Bitter Sweet Love is the prequel to the Dark Elements series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This prequel didn’t take long to read. It briefly goes into the world that Jennifer has created for this series, including gargoyles and demons.
Storyline/My Thoughts: I’ve read previous books from Jennifer, but I couldn’t wait to dive into this one due to the paranormal creatures that were in it. First, we have shifters that shift into gargoyles, and they go after demons. We have all kinds of demons that wreak havoc in the world. The gargoyles have to deal with sending the demons back to where they come from daily. In the meantime, the female gargoyles have to stay hidden and not be part of hunting dangers. In the case of Jasmine, she wants to explore more and not be locked away. Her one true love/best friend, Des, left her three years ago and now is back to claim her as his mate. Unfortunately, she’s not going to make it easy for him. She makes conditions to him before she makes her decision, and some of those decisions put her in harm’s way.
I could tell right away that Des still loved Jasmine, but it would take a lot of groveling to make up for the time he left. Des didn’t want to tell Jasmine right away why he left, but I could understand why he was hesitant to say to her when he did. Jasmine drove me crazy with the conditions she made for Des to decide if she would mate with him. After a while, it became predictable what she was going to choose.
I did like being introduced to some of the secondary characters in this book that will be the main characters in the next book. I couldn’t wait to read the rest of the series now, especially after being introduced to a particular demon.
This prequel receives four stars from me, and the only reason it didn’t get five stars was Jasmine and how she treated Des and how she treated a specific young character. I didn’t particularly appreciate how she treated this young character. I don’t want to give away the person, but she does get to be the series’s main character. Jasmine was very judgmental, and she realized it after she got to know the character. I liked how Jasmine finally realized how much Des cared for her, but she could’ve not put Des through so much trouble. She could have also listened to him, and she would not have got hurt. Overall, this prequel was a great start introducing the series.
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s a prequel to the Dark Elements series, but can be read as a standalone.
HEA: Yes
Trope: Arrange Relationship/Marriage/Mating; Friends-to-Lovers;
Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend this book to Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy readers out there. If you enjoy Jennifer L. Armentrout’s other paranormal books, then you’ll enjoy this series.