YA Excerpt: Stone Cold Touch (White Hot Kiss #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (!)

I read White Hot Kiss recently and loved it. So naturally I had to pick up Stone Cold Touch right away because I couldn't stop thinking about Layla's world, and Roth. I received an ARC copy at BEA, since Stone Cold Touch wont be released until October (2014). So I started reading Stone Cold Touch and I just got sucked into the world once again. In White Hot Kiss we got to see the relationship between Layla and Roth, in Stone Cold Touch the relationship that gets the most attention is Layla's and Zayne's. Even though I am not Team Zayne I can still say that some of his scenes with Layla where wicked hot. Like the scene I posted here below:


He traced the delicate scales around Bambi's nostrils, and when I shivered, his gaze lifted, snaring mine. There was so much heat and intensity in those cobald eyes that there was no mistaking how he was looking at me.

Like he had the night he'd seen me in my bra.

One side of his lips tipped up, and my heart jumped in my chest. His gaze returned to where Bambi rested, to where his finger was idly tracing her scales in smooth strokes. "It doesn't feel like I thought it would. The skin is just slightly raised, but it's really like a tattoo."

Mouth dry, I closed my eyes as his finger moved over her head, nearing the tiny lace that decorated the hem of my tank top. I wasn't wearing anything under the tank and he was so, so close.

"Does she like it?" he asked, breath warm in the space between our lips.
I nodded, assuming she did, because she wasn't trying to kill him.

"Do you?"

The question whipped through me with the force of a destructive hurricane. My eyes snapped open and my breath came in short little pants. My eyes snapped open and my breath came in short little pants. He was still so close, his hair tickling my cheeks and his finger trailing farther south, following the curve of Bambi, under the lace of my tank top.

His lashes swept up again and his gaze collided with mine. I had no idea how we'd ended up here. His hand stilled and he waited, and there was no denying the driving force behind the question. If I said no, he would move away. And if I said yes, then... I couldn't even wrap my head around those possibilities.

If I said yes, everything would change—change in ways I couldn't even fathom, ways I never truly believed could happen between us. My heart was beating too fast, and a strange kind of heat pooled deep in my body. 

"Yes." The word came out barely a whisper, but Zayne heard it.
He inhaled sharply as he moved his hand to the thin strap of my tank top. His eyes never left mine. "Can I see the rest of her?"

My heart rate kicked into cardiac territory. Was I dreaming? Did I fall down the stairs and crack my head open? Seemed more likely than this happening. Seeing the rest of Bambi meant seeing the rest of me. Or at least half of the rest of me.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My gaze focused on the outline of his mouth. Fixating on the way his lips parted, and I couldn't help but wonder how they felt—how they tasted.
Only in the distant part of my mind did I realize that I wanted to taste him and not his soul.
Bambi flicked her tail along my waist, as if she was impatient with all of this and wanted to be shown off. Unable to find the courage to speak, I nodded again.

Zayne's feverish gaze lowered as he slipped the strap down. The top was so loose and thin that it took the littlest effort to move. Within seconds, the straps ended up on my own wrists, the material pooling where my hands were clasped together on my stomach.

I felt his stare as he drank in the detail of Bambi and everything else-every part of me that was exposed. It was like a caress as his gaze tracked over the long, elegant stretch of her neck between my breasts, to the way she coiled just below my ribcage.

"Layla," he rasped, and the sound curled my toes.

I stopped breathing as his hand followed Bambi's path, and the yearning and hunger I was feeling rose until every part of my body felt like a live wire. Everything outside this room ceased to exist-every problem, concern, or issue. It was all gone as his hand moved again and my back arched off the bed. A breathy sound escaped me, mingling with Zayne's ragged breath.

His touch was light, reverent as he explored the layout of my body. He did so with such delicacy it was like it was his first time, though I knew—at least I thought—that that couldn't be the case. With his looks and his personality, there had to be times when he was hunting—there had to be girls.

