Review + Exclusive Character Interview: White Hot Kiss (#1, The Dark Elements) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My Thoughts

Exciting and enthralling with that special singular magic that only Jennifer L. Armentrout can cast, captivating me from beginning to shocking end. Another addictive series to rival Covenant and Lux.

• Related Posts: 2014 Favorites, Bad Boys, Epic Paranormals, Jennifer L. Armentrout PNR Reading Orders, My review of Bitter Sweet Love (#0.5)

Synopsis

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.

My Review

Daemon Black and Aiden St. Delphi, make room for Zayne and Roth. Two new supernatural hunks are now on the scene, swaggering in with a whole lot of gorgeousness and wielding some kick-ass otherworldly power.  Get ready to swoon. Get ready to fan yourself. Get ready to be totally addicted. And by the end, get ready to have your world surprisingly shattered. Oh yes, Jennifer Armentrout does it again. She leaves you desperately wanting more in that sorta special, sorta evil, entirely consuming way. This exciting new series does not disappoint and fans of Lux and Covenant will be wide-eyed and grinning throughout. I loved every moment of the book… well almost every moment (but I won’t tell you why!). The story is infused with that unique JLA wit, smart and sassy and bold, making our three main protagonists utterly unforgettable.

We met Layla in Bitter Sweet Love as the girl with white-blonde hair and large, gray eyes. She’s half Warden, half Demon and last we saw her, she was crushing big-time on her forever friend and sorta-kinda-not brother, Zayne. He’s a badass Warden with a big heart that has a giant soft spot for Layla. It’s obvious he cares for her and while others in the clan see her, at minimum, as a menace and at worst, as a treasonous outsider, he sees her as someone he must protect. She’s grown up with the Wardens and despite her best efforts to deny the demon side within, she feels she is never fully accepted. In addition, with a single kiss, she can suck out your soul… which means mating and a future with Zayne, is well, literally an impossibility.

“I would never truly be a part of the Wardens. And no matter how badly I wanted it, I’d never really be their family.”

The clan uses Layla to tag demons, a single touch from her lighting them up for the Wardens who hunt demons at night. But one fateful day it all changes when she runs into a demon who’s been looking for her. Never did she expect to encounter yet another demon – an upper-level one – to help get her out of a near-death situation. And of course, this demon is all swagger and sexiness, confidence and power personified… and most importantly, clearly trouble. But when trouble, namely Roth, shows up the next day at her school, well trouble becomes unavoidable.

Roth is a great character. As we learn later, he’s multi-dimensional with a lot more than meets the eye. He’s witty and self-assured and all up in Layla’s business. Their chemistry is deceptively immediate, their verbal warfare nothing more than a prelude… a promise of things to come. But as with all bad boys, I found his unique charm endearing and funny.

“For the love of all unholy things, why must you be so difficult? I apologized for calling you a prude. I’ll even apologize for yesterday. I scared you. I threw your cell in a toilet. See, I was raised in Hell. You could say I’m socially awkward.”

With Roth not leaving Layla alone, for better or worse they end up spending more time with each other as Roth questions her unwavering resolve to deny her demon blood. Why one side and not the other? And why would she suppress any side of herself at all? Her long-buried insecurities consume and she begins to question everything as Roth encourages her to simply be who she is.

“Your life is so much more than what you can’t do. What about all that you can do?”

As Layla uncovers there is more to Roth than her Warden-inculcated tenets led her to believe, she’s not so certain of the truths she’s been told and even more uncertain of who she truly is. Roth seems to have some answers and unlike the clan, he doesn’t hide the facts. She finds herself at ease with him, sharing more of herself each day as desire burns beneath her skin and an irrepressible longing begins to intensify. Roth seems to treat her not as a child, but as someone who is beautiful, independent and perfect.

“There was something about Roth that spoke to me, all of me. Something I wasn’t sure I’d felt before.”

