 
 
In A Delicious Dilemma, Valeria (Val) Navarro is the thirty-two-year-old owner of Navarro’s Family Restaurant together with her father in the fictional New Jersey town of East Ward. Her parents, Enrique and Gabriela, moved from Puerto Rico to the United States in the late seventies and established the family restaurant before starting a family. Val has two younger siblings: her brother, Rafael (Rafi) Navarro, a math teacher at the local high school, and Natalia (Nati) Navarro, a medical school student who is close to the end of her studies.
Val participated in track and field in high school and is an avid runner. She loves reading, especially Star Wars novels, watching cooking shows at home, and blockbuster movies on the big screen. She is familiar with Puerto Rico, having visited the island with her family on vacation. As the oldest, she has the best memory of her mother, who passed away when she was almost sixteen. She wears her mother’s rosary in remembrance of her, though her.
When a light rail station is built in East Ward, the tight-knit, working-class community comes to the attention of a large development corporation. As the co-founder of the fair housing coalition, Val finds herself fighting not only for her neighborhood’s future but for her family-owned restaurant as well. When she meets Philip Wagner, a reserved, handsome stranger, during a night out, she thinks she’s met someone special, until she learns of his connection to Wagner Developments, the company bringing changes to her neighborhood. Now the fight is on, not only for the survival of her business, her home, and her neighborhood but her heart as well.
Ten Questions:
1. What are you most proud of but afraid of sharing?
I’m most proud of helping my sister learn to read, despite her dyslexia. I don’t usually share this because it’s her disability and hers alone to share, but I got permission from her to answer this.
2. Do you consider yourself liked or disliked by others? Why?
I think most people like me, but you can’t please everyone. So why try?
3. Are you afraid of being your true self around others? Why?
I wish I had time to think about who I am around others. I’m too busy just trying to get through my day. I am what I am and that’s all there is to it.
4. More than anything, I want to …”
Take care of the people who matter. If they’re okay, then I’ll be okay, too.
5. If I could change anything about myself, I would…
I wish I could care a little less about things. I’m a worrier and that’s not always a good thing. It means I dwell on things too long and smother others with too much concern.
6. I think my greatest strengths, abilities, and skills are…
I’m good at getting things done and I have the energy and management skills to follow through on the things I try to do.
7. What is your biggest regret?
It’s more of a “what if”…what if I had gotten my mother to the hospital sooner the day of her accident? What if I had been more careful about my surroundings and seen the motorcycle before it clipped her? Maybe I could have saved her. I never talk about it, but it haunts me.
8. What are some lessons in life you’ve had to learn the hard way?
Not everything works out in your favor, no matter how hard you try. It means you can’t control everything, which I have a hard time accepting. Truth is, there are just some things you can’t do anything about.
9. What is your greatest fear?
Something bad happening to the people I love. I know how horrible that is and I’d rather not repeat the experience.
10. I wish I had someone with whom I could share…
I don’t need to wish for this because I have that person in my life already. I just hope everyone I love will find their special someone as well.
Adapted from How to Interview Your Character Like a Pro
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ICYMI, my debut novel, A Delicious Dilemma is coming 8/24 with Harlequin Romance Special Edition (preorder link here). Different worlds collide in Sera Taino’s debut novel.
It’s hard to remain enemies when you’ve broken bread together
Val Navarro’s first mistake: going out dancing after a bad breakup when the chef should be focused on her family business. Her second mistake? Thinking the handsome, sensitive stranger she meets could be more than a rebound – until she discovers he’s Philip Wagner of Wagner Developments. His father’s company could shut down her Puerto Rican restaurant and unravel her tight-knit neighborhood. When Philip takes over negotiations, Val wants to believe he has good intentions. But is following her heart a recipe for disaster?
From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Preorder now to receive a copy of a free recipe collection, Sabor de Casa, featuring recipes from A Delicious Dilemma. Just screenshot/forward your receipt to seraspromos@gmail.com.
