It's probably terribly cliche to say this book was written for me, but well...I feel like this book was written for me. Fashionable vampires, disco, tox friendships, what more could I wish for in one book? Vampire frenemies Nicola and Amber have been partying since 1979 and Amber has had enough. But  you can't just have a friendship breakup with your vampire maker without life or death consequences. This book has a great blend of twists and turns and suspense without being scary, which isn't easy to do. There's a point in this book that I can't spoil where I said to myself "oh wow" and had to finish it as soon as possible. Thank you so very much to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

If you loved The Vampire Diaries, you'll love this. It's all fun and sexy discos until your best friend murders your ex-husband. I liked that this didn't have a big origin story about how vampires came to be, rather focusing on modern vamps in London, but did have a teensy bit of lore. We alternate between Amber and Nicola's perspectives, as well as throughout Nicola's adolescent vampire years. It's truly fun watching them plot against and backstab each other, though Amber was certainly the character I was rooting for. This is a fabulous dark thriller for the beach or Summerween!

Do I need to go to a nightclub now? Because the playlist was fire and I want to go somewhere like Tramp!

WE LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE 🪩
Rachel Koller Croft
Out 8/20


🪩🧛 We love the nightlife,
We love to boogie,
On the disco 🎶ayyyyeyahah🎶🧛🪩

Well, that was fun! As a vampire girlie from the land of Anne Rice, True Blood, and home to top TVD vampire himself, you could say it’s in my blood. 😹 So, when I heard that Croft’s sophomore book was going to be a vampire story I was excited and she really didn’t let me down.

The dual pov, multi timeline story describes the relationship between relatively new (a few decades) ex-pat vampire Amber and her maker, Londoner Nicola who is centuries old. Amber, who was turned in 1979, is ready to spread her fangs if you will, and leave Nicola. Amidst the disco scene, these two try to outdo the other is so many fun, campy ways.

Great side characters, flashbacks, and music from the time period all help to make this an enjoyable read. It was a slow burn at first but once it got going I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you Berkley Publishers, the Emilys, and Rachel Koller Croft for the early review copy.

Thanks to Berkley for the copy of this book!

After loving STONE COLD FOX and being a vampire book lover, I knew I had to read WE LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE.

This was one of our featured reads for Vampire Weekend, and it was a fun one! This is so different from any vampire book that I’ve read before and focuses on the nightlife and disco and all the glamour that comes with that. It’s also a lot of rich people behaving badly, but make them vampires. This is a slow burn book, but believe me when I tell you that it really picks up at the end! 🤯

Read this if you like:
🪩 Vampires
🪩 Dancing or disco
🪩 Slow burns
🪩 Female friendships
🪩 Rich people behaving badly

Thank you Berkley for the gifted digital ARC!

It is apparently the year of the vampire and even though I'm not super into that I was really excited to get my hands on this one because... it's Rachel Koller Croft, come on!

This was really well-written and I loved the alternating POV chapters as well as the back and forth timelines. I am a sucker for a bitchy drama and even though this was a little more high stakes than that, it certainly delivered.

There was admittedly a couple spots where I felt the story dragged a little bit, but the ending definitely blew my mind, I did not see a twist coming let alone one that was so big!

We Love the Nightlife pub date is August 20.

What a wild ride! This book has everything: vampires, nightlife, dancing, absolutely bananas female friendships, fashion, gore - really a mix of a proper campy thriller/horror and cheeky chick lit.

I love a vampire book and this is unlike any I’ve read! Admittedly, the first half of the book is a bit slow. For the short time period that this book spans it really drags out (in the present day timeline), and there’s a lot of the same. I do appreciate the dual POVs and timelines - they keep you on your toes as you’re fed bits and pieces of the past. Can you trust Nicola? What has she done? There are many mysteries hinted at as Amber searches for answers and works out her master plan - I forged on because I did want to know the truth about Nicola and if Amber could pull it off!

Once you hit that 60% mark, the book really flies! Nicola is unlikable for sure but she’s definitely an antagonist that you can love to hate. The writing comes off more stream-of-conscious style which really works and helps move things along when the action picks up. Their banter is all very egocentric (and at times annoying) gal pal vibes which really works for the characters. It’s just fun! A fresh take on contemporary vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for my ARC!

Firstly, thank you to Booked with the Emily’s, Rachel Koller Croft, and Berkeley Publishing for an advanced readers copy of We Love the Nightlife.

I read this for Vampire Weekend buddy read hosted by Booked with the Emilys. If I had one word to describe this We Love the Nightlife, it’s FUN!

It’s a vampire book, but unlike any I’ve ever read before. This book explores the relationship between a female maker and her female creation- so you know we have some toxicity in the mix.

Amber desires more from her life and ventures from Wisconsin to London and marries Malcom, whom she cares about but quickly realizes that he doesn’t share the same zest for the party life that she’s seeking. Amber loves the freedom of the nightlife and soaks it up, constantly venturing out alone in the night to the most popular club. This quickly catches the eye of Nicola— someone who also enjoys the nightlife, but for some additional reasons than just the party. 😉🧛‍♀️ The two quickly establish an inseparable bond and dazzle any club they step into. Naturally, the conversation happens, Nicola poses to Amber- what if you could enjoy the night forever? A vampire’s life is sure to the endless party Amber seeks, right?