The more truths are revealed, the more she finds herself lying to the only people she’s loved in her life. Nothing seems clear. Nothing is certain. And suddenly she finds her relationship with Zayne strained, particularly since Danika (Jasmine’s sister from Bitter Sweet Love) has been around. Everything is changing, what was once crisp and certain is blurring and it saddens her to be determinedly reminded that Zayne and her, although living under the same roof, are worlds apart.

“There were so many things that made Zayne different from me. Sometimes it seemed like were were total opposites. Insecurities resurfaced like old friends you didn’t want to see. I wasn’t like Zayne. I could never be like him, no matter how hard I tried… Strange thing was, when I was with Roth I didn’t wander down this troubling road.”

Admittedly, I started off a card-carrying member of Team Zayne, but Roth made it so difficult with his charm, wit and caring that I had to flip flop to Team Roth. I fell in love with this inked, bad boy demon from Hell. He’s so good to Layla and I found myself wanting them to reach for their happily ever after despite the odds against their favor too.

As truths continue to pour out of all sides and the end of the world is suddenly at play, she finds herself a major player in a game that continues to escalate. The story heightens to an action-packed culmination that had me biting my nails with consuming anxiety… and then bam. Shattered. For the first-time ever and in JLA fashion, I will use a gif to convey how I felt.

So, yeeeeeeaaaaahhhh.

Suffice it to say that I need the next book yesterday. I’m not sure how I feel about anything now that the story has shifted so significantly. But clearly you can see how invested and obsessed I get about these characters. More, please! In the meanwhile, one-click this book and let’s talk incessantly about it until the next book is released!

“I lost myself the moment I found you.”

Reading Order and Purchase Links

Note, the novella, Bitter Sweet Love is not necessary to read this book. Bitter Sweet Love can act as a standalone story, but it does introduce you to the world of gargoyles (Wardens), so if you have the time, it’s a quick, fabulous read you can devour before jumping in to White Hot Kiss. Please also note that the print version only of the book includes a bonus scene from Roth. 

Reading Order

https://amzn.to/2YTsBK7

http://amzn.to/2CzRoZU

Exclusive Character Interview with Layla

Tell me about your relationship with Zayne. He’s been everything to you for so long… 

• Your words may be the best way to describe my relationship with Zayne—he’s been everything to me.  He’s always been there for me, and he really is my best friend.  But, he’s more than that in so many ways.

You’ve grown up with the Wardens and you haven’t always felt accepted, but I know that there have also been some good times. Tell me about your experience of living with them. Do you enjoy it? Would you change your situation at all? 

• The Wardens took me into their home, and I’ve always thought of them as my family, especially Zayne.  All families have issues, it’s just that ours are slightly more complicated since I’m only half gargoyle and my other half is demon blood, the Warden’s natural enemy.

You’re half Warden, half Demon. What have been some of your fears related to being part Demon? After everything that’s happened, do you feel differently now? 

• The Wardens believe that demons are evil, and that’s all that I’ve known since I’ve been with them.  That means that the demon side of me is evil, and my ability makes that hard to keep in check at times.  I don’t want the evil side to take over any good that I may have from being half Warden.

Tell me about Roth now. First impressions? And how did that change the more time you spent with him?  

• The first time I met Roth I found him confusing, seriously hot, but confusing.  I couldn’t figure him out.  I still haven’t figured him out.  But, he has shown me that there’s more to demons than I’ve known or understood in the past, because Roth’s more than what I thought he could or would be as a demon.

Since meeting Roth your relationship with Zayne has been a bit strained. What’s going on? Why have things changed?  

• Yeah, my relationship with Zayne has been different, but that’s really on me.  I made some mistakes, and I just haven’t known who to trust with all of the secrets flying around.

What’s next for you? What do you think the future holds? 

• I really don’t know.  A lot of things have changed, so I’m not sure where I fit into everything now.

Thank you Layla, we can’t wait to hear more about what happens next for you ♥

About Jennifer

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Subscribe for Updates: