I'm in Love with Mothman by Paige Lavoie

To be honest, after reading this book, I might be in love with Mothman, too.

I've been following Paige Lavoie on social media for a while and her videos promoting her Mothman books are amazing, but I was a tiny bit hesitant to read them because I wasn't sure if I was into monster romance or not. But she kept sharing these tantalizing quotes where he called her his "flame," and some primal scenes, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore, I was like, SOLD.

Heather is a burned-out influencer with a chronic illness (Hashimoto's). After trying a new skincare line gives her a bad breakout and leads to a PR snafu, she has a little bit of a mental breakdown and decides to go dark, abandoning her online persona to go live in a cabin in the middle of the woods. As one does.

She quickly finds out that she might not be the only thing in those woods. A brother-sister duo is quick to inform her about the local lore involving a certain moth creature that has been rumored to terrorize locals. The brother, Chris, even has scars. But when Heather finally encounters her cryptid neighbor, he's not what she expected at all.

This was great. It had romcom vibes but with a darker edge that kept it grounded. I loved the casual representation of Heather's chronic illness and bisexuality. I also liked Moth's shapeshifting abilities and how his imperiousness was juxtaposed against his hilarious social faux-pas (drinking syrup out of the bottle at a pancake house, trying to eat the tablecloth in her kitchen, etc.). The cottagecore vibes were everything and I will absolutely be reading the sequel. I had SO much fun with Moth and Heather.

4 out of 5 stars