White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

ebook, 384 pages

Published by Harlequin on February 25, 2014

Rating: 5 stars

Summary (Goodreads): 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 Thoughts: 
This was my first full length novel of Armentrout's, and let me tell you, I can't help but stay up all night to read her books! It all started with this novel, as the characters and storyline drew me in. 

Layla is a half Warden half Demon hybrid. She's living among the Wardens in Washington D.C., though most of them are wary and hesitant to approach her. Unable to transform into the gargoyle state that all Wardens are able to achieve, she really only has a few Wardens who don't mind being around her, as others fear her demon side, or even loathe her for it. This includes Zayne, her previous mentor in school until she reached an age where it would begin to be too difficult for her to be taught. Zayne is 4 years older than Layla, and she has a huge crush on him. The only problem? If she gets close enough to kiss him, she'll suck out his soul. This would make him as good as dead.

So with almost no hope at a relationship with Zayne, Layla goes about her days doing what she knows best. She goes to school and interacts with people who think of her as a normal human - except for her living situation, as they know she lives with the Wardens. After school though, she does something entirely non-human. She goes around finding demons and tags them. This makes it so at night, when the Wardens go hunting to eradicate the city of as many demons as they can, it's like the demons have big glowing signs on them that say "I'm a demon!!!" This makes it super easy for them to hunt, and it makes Layla feel helpful to them, so she enjoys it.

Then it all goes wrong. She follows a demon that disguised itself as a lesser demon, and ends up in an alley with it. All she hears is it say "Gotcha!" before she is attacked by it. Surprisingly, an Upper Level Demon, the most dangerous kind, comes and saves the day. She runs away though, terrified of what damage could be done to her if he got a hold of her. She doesn't tell the Wardens as she doesn't want to be told to stop the tagging, so she goes along as if nothing is wrong.

Then he shows up at her school the next day. It seems it's inevitable for them to meet and talk, and slowly, Layla begins to warm up to him. His name is Roth, and he has a snake tattoo named Bambi. She can come off of his skin and help him fight when needed. Also, since Roth is a demon, he has no soul. This means that Layla can kiss him with no repercussions. They get close, and Roth begins to reveal some interesting stuff to Layla about her and what's going on around her that make her question her whole existence both in general and living with the Wardens. She doesn't know who she can trust anymore, and her whole world is thrown upside down.

This book keeps you on your toes constantly, as you don't know who you can trust and who is telling the truth. Nothing is black and white, everything is in shades of grey. The demons vary from good to evil, and the Wardens vary as well. you can't tell who is honest and truthful to Layla, and I honestly sympathized with her, because while she was able to live where she was and interact with those around her, she never truly would fit in. The twists and turns this book takes had my mind spinning, and I couldn't get enough of the story. When you finally thought you had everything figured out, Armentrout threw another curveball and something new was revealed. 

It was really interesting getting a story about Demons without angels involved. The Wardens were a nice spin on them, where they weren't angels but they had powers to level out the playing field between themselves and the demons. I also thought it was interesting how the humans knew about them, even if they didn't know about the demons, because normally humans are kept in the dark about anything supernatural in stories. 

I honestly wish I didn't come across this book when I did, because now all I want to do is read the next one. The ending is amazing but sad, and it's not at all what I want to leave off on! Hopefully as time passes, this book stays in the forefront of my mind, and I'll be able to pick up the next one when it's released!!

★★★★★

Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements, #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements, #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

ebook, 116 pages

Published by Harlequin Teen on December 1, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Summary (Goodreads): In a sizzling prequel novella to her new series THE DARK ELEMENTS, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout draws readers into the extraordinary, irresistible world of Wardens and demons.

Dez wasn't just Jasmine's crush. A gargoyle Warden like Jas, he helped her come to terms with her destiny—fending off demons and maintaining balance between good and evil. He was her everything...right until the moment he disappeared without a trace. It didn't help that Jas's father had just announced that she and Dez would one day be mated. Hard not to take that personally.

And now he's back, three years older, ten times hotter, ready to pick up exactly where they left off. But Jas isn't taking that risk again. Dez has seven days to meet all her conditions and earn back her trust. Seven days filled with terrifying danger and sweet temptation. Seven days to win her heart—or shatter it all over again...

My Thoughts:
Jasmine is a Warden, a gargoyle-like protector of the world from demons. Of course, she isn't allowed to go after the demons with the other Wardens because she's a female. They want the females to stay safe and have children, because their race has seen better days. Because of this, Jasmine must sneak out when she wants to go flying, and that's exactly what she does.

Then one day, as she is coming home from her unsupervised flying trip, her father returns home. She knows he isn't happy about it, but he has news he thinks will make her happy.

Dez is home.

Dez is her long lost best friend. His clan of Wardens was completely destroyed by an Upper Level demon. He was the only one left. Because of this, he was brought to another Warden clan to live with and be taken care of. He was not happy, and he didn't really speak much to anyone, but he eventually caved with Jasmine, as she was persistent. After this, they became inseparable, even with their 3 year age gap.

Then Dez turned 18, and he was to be mated to Jasmine. The next day, he left. Jasmine had no idea where he was or what he was doing. She questioned their entire friendship, and always feared the worst. She believed he left because he didn't want to be mated with her, and this was the easiest way for him to escape it. 

She was wrong, because he's back now, and he's ready to mate with her. She isn't ready to mate with him though, as she wants and needs an explanation, and honestly doesn't feel she will ever want to mate with him, even if she can't deny his attractiveness.

She gives him seven days to complete certain tasks with her, and he agrees. Only then will she consider mating with him. 

This novella was definitely interesting. I loved the introduction into the world of Wardens and Demons, and getting to understand the aspects of the different ways they live as a community from the humans, who also know about them. Though I opposed the first kiss Dez and Jasmine had, as I felt a more appropriate response from her would be to slap him, besides that, I loved the way their chemistry was and how she did her best to avoid falling into his trap, even if in the end it was futile. 

I honestly felt like this was a great way to ease into this world, and I liked how we got a glimpse at the main character of the main series through someone else's eyes. We got to see what it was like as an observer instead of in the head of the main character, and while she was younger than she is in the main series, you still got a handle on her and her unique powers from the views of an outsider. It was also interesting to see her interactions with Zayne and to be introduced to the Upper Level demon that Jasmine notices watching her. 

Overall, by the end I felt like most of the point of this story was to introduce those three characters, Layla, Zayne, and the Upper Level demon, because it adds a curiosity to the upcoming story. The story of Dez and Jas was fun to see unfold, but I honestly felt it was cut way too short. I think there should have been a lot more to it, but then again, it wouldn't be a novella if that happened. Because of the fact that I felt it was too short, I only gave it a four star rating. Besides that, I enjoyed the story and started reading White Hot Kiss almost immediately after finishing, as it made me want to experience more of the demons and Wardens. 

★★★★