QUEER VAMPIRE DELIGHT
Before I tell you about Lore and Lust, I have two disclaimers: 1) Even though the book cover has a woman in it, this book is gay romance with two men. 2) Even though I have found this book on Goodreads shelves concerning books with asexual characters, neither one of the protagonists is actually asexual. The reason why it was deemed asexual by someone is because both characters have reservations about sex at the start (with anyone), but are clearly not asexual. Just setting the record straight.
Now that those are out of the way, I liked the book surprisingly. I say surprisingly because as I started reading it, I didn’t imagine I would enjoy the writing style much. It’s third person present tense and goes very fast, almost too fast. Like not enough information is being shared. However, I did end up enjoying the story as the romance between Haku and Nino – one is a Japanese purebred vampire and the other one an Italian purebred vampire – was so soft and tender. So gradual and satisfying.
This is exactly what I love in a romance – it’s not the insta love or the insta sex, but the gradual slow burn friends to lovers that us demisexual souls deeply desire. Other than that, I really enjoyed learning about the world in this book – how the vampires feed and bond, about the characters’ backstories and insecurities, about the society and history at large. It was a fascinating read!
So in light of all that, I’ll give the book 3 stars and an extra half star because I enjoyed it so much. I know this is a series, but I have not decided if I want to continue it yet. If you want to read a fun and wholesome gay romance book about vampires, this might be the one.
Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
