Five Stars and a Grudge

Manong Bert runs his ten-year-old Vios like a high school classroom: no loud speakerphones, no slammed doors, and absolutely no open hot coffee on Aurora Boulevard. Pia Manalo doesn’t have time for rules. She has a major client breathing down her neck, an agency deck that could make or break her career, and a family crisis involving money that was never hers to lose. When a disastrous morning ends with a two-star rating, it should have been the end of the line. Instead, the city’s dispatch algorithm keeps putting Pia back in Bert’s silver Vios. As Pia fights corporate backstabbing and tries to repair the damage waiting for her at home, Bert is driving through Metro Manila to keep his daughter Grace on track for her dream of becoming a chef. Somewhere between the boardrooms of Ortigas, the traffic of Aurora Boulevard, and the kitchen tables of Marikina, driver and passenger discover that neither of them is as alone as they thought. Five Stars and a Grudge is a warm, witty, grounded novel about pride, unexpected mentorship, family, and the quiet dignity of ordinary people showing up for each other when life refuses to balance the books.