Hello, everyone! Today I’ve got a review for a VERY overdue ARC, Thirsty by Lucy Lehane. I’m always down for a paranormal romance, and the cover just made me have to pick this one up. Read on to see all of my thoughts.

A revenge plot sets sparks flying in this screwball paranormal romantic comedy of enemies-to-lovers, chaotic supernatural friend groups, and scorching chemistry from debut author Lucy Lehane.

Charlie needs to revamp his career. Writing advice columns was hard enough before the whole internet was dying to know how to date the undead – but Charlie’s as human as they come. And he has no idea how to answer the messages flooding his inbox, like My Workplace Slack Is Haunted;Should I Cross Dimensions For a Fling? and How Exactly Do You Smash A…

When a chance nocturnal meeting at a local coffee shop sees him reuniting with Lorenzo – a vampire with an axe to grind – Charlie thinks he’s found his ticket to immortal career success. But Lorenzo has plans of his to get revenge on Charlie for separating Lorenzo from the love of his life years ago. When Lorenzo draws Charlie into his world of monsters and mayhem, he finds new friends and old souls that span centuries of existence, yet are somehow just as lost as the two of them. But as Charlie and Lorenzo grow unexpectedly closer, the secrets they dwell under might just crush them.

Can their love survive demons and drama? And which will prove deadlier… bloodlust or betrayal?

***Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Thirsty was such an entertaining paranormal MM romance. The comedy had me smiling so much, and the relationships felt realistic and sincere even with all of the kooky supernatural stuff going on. The story did lean hard into the world of paranormal creatures, too, which was a lot of fun to explore.

The characters were one of the things I loved most about Thirsty. Lorenzo was an absolute hoot. His lonely and tortured bi vampire vibes were to die for, and I laughed so many times at his scheming for revenge on Charlie. Speaking of Charlie, there were plenty of moments where I didn’t like him. He was a bit too woe is me, incredibly meddlesome, and spent a ton of time thinking of himself as a failure. That being said, I enjoyed his story arc and his sassiness. I also really loved seeing how the two characters impacted each other, with Lorenzo learning to build a community and Charlie gaining more confidence in himself and his work.

As for the plot, there wasn’t much of one in Thirsty. The story completely revolved around Charlie’s need to learn about the supernatural world to revamp his flailing advice column. This mostly involved Lorenzo taking Charlie on outings with different creatures as their relationship grew, which was fun but did get a bit repetitive at times. I also wanted a bit more detail on how the world came to accept the creatures going mainstream. That bit of things just felt too easy. I did really enjoy reading the letters that came into the advice column, though. It was a great choice to include some of them at the end of the chapters.

It’s also important to note that the central relationship in Thirsty was based on a massive lie. Charlie lies to Lorenzo about why he needs help learning about the supernatural community. He then proceeds to use Lorenzo to get information for his column under false pretenses, all while their relationship goes from enemies to reluctant friends to lovers. I wish Charlie had come clean earlier in the book because I’m not a huge fan of this trope. However, I understand why it was drawn out for dramatic purposes and did actually like how Charlie made amends in the end.

My favorite thing about Thirsty was the found family in it. Lorenzo and his roommates were a hilarious bunch, and all of the creatures he introduced to Charlie were so fun to meet. There were quite a few scenes with this friend group that just felt like a fun time hanging out with the besties. I couldn’t get enough of all of them together. This book also had what is possibly my favorite characterization of a unicorn ever. It is worth reading for her interactions alone.

All in all, I had a great time reading Thirsty. While the plot and world-building weren’t super memorable, the characters and their relationships were just fun to read. If you are looking for a supernatural romance where you can just turn off your brain and enjoy the kooky vibes, this book might for you. Therefore, I rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on Thirsty by Lucy Lehane. Have you read this one? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!