, and is the co-author of The Tricked-out Toolbox, a practical marketing guide for authors. She lives in the mountains of Colorado where she cuddles with her pug, Bean and chug, Dobby.

Visit Melissa at misaramirez.com for more information.

All comments are welcomed.