Reviewed by Nicole Lynn on
*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.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 10 February, 2014: Reviewed