Jennifer L. Armentrout

Stone Cold Touch

Madison Altares

Briar's Reviews

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout continues Layla, Zayne and Roth's story in this epic sequel.

I was totally obsessed with the first book in this series so I ran out and bought the sequel. It took me a bit to get to reading it, but it was totally worth it! 

In this epic continuation, Roth is gone. Layla and Zayne are growing closer as it seems like a Lilin has been released and is wreaking havoc at the local high school. Then suddenly... Roth's back? The love triangle gets so much worse as Layla tries to figure out why Roth doesn't love her and why Zayne suddenly does. And it seems like everything is only getting worse... things are getting out of control and people can't be trusted.

This book is super fast to read and it's quite amusing. There are some goofy one liners and jokes throughout the book that make this romantic, fantastical drama more amusing than the typical tale. It was a great YA/New Adult book with some sexy scenes but no real sex. It's definitely for an older teen crowd. This book isn't afraid to delve into the fact that teens have sexual feelings for one another.

Some of the plot points are really easy to guess and see coming, but I was in this book for the fun and not for the plot. I adore the love triangle and ease of this book. It's a nice, simple yet long book. It clocks in at over 400 pages so it did take a couple days for me to read it.

I have to say, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. It's 95% as good as the first, in my humble opinion. It's still a great read and I'll definitely be finishing the series when I manage to find the third book.

Overall, this is a great YA read. It has gargoyles (Wardens), demons, fantastical and magical elements, a love triangle, romance, comedy and lots of drama. It will definitely keep you busy and amused!

Four out of five stars.

berkyova.t

Alexa M

only giving this 4 stars because it took so fucking long to pick up but the ending.... holy FUCKING HELL WHAT THE FCKSJABBSKANABSNA What the hell

Raquel 

All I can say is that I'm completely obsessed with this series.

Jantien 

Can Bol.com deliver part 3 already please! 🥰🥰

Annabella

Eh. Did we really need that triangle? No.

Sven Test

So much better than the first and that's saying a lot!

Amanda

That ending though!! After reading other reviews before starting this i really thought I’d switch to team Zayne, but nope still team Roth! I just love me a demon apparently lol

soph

Dioooos, tremendo final quede loca. Confieso que no me estaba gustando tanto pero fue muy adictivo de leer.

Billie G

When I've read the reviews I was so scared that I was going to be Team Zayne (well it was pretty obvious it was about Zayne even if I didn't read the reviews) but nope. TEAM ROTH ALL THE WAY. I mean I don't understand how someone can be Team Zayne. Ok, I don't hate him but come on. He's so brotherly to Layla even in those hot sexy scenes. I don't like them together AT ALL. In their scenes, all I could think about was "But what about Roth?" 

I NEED LAYLA AND ROTH LIKE RIGHT NOW

Other than that, you've got to read this book. You have to. YOU JUST HAVE TO. This series even topped Lux series for me -which by the way was my fave series- and I am not sad at all. I just love all of Jennifer's books and she did it again. Just read it. You'll understand. 

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT

Marissa Luzio 

I definitely wouldn't go as far as saying this book was better than the first, White Hot Kiss, but it was pretty good and yet also frustrating. This, like the first, were light and easy to read and you get into it really fas. So seems like Roth is pretty much with Layla at this point. Obviously at the beginning of the book the two have their problems considering what happened in the last book. There was a huge sacrifice Roth had to make which ultimately Zayne swoops in, saving Layla's broken heart. There were some pretty funny moments right at the beginning when Roth came to the institution and they all had a discussion about Layla like she wasn't standing right there. Some pretty awkward things happened and I loved reading it.

So the Lilin are here and they're wild and also slowly taking over. In this book there are witches, which is cool and I liked that Armentrout incorporated that into the plot. Bambi was amazing of course as she now is on Layla practically permanently. A huge plot twist happens to one of Layla's friends and it was crazy towards the end of the book because I have no idea what Layla is going to do in the next book! As for the romance, Armentrout actually put out a post that basically said, she'll be hosting a poll while she's writing her last book of the series, Every Last Breath, for the the fans to vote who they want Layla to end up with, Roth or Zayne. That is so freaking cool as an author! I was so impressed by that and just respect her so much more now because she is literally incorporating her fan's opinions and ships into the story. It's pretty much no surprise who won but I'm not going to say for obvious spoiler reasons. 

There's a funny scene, it's really not funny in the context but I found it pretty stupid that I had to laugh. While Layla went to the movie theatre, a man goes up to her that seems scarcely familiar with a water bottle of clear liquid... HMMMM LAYLA I wonder what that is. Oh wait, if an old man resembling the church guy comes up to you in public with clear liquid while saying "I can expose you" I wonder what's going to happen next. Any guesses? Yep, you bet it's holy water and can we all just remember that Layla can't actually touch it? Well any guesses as to what the guy did? Yep, threw it on her. In public. God (no pun intended) sometimes I just wanted to punch Layla and Roth and even Zayne sometimes. 

Anyways, the book was great and it was pretty easy to read. Again, for just a light read and sometimes humorous, this was pretty good. I had a lot of fun reading this and we end it on a high-note of sorts, at least for me.

IF you liked this review, check out my blog for more YA and other genres!
http://keepcalmandloveboooks.blogspot.ca

Evie's Annotations 

I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WILL KSHDJBDJSKSB!!! YEAH?! SO JUST STOP WITH ZAYNE ALREADY 😒! ‼️SPOILERS ALERT READ DOWN BELLOW MY RANT‼️👇🏻



‼️FYI English is not my first language so I'm sorry if there's repetitive words and the grammar is big poop😭.
‼️Ok if you didn't read the book don't read bellow.

Ok I am literally fuming right now. Did i like the book ? Yes! But that doesn't mean I am not annoyed by some things just *cough*ZAYNE*cough*.😆

Ok first book was great We had Zayne first who was dreamy bla bla he was ok i guess i kinda liked him tought he was the one that she will be and then boom Roth and my life turned upside down IN A GOOD WAY.

I didn't know there was gonna be a love triangle( i hate them really so much tension and who will end with who ugh) i didn't even know much about this series.

So when Roth appeared i knew that he will be the i just knew and in the first book i thought maybe Layla stoped dreaming obsessing over Zayne and move on another better one 😆. But ..BUT NO IN THIS ONE HOLY BISCUITS SHE JUST COULDN'T CONTROL HERSELF COULDN'T SHE HUH?


This book was all about him like when i read the first one it was in November last year and read only 4 pages because ofc it was about Layla obsessing over him and was disappointed because how the last one ended i thought maybe she finally understood her feelings and how my baby boy Roth sacrificed himself for her.

Hahahahahahahah No ...you really thought ha?so yeah but finally I did finish it. But I can't say that didn't enjoy this, my heart rate was all way up all the time thinking oH maybe she will choose already SPOILER ALERT SHE DIDN'T 😒.
 
I like Layla I mean she's okay not great but ok, i like that's she's funny and sometimes badass,but oh lord she's so indecisive going kissing Roth then Zayne like stop playing girl especially with Roth's feelings 😢 (don't care much about Zayne 😆) 

Ok ok I'm not trying to be mean to him but I can't help it he is not the ONE he just isn't.🖐🏻

Omg and the twist with Sam i mean i kinda thought something was fishy about him but not that he was 😨, that was good and not very predictable.

And Abbott don't make me start on this one he is a piece of poop 💩.I didn't really like him in the first place he gave me bad vibes. And in this one the way he was talking to Layla treating her like a stranger because what she was half demon .
He didn't want to believe her in anything she was saying didn't want to even hear her part always screaming and acting like a freaking hulk maniac.
And it actually annoyed me how he didn't give her a chance to speak.
When he throws her on the doll house wow , like I get it she almost sucked ur only son's soul but come on let her talk. He almost killed her well not him Maddox but he let this situation to happen Ugh.🤬
So yeah hate that guy and the fact that Layla is too good and didn't let baby Roth to kill him ..damn...is she rally half demon 😆?

But yeah this is my rant 🙂. I will start reading the next book I hope me and my nerves will be ok and there will be no more obsession over Zayne and she will finally choose but I hope it will not be on the last freaking pages.

Jaclyn

"This was better than looking through Tumblr posts of hot guys."  

  HELL YEAH IT WAS!  

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

 okay. I'm okay 
*cries*  

THAT ENDING THOUGH!!

God. Jennifer Armentrout never fails to kick ass with her books!! So addicting!!! I can never put them down! It's 5AM and I stayed up to finish this because I had to know what would happen!! It's just one of  those  books.
Now I LOVED White Hot Kiss but this one. Wow. I am so excited for where this story is going!! It picks up shortly after White Hot Kiss and Layla has to find this new demon and she's torn between two  gorgeous  guys and there's the whole good vs evil theme and there's action and humor and romance and hot guys and ahhhhhhhhhhh I just love it so much!! 

