A review by alabooktique
White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.0

This book is much better than Bitter Sweet Love (the prequel novella before this). And this Layla is a lot more hilarious than almost any of the characters from the previous book. Connecting with Layla's character is more easier.

In all honesty, this book did start out a bit slow but that must be because I'm partial since I read the prequel and that was kinda terrible. But once I got into this book, it was just the best. It also helped that I only had to read the abt the first 20% and the story had already started getting interesting.

Story: 4/5
World building: 4/5
The story was epic, but it's still the first book and we have a long way to go. But I can already see that the story has a LOT OF POTENTIAL.

Narrative: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
The narrative was just so expressive and beautifully written and I was just sucked right into the book. And the pace was exceptional. This is a fast read. Fast read with quite a plot.

Fantasy: 5/5
Romance: 4/5
Fantasy was excellent. There were stuff about Lilith and the Lilins. The wardens and the demons. So many kinds of demons. And the tattoos of Thumper and Bambi on Roth and how Bambi came to life ever so often in itself was just fantasy enough for me. I'd love to have a tattoo that comes alive and befriends me. When it comes to romance there's just excellent, excellent spice between Roth and Layla. And I wouldn't call it smutty (or at least not yet), but it's got a lot of steam and wonderful sexual tension, it's just delicious. Also, I might be coming across yet another One-True-Pairing with this Layla and Roth.

Characters: 4/5

I quite loved the Main Characters in here. Layla, well she's nice, innocent, sweet, naïve and sometimes just plain stupid. She's insecure and struggles with accepting who she is, but this feels real, so I like how real it feels. She's been through a lot and at the end of the day she feels quite lonely. She wants everyone to treat her like she's a grown up, but she can get a bit bratty every now and then. Sure she has a point sometimes, but she could handle things differently. And her jealousy towards Danika actually annoys me, especially when Danika's been nothing but nice to her. She's got strong feelings for Zayne and ik that the two deeply care for each other and idk if she calls it love, but if it were upto me I'd just categorize Zayne as her huge crush. But Roth on the other hand....

Obviously I'm Team Roth all the way. Zayne is a sweetheart but he's just not for Layla. Like the chemistry, the connection, the trust, all of that and more were there between Roth and Layla since the beginning. Whereas when it comes to Zayne it feels like he's still oblivious to Layla. And there were times where he was a bit ignorant of her. Like, sure he might've had his reasons, possibly even good ones, but at the end of the day he wasn't the one who was always there for her. And he did rat her out to Abbot a few times,,, also I am kinda annoyed that each time something went down between Layla and Zayne, Layla had to be the one to apologize repeatedly and beg for forgiveness and acceptance.

But with Roth, it was just different. Acceptance is everything. And I liked who Layla was when she was with Roth. Confident, daring and lively. She was full of life when she was with Roth and I loved the hope that she gave him and vice versa. They just fit each other so perfectly. And it really does help that he was always there for her and looking out for her. I love him for making her feel secured in being who she was. I loved the life he gave her. And with Bambi in the picture, they make such a cute family, lol.

I remember watching Marvel's Venom and wishing I had a Venom of my own. And now after reading this, I want a Bambi of my own..