Showing results by narrator "Rachel Coates" in All Categories

It is the mid-'80s, two decades into the kleptocratic, brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The Philippine economy is in deep recession, and civil unrest is growing by the day. But Primi Peregrino has her own priorities: tracking down books and pursuing romantic connections with their authors.

Daphne Cardenas is the best wedding planner around, and everyone knows it. That's why her friend Greg hired her as an emergency replacement one month before his wedding - because he fears his fiancée Helen is falling for the guy they first hired for the job. Aaron Trinidad is new to the wedding industry, but years of conference planning and loads of charm make him good at it. Really good at it. Planning the wedding of his friend Helen should be easy, and it is.

For barista and cafe owner Sari Tomas, Christmas means parols, family, and no-holds-barred karaoke contests. This year, though, a new neighbor is throwing a wrench in all her best-laid plans. The baker next door - "some fancy boy from Manila" - might have cute buns, but when he tries to poach her customers with cheap coffee and cheaper tactics, the competition is officially on. And Baker Boy better be ready, because Sari never loses.

Filipino American Christina "Ting" Klein has just traveled from New York to Manila, both to escape her imminent divorce and to begin research for a biography of Timicheg, an indigenous Filipino brought to America at the start of the 20th century to be exhibited as part of a "human zoo". It has been a year since Ting's last visit and one year since Procopio "Copo" Gumboc swept the elections in an upset and took power as president. Arriving unannounced at her aging aunt's aristocratic home, Ting quickly falls into upper-class Manila life-family gatherings at her cousin's compound.

Which moment has defined your life so far? Whether she likes it or not, Iris’s life has been divided into two: Before the Incident, and After the Incident. Something very private was made very public, and since then life has been about recovering from being shamed, discovering her true friends, and struggling to find a new normal. Two years into this new life and she finally connects with a guy again. He lives in the apartment down the hall, he’s hot, and he doesn’t look at her that way. He doesn’t know what happened. But he also won’t give her his name, not right away - which has to mean he’s got something to hide too.

There are only two reasons why Nina would come back home to Cincamarre—one, if Auntie Delia promises to stop butting into her business, two, if her father died and she was made to ascend the throne to be queen. Unfortunately for her, it was the second thing that brought her home. As a princess who's sunk a yacht and been caught kissing popstars, it's easy for her aunt, the regent, to think she's ill prepared for the throne. But Nina doesn't think that having to fake date Felipe, the handsome, squeaky clean Prince of Concordia was the best solution for that.