Jennifer L. Armentrout

White Hot Kiss

Autumn Hunsinger

Possessing half-demon, half-gargoyle powers that render her deadly to anyone with a soul, Layla works as a protector of humanity and struggles to fit in before meeting an alluring demon who tempts her to engage in a traitorous act.

Shannon C

In the instant New York Times bestseller that started the Dark Elements series, one kiss is enough to kill... Layla just wants to fit in at school and go on a date with Zayne, whom she's crushed on since forever. Trouble is, Zayne treats Layla like a sister—and Layla is a half demon, half gargoyle with abilities no one else possesses. And even though Zayne is a Warden, part of the race of gargoyles tasked with keeping humanity safe, Layla's kiss will kill anything with a soul—including him. Then she meets Roth—a demon who claims to know her secrets. Though Layla knows she should stay away, it's tough when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue. Trusting Roth could ruin her chances with Zayne, but as Layla discovers she's the reason for a violent demon uprising, kissing the enemy suddenly pales in comparison to the looming end of the world. "Armentrout works her magic with swoon-worthy guys and a twist you never see coming."—#1 New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines "Armentrout is a major talent... I just can't stop reading!"—New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter The Dark Elements Series: Bitter Sweet Love (ebook-only prequel) White Hot Kiss Stone Cold Touch Every Last Breath

Izzy

More like 3,5 Stars.
It felt like I already read this book.

Briar's Reviews

Many, many years ago I saw this book at a local Wal-Mart and had one of those "OMG I NEED IT" moments. I bought this book, put it on a bookshelf, buried it in said bookshelf, and then lost it until I reorganized my entire house. When I reorganized all of my books I decided to put this book on the "Read Next" physical shelf. WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS SOONER?!

Seriously, this book is an absolute GEM and I'm hitting myself (figuratively speaking) for not reading it sooner. It's everything I love in a YA - potential love triangle, crazy fantasy, typical friend and families woes - and it has an epic cover! It was a home run! It hit it out of the park! It was the best YA book I've read in a good while! I loved every second of it! And gosh darnit I need the next book and I don't have it!

On top of all of that, my friends have been telling me for years to read books by Jennifer L. Armentrout and THEY WERE RIGHT!

So, let's get down to business....

The positives:
Gargoyles. Yes, you heard me right. FREAKING GARGOYLES. If there's one set of monsters I haven't read about in my reading life, it's them! We have people who turn into gargoyles - so right off the bat I'm impressed because it's something different. Then you have to throw in the demons who are the greatest foes of said gargoyle people. Now, before you get all excited over this, the gargoyles change forms like a shapeshifter so they do survive out in public. But, the public also know about gargoyles? It's kind of confusing for me, but she makes it work.

I liked that this book had lots of romance and flirting it in. I love a good romance story! There's just enough action and adventure to keep the plot going - so it felt like a good mix. 

On an even brighter note, Jennifer has an amazing writing style and tone. I got addicted to this book SO FAST that it was unbelievable. I couldn't put it down and it was almost making me mad! It's a great story to binge! I absolutely want to read the rest of this series and whatever else Jennifer spits out of that brilliant mind of hers.

And then there's Roth. He's super hot, he's funny, he's slightly inappropriately and I love him. Zayne kinda bores me but whatever. We've got two hot guys and I have already picked my side! Also... Bambi. A giant snake tattoo demon creature. Yup, this book is that cool.

The negatives:
In typical YA fashion, the heroine is the master of the universe. She's the special one everyone's been waiting for. Am I tired of this trope? Yup. Did the story suffer because of it? Nope! So, essentially, it doesn't really affect the story at all but I did get a little judgey because OF COURSE she's the answer to everyone's problem.

The virgin side of the story had me feeling cringy and icky. When your adoption/step father like figure starts talking about your sex life and not in a "Birds and the Bees" or "Stay Safe" kind of way, I always get creeped out. I get that's apart of the prophecy in this story but... EW! 

Additionally... there is a fair bit of slut shaming and women against women vibes. I hope that disappears in the next book but... ya never know.

Overall, I think this was a fun YA ride. I don't take it to be some seriously, Oscar-winning drama book but I don't think we're meant to. It's a lot of fun and whisked me away from my real world for a few hours.

Five out of five stars!

berkyova.t

Tish

It’s kind of formulaic buuut it was still a fun ride and it just leaves me wanting to know what happens next in the story!

Alexa M

**4.5/5 stars**
this was SO exciting and entertaining but the end :/ grrree

Raquel 

5 stars ⭐️

20/02/2022 - finished rereading it and had to up this to a five-star, I love this series very much to give it anything below that. 

"I lost myself the moment I found you." CAN U HEAR ME SCREAMING? BECAUSE I AM.

I don’t know why it took me such a long time to get to this book, honestly, I was completely hooked from the very beginning, it just was a really fun and entertaining read. It was everything I wanted and more.

Katie Tuggle

I was hesitant to read this book at first. I stumbled upon this book on TikTok and after I watched Pauline's (aka @thebooksiveloved) video about this series, I knew I had to buy it. And let me tell you something....I absolutely LOVE this book. It is one of those books that you can't put down and I ended up reading half the book in one day. I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

JLA is a genius and I think everyone should give this book a try.


Also, I love Roth🤩

Annabella

Catarina Vieira

3,5/5

Sempre adorei fantasia mas este livro foi uma fantasia tão leve que já sentia falta de ler tão rápido e viciante. A frase de início é só das melhores aberturas de livros que já li. 
Quanto ao triângulo amoroso, nunca fui fã de quando isso acontece e neste caso é completamente notório que um deles quer “protegê-la” e outro quer que ela se consiga proteger a ela própria.
O fim só me fez lembrar o final da temporada 5 de supernatural e o livro todo um episódio gigante da série.
É uma fantasia que engloba demónios e gargalos na maioria, mas aparecem zombies, demónios inferiores, Lúcifer, guardiões do inferno, tudo.
A leitura para além de ser fácil e viciante, é super divertida. Adoro o Roth e quero imenso saber como é que ele vai aparecer no segundo livro. 

Quero respostaaaaaaas!
É uma leitura boa para quem está a começar a ler em inglês.

Sven Test

It's official. I'm head-over-heels in love with Roth!

Wow! I didn’t think I would like this as much as I did! First time I’ve ever read something based on gargoyles! I’m excited for the next book. Woah what a cliffhanger. I loved the plot, the character development, and the unraveling of the story. The writing is a little bit different to what I’ve read lately but that’s not a bad thing. Definitely will be reading book two! :)

Mikaila Havener

First and foremost, I am a huge Jennifer L. Armentrout fan. Every criticism I have is with peace and love. Unfortunately, I read the Dark Elements series after I read the Harbinger Series. If you are reading this I highly recommend starting with the Dark Elements series before heading along to the Harbinger. They can both be read without each other, but I think the story unfolds nicely with that order.

One of the things I appreciated the most about the Dark Elements Series was that I can recommend it as a beginner to fantasy novels. The paranormal urban fantasy vibe makes it easy to commit without brain overload of trying to grasp a new fantasy world/politics. The characters were charming, witty, and relatable. Well as relatable as gargoyles, demons, and mixtures of both can be.

As expected for YA novels, there isn’t a ton of spice but there is sweet romance. I found myself smiling at the dialogue between the characters and getting butterflies when I put myself in Layla’s shoes. It is a little weird knowing that the mc is 17 and one of her love interests is 21, but I honestly chose to just pretend that wasn’t the case.

One thing that takes me out of the enjoyment are the phrases she chooses to throw in her YA books. Every time I read one of these I wanted to throw my kindle across the room. “Crap on a cracker” “awesome sauce with an extra side of sauce” “amazeballs” “holy canola oil”, etc. It’s horrible and way too frequent.

 Unfortunately, I do find JLA writes the same characters over and over again throughout all of her series. Her female characters are always stubborn, snarky, brave, and skilled with weapons and use horrible cringe phrases. So basically, once you become familiar with the mold she’s created for her characters, the plots become easy to predict. If this is your first introduction to her books, you may really enjoy it. Heck, I’ve read 13 of her books fully knowing her style, and I still enjoy it.

Although it seems like I focused on the negatives more than the positives, I can’t recommend this enough for YA urban fantasy lovers, followed by the Harbinger Series of course.

soph

4.5☆

juré que solo leería el primer libro y no seguiría con los demás PERO NO PUEDO QUEDARME ASÍ CON ESE FINAL, amé este libro y más a roth y layla dios.

pd: creo que resalte más de 200 cosas y casi la mayoría de las páginas, que me pasaba.

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.

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, Book 1)

I got this book from my local public library because of the author, even though I have never read anything from her, just knew she was famous for her book, From Blood And Ash. 

Surprisingly, despite my thinking that I won't like this book, especially after reading the first chapter, I adored it. Layla was stunning and I loved her. Then, Roth was like the cherry on top. I loved him and how he always joked around, being funny and loving with Layla. 

It's been a while since I adored a book so much and this one made me fall in love with reading once again. 5 stars don't seem enough.

Fumi Calafateanu

I got this book from my local public library because of the author, even though I have never read anything from her, just knew she was famous for her book, From Blood And Ash. 

Surprisingly, despite my thinking that I won't like this book, especially after reading the first chapter, I adored it. Layla was stunning and I loved her. Then, Roth was like the cherry on top. I loved him and how he always joked around, being funny and loving with Layla. 

It's been a while since I adored a book so much and this one made me fall in love with reading once again. 5 stars don't seem enough.

Noelia Abreu

I really enjoyed this. It was a nice light read, kind of like the lux series, it is the type of read you grab just to relax and have a fun. If you like the other books of Jennifer L. Armentrout I think you will definitely like this.

My favourite thing about this book was Roth. He was such a great character, definitely swoon-worthy. I laughed so hard at some of the things he said/did and other times he said the sweetest thing and I just melted. The heroine is also great and the other characters are also okay but if I have to highlight something of the book is that Roth is awesome.

Livia

1.5/5 stars

Trying to justify giving this book a 2 star is too much work... i almost hated everything about this book

Yeah i'm probably gonna be canceled, but i'm not crazy for Roth :)

The plot and the story was honestly kinda a mess, and the characters, holy shit, i can't with them. Too many lies and misunderstanding, Layla falls absurdly quickly for Roth, Roth is your typical devilish-ly handsome (no pun intended) new guy in school that is 'stalking' the main girl and he's supposed to be a bad guy but of course he's not. The love triangle is what i hate from a love triangle. And i'm never going to hate that people normalized "you only got to experience being a high-schooler once so do wild things, go to parties, hang out until dawn, and have sex with hot guys". It's not normal for most people and most of us actually don't have the energy for that. 

I actually kinda like Zayne even though he is a bit too overprotective but what do you expect from a brother figure

lindy strauss

3.5/5 stars probably, i was so so so thrown off by the name of this book but this was pretty good! anyone who is/was a fun of supernatural (tv) would enjoy this. the pop culture references and young person slang felt a little dated even though this was 2019

overall pretty good, pretty YA but interesting and fun adventure!

Sarah Crouse

Have you ever read a story with an impossibly perfect character? I mean, impossibly perfect. Usually this character spends the whole novel whining about how she has so many flaws, and how she's different than others. Yet she's perfect. So perfect that she has a ton of guys glued to her at all times. That character is called a Mary-Sue, and if the character happens to be male, a Mary-Stu.

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout is pretty much a novel full of Mary-Sues and Mary-Stus. Perfect characters who say they have flaws but really have none. Layla, the main character, is a seventeen year old girl who 'just wants to be normal' (quote from the blurb). She lives in a world of 'Wardens' (gargoyles) and demons. The issue? She happens to be half demon half Warden. She was adopted by a Warden family and kept at their home, where half the Wardens hate her for her other half. You see, Wardens hunt demons. They find them and send them back to hell where they came from. Which you would think is good. However years before this story starts, Wardens 'came out' to the public eye, and well, the public didn't really take it well. Throughout the novel, we see examples of this. Religious groups posting about how they're evil, and restaurants hanging signs saying 'WE DO NOT SERVE WARDENS'. And why would people act this way? Because they don't even know about demons. They do not know they exist. So why, why did the Wardens have to come out? Why did they have to make their presence known? Humans don't even know the reason they are there. 

One of the guys living with Layla happens to be a super-hot-chisled-amazeballs-Warden named Zayne. He has great hair. She is in love with him- he looks at here as a little sister (at least Layla thinks this), and well, Layla doesn't even have a chance with him. Why? Because if she kisses anything with a soul, she'll end up sucking their soul right out of their bodies (A demon side effect, of course). So there's that. Of course she has issues with that. And I mean honestly, if I was a seventeen year old teenage girl who couldn't kiss anyone I would be kinda ticked too. 

Layla tags demons for the Wardens. After school, she goes out and finds demons (She can see their auras), bumping into them which puts a 'tag' on them so the Wardens can go out that night, find them, and send them back to where they come from. Of course, things start getting bumpy when very powerful and dangerous demons come looking for her. And of course, she doesn't know why. And of course, a super hot demon with tattoos that come to life comes to her rescue. In fact, he comes to her rescue a couple of times. Layla doesn't actually fight anything for a long time, even though she says that Zayne taught her to. Instead she's rescued time and time again. 

I actually really want to talk about Layla. We're told that she's special, but we never see that she's special. She's special because she was born into it, and we don't even know why for a lot of the book, but she never does anything to let us know how special she is. All she is is a perfect girl who is half Warden half demon with special powers to see auras. She's attracted to two guys who of course, she has troubles with. Oh, and her best friends are a total slut and a total brain. But I'll get to that later. That's something I REALLY have to touch up on. 

Armenstrout tries to create a love triangle but the fact is, it's so tilted you know what's going to happen way before it happens. It's not the fact that she's starting to like the super hot demon who rescued her, it's the fact that she can kiss the super hot demon who rescued her. Cuz well... he doesn't have a soul to suck out. He's a demon. 

Slut shaming. Something that happens a lot in this novel. Layla has a friend named Stacy, who well, according to everyone, 'has got it going on'. And she's totally stupid. Calling Twilight a classic and constantly talking about seventeen year old Layla being a virgin like it's a complete sin. She wants to sleep with anything that moves, and is oblivious to their other friend liking her. Where have we seen this before? And where have we seen a super geeky second friend who can recite anything he's ever seen off the internet? Hmmm.... the infamous two friend ordeal is something we see in most books. A main character only has two friends? Authors, you're never going to create a Harry/Ron/Hermione thing. Ever. So stop. Please. It's gotten so old now. The point is, Stacy seems to be a character used to show how pure Layla is. That's all. They're two polar opposites. I don't believe I remember one time where Stacy had something bright to say. 

Then there's the crazy dialogue. Just reading this bit makes me want to throw the book down and hit my head against the wall:

"Zayne's grip relaxed. "Shut up."
Roth came to his feet fluidly. "I don't think I like your tone."
"And I don't like your face," Zayne returned.
The amount of testosterone the two were throwing off was ridiculous."

It makes me want to gag. Honestly. Are we three? Or are we a twenty-something year old Warden and a demon Prince? 

OH YEAH, Roth. The Super-hot-demon-with-great-abs-and-tattoos-that-come-to-life. Please. Roth is a demon prince who is sent from the 'Big Man Downstairs' himself to protect Layla. For what reason, I'm not spoiling. Some people reading this may still want to take a crack at this book. He's been watching her for years, and that doesn't seem to concern her except for one line where she says it's kinda creepy. Yeah, I would think so. He has a snake tattoo named Bambi. Who comes to life. He also has a dragon tattoo, and something else I can't remember because it's not important at all. And apparently kitten tattoos? (oops, a little spoiler, but really, most of the little things in this novel don't add up to anything. Including this. The author presents it like a surprise). He's the perfect guy though. Cocky, rude, doesn't listen to anything, always making sexual comments (especially because Layla is a virgin), has hot tattoos, a perfect body, and well, I guess the kitten tattoos show he has a soft side. Except they're evil kittens. He's the perfect mix, and he's obviously perfect for Layla. 

One thing that I hate is when a title and description doesn't go with the actual book. 'White Hot Kiss'?? Yes, the characters are sometimes way more concerned with their love lives than anything important- like a demon uprising- it's not a book with white hot kissing scenes. At all. It's fairly pure, with a few make out scenes that wouldn't even disturb the purest of people. Yet most people would be put off by the title probably thinking it's another 'Shades of Grey' kinda story. No, it's not. And for that, I am thankful.

Marissa Luzio 

This was such a cool concept. I'v always had a burning interest in angel/demon books and just adding gargoyles made it even better! I was pretty into this book, I couldn't put it down and had finished it in one go. Poor Layla, can't be kissed because she literally has the kiss of death. It's pretty obvious the desire Zayne holds for her, which just made it 10x more frustrating at how blind Layla was. You know, I'll admit, I think I'm team Zayne, something about him just makes me love him better than Roth! I mean, don't get me wrong, Roth is hella sexy and so raw in power, it's exhilarating to read, but.... Zayne is also powerful and smart and just.. angel like? Definitely more my type -insert heart eyes-!

I liked that Armentrout wasn't afraid to bring in mythology to the story and plot. We heavily get into some hell-related mythology which was great. While, this story was romance-based, I did like the other stuff too. Her friends, the inside Warden drama, and Layla's dilemma. Layla wasn't the typical strong, fearless and ruthless character that I usually prefer but I did like that her ultimate priority and nature was saving the people she cared about and just good-heartedly trying to help everyone and anyone. 

Some of the characters weren't my favourite like, Stacey, who was way too portrayed as the 'slut' and the 'wild' one of the friendship between her and Layla. Also, Danika. I mean, Layla doesn't act too nice to her but come on.. being a Zayne lover myself, lets not have Danika in the picture please. I found it weird how I kind of ?liked? Petr and that unnecessary drama. Obviously we find out why he's needed in the series but for spoilers sake, I won't say. Petr was a good distraction from the whole Zayne/Roth love drama. One thing I didn't really understand about the plot was that humans very well knew gargoyles existed but.. how and why? It's almost as if everyone in the world has this, 'so what?' kind of attitude towards it, which I don't get considering usually people would be making it national news and freaking the hell out. 

The book was enjoyable but only for a light reading. If you were wanting to read this for an in-depth plot masterpiece, unfortunately you won't find it here. It was still good, and I did read the next one :)

IF you enjoyed this review, check out more YA and other genre books on my blog!
http://keepcalmandloveboooks.blogspot.ca

Evie's Annotations 

"I lost myself the moment I found you." I'm not crying you're crying 🥺😭🤧!!

Jaclyn

"I lost myself the moment I found you."  

 *cries hysterically*  

Oh Roth..... 

I'm such a mess with that ending! Wow! Jennifer Armentrout has done it again! I'm so so in love with her books and this one was  obviously  no exception. Theres just something about her writing that is just so addicting. I couldn't stop reading this and getting enough of it. It was hard to put down and yes I did lose quite a lot of sleep over this. Don't let the cover or the title of this book fool you. While romance is an intense, fun, and big part of the story...it's really about so so much more. It's about good vs evil and a girl trying to figure out who she is as she takes a step back and goes against everything she was taught to believe in. 

It was so different than anything I've ever read in the sense that it include GARGOYLES and DEMONS and they're really really hot gargoyles and demons...

First we have Zayne who is the gargoyle/warden. In my opinion he was okay. He's a nice guy I guess. Honestly I didn't like him all that much through like 90% percent of this book. He was frustrating and his choices towards Layla bothered me. 
*dodges plates thrown by Zayne girls*

BUT. BUT. He did get better towards the end of this book. He just bothered me how didn't seem to accept Layla for who she was and he just seemed judgmental but that might have been because of his father  who was an absolute asshole  Really most of the wardens annoyed me. 

I did find myself enjoying the FRIENDSHIP that him and Layla had and I'm interested to see where it goes  it better not go ANYWHERE  


Then we have Roth who is a new boyfriend of mine as well as a FUNNY AND REALLY SEXY DEMON. Daemon Black, watch out! This guy is snarky, intense, seductive, insanely gorgeous and does all the right things.. And can you tell which side I'm on? 

 TEAM ROTH FOREVER.  


 my poor baby broke my heart with that ending  

 I'm such a mess!  

Ahhhhhh!!! 

HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LAYLA WAS BEAUTIFUL. I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP. I AM READY TO FIGHT PEOPLE ON THIS. I STAND VERY FIRM ON THIS SHIP.

He was so SWEET towards her and PROTECTIVE in just the right way and so strong and he believed in her and encouraged her to accept herself. 

 My sense went into overload, firing in every direction. The kiss-it was everything I could've imagined a kiss to be and then some. Sublime. Explosive. My heart fluttered wildly, from yearning so deep, darts of fear shot through my veins. 
"See," he murmured in a thick voice and he let go, his fingers trailing over my cheeks. "Your life isn't about all you can't do. It's about what you can do."  


But then...

 "Your tongue is pierced," I said dumbly. 
A wicked gleam filled his gaze. "That's not the only thing pierced."  

 Ahhhh  

Not to mention there was so much sexual tension. My God. It was practically oozing right off the page. 

 "When he kissed me again, it was that deep scorching kind of kiss that pushed me to the edge of the cliff. I was ready to jump off headfirst, to finally feel everything I'd always believed to be denied to me. 
My fingers dug into the smooth skin of his biceps as his free hand trailed down my stomach, fingers circling my belly buttons and then lower, under the band of my jeans."  

  JUST TAKE ME NOW ROTH  

But yeah there was ALOT OF SEXUAL TENSION IN THIS BOOK. Here's another one of my favorites: 

 "It's okay," he whispered against the corner of my lip. "This is about you. Yeah, this is totally about you." He sounded surprised by his own words and when he spoke again, his voice was hoarse as he presses his forehead against mine. "You undo me. You have no idea how you undo me."  

 Are you swooning yet?  

He was also arrogant in the really hot hilarious way of his... 

 " At some point, Roth had gotten hold of my cell and replaced Zaynes name with Stony and listed his own number under Sexy Beast. What a tool."  

I was dying of laughter at some of the things he'd say. Oh man he's so great. 

But anyway this story was also a lot about acceptance. Layla is half warden and half demon but she was raised by wardens so she just always thought demons were all bad. But then Roth comes along and opens her eyes to the demon side of her and eventually she learns to accept who she is. 

 "People with the purest souls are capable of the greatest evils."  

It really challenges the question, what really is good and evil? And where's the line between it? 

Honestly this was a fantastic story all around and my heart was broken from the ending. The action in this book left me breathless and the ending was painful in that heart wrenching sorta way. It did have a kind of Supernatural feel to it with all the demons and stuff so I definitely feel that fans of that show will devour this book. 

So yes I'm off to go plow my way through Stone Cold Touch because WE CANT END IT THERE. Just, NO. And the plot twists throughout the story left me mind blown. Jennifer Armentrout has sucked me into another one of her exciting worlds and I can't wait to see where it goes.....

 I'm also very nervous because I am VERY attached so a specific person who is NOT on the cover of the next book....  

 "You need something," he said, and when I stared at him, he added, "Your face." 
"My face?" 
"It's in need of my kisses."  

 ROTH!  

 *hums "Paradise City" while diving into Stone Cold Touch, ignoring the damn cover.*

Rachael Austin

definitely roped me in!

I was pleasantly surprised! Wasn’t sure if I’d like this when I started but it really grew on me and now I’m hooked!

White Hot Kiss

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