Carla de Guzman

Fans of Jasmine Guillory and Helen Hoang will adore this irresistibly engaging story of two Filipino celebrities caught between everything they want...and everything they are. How do you follow your heart when it's in two places? Filipino musician and producer Mon Mendoza has been in New York for less than a day. Just long enough to feel like he doesn't belong despite landing a life-changing opportunity. All he can do is set a date night for just himself and some pancit canton. Which, as it turns out, is the only invitation his gorgeous Pinoy neighbor needs... Actress Olivia Angeles can wear a character like a well-fitted dress. It's her real self she's having a hard time fitting into, craving a niche in Hollywood that doesn't compromise her identity in the name of success. And right now, all she wants is comfort in the form of tasty noodles and her outrageously hot new neighbor. One night. Just enough to lose herself in his touch and the feel of his lips... Only their sexy little tryst isn't quite what they signed up for. Because for the next month, Mon and Olivia are working on the same movie. Together. Now they're discovering they have a lot more in common than Pinoyness and sizzling chemistry. But how do you find yourself and your person when you're caught between two different worlds? From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way. Don't miss these other fun titles from Afterglow Books: The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovsky The Bookbinder's Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera The Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey Kennedy Frenemy Fix-Up by Yahrah St. John The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore Fake Flame by Adele Buck Out of Office by A.H. Cunningham

Manila Takes Manhattan

“A holiday escape as fluffy and sinful as a Christmas pastry.”—Entertainment Weekly All’s fair in love and prank wars For barista and café 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. Foodie extraordinaire Gabriel Capras want to prove to his dad that his career choice doesn’t make him any less a man. The Laneways might not be Manila, but the close-knit community is the perfect spot to grow his bakery into a thriving business. He wasn’t expecting a gorgeous adversary in the barista next door, but flirting with her makes his heart race, and it’s not just the caffeine. It’s winner takes all this Christmas. And more than one competitor might just lose their heart for the holidays.

A Filipino Christmas romance

Sweet on You

Martha Aguas has it all: a job she likes, a puppy she loves, and a wardrobe that makes her feel beautiful. Yes, everyone tries to make her feel bad for being mataba, she can't buy bras in the Philippines, and she's never had a boyfriend. But so what? It's never mattered before. But when her perfect cousin Regina announces her engagement Enzo, the blast from the past boy whom she might have loved before, it suddenly feels like a big deal. Aguases from all over the globe are coming in for the engagement of the century, and the last thing Martha wants to hear is a well-meaning barb about how she should watch her weight. Thank god for Max. Her funny, dependable, best friend Max, who doesn't mind playing the role of fake boyfriend for the family festivities. But the more Martha plays along, the less it feels like pretend, and more she starts to wonder if Max had maybe loved her all along.

If The Dress Fits

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. Nina's ready to learn the ropes of her new role and make it hers, and reconnecting with Felipe only makes her want to be a better queen. But is the monarchy ready for Queen Nina?

Cincamarre Book 1

The Queen's Game

Mindy and Javier are not friends, okay. Despite their mothers' matchmaking, they've managed to stay out of each other's way. Until Mindy goes to Paris for a week, and her mother insists she meet up with Javier. He's in Paris to study, really looking forward to see you, she says. Watch over each other.No thanks. Javier is taciturn and boring, Mindy is dramatic and has a tendency to yell at things when her eight siblings are brought up. It's not a great combination. But things start to look a little different under the Paris lights, and what felt like hate feels a lot closer to love.

Chasing Mindy

Ava Bonifacio’s plan was simple—attend her friends’ engagement party, look good, toast the happy couple and get out. What she hadn’t planned on was kissing Scott Sabio in front of the entire party to ward off the jerk her friend was trying to set her up with. Scott, who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in nine years. Scott, who used to know absolutely everything about Ava. The kiss makes it a little hard to execute the ‘get out’ part of her plan. Especially when her bride-to-be friend announces her brilliant idea—a five day, all expenses paid trip for their little barkada to Bali to shoot content for her vlog—and Ava’s pride and pettiness refuses to back down on the fake boyfriend ruse she already started. Scott’s more than happy to spend time with an old friend. He hadn’t exactly expected that she would speak to him, let alone fake date him after he ghosted her nine years ago. But as the unBalievable sun starts to rise and sets in Ava’s eyes, Scott dares to hope in a future for them, one beyond the beach shores.

Some Bali to Love

Cora Justa Dumagat has had enough. She is tired of watching the corrupt, fat cats of the council override the monarchy and risk the people’s lives in exchange for a payday. Despite advice from her Queen, Cora has decided to take matters into her own hands and hit the Joaquins where it hurts—to steal their precious Juan Luna painting right from under their noses in Barcelona. The job shouldn’t be too difficult. If only Luis Ang, her ex-boyfriend, wasn't hired to be her bodyguard. Luis knows that Cora is up to something, and will stop at nothing to make sure she’s safe, even at the cost of Cora’s plans. As Luis and Cora become more and more deeply entangled into each other, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Will Cora have her revenge? Or will stealing Luna be the last thing she ever does?

Cincamarre Book 2

Stealing Luna

CEO-in-training, heiress and cosmetics company marvel Isabel Alfonso needs to hire an assistant. She needs to hire someone who is smart and competent to arrange a trip to Shanghai for her to meet with potential business partners. She needs to learn how to let go of her cosmetics company, her baby, in order to take on the CEO role which she's been groomed for her entire life. What she does not need to hire is a young single dad, last seen with her in bed as a one night stand. Falling for Adam Sevilla is a complication that Isabel doesn't need. And with so much on the line, she can't afford to make any mistakes. Can she really leave everything behind, just to head the family business? Or will she hold on to what she has with zero guarantees?

How She Likes It

Celia has dreams. She dreams of going to Seoul for a scholarship she never took, of leaving everything behind and moving to New York. In all those dreams, she finds herself attached to Benedict, the boy she always loved, who didn't love her back. Ben believes in parallel worlds. Worlds where things you didn't do come true-worlds where he went to London and fell in love with Celia, where he shows up on the day she needed him the most. He believes that dreams are glimpses into that parallel world, and it's not a coincidence that Celia's been having them too. It's the day of Ben's wedding, in the middle of a typhoon in Manila. How do these dreams and unmade decisions change their lives? Will it bring them closer together, or drive them farther apart?

A Novella

Cities

Childhood friends reconnect as grown-up rivals—and maybe something more—in this witty Filipino romance from Carla de Guzman. What’s written in the stars isn’t always the whole story… Chocolate maker and shop owner Kira Luz isn’t looking for love, but if fate leads her that way, so be it. When she randomly runs into her childhood crush, Santi, on vacation, it feels like the stars are trying to tell her something. Memories of their time growing up in Lipa—not to mention the steamy kiss they share when they reconnect—get her heart pounding. But she has to go back to Lipa while he’s headed for Manila, and long distance is kind of an issue. Until he moves back home…and distance becomes the least of their problems. Estranged hotel heir Anton "Santi" Santillan is left adrift when his grandfather abruptly cuts him out of the family business. But he finds his footing again running a small niche hotel back in Lipa. The downside of living in his old hometown: it’s no Manila, that’s for sure. The upside: seeing Kira again. Kira, who loves food as much as he does. Kira, who loves kissing as much as he does. Kira, whose family owns the property—including her shop—his grandfather wants him to buy out from underneath them. Mixing love and chocolate and family just might get messy. And sometimes messy is exactly what fate had in mind. The Laneways Book 1: Sweet on You Book 2: A Match Made in Lipa

A Match Made in Lipa

CEO-in-training, heiress and cosmetics company marvel Isabel Alfonso needs to hire an assistant. She needs to hire someone who is smart and competent to arrange a trip to Shanghai for her to meet with potential business partners. She needs to learn how to let go of her cosmetics company, her baby, in order to take on the CEO role which she’s been groomed for her entire life. What she does not need to hire is a young single dad, last seen with her in bed as a one night stand. Falling for Adam Sevilla is a complication that Isabel doesn’t need. And with so much on the line, she can’t afford to make any mistakes. Can she really leave everything behind, just to head the family business? Or will she hold on to what she has with zero guarantees?

Carla de Guzman

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