Skip to main content

BOOK TOUR STOP x INSTABOOKTOURS: A Touch of Moonlight by Yaffa S Santos



Genre: Contemporary | Romance | Fantasy

Release Date: 25th October 2022

Publisher: Harper 360

Larimar Cintrón has a secret. 

During the day, she's a successful brand manager for an NY bakery chain and makes enough money to take good care of her parents and abuela. By night, she lets go - takes off her smart suits, puts on some 90's punk records and has fun. Aside from that one night a month - on a full moon. On that night, Larimar changes into her form as a Ciguapa, a woman that is meant to be a story from Dominican folklore but is much more than a story to her, it's a creature with backwards facing feet and long hair that can run at supernatural speeds and is her deepest secret.

Between her non-traditional personality and her secrets, she feels cut off from the world, even her own family at times. So when she meets Ray she can't help but wonder. He quickly embraces everything about her that she usually hides, all her passions and quirks and loves. So maybe, this could be the personal she finally reveals everything to and can be herself with.

And she wants to tell him, although first there's the small competition that he owns the bakery that she is planning to put out of business when their newest store opens. Larimar wants to save the day, to have it all - but she'll need a little magic to get her out of this situation.

A Touch of Moonlight is one of those stories that on the surface, doesn't seem like it has much happening. The story is quiet, slow and subtle - but this isn't a story about hard-hitting action or explosive reveals, it's about life. Underneath the quiet, it's layered with meaning - it's a touching celebration of all the things that make us who are. 

The characters were a breath of fresh air - Larimar charmed me immediately with her clever wit, sarcasm and caring heart. She didn't always make good choices, but who can say they do? Her supernatural life wasn't written as the main part of who she is - it just one small part of all the countless thing that come together to make her who she is. And as for Ray; he was a diamond - genuine and kind with a delightfully cheeky streak.

The blossoming relationship between our main characters is a beautiful thing to watch - it grows naturally and doesn't eclipse the entire story. They have complex waters to navigate before they can have any kind of future together. And her relationships with her family is equally complex, sometimes confusing but still full of warmth and love.

This rich and vivid tale is a tapestry of lives, stories and ideas that come together perfectly - stories of folklore and magic, stories of people chasing their dreams, and even some brilliant recipes straight from the cookbooks of our characters to add that little extra something (and honestly, make me very hungry!)  

Between the carefully curated worldbuilding, the short chapters and easy, personal writing style - this book was dangerously easy to just read "one more chapter" until there were no chapters left. 

A tender, gentle and beautiful story about losing and finding yourself. 



I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review. Thank you to Vic at Instabooktours and Harper 360 for inviting me to take part in this tour. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair  Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...
Post a Comment
Read more

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+  Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...
Post a Comment
Read more

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

  " This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration.  But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...
Post a Comment
Read more