White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout Review + Gvieaway

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout
(The Dark Elements, #1)
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen; 382 pages

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.

If there's one thing Jennifer can do perfectly is make anyone fall in love with the 'bad boys'. This is coming from someone who typically doesn't like those characters (there are exceptions, of course) but any time I'm reading a book by Jennifer it's a different story. The bad boys are my weakness.

So I really thought I was going to drool over gargoyles like I did in the novella, Bitter Sweet Love but you know who made my knees weak? A demon. Yes a demon. Holy hell, Roth is smoldering - he's on fire. There were scenes I may have been fanning myself because of how sizzling this man is. If we can even call him a man. Not only is he physically attractive, like he's a walking perfection of a man but his personality is something fierce. He's sarcastic, blunt and bit unbelievable but you want to believe every single word that escapes those beautiful lips. I thought for sure, after meeting Zayne in the novella, that I was going to be all fangirling over him and while I like him, it's not he who gets my heart racing (though I have a feeling that may change next book).

Besides my fangirling over Roth, which I assumed would happen coming in to this book from my friends opinions, I also love Zayla. I loved meeting her in the novella and now getting to see things from her eyes was exciting. She's one of a kind - a child from a demon and Warden. Something sort of a miracle, I think. Two creatures who are enemies and yet they came together to create this child. I'm sorry but if you hate something as much as Wardens apparently hate demons, you wouldn't be able to make yourself take one of them to bed, right? Being an outcast has got to be hard but do you know what must be harder than that? Never getting close to anyone, never being able to kiss anyone for fear you'll take their soul. That's a lonely existence, I can't even imagine how she feels. Seventeen years of that loneliness has got to be tough especially when she's been crushing on Zayne. That's what makes Roth appearance so exciting; he doesn't have a soul so his lips are totally game. See that? My thoughts still come back to Roth even when I'm trying to talk about Layla.

While the battle between demons and wardens have existed for thousands upon thousands of years, things are changing and it seems to all revolve around Layla. Somethings changed recently and it seems like she's receiving a lot of unwanted attention from demons but she doesn't understand why. While she's trying to survive she finds out horrifying things from where she came and who her parents are. The secret may shock you as much, if not more, than it shocked her.

I can't say enough good things about this book. There were so many things that had me laughing (there were so many great lines in this book that I want to go back and mark them), no scenes that had me close to tears, which is good for me. Can you tell me of any book you read that is based around gargoyles? I really can't and that's something that made this book so different from anything you might read, especially in YA. Any Jennifer Armentrout fan is obviously going to read this, as they should, but if you've never read her work (are you living under a rock?) and are looking for something that's not full of vampires or post-apocolyptic settings or something straight out of Lord of the Rings - this is something you should pick up.

Thank you so much to Lisa from Harlequin Teen for sending me this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

One winner will win a personalized copy of White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before choosing a new winner. This contest is open internationally. The giveaway ends February 10, 2014 (book will not be shipped out until the beginning of March).

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