But it didn't matter as he shifted down, his head lowering close to where Bambi's head rested. There was a good chance this could go horribly wrong, but my hands fisted together and I bit down on my lip so hard a metallic taste filled my mouth at the first whispered touched of his lips against—"

Stone Cold Touch is to be released on October 2014, so pre-order now cause it's a really good one 

Review: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: White Hot Kiss
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements
Book #: 1
Pages: 400
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.25
Published: February 25th, 2014

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.

Taschima's POV:

I've never considered Jennifer Armentrout to be big into complex story lines and building huge worlds. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Whenever I need to read an entertaining, smoking, thrilling read I know by now that if I pick up one of her books she is sure to deliver. Just as she delivered in White Hot Kiss. It's Paranormal-Romance (with emphasis on the romance part) at its best.

Layla: "At that moment I knew three tings. I was screwed. Mankind was screwed. The entire universe was screwed."

Layla is a half Warden-half demon. Her "super power" consists of taking another's person soul via kissing. So basically, it sucks. She can't have a real relationship with any boy because she runs the risk of killing them. Specially the boy she has had her eyes set on for what seems like forever. Zayne, the Warden who is Layla's best friend. The only way Layla can help the Warden's fight agaisnt the demons in the world is to tag the monsters (which basically somehow lights the monsters up like a beacon so the Warden's can pick them out and kill them) since they have no soul's to suck out. Everything is going fine until one stupid day Layla goes agaisnt a particular monster who is too much for her, just as she thinks her life is over out of nowhere appears Roth, an upper level demon who only seems to want to help Layla. Soon enough Layla's understanding of the world is flipped outside down. Who are the bad guys? Who are the good guys? And why is every one lying to her?

At it's very heart White Hot Kiss is a fully entertaining read. The romance is what it's all about really, the rest of the plot only secondary. Demons want to either kill Layla, or use Layla, but either way it is all about Layla. Roth and Zayne are her protectors because poor Layla can't seem to be able to protect herself (until you get her REAL mad that is). Layla's dialogue keeps you glued to the page and invested. She is not a hard character to like as she had me laughing out loud on more than a few occasions. She wants o be helpful, but considering her heritage she can't help but feel like a burden... a deadly one at that. She can't shift into a Gargoyle because she is a half demon, and her half demon powers only really work on the good guys. Sure she knows the basic defensive moves but what good does that do against a horde of demons? Overall she takes this on stride and still does her best to contribute to the fight for the greater good.

Roth and Zayne. This novel is all about the romance, and the boys. At first I couldn't help but dislike Roth. I thought he came on too strong, and every other comment was FULL of innuendo. Sure he is depicted as being hot but what YA hero/villain isn't? So at first I was team Zayne... until we got to see the real Roth that is.

Roth: "Just so you know, your virtue isn't safe with me. So when you look like you want me to devour every inch of your mouth, I will without an ounce of regret."

The Roth that has 3 kittens in his apartment that are little rascals, who likes to tend a garden on his time off, who likes blueberry muffins and who by all intents and purposes seems to just be burdened with his demonic tasks... while at the same time he keeps warning Layla about his "true" nature, and never to trust a demon. I can't help it, he is swoon worthy. The demon that doesn't pretend to be anything but what he is while hiding his softer side from the world. This is all well and all but I kind of want to know Roth's past crimes. I know the first novel was all about making us love him, but what exactly makes him team evil? What has he done in the past to deserve eternal damnation? I kind of want to know.

Zayne on the other hand is the golden boy. Zayne is the angelic boy who has the pure soul, which means Layla can't even kiss him. Making him forbidden fruit. A forbidden fruit who likes to care about Layla and help her and make her feel special... he is a softy. But at the same time he is a warrior. He and Layla spend much of this novel estranged which I think will be fixed come Stone Cold Touch, and I can't wait to see how Jennifer Armentrout is going to make us fall in love with Zayne.

Because that is what a good romance novel is all about. Making us fall in love with the characters, both girls and boys. Layla is a kick, Roth is sizzling, and Zayne is yet to be discovered. The plot overall was pretty interesting though nothing exactly new (demons trying to bring forth the apocalypse by ways that involve Layla). The gargoyle element was pretty sweet and I hope to learn more about their origins in future novels (not to mention their impact in the world since they came out of the closet- I guess it was kind of hard to fly over the cities when Google Earth is always taking their pictures). Overall White Hot Kiss is a great start to a promising series and I cannot wait for more.

