White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout Review!

      

Title: White Hot Kiss

Series: The Dark Elementals #1

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: February 25th 2014

Publisher: Harlequin Teen/Mira Ink

One kiss could be the last. 

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. 

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever. 

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul. 

But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

Julies Thoughts : 

So, I hear about a completely new series from Jennifer L. Armentrout, and then hear it contains gargoyles O_O, and think, aye, I can get down with that. Needless to say, by the time I got my hands on a copy of White Hot Kiss, I was pretty excited. I mean, I’d read Bitter Sweet Love and gotten a glimpse at what/who it would be about, so I headed in with expectations of hotness and bada$$ery.

In a pretty big dose, the hotness and bada$$ery were definitely present. Let me explain why.

Hotness: we have Zayne. He’s a gargoyle. He’s buff. He’s golden. He’s gorgeous. Hell, JLA even makes it sound like his impenetrable and un-malleable black gargoyle skin is something you’d wanna smooth your palms over. Dig me? But that’s not all. Because we also have Roth. Dark to Zayne’s light, bad to Zayne’s good, but equally as buff and lickable, this dude of a demon will have you wondering which side of the field you want to bat on.

Bada$$ery: Zayne is a defender of Earth from all that is evil. Booyah! Sign me up for a piece o’ that. AND Roth is a self-made permanent defender of MC Layla. Trillingling!

No wonder the poor chick don’t know whether she’s coming or going. Because, as a teen just coming into her own, she full on has all the confusions facing a regular teen to deal with, and then some. Boyfriend issues? Check. She’s had The Biggest Crush on Zayne for as long as she can remember, except she figured it to be unreciprocated, and so wallowed over said attraction in silence. And then she gets shown some interest from another corner and the girl just cannae help but feel a little wooed when those hormones of hers decide to go haywire—even if she isn’t sure how genuine the interest is. The real kicker here, though? The reason she’d never even contemplate going for it with Zayne and the exact reason she never entertained the idea he might be interested in her? Her ability (or curse?) to suck out a person’s soul with a single kiss—whether she really wants to, or not.

Man, there are so many intricacies to this three-way relationship, it would take me a couple K of words to explain, and I don’t really want to dish out any more than I already have on this area due to spoilers and parts of the book the reader should experience for themselves.

For those of you, though, who shy away from a love triangle, don’t run for the hills just yet. Pick up the book and stick around long enough to get to know the characters, because it’s far from a love triangle at this point. Though, I’d be lying if I say I don’t see the high potential for it to lead that way in the next book(s). But you should still pick it up and check it out, anyway, because 1) the plot is decent, 2) there is great character development, as well as great characterisations that will leave you guessing about different character motivations, 3) the dudes are HOT!, 3) the twists and turns are pretty neat, 4) the descriptions are great, and the sarcastic banter isn’t at the point of too much where readers are beginning to tire of its overuse in books, but is at a steady easily-digestible level.

The only downside to the book is the MC. I didn’t like her very much. Like, at all! I found her whiny, and juvenile and selfish, and inconsiderate, and sometimes pretty stupid. And even at the end, when she has the opportunity to be ‘something’, I found it too smooth and easily accepted by her, and the adoption of it too unbelievably addressed.

That being said, the minor issue I had with it is, by no means, a good enough reason not to pick up this book, because 1) Zayne and Roth are reason enough!!!!, and 2) there is massive room for some growth from young Layla, and I intend to ‘Watch this Space’ for when it happens.

Read on!