This book is a slow burn, with some questionable MCs (I was NOT vibing with them at first), but when this book RAMPS, BOY DOES IT RAMP! The author does a fantastic job of describing the music of the decades and fashion in this book. I loved the visuals she created in my mind, especially the disco backdrop- LOVED THAT. This book gives you a dual POV and multiple timelines to weave a story that might shock you. (Okay, it sure in heck shocked me!). So if you’re looking for a fun, different take on blood suckers, like the club vibe, and don’t mind exploring toxic controlling friendships and power struggles, definitely add this to your TBR!

First, thank you to @bookedwiththeemilys , @emilyisoverbooked, @booksandbedtime @berkleypub and the author, @rachkollercroft for an ARC of this book!

When I picked up Rachel Koller Croft’s We Love the Nightlife, I was thrilled to dive into a vampire story—something I don’t typically read—especially one set against the backdrop of London’s vibrant disco scene. From the outset, the allure of disco music -which I LOVE- and the vampire intrigue had me hooked and ready to read.

The novel unfolds as a slow burn, gradually building tension until it erupts into a gripping narrative about Nicola and Amber, two vampires entangled in a toxic friendship spanning decades. I loved the dual POVs, different timelines, and mixture of characters, which added depth and complexity to the story.

As the plot unfolds, secrets are revealed, and unexpected twists keep the pages turning. Around halfway through, the pace accelerates, delivering an exciting ride towards the end where everything ties together. Croft masterfully weaves together themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the seductive power of eternal nightlife.

We Love the Nightlife is a must-read for fans of dark fantasy and anyone captivated by tales of enduring friendships, with a deliciously wicked twist. This novel promises both escapism and thought-provoking depth, ensuring readers will be enchanted until the final page.

Pub date: August 20, 2024

THIS WAS SO FUN!!!! I’ve come to the conclusion that @rachkollercroft is the queen of writing toxic females and I am so here for it! I absolutely loved the flashbacks and getting to hear both Nicola’s and Amber’s side of the story. AND THAT TWIST?! I gasped! Yall are going to want to add this one to your tbr immediately!

We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft follows Amber, a young woman who marries an Englishman. She soon finds that her hsband is not all that fun and perfers to stay home instead of going out. Its the late 70"s and disco is still going strong. At one of the clubs Amber meets Nicola who will forever change her life. I am a sucker for vampire books and absoultely loved We Love the Nightlife. The music referances from each decade, the fashion styles we spot on. The chapters go back and forth between Amber's point of view and Nicola's. In Nicola's chapters she revisits her past in the late 1800's and her half-sister Georgie. They have the same father but different mothers and are very close to the same age. Georgie is of course treated like a staff member by everyone but Nicola, who truely loves her sister. Amber is the exact opposite of Nicola, where she will only kill if they deserve it and not just for fun. Amber soon realize that Nicola has been lying to her from the start and now wants out of her control. I would recomend this to anyone that loves a good book with vampires in it. Thank you to both NetGalley and Berkly for letting me have an avanced reading copy of this book.

Did not live this. Had a hard time getting into it and DNF’d it at 25%.the characters were hard for me to appreciate and felt too whiney.

We Love the Nightlife does everything the story set out to do — it tells the tale of friendship amongst vampire friends that starts out shiny and new before turning toxic. It was an interesting read in that I struggled due to the characters being relatively unlikeable but also not able to turn away from the story. I was particularly interested in seeing how Amber and Nicola played one another. They both believed they were smarter than the other with their individual schemes without knowing they were playing into the other’s hand. It may the story that much more exciting to see who would catch on first. There are some really interesting revelations scattered throughout the story to keep reader’s interest as well as a mind blowing plot twist. Come for the vampires, stay for the sheer audacity of these two and watch the chaos unfold.

Ohh this was a fun read and hard to put down, which seems to be Croft's style (I read STONE COLD FOX in one sitting). We've got vampires, dual POVs with multiple timelines to give us the backstory to our main characters, toxic female friendship, and disco. My only complaint (and reason this isn't 5 stars) is Amber and the development of her relationship with the Nicola. I understood that I was supposed to feel like Nicola was controlling and toxic, but from Ambers POV (before she finds out about all the actually messed up stuff), she just felt whiny. Overall though, I really liked this book and recommend to all the vampire loving girlies.

Amber was searching for more from life, leaving behind her life in America to find excitement in London in the heat of the disco era. She marries a man, Malcolm quickly but soon realizes it doesn't offer her the excitement she's looking for. While at a club one night, Nicola Claughton enters her life. Nicola is an ethereal vampire, who's beauty immediately interests Amber. When an offer from Nicola asks Amber to join her eternal lifestyle, Amber jumps. This could be what she's been searching for. Life as a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be though. Amber soon wants out from under Nicola's thumb, while Nicola seeks to remain the one in charge. What lengths will they go to in order to get their way?

