Review: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: White Hot Kiss

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Pub Date: February 25th 2014

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

My Review

Jennifer L. Armentrout, why/how do you do this to me?!

First I want to say that the second I heard that gargoyles were going to be in this series I got so excited and couldn't wait to read it. I then read that there was a girl with the ability to suck out souls. Who doesn't want to read that? This was shaping up to be an epic fangirl countdown all round when I learned about the demons, oh the demons. Needless to say I was ridiculously excited!

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Then I read Bitter Sweet Love. For me this was my biggest mistake. Every feminist and equality seeking bone in my body went rigid. I had a permanent knot in my stomach for the whole duration of that story. My eyes burned with anger and I was no longer happy about the presence of gargoyles. 

This was torture for me. I felt betrayed, cheated. What had I done wrong? I had found an author that I could read every book written by her and I would love it. So what was this??? I began to question whether I could continue reading the series. 

It took me a while to accept that this was happening but once I did I realised that only a great writer could make me feel such strong emotions, good or bad. 

Regardless, I decided to hold off from reading White Hot Kiss when it released. I was still a little burned. I waited until closer to the release of Stone Cold Touch because I knew that I would be left hanging at the end of White Hot Kiss and I wanted a shorter panic-period. I was already hung up on one series by JLA that I was desperate to continue so why add another to the pile.

With the release of Opposition close I decided to brave White Hot Kiss, get myself back into reading these heart-wrenching stories. 

So here it goes:

Regarding characters I quite like Layla. She has lived for ten years under a roof with a bunch of big mythical creatures that, by their very nature, should want to kill her, yet she is dealing with it rather admirably. For most of her childhood she has been treated like this thing that needs to be watched constantly, not for her safety, but for theirs, when all of the female wardens are watched constantly for their own safety. She is frequently reminded that she must stay true to her Warden side and fight against the demons but she is still treated as a demon herself. A girl can only stand so much of the contradictions thrown her way so I think that Layla has held up in the face of all of this quite well. She wants to help as much as she can because she knows it is all she can do to get their approval. She tries so hard to fit in but doesn't and when the opportunity arises for her to fit in elsewhere, she refuses to. The girl has morals and loyalty. I admire that.

Next up, Roth. Oh, Roth. I loved him since the brief glimpse I got in Bitter Sweet Love. He's a badass demon with some pretty awesome tattoos with the best names ever. He has issues with authority like any demon but he also has this inherently good side. He wants to show Layla what she's been missing and I for one, would be more than happy to go with him wherever he led.

This is where I try to restrain myself from complaining non-stop about Zayne. I don't like him. At all. He may have been a good friend to Layla before this story started but from the first page he has annoyed me endlessly. He is not a good friend in my opinion. The boy needs to look up the word. That is all I will say on the matter. P.S. He does not deserve an Impala.

I'll start on to the plot now. I have always loved the whole Angels versus Demons storyline but after a while these things get played out so this was a nice refreshing twist. Wardens act as protectors of Earth from demons. There are rules for demons involving humans and they will be punished for not following them, though there is always some corruption when it comes to power. I loved the storyline because it was different while incorporating a lot of biblical stories. My dislike of Zayne did not affect my love for the story and that just proves how good the story was.

As always the writing was brilliant, funny and beautiful.

I have always loved Jennifer L. Armentrout's work and after reading this I will continue on because that book had me hooked from beginning to end and by then I was begging and pleading with my kindle for the second book.

My second mistake was reading it nearly three months before Stone Cold Touch's release. I am usually able to put aside my thoughts on a book in a series until the next book releases but, unfortunately, this time I can't. There are too many emotions. Therefore,  I will wait in frantic anticipation.

-Tia