A Touch of Moonlight by Yaffa S. Santos is a breath of fresh air for romance readers. Larimar who is a Ciguapa, a mythical creature of the Dominican Republic, meets Ray, a local bakery owner. They have difficulties like any other romance, but the coming together seems more authentic than the popular instant love. There is a big emphasis on family and being different in this novel. Several scenarios had me laughing. I was continually voting for Larimar and Ray to be together. Diana Pou is a great narrator choice for Larimar’s story. I recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys listening to fun, romantic, strong female stories.

Larimar is a hard working Dominican American who has a secret. She is a Ciguapa, a mythical creature of Dominican folklore with long straight hair and backward-facing feet. Ray, a baker who Larimar saw years ago at a concert is set up on a date with her. The story is cute but it seemed forced in places. I don’t understand the folklore so I am probably not the target audience for this book. The narration was great and tried to keep me interested but honestly I think it just wasn’t the book for me.

I appreciated the chance to listen to A Touch of Moonlight by Yaffa S. Santos, narrated by Diana Pou. This is fascinating plot, one filled with magical realism (hooray!), cultural folklore (always important), bakery settings (which I rather love), and an engaging fun romance story filled with potential. thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the review copy.

I appreciated the narrator's style and voice acting, I think she reflected the tone and cultural aspects of the story really well. I also loved the cultural insights in this story, I did not know about the ciguapa before and appreciated how that was used to examine themes on fitting in/not fitting in and identity.

My one comment about this book, and it is a style thing for me, is that the writing/dialogue felt a bit choppy and overly descriptive/detailed in ways that didn't add to the narrative and slowed down the enjoyment of the audiobook.

I loved learning more about the legends of the ciguapa! I wanted a little more depth from the main character and the love interest but overall I really enjoyed this book!

I really wanted to love this book -- I was fascinated by the incorporation of the ciguapa myth, as well as the regular infusion of Dominican culture and life. However, I struggled a bit with getting engaged with the writing in the book. It was a little wordy and disconnected for me. I was bummed that this one wasn't for me.