blackmail and bibingka by mia p manansala

The more she investigates, though, the more she discovers about the many secrets Ronnie is hiding. But Lila can’t stand to see her beloved aunt suffer, so she takes it upon herself to find out for certain whether or not Ronnie had anything to do with the investor’s death. If it weren’t for how much she cares about Tita Rosie, Lila would be more than happy to let Ronnie figure out how to get himself out of trouble. When one of the latter drops dead, however, it looks like Ronnie’s troubles have come back to town with him. Ronnie swears he’s on the up and up though, proudly introducing his family to his business partners and investors. Tita Rosie is eager to welcome her prodigal son home again, but Lila and Lola Flor are far more suspicious. He left town under a cloud 15 years earlier, breaking the heart of his mother, Lila’s Tita Rosie, who runs the restaurant next door to Brew-ha with Lila’s grandmother, Lola Flor. The trouble is it’s Lila’s good-for-nothing cousin Ronnie Flores who’s behind the new initiative. When they’re approached by the new owners of the Shady Pines Winery, it seems like a good fit, especially since the vintner is looking to make coconut wine, a Filipino liquor that will complement what Brew-ha already serves. With sales trending upward, the three women are definitely interested in diversifying-particularly if it’s mutually beneficial for other small, local companies. While she bakes up delicious treats, her business partners, Adeena and Elena, are in charge of the beverages and the plant boutique, respectively. Lila Macapagal’s Brew-ha Cafe is starting to do really well in her Midwestern hometown of Shady Pines as the cafe’s first Christmas season approaches.

Blackmail and bibingka by mia p manansala