Arsenic and Adobo - Becca In A Book

Summary

Lila Macapagal’s life has not gone as planned. Her no good boyfriend cheated on her, forcing her to run back to her hometown. When she agrees to help her tia with her restaurant, someone is murdered and the police have their eyes on Lila as their suspect…..

My Thoughts

I was so lucky to receive this cute and fun mystery as an ARC from NetGalley and I am so happy I did. This book is such a pleasant and enjoyable mystery with so many fun characters and so much amazing food! Proceed this book with caution because you will need to eat after reading because OMG the food mentioned sounds so amazing!

The book hooked me from the cover and the description and it kept me until the very end of the read! The beginning of the book started a little odd for me and I honestly felt that the author had just thrown me in the middle of the story of Lila or that I missed the first of the series. However, once I got over my small moment of confusion, the Lila and her internal dialogue captivated me and held me prisoner until that last page.

Lila is such a strong character and she struggles with a problem that a lot of people struggle with, choosing family or your dreams. There are so many scenes where I feel so bad for her because she feels like she can’t do anything right. She also was ALWAYS at the wrong place at the wrong time. This point was both hilarious and almost reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode. Her and her bestie, Adeena definitely gave me Lucy and Ethel vibes when they were investigating together and I loved it so much! I really enjoyed how they balanced each other out and the realness of their friendship. I can’t wait to see more of their hilarious partnership and hope to see them working together soon!

There were also so many lovable characters in this book and they added a little something special to the book. Although there were SO MANY OF THEM and I had a hard time keeping them straight and we didn’t get to know them as much as I wanted, hopefully since this is a series, we get to know them better over the course of the books. Her family members were just hilarious and so ridiculous and they reminded me of my crazy and nosy family. It was AWESOME. Also, I’m Team Amir and can’t wait for more of this sexy side enemies to lovers banter they have going on.

The plot was a whirlwind of mystery and emotional side plots and was as addicting as Tia Rosie’s food and Lila’s dessert. The mystery of the book was so fascinating to me! It honestly came as such a surprise and came out of nowhere. I didn’t expect that to happen at all and it was just shock after shock until the end. The unraveling of the case was just so suspenseful , but in no way creepy or scary.

If you are looking for a mystery without the creep factor, you should pick up this read ASAP! I am so grateful to NetGalley for my ARC copy and can’t wait to read more from this author!