The romance part is essentially conflict-free. I liked that whatever Lawson’s prior experience he was always comfortable being himself. Jack is neurotypical and completely taken with Lawson, finding charming what others in Lawson’s life have considered annoying quirks. I liked his portrayal and that he was very forthcoming about sex and his desires. It seemed to me that Lawson was likely somewhere on the autism spectrum but he was not a caricature. They have a week to decide if a long-distance relationship would be feasible so they need to spend as much time together as they can. Things move quickly but this is largely explained by Lawson only planning on being in town for a week so of course, they try and pack as much in as possible in the limited time available.

Jack is a ranger at the national park where Lawson will be attempting to find a heretofore undiscovered species of butterfly and they work together closely to map out potential areas to search. Jack has a thing for bow ties and don’t even get him started on what he feels about suspenders (the ones which go over the shoulders – I have no information about what he thinks regarding the other kind). Jack is somewhat love-starved, being openly gay in very small-town Tasmania and he’s instantly smitten by Lawson. He meets Jack Brighton at the airport when Jack is returning from a work trip in Melbourne and there begins a beautiful friendship. Imago is a rather charming story about nerdy lepidopterist Lawson Gale and his discoveries in the national park in northern Tasmania – and not all of those discoveries are butterflies.

Imagoes by N.R. Walker