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Review: Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

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 give back 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 accused of murder, and secrets and rumors 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?

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TeaTimeReads November Pick: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Hi friends, we hope that you’re all doing well and enjoying our October pick Babel! We’re so excited to announce that our November pick will be Mia P. Manasala’s Arsenic and Adobo! 

Here is the full summary for Arsenic and Adobo:

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…

Links for Arsenic and Adobo: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

You can see our loose reading schedule below, but as always, feel free to read at your own pace.

Content Warnings for Arsenic and Adobo: Murder, death, poisoning, evidence planting, police intimidation, police encounters, drug use, fatphobia, racism, physical assault, hospitals, domestic violence (implied), discussion of food

We’re really looking forward to reading this cozy mystery with all of you, and can’t wait to hear what you think!

Spotlight: Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

CHICAGO, SOMETIME—Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different. Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth—that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage—means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes. An intimate study of time and space, ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER is a fantasy writer’s magicless glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you’re not broken

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Review: Stolen City by Elisa A. Bonnin

Twin thieves attempt to pull off a daring heist in Stolen City, the sophomore fantasy novel from Dauntless author Elisa A. Bonnin.

The city of Leithon is under Imperial occupation and Arian Athensor has made it her playground.

In stealing magical artifacts for the Resistance, bounding over rooftops to evade Imperial soldiers, and establishing herself as the darling thief of the underground, Arian lives a life wrapped in danger and trained towards survival. She’ll steal anything for the right price, and if she runs fast enough, she can almost escape the fact that her mother is dead, her father is missing, and her brother, Liam, is tamping down a wealth of power in a city that has outlawed magic.

But then the mysterious Cavar comes to town with a job for the twins: to steal an artifact capable of ripping the souls from the living–the same artifact that used to hang around the neck of Arian’s mother. Suddenly, her past is no longer buried under adrenaline but intimately tied to the mission at hand, and Arian must face her guilt and pain head-on in order to pull off the heist.

As Arian and Cavar infiltrate the strongest fortress in Leithon and Liam joins the Resistance as their resident mage, the twins find themselves embroiled in court politics and family secrets, and the mission becomes more than just another artifact theft. The target is now the Imperial rule, and Arian will go to any length necessary to steal her city back.

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Interview with Sasha Peyton Smith, Author of The Witch Hunt

Hello tea party friends! I’m so excited to announce that Sasha Peyton Smith, author of The Witch Haven & The Witch Hunt is joining our tea party today! I absolutely adored The Witch Haven duology, and had the best time with this interview!

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.

Links for The Witch Hunt:  Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

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ARC Review: The Witch Hunt by Sasha Peyton Smith

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.

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Annotate with Me: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Part 1)

Hello friends! September 30th was the 154th anniversary of the release of Little Women,  and I thought that this would be the perfect time to post part one of my two-part Annotate with Me series on Little Women!

Nowadays, editions of Little Women are printed with both volumes (Little Women and Good Wives), but in 1868, only volume one, Little Women was published. Because of that, this post will focus on some of my favorite scenes from volume one!

Get cozy, grab a cup of tea, and let’s annotate volume one of Little Women!

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Let’s Talk: Books I Picked Up Because of Booktok

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I figured it’d be fun to talk about some books I picked up because of booktok, and what my thoughts were on them today. It’s truly incredible to see the influence that booktok has on the book community. Whenever I walk into a bookstore, I almost always see a “Popular on Booktok” table, and it’s always fascinating to see what’s on there — and also how a lot of those tables seem to lack diverse recommendations. Whether that’s a fault of Booktok itself, publishing, peoples For You Pages, or a combination of all three, it’s definitely fascinating. Still, Booktok has often added new books to my radar, and encouraged me to read things that I might not have picked up before. This post is mostly me being a hater, but there are some books I genuinely enjoyed here — as well as some books I added to my TBR because of Booktok.

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Wrap Up: September 2022

Hi, hello friends! Another month is done and dusted and we can’t believe how quickly it’s come and gone. We hope you had a lovely September!

A quick reminder that Mary is on an indefinite hiatus, and you can catch up with her on @bookswithmary !

This month Caitlyn read 18 books, and Cossette read 20 books.

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Blog Tour and Review: Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

An outrageous, laugh-out-loud YA rom-com about a girl who’s whisked from LA to her mother’s native Indonesia to get back to her roots and finds herself fake-dating the son of one of the wealthiest families there, from the author of Dial A for Aunties.

After Sharlot Citra’s mother catches her in a compromising position, she finds herself whisked away from LA to her mother’s native Indonesia. It’ll be exactly what they both need. Or so her mother thinks.

When George Clooney Tanuwijaya’s father (who is obsessed with American celebrities) fears he no longer understands how to get through to his son, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

To ensure that their children find the right kind of romantic partner, Sharlot’s mother and George’s father do what any good parent would do: they strike up a conversation online, pretending to be their children.

When the kids find out about their parents’ actions, they’re horrified. Not even a trip to one of the most romantic places on earth could possibly make Sharlot and George fall for each other. But as the layers peel back and the person they thought they knew from online is revealed, the truth becomes more complicated. As unlikely as it may seem, did their parents manage to find their true match after all?

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