Dark Kiss (Nightwatchers, #1)

by Michelle Rowen

‘Gorgeous angels, suspense, and romance’ – Richelle Mead Bestselling Author of the Vampire Academy Series.

One kiss can change everything

Samantha’s never been special. She’s always the girl who blends into the background. Until a surprise kiss from unattainable crush Stephen. Now suddenly every guy in school is clamouring for her number. But Samantha’s newfound popularity comes at a dangerously high price – a desperate need to devour human souls. Enter Bishop – a street kid with secrets as intense as his unearthly blue eyes.

He’s immune to her mesmerising new power – and her only hope of salvation. But to defeat a terrifying demonic threat, they’ll need to give into the darkness inside of them. Once you’ve embraced the dark, can you ever go back again?

• ISBN13: 9781848451247
• Publish Date: 1 June 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 September 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Mira Ink
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

Dark Kiss is the first book in the new Nightwatchers series by author Michelle Rowan. The cover grabbed me the moment I saw it on Amazon! I am a sucker for fallen angel bad boys and this cover is all of that!

I am not usually a big fan of instant love, too unrealistic. And there was definitely that element in Dark Kiss. But it worked, totally and completely, I think the key to making it believable is to make it part of the story, and it was. It isn't "insta-love" just for the sake of it. There was a reason for it, a reason that was integral to the story. That made all the difference in the world because it wasn't sappy, but made sense. Samantha is a completely ordinary girl, or so she thinks. I loved her as a character! She wasn't made out to be anything other than a normal pretty girl with all the usual teen girl issues with friends, parents, and boys. Bishop is pretty swoon-worthy, if a little controlling at times. What I like most about this book was the cast of characters. All of them, major and minor, all had their own stories. What I liked, too, was the lack of stereotypes. The angels weren't all good, and the demons weren't all bad. Kraven was pretty swoon-worthy himeself, a demon with a bit of a soft side. The entire book kept me guessing, which I really love because there is nothing I hate more than predictability.

I read the book in one sitting, unable to put it down. I loved the story, different from a lot of the paranormal YA I have read. There was a lot of mystery, a lot of emotion, and a lot of twists and turns. The ending was a complete surprise, totally setting the stage for the next book, Wicked Kiss.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this book. I've never read an Angel/Demon book before so I really didn't know what to expect. Maybe this is one reason I ended up enjoying it.

As with any book, the most important thing is hot men and goodness, there is absolutely no shortage of them! Seriously, is it like a rule or something that Angels and Demons have to be hot? Or does that just come with the job? Whichever it is, they can save my life anytime *raises suggestive eyebrows*.

Alright, so I guess I should actually get to the story instead of focusing on hot, tall, muscular men *drools slightly*....Sorry bout that. Okay, I totally promise no more drooling (yeah right!).

Again, since I've never read any book from this genre, I can't really say whether it was unique or not, but it was certainly interesting! Angels, Demons, grays, nexus'! There's definitely plenty of different types of people in this book. I was actually incredibly engrossed in the storyline trying to figure out how everything connected. While I saw 1 major twist coming, there were so many others that I didn't expect that kept me reading. There were a few times I was completely and utterly shocked (don't even get me started about the end of the book!) and kept my emotions running high. And I loved it!

As far as the characters go, I had a love/hate relationship with both MC's. Sam is your typical high school outcast with divorced parents. Not really engaging, a little put-out and her relationship with her mother isn't exactly great. However, her only saving grace throughout the book was that she could hold her own with smartass comments and sarcasm. Actually I really kind of liked her until the indecision started. Should I trust him? No, I don't think I will. But then again, maybe I should. Who cares if he's kind of a psycho? Actually, that's a good reason not to trust him. But then again.... and so on and so forth. After a while, it got to be a bit... tedious.

Okay, even though I said I wouldn't start drooling again...I lied. If you read Bishops description and if you know anything about my taste, tall, muscular, dark hair and bright eyes is my kryptonite. So maybe I'm a bit biased when it comes to him. At least I can understand Sam's weak in the knees reaction. However, once you get past the looks *drools* I don't really see whats so great about him. To be honest, he's a little creepy. I mean, losing your mind and all that doesn't really help (read the book to figure it out :P) but still. Also, the romance between the two is "sort of" insta-love. She feels a "connection" to him, but at least she doesn't grovel at his feet immediately. I liked him but didn't love him.

But then again, maybe I just like bad-boys or something cause I was totally diggin on the Demon Kraven. Seriously, this guy knows how to do rude, sarcastic and crude while still being funny and incredibly sexy. He had to be my favorite character by far, adding humor at the most inappropriate, yet perfectly timed times.

However, what really kept me interested were the twists! Honestly, I only saw one coming. The rest just blew my mind and made me wonder who to trust and who was deceiving who. This book constantly kept you guessing to where even the Angels couldn't always be trusted. This was by far what kept me coming back for more. Every time a twist came I needed to know the "why" or "how" or "what". While you don't get every answer in this book (honestly people. It's a series. Did you really expect to get answers :P), you get enough to placate your curiosity, but not get rid of it completely.

Overall:

While I can't compare this to other Angel/Demon books, I can say that people who have never read this genre might indeed enjoy it as I did. However, from most other synopsis' I've read of books in this genre, this one does seem to take a unique turn. If you want to give this genre a try and if you like to be surprised along the way, definitely check this book out.

Review originally on my blog: Oh, For the Love of Books!

[Cocktails and Books]

This is the first YA book that I've read by Michelle Rowen. Being a big fan of her Living in Eden and Immortality Bites series, I decided to give Dark Kiss a try. Sure it's an angel story (which I've said before I'm not a huge fan of), but it looked intriguing. I'll say it now....I loved it.

Samantha is a teenager just trying to fit in. Since her parents' divorce, her father's move to London and her one act of crying out for attention, she's been trying to put her life back in order. So, it's under the guise of moving on that she goes to the all ages club with her best friend, Carly. She just didn't know that was a night that was going to change her forever.

Kissed by Stephen, the older boy she's had a crush on, Samantha discovers that some in her has changed...drastically. She's ravenous with hunger, cold, catching the eyes of boys who would look at her twice before and really wanting to kiss Carly's ex-boyfriend Colin.

Then she meet Bishop. He's confused and sounds like a stark raving lunatic, but something about him warms her and when they touch, she's able to ease his confusion. Unsure about the connection, but not willing to let go of it, Samantha helps Bishop on his mission to find the others and vowing to help find the source of the Grays...something she now is. As she helps Bishop and his friends, she soon finds the need to question Stephen about what he did to her and discovers that so much more is happening which will test her loyalty to her family, her need for information and her loyalty to her friends.

A lot happens in this first entry into the Nightwatchers series. Demons and Angels joining together to fight a demon who has gone bad (if demons can truly go bad), an Angel finding out his mission has been sabotage, but not sure to what lengths, and a teenage girl with an already fractured feeling of family discovering she's not who she thought she was.

The storyline is fast-paced and grabs your attention from the very first page. It's a fresh take on the old Angel versus Demon story and I loved it. The added twist to the story was not only Samantha and her true heritage, but also the relationship between Bishop and Kraven.

I can't wait for the next installment in this series, hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

[kimbacaffeinate]

my rating 3.5 Dark Kiss is the first novel in a new YA series called Nightwatchers by author Michelle Rowan. Filled with demons, angels and a new supernatural creature this novel is sure to delight. Rowan offers romance, suspense and a battle against good and evil. I found this novel to be an easy, highly entertaining read and the start to an exciting new paranormal series.

The tale begins in heaven with Bishop being hurled to Earth on a life or death mission. The scene then jumps to introduce us to seventeen year old protagonist Samantha. She is headed home when she passes a very handsome dark hard boy who appears to be in trouble. Remembering her past runaway stint, she offers to help. Bishop is confused, very confused. He has been sent to Earth to find another angel and two demons. Together they must stop an evil that is consuming Trinity, New York. If they fail all of humanity could be lost and he is unable to locate them. When Samantha touches Bishop, there is an electrical current. He begins to have clarity and she has a horrible vision of the city destroyed. She sees herself falling into a giant swirling vortex and Bishop is unable to save her. As Bishop head clears, he mumbles about finding the spotlights and not being able to see them. Samantha points and says you mean like that? They quickly realize that Samantha can see the beacons and she leads him to the first one. The tale that unfolds is suspenseful as Samantha finds herself in the middle of an epic battle that’s results could change the world.


The characters in Dark Kiss are all unique. Samantha is both brave and impossibly stubborn. She is quickly learning everything she thought about herself and her world is wrong. She has an insatiable hunger that cannot be fed and must face impossible decisions. The biggest problem is who to trust. I like Samantha, but I didn’t love her. I would have liked her to be a little more mature and more snarky. Bishop is an angel and has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is dark and brooding and needs Samantha more then she even realizes. Other key characters were Kraven, Carly, Zach, Roth and Conner. I really liked the handsome demon Kraven and look forward to reading more about him. Carly is Samantha’s BFF and at first I didn’t like her, but she surprised me. There is also an old homeless man who appears to see things and I loved the way he spoke in riddles. It will be interesting to see how Rowan develops these characters and their individual story lines.


Rowan’s world-building was fascinating. I really liked learning her take on souls and what occurs when we die. The history of angels and demons had me captivated. One of tales had me rooting for Samantha and Bishop. The threat she has created for humanity is interesting and the reaction of Heaven and Hell felt both believable and unique. Fans of Supernatural will see similarities with the angels and demons. I am anxious to see how this plot develops. I am hoping to see more of this fleshed out in book two and I’d really like to see character growth in Samantha. She has the potential to be an awesome protagonist. Rowan delivered a fast paced novel that flowed well and kept me entertained. I want to thank netGalley and Harlequin for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.