Thirsty by Lucy Lehane

Book Review

Melody Bowles

Thirsty is a quirky supernatural romance inspired by hit film and later sitcom What We Do in the Shadows. It’s charming and very readable, despite following the expected romantic beats.

Protagonist Charlie is a failing advice columnist who has moved back to his hometown Brooksville after not being able to keep the lease on his glamorous New York apartment. He bumps into vampire Lorenzo, who holds a grudge against Charlie thanks to the part he played in breaking up Lorenzo’s last relationship.

Charlie, struggling with all the supernatural quandaries in his inbox, proposes a deal: Lorenzo introduces him to the supernatural communities of Brooksville for his ‘university thesis’ in exchange for Charlie running errands that can only be done in daylight. Lorenzo agrees, hoping he can use the arrangement as an opportunity for revenge.

This is a romance, so it’s not very long before the boys are having sexy dreams about each other instead. While they cavort between werewolf weddings and vampire balls, slowly falling for each other, Charlie is lumbered with the great secret that he is publicising the experiences online for his advice column. He will tell Lorenzo. Eventually, of course. He ponders this issue through the short, sweet, and not extremely graphic spicy scenes. This makes the middle drag slightly as the reader waits for the ball to drop and have the characters to go into the third act breakup.

The book skips between all sorts of supernatural characters: vampires, werewolves, poltergeists, unicorns, witches, and probably some I’ve forgotten. My favourite part of the book is the intermissions between chapters showing some of the emails asking for advice. These are really funny (my favourite being about a psychic spoiling plot twists in the letter writer’s favourite TV shows and how to get them to stop) and could be little short stories in themselves.

It’s not a groundbreaking romance, but there is enough to the characters and their backstories that it does feel heartfelt. Read Thirsty if you’re looking for a sweet, supernatural romcom.