White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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.

• ISBN10: 1488720789
• ISBN13: 9781488720789
• Publish Date: 1 March 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: Harlequin
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 285
• Language: English

Reviews

[melanchalina]

Вы влюблялись когда-нибудь в книгу? В ее неповторимых героев, ее захватывающие приключения и атмосферу, пронизывающую каждую страницу?

У меня мало любимых книг. Но все они для меня особенные, так же как теперь и «Раскаленный поцелуй».

Великолепная книга. Изумительная.

Я люблю в ней все: сюжет, героев, мифологию. Но в первую очередь героев.

Зейн и Рот? Вау. Они оба невероятны. Сильные и глубокие, как океан. Такие разные, но такие великолепные. Так много времени прошло с тех пор, как я могла оценить любовный треугольник в книге. Обычно они такие жалкие и несуразные. Но в "Поцелуе" прекрасный треугольник. Хорошая, сильная духом героиня и два прекрасных мужчины. И самое главное герои продуманные и логичны в своих поступках. Они покорили мое сердце.

Героиня возможно сначала через чур наивна, но она растет по мере событий книги и развивается, но при этом она остается доброй.
Я наслаждалась этой книгой от начала и до конца. Прочитала ее не отрываясь и пережила все то, что и герои: радость, грусть, любовь, отчаяние. Определенно книга войдет в список моих любимых книг YA.

Я очень, очень хочу следующую книгу!

[littleread1]

Not sure why it took me so long to read this (for me anyway) but I liked it. A little predictable but still fun to read. Several of the characters made me extremely angry at parts which is a token of Armentrout's amazing writing skills. She kills it at YA.

[Nicole Lynn]

Read and find out more at PopCrunchBoom Blog!

*I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The Review

If couldn’t tell above, I’m already a part of the Luxen Army and a big Armentrout fan. She’s definitely done it again with this latest series. I’ve fallen head first into her new series.

White Hot Kiss follows Layla, a half gargoyle, half demon. Her everyday consists of trying to appear normal, while also taking down demons that made it up surface side. Why this particular job? She was raised by the Wardens, a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting the pesky beings from Hell. Plus, Layla’s demon side gives her some handy abilities when tracking and killing demons. But the biggest challenge of Layla’s is dealing with her love life.

Being half demon, Layla cant kiss anyone with a soul for fear of sucking it out of them. This keeps her at bay from her longtime and completely off-limits crush, Zayne. Zayne is a Warden and can only really date another warden for “mating” purposes. This plus that whole soul thing makes him hands off to Layla. Cue in Roth, a super hot, tattooed demon who knows a little too much about Layla. Soon she can’t stay away from him.

As Layla spends more time with Roth more secrets involving her start popping up. Soon shes faced with trying to stay true to her family and her heart. Add a demon uprising and Layla has a lot of challenges she has to face all of a sudden.

Armentrout does a wonderful job of pulling me in again. Her characters are likable and have me wishing to be a part of her world; although some of those demons really are pretty gross. I was hesitant at first when I heard the word “gargoyle,” but Armentrout definitely made them appealing and I didn’t have nay trouble believing in the world she built.

Layla was a good main character. I was crossing my fingers that she wouldn’t read like Katy from the Lux series or Alex from the Covenant series. Sometimes characters seem alike when they’re all written by the same author. Armentrout didn’t disappoint on this. Although all three female main characters share characteristics like bravery, Layla stood out on her own.

Layla is the odd-girl out. She’s got a kick-ass hunter side, but also a vulnerable side. She’s pulled by both her demon side and her gargoyle side. Although she has a strong vulnerability, she doesn't need “saving.” Instead, her character needed to find acceptance of herself. At the start, Layla feels like she’s not good enough because she isn't fully a Warden. She hides her demon side. But throughout the novel, the reader sees Layla grow and begin to embrace both sides of herself. It was great to watch this character growth throughout the novel.