Review: The Taking by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Taking
Author: Kimberly Derting
Series: The Taking
Book #: 1
Pages: 368
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.82
Published: April 29th, 2014

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

Taschima's POV:

I really enjoyed The Taking. I am a sucker for the whole people being abducted and then brought back home only for their whole reality to the changed. It is just so juicy, and so many emotions are at play. It reminds me of when *BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SPOILER*Buffy died in season 5 and then came back in season 6 and everybody was totally shocked and emotions ran high. I am a sucker for those situations. So yes, I enjoyed The Taking's premise, the writing, the pacing, and the alien element, but what I did not enjoy was the romance and what is a shame because a lot of The Taking focuses heavily on the romance. This is why I gave it a 4 star instead of 5. I still really enjoyed the story and I hope to read the second installment as soon as it hits the shelves.

Kyra is this not-so-average girl who is a star at playing Softball. Her future looks really bright. She has her softball, her supportive parents, the bestest friend a girl could ask for, and then she has her long time friend and boyfriend Austin. Everything seems to be working out for Kyra until one faithful night, after having had a spat with her father about her future, she gets blinded by a very instense light and then she is sudddenly GONE. The next day Kyra finds herself stranded behind the local gas station with no idea of what happened the night before. But then when she makes her way home she is confronted with the harsh reality: For Kyra only a day has gone by, while for the rest of her family 5 years have gone by without Kyra.

So yes, the premise is so freaking interesting, and the execution is even better. I can't say I am a big fan of Kyra's. She is this girl who loves sports and gets blindsided too quickly by insta-love... which, lets face it, it is more like the hormones she has accumulated in her 5 years away have come and hit her SQUARE in the face. But I still got lost in the story nevertheless.

"I'd never been so alive, and I knew this was why I'd come back. To be here, right now, in this moment, with Tyler."

*sarcasm on* Yeah Kyra. I am SURE the alien overlords just couldn't pass up an opportunity to make real love come true. *sarcasm off, sort of*

The romance was unbelievable, and not in a good way. I felt like Kyra's "connection" to Tyler was SO rushed. She basically comes back to face that everybody has moved on without her, including her best friend and her boyfriend (they hooking up and in LURVE), and the first thing she does is fall for her ex-boyfriend's little brother? IN A MATTER OF DAYS. I am not even creeped out by the fact that the last time Kyra saw this boy he was like 12 (well, maybe a little) but why in the heavens would Tyler still be hung up on this girl? Last time HE saw her HE WAS 12! I guess he COULD have had a crush on her but let's face it that "crush" would have been long gone. Maybe he saw her as this weird wish fulfillment thing. I don't know. I just did not like it.

But that doesn't mean I didn't like Tyler. He was a sweet heart. He is an artist who loves to read old vintage stuff, and he is a romantic. He is well worth the whole thing, which is why on one hand I couldn't really blame Kyra but on the other hand I just wished he would have fallen for anybody else BUT Kyra. But then again, that wouldn't have been good for the story I suppose. Austin, Kyra's ex, is at first depicted as the perfect boyfriend (they were chilhood friends first and then just seamlessly shifted to the boyfriend/girlfriend label) but then he is of course compared to Tyler and everything goes to shit. Not only that but HOW DARE HE move on, even though Kyra has been missing for 5 years (they all thought she was dead of course)? I couldn't blame the guy, even though Kyra certainly did. Kyra's best friend was an interesting character which I wish we could have had some more time with, but we only get like one scene with her grown up. I thought more scenes with Austin and her were warranted, specially one of Austin confronting Kyra of having the hots for his little brother. Maybe in the next novel?

The whole alien abduction part of the story is still pretty much left in the dark. Who are these aliens who keep abducting people? Why are they doing it? Why was Kyra the first who didn't return until years later? How come she, and everyone else who returns, comes back with special abilities? What the hell is going on with the fireflys everybody keeps refering to? How are they connected? Who knows. I am suspecting we will get answers in the next installment. The Taking certainly made me interested in hearing the answers, it got me hooked.