REVIEW: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

(The Dark Elements #1)

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

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 Roth, Layla and Zayne:

* 3 STARS * Review:

Layla is half-demon, half-Warden. But brought up by Wardens, daily fighting her demon urges, she hates everything demon-connected. But what happens when her perception of demons is ruined forever?

I am not sure what happened here. I love JLA and all her previous paranormal stories. But this one did not live up to my expectations.

So what was my biggest problem with this book? It wasn't the love triangle or the fact that heroine was perfect example of damsel in distress. No. It was the fact that most of the banters and dialogues between characters were super-cheesy and childlish. There were so many clichés it wasn't even funny. And action was almost non-existent or really boring. It took 80% (and whole week of reading) until I was really hooked in the story. And that was just too late for me.

When it comes to "love triangle" in this book, there was only one guy for me. And after reading this book, I am Team Roth all the way. Zayne who? Roth was definitely the best part of this book. A big contradiction. Cocky and arrogant, yet caring and self-sacrificing. I really enjoyed those parts of the book when he was present.

However, question remains. Who will win Layla's heart at the end? I am definitely curious to see how will this series develop and what direction will JLA take it. Last couple of chapters proved, that she knows how to capture my attention with her writing. She will have her chance with book #2 to either win me over or lost me forever when it comes to The Dark Elements.