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: 0373211104
• ISBN13: 9780373211104
• Publish Date: 25 February 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Harlequin Teen
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[ambiancereads]

I picked this one up because I have read all of JLA's Lux series and I adored them. Not sure what I expected when I picked this one up but was pleasantly surprised. Its not my favorite by her, but I still enjoyed it. It's definitely very "high school" angsty girl learns she has super power vibe to it. But I still enjoyed the plot and the character development. Was a quick read. Will be reading the rest of the series.

[herseriallife]

I loved it, it's so good. It's fun, so well written and sexy. But most of all, it's full of twists and amazing plots I'm really excited to see unfold. Can't wait to read book#2.

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

White Hot Kiss is the first full-length novel to Jennifer L. Armentrout’s The Dark Elements series. I love how Jennifer L. Armentrout has it with gargoyles versus demons in this series. It’s different from another young adult paranormal I’ve read before, and I couldn’t wait to read this book after reading the prequel. The series follows Layla’s story, which was introduced as a secondary character in the prequel. 

Female Protagonist: Layla is half demon/half warden (gargoyle shifter) who can’t shift into a gargoyle and has the power to suck out the soul of anyone who has a soul. (Which sucks because she can never kiss the boy she likes.) I liked her character and getting to know her in the first book of the series. She’s trying to be a typical teenager, but she can’t in a world full of gargoyles who are trying to protect her (or smother her). Then there is an issue with demons trying to kill her or attempt to use her for the apocalypse.

Storyline/MyThoughts: First, be prepared because this book does involve a love triangle. Layla is in love with Zayne, a Warden, but he treats her as a little sister. She also falls hard for an upper-level demon named Roth, who she’s not sure if she trusts or not. Roth is compelling, though, and I LOVED his character. I was rooting for her to hook up with Roth instead of Zayne. Zayne was a pain in the butt with her in this book, especially when a particular other gargoyle showed up and wanted Zayne’s attention.

Jennifer L. Armentrout had me hooked at the prequel for the series, but she had me with White Hot Kiss. It’s not only the storyline that kept me reading but the boys that Layla has in her life. Although, as I stated above, I rooted for Roth the whole time. The bad boy vibes from him and how he treated Layla were different compared to Zayne. 

I felt for Layla in the story. After all, she didn’t fit in because she’s half-demon and half gargoyle. Her Wardens (gargoyle shifters) are wary of her because of what she can do, and they were keeping secrets from her. There are also demons who she would tag for the Wardens, but then she finds out that maybe not all demons are evil. It’s a crazy world for a teenage girl who wants to be normal.

The ending was the big shocker for me. I was not prepared and felt terrible for Layla. I did like how she grew at the end of this book and came into new powers. She kicks butt! This book does leave a cliffhanger because readers will be left wanting more, especially with how Jennifer L. Armentrout ended this book. I know I can’t wait to dive into the next book, Stone Cold Touch. I’m ready to find out what happens next. 

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Dark Elements series.

Cliffhanger: Yes.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you love the Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy genre, you will enjoy this series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I can’t believe it took me this long to read this series, but I’m making up for it now. The Young Adult genre (paranormal/ fantasy) always manages to get me out of a reading funk because it was got me into reading when I was younger and will always be my first love. It also helps when you have terrific authors like Jennifer L. Armentrout, who create unique paranormal worlds. 🙂

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 5 Stars


Love my JLA! Moving onto Stone Cold Touch!

[kate87]

Any book that has me up till early hours of the morning reading has to have 5 stars

[EBookObsessed]

An enjoyable and entertaining Young Adult story.

Layla is a half-gargoyle/half-demon. She was found in an orphanage as a child and taken in by the gargoyles, who act as Wardens protecting humans from evil (i.e. demons…and other spooky stuff). As a half-demon, Layla doesn’t exactly fit in in the Warden household and not everyone is happy to have her around. Layla has inherited some abilities from her demon mother, one allows her to see souls, which makes it easier to pick out the soulless demons around town and mark them for the Wardens to pick off later. But not all of those abilities are beneficial to Layla since she is also drawn to the most pure souls and wants to suck them out of people with a kiss. She did this accidentally as a child which is what brought her to the attention of the gargoyles.

As with any good young adult book, the story sets us up with a love triangle. Seventeen-year-old Layla has a crush on her slightly, older gargoyle friend, Zayne. Layla believes her feelings are unrequited, not only because Zayne treats her like a little sister, but it is expected that Zayne will mate with a full-blooded gargoyle female — and there is that whole sucking Zayne’s soul out if she kissed him problem.

Enter the new boy in school, Roth, who turns out to be a demon. Roth has come to town from down south–way, way down south–to try to stop Layla from marking demons to be killed by the Wardens. The main man down under isn’t happy with what she is doing and Roth assures her that if she doesn’t stop, Satan is going to put a price on her head to put a stop to her once and for all. He also tries to get her to understand that just being a demon doesn’t make something evil. Just like humans, and even Wardens, demons have levels of evil from simply mischievous to–yeah, really, really evil.

But that’s not the only reason he is here. He knows that the Wardens raised Layla to be ashamed of her demon side, and he wants her to understand that part of herself and embrace her demon nature, not suppress it. Roth is the first person who doesn’t make Layla feel bad about who she is. He is also the first real, true friend Layla has made outside her Warden household. Problem is that Layla is keeping her budding friendship with this demon a secret from her gargoyle family because she has a feeling that Roth tops to big bad on the demon list and if the Wardens knew he was there, especially hanging around Layla, they would do everything they could to send him back to Hell.

