This was a good story. I enjoyed the main character and really became invested in their story. I found the entire cast of characters to be great, and I liked how they rounded everything out!

A Touch of Moonlight is my first book by this author. I was really looking forward to reading it. It started out great, but at some point, during the story I had problems wanting to finish it. The storyline felt a bit juvenile at times, all the lying felt a stretch as the main conflict for the story. Miscommunication tropes are my least favorite, but this was just lying. However, I did enjoy the Dominican culture the book has as well as the food and recipes. I do think the recipes should be listed at the end of the book.

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

From the author of A Taste of Sage, comes another charming and engrossing story in which a young woman must navigate her family's expectations, the demands of her job, a new love, and a secret about her magical identity.

Larimar is a young girl, trying to sort out many aspects of her life when she discovers that she has a magical gift of transforming as a ciguapas on a full moon. This was such a fun read, and I loved the romance featured, between Larimar and Ray.

The audiobook really held my attention, and I loved learning more about the Dominican culture and traditions.

*many thanks to Harper Audio for the gifted copy for review

I loved how true to identity and culture this story remained till the very end! I feel like we all go through a point in life when we are trying to figure out who we are and where we belong in this world. Larimar is a young girl who is juggling many aspects of her life, not to mention the fact that she’s a ciguapa and transforms on full moons! A love story is weaved into the book when Larimar meets Ray. I enjoyed how their love for each other progressed, although I wished she was a little more candid about the whole location situation (mentioned in synopsis). Her familial encounters felt so real and I truly loved her Grandmother 🥺💕. Of course, where would we be without our best friends?! I loved Larimar’s relationship with her bestie, Brynne.

Thank you HTP Books and Netgalley for this audiobook.

An audiobook can make or break a story...and this one enveloped me easily. I connected to the characters and surroundings while listening and completely forgot I was actually consuming a book (this is a great thing). I loved the narrator and felt like the voice was perfect for this storytelling.

A Touch of Moonlight’ by Yaffa S. Santos fully stole my heart. ATOM was full of delicious food with delectable descriptions that had me ravenous, stunning recipes throughout, family, friendship, community, music, and the sweetest romance with a really cool supernatural twist. I adored Larimar (and not only because she owns my dream car), learning about ciguapas, and there were parts that hit me in the gut, just had me so full of emotion I felt like I was going to burst, like this quote from Larimar’s grandmother to her: “You’re not living the dream I dreamed, Larimar. You ARE the dream I dreamed.” Excuse me while I go cry again. I come from a different background than Larimar, but I always, always wonder if I’d make my immigrant ancestors proud or if I’d be a huge disappointment to them, wonder if I’m doing enough to honor the choices they made that brought our family here to the US, and this quote just caught me so off guard in the most beautiful way. No matter how many times I reread it, I’m still a mess. 😂

Gorgeously written, full of so much heart, originality. an amazing cast of characters, and beautifully, perfectly narrated by Diana Pou, ‘A Touch of Moonlight’ was by far one of my top favorite reads of the year and I highly, highly recommend it.

I liked the mythology of this book. I think that Ray and Larimar had a bunch of issues that could’ve been resolved by just talking to each other. I liked this book and Larimar’s family was amazing.

i enjoyed this! a good book for YA readers, i think i may have enjoyed more if i read the book instead of the audio but all in all i liked it!

This was such a cute, magical romance filled with Dominican lore, culture, and food (there’s recipes interspersed throughout the book, which I can’t wait to try)!

I instantly fell in love with Larimar and watching her navigate her ciguapa abilities all while finding love. Ray is an absolute cinnamon roll and perfect for Larimar. I loved their chemistry. There’s lots of bumps along the road for these two, but it’s all worth it in the end!

3 stars by the Goodreads scale, meaning I liked it.

I received both the e-ARC and audio ARC from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Harper Perennial.
Although I have the e-book, I 100% listened to the story on audio, really enjoyed Diana Pou's interpretation.

I liked learning more about the Dominican culture, and about Larimar's journey from a punk-loving teen in a traditional family, to navigating her way in the corporate world, developing strong friendships, and understanding herself and her loved ones better. Also, the full moon causes her to turn into a mythical creature (def worth sticking around for the author's note!). I kinda wish we'd gotten more about the ciguapa or that her transformation was more integral to the story.

Two issues that lowered my rating:
One is with the writing style. Besides a couple of the inconsistencies that others pointed out, there is just. so. much. exposition. As in, every step of making a cup of tea is described. Beacon's brand colors are navy blue and white. We are told the color of every top she wears. "Larimar tapped the phone screen to begin typing" a reply to a message on her phone AND "Reply from @thelarimarcitron" is also spelled out in the text. It's distracting.
Likewise, many clichés: Mami's bifocals are discovered on top of her head. The new Beacon location is across the street from the new love interest's indie bakery. The HS mean girl is secretly insecure.

