A Touch of Moonlight: A Novel

Every full moon, Larimar Cintrón’s naturally curly hair straightens itself out. Her ankles twist themselves around until her feet face backward. She can run so fast that she’s flying and invisible.

The women of older generations in her family are in ciguapa form year-round. Larimar lives the life of a normal early-thirties woman in New York. She’s content living with her hidden secret until her best friend sets her up with a cute boy that also loves being in the crowd at punk shows and runs his own bakery. Romance may make her come to terms with more parts of her life than she ever would have expected.

The Dominican myth sprinkles a fun folklore twist into this familiar romance recipe. Since this is the big selling point, more background and exploration of the ciguapa would have made this book more interesting. It makes for an intriguing beginning to the story and a distinctive personality trait for the main character. The concept leads to a rather predictable romantic plot. That being said, it’s a good romantic drama for fans of the genre who welcome familiar recipes as comfort food.