Two words, Toxic friendship. This is a display of what goes wrong with girlfriends. Set in the disco era, Rachel Koller Croft, explores the dominant/submissive rolls taken on in female friendships. She showcases how they will find and adapt to keep each other contained. I greatly enjoyed the two main characters, but this moved really slow for me. I wanted more juice. Certain scenes were very vivid and fast paced but lots of build up on the way. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the advanced copy of this book.

“𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 1981.”

I’ve never been much of a vampire girly (I may be the only person on booksta who’s never read or watched 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵!) but Rachel Koller Craft’s sexy spin on toxic female friendships sucked me right in (pun intended!).

This is one book where the fabulous cover doesn’t fool you. 𝗪𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 features:
💄 𝘚𝘦𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺-esque characters and glamour
🇬🇧 London in the 80s
🪩 Disco
🧛🏻‍♀️ Vampire cliques
🩸 Bloodsucking
👯‍♀️ Dual timeline and POV
🤯 A shocking twist

Fun and fabulous, this is a beach read with bite.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the copy to review.

4.25 stars I don’t typically read many books based around vampires…so when the opportunity presented to participate in Vampire Weekend and read this book, I grabbed the chance, and am so happy that I did-what a way to be reintroduced to the vampire world! The author has a fabulous way of creating characters that I am pretty sure aren’t meant to be well-liked. Such was with Amber (loved that she was from Wisconsin and all the references to my home state!) and Nicola, two vampires who open a night club in London. The scenery and imagery of disco-age London and present day were too notch. Although the beginning of the book was a bit slow for me, the plot and character growth picked up and I couldn’t then put the book down 1/2 of the way in-much like the author’s first novel. A fun read for this summer for sure!

This book was absolutely phenomenal. Rachel Koller Croft is a master of creating twisted characters, whose fates we get invested in. Nicola might be a psychotic bitch, but after discovering her backstory I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her. And seeing Amber’s transformation made for a greater sorry. Plus London with its rich history was definitely the perfect setting for a vampire book (maybe I’m biased here because I love London, but I thought it’s perfect).

Be warned, once you started reading We Love the Nightlife you won’t be able to put it down. But it will be such a fun journey that it’s totally worth pulling an all nighter.

If you are like me and are a lifelong vampire fan, but haven’t found a vampire book that really sucks you in in a long time you NEED to pick this one up.

If you like Sex and the City but make it with vampires, then this is the book for you.

Short Synopsis:
Nicola and Amber meet in 1979 at the height of the disco era. They become fast friends and when Amber is at her lowest, Nicola share her fangy truth with her.

My Thoughts:
This was such a unique thriller/vampire novel. It’s a toxic female friendship with a vampire twist. I truly didn’t like either of the characters, but I think that’s the point. It took me a bit to get into, but the second half was so good. If you’re a fan of some fun drama, thriller and fantasy adjacent book, it’s a good pick! The vibes were strong!

I saw someone refer to this as a b!tchy thriller, and that’s the perfect description.

What You’ll Find
🪩 Disco
🩸 Vampires
👄 Brutality
👯‍♀️ Female friendships
🇬🇧 London
🍾 Nighlife
😳 Unlikeable characters

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own. I read this book as part of the "Vampire Weekend" Book Group on Instagram organized by @booksandbedtime and @emilyisoverbooked of @bookedwiththeemilys
I was super excited to be a part of this awesome event! Thank you to Berkley and Rachel Koller Croft for allowing me to be a part of it,

This book was not my typical read as I tend to be quite a scaredy cat and don't read anything with vampires and other mythical creatures. However, the cover drew me in and the plot was enticing! I had also enjoyed Rachel's previous book, so I was interested in reading this one.
I actually really enjoyed this book and was hooked from the first page. If I have to compare it to something, I would say this book is one part
"Twilight", one part of "Sex and the City" and one part of "Desperate Housewives:" the 70s and 80s British party atmosphere reminded me a bit of "Cruella" with Emma Stone, as well.

I am also happy to say that this book was a lot less scary than I thought it would be. There was only one or two scenes in the book that creeped me out. However, I find that I can usually read slightly scarier material than what I can watch for whatever reason. This book was a lot of fun. It made me want to put on Cher, ABBA, and Queen and have a dance party! This would be an addictive guilty pleasure read, perfect for your summer beach bag. However, I must warn you that once you start this book you will also not want to put it down!

I am very much looking forward to Rachel Koller Croft's next book!

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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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🖤 vampires
🪩 london
🖤 dual POV
🪩 dual timeline

If you are a fan of vampires, I am confident you will enjoy this one. The story follows two female vampires; a bonded pair, maker and companion; through the history of their relationship and during present day. The drama is fun, the twists are unpredictable and the ending is completely unexpected.

To add, I’m a big baby and scared of most thrillers and absolutely avoid horror. This was a light read with just a bit of gore (I mean obviously, they are vampires). This falls very low on the “scary” scale.

📚Thank you Berkley Publishing, The Emilys and the author Rachel Koller Croft for the eARC of We Love the Nightlife!