Review--White Hot Kiss 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.

Jennifer L. Armentrout NEVER ceases to amaze me with what she can do with YA! There are seriously times I forget I'm reading a YA book, and that's not to say that the book has adult content, it's just so mature. Her teenagers are really freaking mature! Being in the sense that they don't act childish. White Hot Kiss was one of my most anticipated reads of the year--on the early end--and the wait to read it was killing me, so I was very happy it arrived on release day and had to speed through my current read so I could get to this one. And. It. Was. Awesome.

In this world we have Wardens aka gargoyles, but they can take human form. It's basically how they are during the day time when they aren't sleeping. Really, reading the prequel novella Bitter Sweet Love, gives you a nice insight to the Wardens and the going ons of their world. It took place a few years prior to this story and even sort of sets up White Hot Kiss! We saw Roth in that one too! And Roth, oh Roth is definitely one helluva character. You got to give Jennifer props, she KNOWS how to write the swoon worthy guys! Daemon, Aiden, Seth, Hunter, Daemon (yes, Daemon requires repeating!)! Roth is not your typical demon, and that pretty much confuses Layla. But I'm getting ahead of myself there.

Layla is half Warden and half Demon and basically Wardens hate Demons. All Demons are evil in their eyes. So Layla is definitely seen as something akin to a monster, the Wardens practically ignore the fact that she's half and half. Layla was raised by Abbot a head Warden so to speak. Zayne, his son, was her constant companion growing up because he was the only one who saw Layla as Layla and that naturally led to Lalya crushing on him. But she can't be with him. One kiss from her can steal a person's soul. Pretty much puts a damper on the whole dating experience. You really feel bad for the girl.

And then she meets Roth. A Demon who turns her whole world upside down, changing the way she sees Demons and Wardens and just about everything she ever knew, including things about herself. Bonus? Roth has no soul, so he's totally kissable! In more ways than one, too! While it goes against everything she's ever believed in, Layla, ever so slowly, begins to trust Roth.

Things are going down in D.C. Way down. Roth lets Layla in on some information about herself, things that she never knew and it basically turns into a quest to find a particular text that could lead to a possible apocalypse. Roth wants to find it, for his Boss (you know, the big guy downstairs?), and to prevent it from happening...or so he says. He's still a Demon after all, and can Demons be trusted?

It basically comes down to Layla being very important in the whole matter. Demons either want to kill her to prevent the apocalypse or they want to use her to start the apocalypse. Either way, it doesn't look good for Layla.

I truly, truly enjoyed this one! It's definitely a far cry different from her other YA series of extremely hot and cocky aliens to superhero type fighting deities. But it definitely works! Jennifer is truly one of the most amazing authors I've ever read! She does it all! YA, NA and adult (Obsession)! Paranormal and Contemporary! She's freaking incredible! And while her characters might seem similar to others, I truly see each and every one of them to be unique and different. They might share a personality trait or two, but how those traits get shown, are totally their own. Daemon has his own snark, sarcastic wit and Roth has one of his own in a different flavor!

You might be wondering about the love triangle situation. To me, it didn't really feel like a love triangle. Granted, Layla has always crushed over Zayne, but she kind of knows that there can't ever be anything between them because of her deadly kiss. But yet, she still does care for him and gets insanely jealous when he might be mated to someone else. Then there's Roth, a guy she can be with, but he's the epitome of bad boys. Although there is a different side to him, one that only starts to show the more he's around Layla. I feel like this isn't really a love triangle situation. Now if it turns into one in the next book is another story entirely!

Which brings us to the ending! Word is spreading that there's a nasty cliffhanger and while I can attest to that on some level. I don't feel like this is really a cliffhanger. You aren't left hanging, so much as wondering. The need to know what's next. We weren't in the midst of action and are waiting for the end result. And since this is only book 1 in the series, I know we are far from over. But that isn't going to make the wait til November any easier, that's for sure!

White Hot Kiss was an extraordinary read! One that will leave you breathless. One that will leave you smiling. One that will leave you craving for more! Pretty much how every JLA book makes you feel! If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again now, Jennifer L. Armentrout has a fan for life out of me!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars