White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout: ARC Review *Spoilers

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.

This book! I never expected it to like it but I did! It was just that the first reaction I had to White Hot Kiss was: "Well that cover is rather....well.. awkward..." To me, whenever I see these types of covers I immediately think cliche, young adult romance, with a love triangle: standards for attracting teenage girls. Yes, this book has some of these aspects but the way it was put together didn't make it cheesy, instead a very attractive fun read.

The first connection I made about this book was the fact that the main character, Layla, in the way that she thinks, acts, talks, acts, etc., reminds of Percy Jackson. It is the oddest connection, I know, but I just feel that casual vibe throughout the book and a similarity in character. I found Layla to be very quirky and fun character. She certainly wasn't a damsel in distress (which really did surprise me ( *cough the cover)) and stood up for herself throughout the novel. There were times in which I found her to slightly gullible and illogical but I found it kind of endearing. Her little weaknesses in her character, to me, served as a reminder of who she was and the life she was born into. A too strong character/well rounded rubs off to be as perfect and Layla's quirks kept the image of her as a teenage girl enforced in my head.

One must always mention the love interests of young adult romance so here it is. The two males in the love triangle involving Layla would be Roth (Astaroth) and Zayne (good names I must say, good names). Roth is a demon, the "current" prince of demons to be exact (its explained in the book, I'd rather not spoil that part) while Zayne is a gargoyle and the childhood friend and crush of Layla. Usually I'd pinpoint exactly who I believe she is going to end up with at the end of the novel but somehow I can't say for sure with the relations between Layla and these two lovely young men. If I was to bet, it would be with Roth as that is traditional with young adult romances. We just love the handsome, dark, and dangerous type. He and Layla's got some stuff going and too be honest I liked his character. Though he falls in the handsome, dark, and dangerous category he doesn't harbor the traditional characteristics:

A. He's humorous
B. He's not moody and dark all the time (*cough Edward)
C. He acts human (not some insane superhero)

I really want to bet that Roth is who Layla ends up with but then Zayne's character is just so good. He's the classic Peeta character (Hunger Games) and genuinely wants the best for Layla yet is limited by the boundaries of the law of the Gargoyles. I believe the only reason he hasn't made a move is his strong obedience to the laws of the Gargoyles ( Layla= half demon and half Gargoyle so them going out is a big no, no ). Maybe there is a chance for the good guy to win out on this but I'm not really sure. So the point is, love triangle is not stable. Plus *big spoilers Roth has been sent to hell at the end of the last book so he's technically he's not of the picture anymore (he'll be back, I checked with the next book) and that gives Zayne time to make his move. Love triangles drive me crazy. I usually can predict but I'm still iffy about Zayne's relationship to Layla. He's older brother one minute then potential love interest next.
*Why must every YA romance contain a love triangle? Is it the new most trendy shape? Triangles? Why not love squares? Then at least everyone is happy. See humans just can't be happy without seeing someone else suffer in their happiness.

Although I this book was about Gargoyles and Demons instead of the traditional Vampire and Werewolf theme that has been really popular lately, I didn't find a change of what type of supernatural character that was featured to be relevant. Though, yes, it technically stepped outside the cliche, it wasn't that much different in feel. There was still the eternal feud between the two races due to a war of good and bad. The change was interesting and different but I feel if you switched the whole book to feature vampires and werewolves, no large difference would happen to the plot. White Hot Kiss still followed the normal pattern of these types of young adult supernatural romances.

I found this book to be a pretty good read. It was humorous, relaxing, and had surprisingly human characters (none of that since-I'm-supernatural-I-must-be-dark-and-mysterious stuff). I don't particularly think that the cover and the title of White Hot Kiss particularly suits it. I guess it would be for marketing as apparently people love these types of steamy covers and titles, but I found it to make it more cliche and sappy then the book actually was. If I was to give a rating out of five for this book, I'd give it a 3.5/5. That's not bad considering I put good at 4 and my ultra loves at 5. I would say to give this book a try. It feels different from the norm in its more human feel and non vampire/werewolf characters. It is also a fast and fun read that is sure to entertain.