Over all, this book is a pretty nice read. It’s neither thrilling nor breathtaking most of the time, but it was enjoyable to flash through in a few hours and made me feel with and for the characters, keeping me emotionally engaged and laughing or groaning at their antics.
But for the love of everything nice and holy, what is wrong with using the words man or woman on occasion? There were two times the word woman appeared in the book, and both were referring to an artwork. It made me seriously cringe every time that I had to read “the females hair did this” or “the male does that”. 
In the end i got through it and I’m also already on the second part, because I can’t wait to see if it’ll bring a little more of the plot to the table after the first book focused more on character development and relationships. 

After finishing Lore & Lust two words come to mind from the experience, entertained and underwhelmed. It was hyped up to me and I honestly feel like there was a lot missing in world-building, plot, character/character development, and dialogue. I do enjoy the idea Karla had in mind, but it just seemed lacking. While I have yet to read the next two books in this series, it did feel as if all three books could have easily been combined and edited into one solid stand alone. I was really disappointed to not love this.

The worldbuilding takes some getting used to. These vampires are more akin to Fae in that they live long and can give birth. And apparently drinking human blood is bad for them, so they get their nourishment from other vampires. 

So the story is about these two century-old purebred vampires mutually pining for one another. It’s done really well too! No verbal constipation. They actually talk things out!! The main tension is they’re both just dancing around each other having intense feelings and being like “no, he’s/I’m traumatized and I’d rather not ruin our friendship.”

My two niggles are:
1) the present tense is a bit jarring
2) the ending gets a bit too mushy, and the thing with Yuna gets left up in the air. 

This book had already grabbed me with it's Gorgeous cover but when I saw that it was a Queer Vampire series with a Japanese character as one of the MCs knew it'd be right up my street. 

I was not disappointed. Honestly I binged this book I'm one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. The writing is excellent, the angst, the pining, the fluff, the smut - it all read like a Really good fanfiction. And that's not a negative comment, I love FF but the fact that I connected to this characters instantly is a testament to Nikole's skill. 

In this world vampires are a common & accepted part of society but they're not the type of vampires you're familiar with. There are different societal hierarchy depending on lineage & blood lines. Also in this world, the vampires don't have to kill to feed & if you feed from another vampire rather than a human, you can have more powers & don't have to resort to hiding from the sun etc. 

Haruka is one of our MC's & he is basically Japanese Vampire royalty but after an incident in his homeland 70 years ago, he ran away to Britain & became a recluse. Unfortunately, as a high ranking vampire he is expected to attend certain Vampire rituals. The only other high ranking vampire residing in England has also been asked but seems to be refusing. Haruka is tasked with finding him & convincing him to attend. The vampire turns out to be our ultra sweet italian puppy dog, Nino, who is very close in age to Haruka (so no creepy 100yo / 17yo dynamics). The two have instant chemistry but for *reasons* they can't be together. This is a slowwwwburn btw.

Also, each vampire has unique powers which were really cool. 

It has POC rep, queer rep, it's hilarious, well written, INSANE CHEMISTRY, steamy af & a unique take on vampire lore.

Honestly I think it's just something you've got to read for yourself I just wanted to hug the characters all the way through. And I'm so happy that it's the first in a series! 

CW: blood, child abuse, illness, blood purity ideology, depression, bodily harm

Lore and Lust is a completely captivating, sensuously slow romance with a definite bite! Haruka and Nino are both utterly charming characters. Their personalities are so realistic and multifaceted. Haruka is mysterious where Nino is open but as reader you get to know them both so well that you're really invested in their lives and want to read more! 
The spicy scenes are well written and occur not so frequently that they overwhelm the story but  enough to satisfy the reader of a book called 'Lore and Lust'! 
The vampire lore is fascinating and really unique. This was a standout strength of the book for me. A lot of thought has gone into how it works and how their perspective on their history as a species drives the characters in different ways. 
My critique would be that I'd have loved more chapters from Nino's perspective especially towards the end of the book, and I'd have liked a little more movement on the mystery element of the book! It had me really engaged and I'd have loved more. Roll on book 2!