So I wasn't a Zayne fan during White Hot Kiss. I'm sorry but he bothered me to no ends. And in this one I totally fell in love with him, even when I said I wouldn't!!! I loved his development through this book and how loyal we got to see him be toward Layla. It was sweet yet sad but I actually liked it. However, I'm in no way Team Zayne...but still, I really really liked his character in this one! 

I mean....

 "I don't deserve you." 
"See that's where you're wrong...that's where you've always been wrong. You deserve everything."  

*swoon* 

 BUT.  

I am still  TEAM ROTH.  I am a Roth girl till the end. Ahhhhh he broke my heart at the end of White Hot Kiss and the beginning of this one but I'm still completely in love with him!! His relationship with Layla in this one is tense in the best and worst ways. But then you find out all of his reason and I can't!!! 

 MY SHIP.  

The ending scene with him and Layla had me in tears! If you read it, then you know what I'm talking about!! 

 "I love you Layla. Do you hear me? I've loved you since the first plenty I heard your voice and I will continue to love you. No matter what. I love you."  

 *cries* ROTH!  

Ahh but besides the amazing romance, these books are hilarious. I love the dialogue and Jennifer Armentrouts writing is always super fun and fast paced. As a huge Buffy fan I loved the frequent Buffy mentions that were in this book! And Roth had me cracking up of course. 

 "You're an ass." I spat, picking up the shirt. 
He chuckled. "And it's a fine ass, I'm told." 

 ROTH. 

 Maddox hissed. "You think you're cute?"
"Nah I think I'm sexy." The smirk spread, but it didn't reach his cool ocher eyes.
"I also think I'm hilarious."  

 YOU REALLY ARE ROTH 

*clears throat* Can you tell I have an obsession with Roth? But seriously if you haven't read these books you've got to jump on the band wagon! They're so much fun and it follows an awesome protagonist. Layla is so strong and I'm so proud of her development so far from the last book to now, she's come a long way! And Bambi. I love Bambi so much. Ahh Jennifer Armentrout has created another fantastic world and IM DYING TO READ EVERY LAST BREATH! Especially with that cliff hanger!! It's 5AM BUT HOW AM I GOING TO SLEEP? 

 I DONT SLEEP. I READ.  

Everyone needs to get there hands on this trilogy!! 

 "You're a pervert," I said, fighting a grin.
Roth shrugged. "Of all the things someone could call me, that's hardly the worst."
"And probably the most true."  

  I LOVE YOU ROTH

Autumn Hunsinger

Why did JLA have to leave me on a cliff hanger like that?! I feel like I knew something was up though cause Sam made such a drastic change in his personality/style within like a day for no reason what so ever. Also, not a fan of the whole Zayne-Layla relationship, like to me it’s weird cause even though they aren’t technically brother/sister, that is how they were raised. I’m still 10000% team Roth and I hope in the next book, they can rekindle their relationship. 

Emily Cutler

I LOVE this series. It’s so addictive I feel like I can’t ever put it down. I’m desperate to know what’s going to happen next. 

After that ending I didn’t even wait 30 seconds before picking up the next one. I did not see that shock coming. Oh boy. 

I love all the characters in this book so much. Every single one offers a little something that just makes you feel complete. 

Zayne I want to just steal for myself and keep him because he’s adorable and I love him. I am fully team Zayne (at the moment). Apparently I like the good ones…

Again, I love how the fantasy elements are set in the real world. I would like a quick visit to hell at some point though. I’m intrigued. 

This is definitely a YA book though. There’s no explicit descriptions or dialogue that’s too sexual. Usually I prefer NA because I need me some spice but I feel like there’s just enough in this to get away with it. 

The only negative is, looking back, I’m trying to think what actually happened in this book. A lot of it was focused on the romance rather than the actual storyline.

Pauline J

I am SILENTLY SCREAMING. You know the vibe? When people are home and you can’t actually squeal or scream out loud because they’ll think you’re actually getting slaughtered? ME! So many scream-worthy moments here, and all of them in a good way (okay, some are bad, but not TOO bad).

This entire book—WOW. Worried, for a second there, that the sequel couldn’t possibly live up to the first one, but ugh, this was good for entirely different reasons.