I picked up a copy of White Hot Kiss at the Blogger Conference for the RWA. I took it mostly for a giveaway but after seeing so many glowing reviews, I had to read it for myself. While it is a little predictable and formulaic, it was an enjoyable story. I really liked Roth and his pet snake, Bambi. The only reason I am not continuing with the trilogy simply comes down to being tired of the love triangles and from the descriptions of the other stories, I can guess where we will be going with it. And while there is a formula to the story, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be enjoyable to read. Overall, I simply have too much of a backlog of books to review and the story wasn’t that gripping that I need to set everything else aside to see where it goes.

I would highly recommend it to anyone with teens who enjoy a good paranormal romance.

[whisperingchapters]

It's official. I'm head-over-heels in love with Roth!

[Chelsea]

What I Loved

It’s hard to me to describe what I love with this series because it’s actually pretty cheesy and has A LOT of YA book tropes in it. If I had to take a guess I’d say it’s the idea that because it follows so many tropes, I know it’s a reliable book. I know that author is going to give me exactly what I want. I know that there will be an epic romance no matter how predictable it is. I think in this case, I like how predictable the book is. I like knowing that the super hot bad boy is going to end up with the girl who doesn’t know how important she is. Also I think this author is really great at writing these kinds of romances which is probably a big reason why I stick around.

I’m not saying that the book is bad. I actually really liked it. I especially like how great Jennifer is at creating these weird kinds of supernatural creatures like the Gargoyles. Who else would have thought to humanize them like she did?! She’s also really great at blurring the lines between good and evil. The good aren’t always who you think they are and all of us have a little evil in us somewhere.

What I Didn't Love

I could have used a little more originality with this whole series. I know I said I liked the predictability but I would have liked to see something different with the ending at least. The love triangle reminded me a lot of Twilight too which I could have used without. It was a good series but nothing spectacular.

Who I'd Recommend To

I’d recommend this to people who are happy reading the typical paranormal fantasy books. It was good for a nice easy read though.

[Berls]

This review and others at Fantasy is More Fun.
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I've had White Hot Kiss on my read-for-review shelf for a while, but for some reason that initial desire to read it had faded by time I had it in my hands. Don't you hate when that happens? Well, I finally got around to it and boy do I feel dumb! I enjoyed White Hot Kiss way more than the first book in the LUX series, it's a very strong first book.
What Worked:

• I think the world was the best part - it's unique, something I've never seen before at least. The Wardens - gargoyles basically - are the "good guys", protecting mankind from the demons that walk among them. They look like humans until they shift to their gargoyle form, when they are stronger and can take out the demons.The demons are cool too and I just love Roth's tattoos!


• I really liked Layla - the main character, from whose POV White Hot Kiss is told. She's part-Warden, part-demon and I loved the way her very existence put pressure on the idea of good and evil, showing that those lines are not always so clear. That was a persistent theme and I really liked it.


• I LOVED Layla's abilities (I guess this is an extension of the world). She can see souls and devour them if she wants to, though she tries so hard to be good since she was part-Warden and has really rejected the demon side of herself.


• The Boys! It's not a good PNR without some good boy action and White Hot Kiss has it. I LOVE Roth - the demon, of course ;). He's as bad boy as it gets, in that he's the Prince of Hell, but he sure doesn't seem so bad when he's protecting Layla! I like Zayne too - but what I REALLY like is that while he's a semi-love interest he's more like a brother figure that she's crushed on. You know, that boy that you grow up with, crush on and then as you grow up realize was just a really close friend? That's how I feel about Zayne - it's not a real love triangle and I hope it stays that way as the trilogy continues.


• Oooh! I almost forgot to mention that the narration was fantastic! Saskia Maarleveld is a new-to-me narrator that I will definitely be listening to more of. She had great voices and pacing - even at my 2x speed!
  

What Didn't Work:

• It's 4 stars but I can't put my finger on something specific that I didn't like. It just didn't have that special something that pushes it into 5 star territory.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series... right away! It ended on quite a bit of cliff so I'm anxious to see what will happen next!

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I really liked White Hot Kiss! Layla is half demon, half Warden, and being raised by Wardens. She’s also used to “tag” demons, because she can see souls, so it’s easy for her to identify demons by their lack of one. It isn’t until demons start coming after her, and one in particular rescues her, that she starts to question what the Wardens have been telling her. She can’t ignore her demon half or try to suppress it anymore. Someone in Hell is after her and she doesn’t know why, and the answer lies in who she really is.

White Hot Kiss does follow the standard YA Paranormal Romance format. Layla is super special among her kind and also an outcast. A mysterious hot guy, Roth, who is suppose to be her enemy appears and isn’t like other demons. He tells her about her heritage, opening her eyes to all of the lies she’s been fed. Then they kick demon butt together to stop the apocalypse. And there’s kissing. Plenty of kissing, because Roth is the only person Layla can kiss without stealing their soul. Duh.

So yeah, it’s typical, but White Hot Kiss is so fun! I love gargoyles and demons! They make for some interesting and unique reading! Humans know about gargoyles, and the gargoyles are suppose to protect humans from demons, even though humans generally hate and or fear the gargoyles. Of course, demons aren’t happy being trapped in hell and want to cause chaos in the human realm. There’s even a zombie! There’s just a lot of good stuff here that kept it from feeling like something I’ve read a million times before, even though I have.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.