{"id":28874,"date":"2022-10-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=28874"},"modified":"2022-10-16T11:31:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T11:31:54","slug":"review-blackmail-and-bibingka-by-mia-manansala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/14\/review-blackmail-and-bibingka-by-mia-manansala\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia Manansala"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-28874\" data-postid=\"28874\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-28874 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala.jpg?resize=333%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-28875\" title=\"blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala\" alt=\"blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala.jpg?w=333&amp;ssl=1 333w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">It\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">She\u2019s 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\u2019s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he\u2019s still family. And there\u2019s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. right?<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25881 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Oct 4, 2022<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Tita Rosie&#8217;s Kitchen<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>3<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $11.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Things are going well for<strong> Lila Macapagal<\/strong> who is running the Brew-ha Cafe along with her two friends Adeena and Elena. Then her cousin Ronnie returns to town after leaving fifteen years ago and cutting off all contact with his family. With Ronnie\u2019s history, Lila can\u2019t help but worry. Ronnie and his business partners have purchased a local winery, and Ronnie assures the family he has changed his ways from when he was a trouble-making teen. However, when one of the investors in his new business is murdered, Ronnie is the prime suspect. Lila\u2019s family depends on her to prove Ronnie\u2019s innocence, so between baking and trying to spend time with the dentist she is dating, Lila launches an investigation.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Blackmail and Bibingka <\/strong>is the third book in the Tita Rosie\u2019s Kitchen Mystery series which features a Filipino-American family living in a small town outside Chicago. What makes this series stand out is the wonderful group of diverse characters which creates a book that is relatable to a wide range of readers. In addition, Lila and her friends use modern slang and expressions which will appeal to a younger audience than many cozies. The main characters are all much more likable to me than in prior books. However, much of the focus of this book is on Ronnie. Even when it looks like he is being falsely accused, he\u2019s not the most sympathetic character because of his immaturity and sense of entitlement. By the end, it seems like he may be growing up a little, which is good if he ends up playing a part in future books.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are a lot of side characters introduced in this book related to the winery and the murder and it took me several chapters to keep them straight. It doesn\u2019t help that most of them are unlikable. This is a culinary cozy so information about cooking is expected and fun to read. However, there are a few too many details about ingredients and testing new flavors in multiple scenes which slow the pace of the story. These extra scenes and all the new characters make it hard to focus on the murder mystery at times. When Lila is investigating, things are more interesting. As she gets closer to identifying the killer, there is a dramatic showdown and unexpected ending. This book would work well as a standalone, but for those who have read the other books, the overall tone of this one is much more upbeat. I enjoyed how much more positive it is and how much more supportive Lila\u2019s friends and family are in this latest book. Rounding out the book are a few recipes at the end, including one for the Bibingka (a type of spongy rice cake) from the book\u2019s title. Overall, this is an enjoyable book in a unique, well-written cozy mystery series.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3T1vDZw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3rSit56\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala\/1140838940?ean=9780593201725\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/blackmail-and-bibingka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Mia_P_Manansala_Blackmail_and_Bibingka?id=gDhYEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,128,48],"tags":[152,223,226,529,367,404,405],"class_list":["post-28874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","tag-4-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-culinary-mystery","tag-diverse","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \ud83d\udd0d Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia Manansala - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/14\/review-blackmail-and-bibingka-by-mia-manansala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia Manansala - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. 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Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>She\u2019s 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\u2019s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he\u2019s still family. And there\u2019s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. right?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Oct 4, 2022<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Tita Rosie's Kitchen<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>3<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $11.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Things are going well for<strong> Lila Macapagal<\/strong> who is running the Brew-ha Cafe along with her two friends Adeena and Elena. Then her cousin Ronnie returns to town after leaving fifteen years ago and cutting off all contact with his family. With Ronnie\u2019s history, Lila can\u2019t help but worry. Ronnie and his business partners have purchased a local winery, and Ronnie assures the family he has changed his ways from when he was a trouble-making teen. However, when one of the investors in his new business is murdered, Ronnie is the prime suspect. Lila\u2019s family depends on her to prove Ronnie\u2019s innocence, so between baking and trying to spend time with the dentist she is dating, Lila launches an investigation.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Blackmail and Bibingka <\/strong>is the third book in the Tita Rosie\u2019s Kitchen Mystery series which features a Filipino-American family living in a small town outside Chicago. What makes this series stand out is the wonderful group of diverse characters which creates a book that is relatable to a wide range of readers. In addition, Lila and her friends use modern slang and expressions which will appeal to a younger audience than many cozies. The main characters are all much more likable to me than in prior books. However, much of the focus of this book is on Ronnie. Even when it looks like he is being falsely accused, he\u2019s not the most sympathetic character because of his immaturity and sense of entitlement. By the end, it seems like he may be growing up a little, which is good if he ends up playing a part in future books.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are a lot of side characters introduced in this book related to the winery and the murder and it took me several chapters to keep them straight. It doesn\u2019t help that most of them are unlikable. This is a culinary cozy so information about cooking is expected and fun to read. However, there are a few too many details about ingredients and testing new flavors in multiple scenes which slow the pace of the story. These extra scenes and all the new characters make it hard to focus on the murder mystery at times. When Lila is investigating, things are more interesting. As she gets closer to identifying the killer, there is a dramatic showdown and unexpected ending. This book would work well as a standalone, but for those who have read the other books, the overall tone of this one is much more upbeat. I enjoyed how much more positive it is and how much more supportive Lila\u2019s friends and family are in this latest book. Rounding out the book are a few recipes at the end, including one for the Bibingka (a type of spongy rice cake) from the book\u2019s title. Overall, this is an enjoyable book in a unique, well-written cozy mystery series.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3T1vDZw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3rSit56\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/blackmail-and-bibingka-mia-p-manansala\/1140838940?ean=9780593201725\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/blackmail-and-bibingka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Mia_P_Manansala_Blackmail_and_Bibingka?id=gDhYEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28878,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874\/revisions\/28878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}