Roth, Zayne, Roth, Zayne, Roth, Zayne, ZOTH, RAYNE—LITERALLY MY HEAD.

I love them both so much, and this sequel was such a fun read. Heart butterflies the entire time, even at the beginning when I was IRKED.

Bambi... listen... I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR THE SNAKE OK?! I love her so much—the way she just inserts herself knowing damn well what she’s doing. Why is she a mood?

This book is HEAVILY tabbed, and rightfully so. Going to bed with a smile on my face tonight.

Brooke Bethel

THIS BOOK. This book made me mad. Not really. Obviously I love it since I've reread this series 8 times but it makes me sad every time. But also the snark, the sexual tension, the sarcasm, the Roth. It's so good.

Leah | @LeahsLittlePleasures

** spoiler alert **
           If it’s possible I liked book 2 a gazillion times more and we had less of the love interest who I wanted to pull through 😂 I devoured this book in basically a day after I read the first 50 or so pages in another sitting. It’s got all the same great elements as book 1 and was again such an easy and digestible read. I really enjoyed being immersed in this world of angels and demons that JLA created. I could NOT put it down and I did not want to.

The writing and wit was 100% still spunky and oh-so-fresh, but even more so! It was over dramatically over the top that it was just incessantly funny! I couldn’t stop snort laughing. Dry humor at it’s best! Smiles are breaking faces and traitorous butterflies are zooming around our stomachs. I also totally (and temporarily) fell in love with Zayne, missed Roth, and Bambi & Layla together was just 😍😍😍 I’m finding that I love it when a man’s animal (or just demon familiar, fine) cozies up with the woman he loves maybe even before he knows he loves her. There’s something to that dynamic that just beautifully ties the overarching love story together in a swoon-worthy bow. I can’t get enough.

Camila 

4.5 estrellas 
Necesito el siguiente libro ahora.
Eso. Ni si quiera puedo escribir una reseña decente por lo book-drunk que estoy

Alexis Rader

Wow. I loved this. Team Roth all the way! The cliffhanger killed me, never saw that coming.

Aayusma Aryal

Even second time that ending gave me CHILLS

Elianna Lucas

“Love is a strange creature one thinks one has a grasp on and understanding of, only to discover later that it was only the barest taste of the real thing.”
 —Jennifer L. Armentrout

With the way White Hot Kiss ended, I was anxious to see how Stone Cold Touch would begin. Roth sacrificing himself in place of Zayne made me excited and nervous to see how he would be reintroduced in the book. As always, JLA’s writing stands out and she has the ability to suck me in, keeping me enamored with the world and the characters. I thought the plot in this book heated up, but it was also frustrating in many ways (which is no fault of JLA’s).

The relationships between characters is one of my favorite aspects of JLA’s books. She writes in such a way that you have the ability to connect with aspects of characters and at times, find yourself moving back and forth between which characters stand out as the best in that moment. There were times I loved Zayne and there were times I disliked him greatly. Even Roth, whom I love, frustrated me a few times while reading. I think JLA set up the next book in a way that should bring things together and offer some conclusions


  “There is so much you don’t know or understand … So don’t claim to know what I really want or what I would do to protect it.”
 —Jennifer L. Armentrout

I think the reason I was anxious going into this book was because I suspected that Roth would be absent for most, if not all of it. I expected him to make an entrance at some point and so I felt like I was counting down the chapters until he arrived. He’s one of those characters who grows on you quickly. With his absence, it was like all the progress that Layla had been making towards accepting herself halted. The Wardens are suspicious of her, and without Roth being there to fully support who she is and counter the wardens thoughts, she had to rely solely on herself again. It was hard to see all the progress she made be halted and even diminished at times because of the people around her.

I enjoyed the speed of the book. It was a pretty quick read and one that was overall enjoyable. It's easy to lose yourself in the world which is a testament to the quality of writing. I flip between young adult books and new adult/adult books pretty frequently. The Dark Elements Series is young adult, but there is a maturity to it that elevates it in a positive way.

JLA is the queen of cliffhangers. I have not encountered an author who can write one like her. I fully expect her books to end in them now, but I am often still surprised that she is able to suck me so far in, I don’t see them coming. I cannot wait for the third and final book in the series. I have really enjoyed these characters and am excited for more!

mary

am i supposed to like zayne because i really don’t