The other is more of a character problem: it is really hard to sink into the story when we are aware (and constantly being reminded) that she is lying to Ray about two major things. How hard would it be to say "oh hey, I am sometimes a mythical creature and BTW, my company is trying to put your passion-project-bakery out of business." Alright, kinda hard, but still...she puts off either telling him or ending things because *she* is enjoying their connection so much, without ever apparently thinking about how he is going to feel.

<spoiler>It seemed like a copout that she was passed over for a promotion and disrespected by the owner, thereby making it easy for her to quit. Might've been more interesting to see her figure out how to navigate two good things.</spoiler>

FYI--very low heat; they don't kiss until the 2/3 mark, nor progress to more until 86%, and then it's closed door.

3.5 rounded down

I liked Larimar and Ray, but was frustrated that she told him about her super secret family secret and not her job that was going to directly impact him! I mean—why let someone think you're a florist when that is not your job? C'mon.

But the romance was cute and I did like how Ray talked about the perceptions people have of soldiers being "tough" (read: aggressive, alpha, assertive, type A) when servicemembers do not all possess the same personality trait.

This was a cute little romance with Dominican folklore and a heroine who turns into a "ciguapa" (a mythical Dominican creature) at the full moon. This complicates her love life a little bit. 😄

I loved the unique storyline and learning more about Dominican culture.

The writing was a bit stilted at times however, and the characters needed a bit more development.

Overall I would recommend reading to learn more about the cultural aspects of the story.

REVIEW-

Larimar is a young Dominican-American, brand manager, ska lover…. Oh, and she turns into a ciguapa on the full moon. As she tries to navigate life, she also tries to navigate finding someone who will love her as she is.

FAVE PARTS: I loved how recipes were interspersed throughout the chapters. I also adored how Larimar and her best friend had BMW nights: books, masks, and wine! And Ray ♥️.

The timeline felt a little jumpy, but overall it was a fun quick read.

Overall, this was a nice little romance with some supernatural fun. The main character, Larimar is a ciguapa (a mythical creature from Dominican folklore with long straight hair and backward feet, who can run like the wind) something I’ve never heard of and was certainly curious about.

The book has all the elements that make for a good story. When Larimar discovers her work project is going to put Ray (her new beau’s) bakery out of business, you definitely feel for her and her dilemma. When the conflict comes to a head, I found Ray’s ability to move on so easily and quickly, a little hard to believe.

Unfortunately I did not care for the narrator’s performance on the audiobook. Her delivery was pretty flat and expressionless. That definitely made it hard for me to be swept up into the story.

This is a wonderful book!
I love the Dominican Folklore woven into a modern setting. I had no idea of the mythical creatures, Ciguapas and ended up going down a rabbit hole of research. I am super intruiged about them now.
The Ciguapas had also a beautiful allegory about generational wounds passed down that was so beautifully touched on in the book.
The romance element was so very touching as well.

The story was a treat. I liked the narrator. My only complaint is that the pauses between chapters were a bit too long. I kept thinking maybe my iPhone stopped it or it was paused every chapter. Which becomes annoying.

A TOUCH OF MOONLIGHT fell flat for me. I wanted a bit more about the mythology of the cigualpa and a lot less of the will-they-won't-they romance part of the book. The mythology portion felt like an afterthought of a simple romcom.

A Touch of Moonlight was one that I normally wouldn’t I have picked up but so glad I took a chance. This is a story about finding your place, learning to love, bakeries, delicious recipes and having a secret about a… magical identity! Yep that’s right!! At first I was like… this is really random… but it was so well written that I thought it was great! Definitely dive into this one if you have it!

Larimar Cintrón works hard and cares deeply for her parents and her abuela. She loves her punk music, and she has a secret. Larimar is a ciguapa. Unlike some of her other family members, she only turns on full moons.

Larimar is set up with a fellow punk rock lover Ray Antonio Concepción. Ray also owns a local bakery, and Larimar loves butter. But how will Ray react to her secret identity? And now her company, a large bakery chain, wants Larimar to open a store across from Ray’s little town bakery.

This was a fun, sugar-sweet romance. My favorite parts were learning about the ciguapa and seeing Larimar come to accept her true identity, backward-facing feet and all. However, all the baked goods didn’t hurt either.

🧁I listened to the audiobook, but I’m glad I have a physical copy because there are great recipes between the chapters.
Thank you @harperperennial for this gifted arc and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook.

I really enjoyed A taste of sage, so this newest book from Yaffa S. Santos was high on my most anticipated reads list. Full of the her trademark magic and delicious food, this story features Larimar Cintrón, a Dominican American woman working a corporate job as a brand manager while also hiding the fact that she's a ciguapa - a mythical Dominican creature whose legs change during the full moon.

I was not expecting such a perfect #SpookySeason romance in this book! Torn between doing her job and helping to save a local bakery, Larimar has to learn to embrace her culture and identity and take a chance on love with the baker next door. Great on audio narrated by Diana Pou. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!