Onto the swoon-worthy guys! Both Zayne and Roth have their good points. I know a lot of people are starting to get over the whole love-triangle thing, but Armentrout does a nice job of it here. I never really saw the love-triangle aspect as being overbearing at all in this novel. Mostly I already had my mind set on who she was going to end up with. Zayne was Layla’s crush from forever and as a friend, he was great for Layla to lean on and learn from. But, I think Roth brought out the best in Layla. He was little bit dangerous and never sugar-coated anything with Layla. He opened up the possibilities of Layla being her full self and I love’d that about his character. But we’ll just have to see who Layla gravitates towards more in book two ;)

The storyline was very action-packed. Without giving details away, just know that there’s a lot of ups and downs. Layla’s faced with a lot of untrust popping up on both sides which leads to a lot of questioning on her part. Secrets always come out and when they do; they cause a lot of action. The biggest thing though, is the cliffhanger at the end of this novel. Man, I did not see that coming and trust me it will have you grasping air to get a hold of the next book. Trust me I’m still grasping nothingness in the hopes that Stone Cold Touch magically appears in my hands ;0

Overall, if you like Armentrout’s other novels then you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you’re a paranormal romance lover then I’d also suggest picking up this novel stat! I enjoyed this novel greatly and can’t wait to move forward in the series.

[chemicalscream]

You can find this review on my blog!

Jennifer L. Armentrout never fails when bringing us a swoony boy..and this book is no exception..In fact, she gave us TWO SWOONY BOYS! We’ve got Zayne ,who is a warden (aka Gargoyle) and Roth, who is a demon.

Our female MC in this book is Layla. Layla is half-warden, half-demon. She was raised by the Wardens and because of that she feels insecure around them. She may be half-warden, but she doesn’t have the capabilities they possess, so she feels…inconsequential? around them.. Yeah, something like that. She does have the ability to “tag” demons, which she uses to help the Wardens, who hunt at night, identify them. Which in turn makes their job a bit easier..and makes Layla feel as though she’s doing something positive.

Due to her being half-demon, she has the ability to suck the soul right out of someone..literally. Because of that whole soul-sucking thing, she’ll never be able to have the one boy she wants..Zayne, or anyone else for that matter.. That all changes when she meets Roth. Roth is a demon, he has no soul, so his lips are free game to Layla..and boy does she take advantage of that..Or maybe it’s Roth that takes advantage of that… ;)



The chemistry between Layla and Roth was so explosive.. I thought my iPad was going to over heat.. :) I loved them together. I loved Roth and the things that came out of his mouth..the way he was with Layla and how he managed to look out for her even when he wasn’t actually there. I’ve heard that Daemon’s character was based on Roth and I can totally see it..Big Ego, Snarky Comments, Total Bad Ass. Yep.. a lot like Daemon…BUT.. I think I might like Roth more than Daemon. Roth is a real bad boy, I mean.. he is a demon after all! He has a legit reason to be a bad boy…and well I like my book boyfriends to be bad. Yum! :)

ZAYNE! OMG Zayne! You gave me so many feels in this book..I don’t even know if I can talk about it. Zayne, you had me in tears quite a few times. I HOPE THAT YOU MAKE IT UP TO ME IN THE NEXT ONE. I have a feeling he will most definitely make it up to us somehow in the book..because after the way this book ended (HOLY CRAP! DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!!) Zayne better be there for me Layla.

White Hot Kiss is a great start to a new and unique book series. Jennifer Armentrout did not disappoint. This is a great story with amazing characters and some interesting twists. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK if you haven’t already. But first, You’ll definitely need to check out the Prequel BITTER SWEET LOVE.



Thanks to HarlequinTEEN for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!



Some of my favorite quotes from White Hot Kiss:

“We demons are all alike. We covet pretty things, corrupt what is pure and whole, take what we can never have.” – Roth

“Free Will is bullshit.” – Roth

“See, I was raised in Hell. You could say I’m socially awkward.” – Roth

“Free Will, huh? Damn. It is a bitch.” – Roth

“I lost myself the moment I found you.” – Roth

“Just so you know, your virtue isn’t safe with me. So when you look like you want me to devour every inch of your mouth, I will, without an ounce of regret.” – Roth