White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: HarlquinTEEN

Release Date: February 25, 2014

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

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 it, 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.

Once again, Jennifer L. Armentrout has made me fall in love with a story she wrote and characters she brought to life. I loved every moment of White Hot Kiss and I honestly can't wait to find out more about this world.

Despite having grown up among the Wardens, Layla has never really felt like she fit in. Sure, she's half-Warden, but Layla's other half is demon, the very thing Wardens were created to destroy. And that xeon half is what's preventing Layla from ever being able to kiss a boy, because to do so would result in said boy losing his soul. At least Zayne has always treated Layla like a Warden, making Layla crush on him even harder. Too bad Zayne only sees Layla as a sister. When Roth, a gorgeous demon, shows up in Layla's school, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. Roth claims he knows the secrets of Layla's demon half, drawing her in even further. Layla knows she should stay away and tell the Wardens about Roth, but the attraction is undeniable. Trusting Roth could mean losing everything, but with Roth, Layla feels stronger than she's ever felt.

There's not much left that I haven't said in praise of Jennifer L. Armentrout. I have yet to read anything she has written that I haven't loved. And that streak continues with White Hot Kiss. What was there not to love? For starters, it was different from other paranormal YAs out there. Unless I'm mistaken, gargoyles haven't been done before in YA. The mythology and the world of Wardens was interesting to read about and made for a compelling story. I got sucked into the story and the world right from the start. It helped that there was a lot going on in the story and it kept me guessing. The nature of some of the characters made it so it was difficult to trust them. But at the same time, my need to know the truth made it so I would just keep reading. And the ending pretty much guaranteed that I would be begging for the sequel. Oh, and of course there was plenty of the romance Jennifer L. Armentrout has come to be known for.

I loved Layla. It was really fun to read her story and find out everything at the same time as she did. But I also really felt for her because it seemed like people were always holding something back from her because of what she was. And it must have been quite the challenge, balancing Zayne and Roth. Usually, I can say that I like one boy better than the other, but don't ask me to choose between Zayne and Roth because I really can't. The whole time I was reading White Hot Kiss I kept going back and forth between the two. Zayne had always been there for Layla and treated her like a Warden. Around Roth, Layla was able to be who she really was and not worry about her demon half. But both also did things that made me question their motives. And then I got to the end of the story and both Roth and Zayne were causing me to yell at the book because STUFF was going down. And made me love BOTH boys very much.

Once again, Jennifer L. Armentrout did not disappoint. White Hot Kiss is an engrossing story filled with swoon-worthy guys, romance, twists, and did I mention swoon-worthy guys? Needless to say, I am now desperate to read the sequel, Stone Cold Touch. 

Endless by Jessica Shirvington

Title: Endless (The Violet Eden Chapters #4)

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Love will kill us all.

Angels are real. They aren't always kind. Violet Eden is certain of all this because she is Grigori--part angle, part human. She has felt the influence of both light and dark.

When Hell unleashes its worst, Violet must embrace every facet of her angle self to save the people she cares about and the world as she knows it. But death is not the worst thing that Violet will face. For her, the endless question "Can love conquer all?" will faintly be answered.

I love Jessica Shirvington's Violet Eden series. As excited as people were about the first book, Embrace, it sometimes feels like it's become really underrated. In my opinion, it just keeps getting better and better with every book, and it was no different with Endless. To put it simply: I loved every moment.

With Lilith freed from Hell, the Grigori have a lot to deal with. But Violet is more concerned with what came out of the volcano with Lilith: her mother. The mother who's been dead for seventeen years. As if she didn't already have enough on her plate. But if Violet has any hope of ever having some kind of relationship with her mother, she first has to stop Lilith before she destroys the Grigori. With the help of the people she cares about, Violet might just have a chance to send Lilith back to Hell. But along the way, Violet has to sacrifice so much. There's one thing Violet isn't willing to sacrifice, though. But doing so might be her only chance at beating Lilith once and for all.

I remember when Embrace, the first book in this series, was coming out and everyone was excited about it. Since then, it feels like the level of excitement has gone down even though, to me, the series just keeps on getting better with each book. So Endless? I loved it. Every time I pick up one of her books, Jessica Shirvington manages to completely draw me back in to the world she has crafted in these books. And with everything going on in Endless, it didn't take long for me to get sucked back in. Endless took me on an absolutely crazy ride. It was one of those books where I couldn't seem to turn the pages fast enough while at the same time yelling at my Kindle and wanting to chuck it across the room. But the yelling doesn't mean I didn't love the story. Everything that happened did so for a reason. Or at least it better have, otherwise there will be some angry yelling at the next book. And with that ending, you can bet that I am dying to read Empower, the next book. But I'm also a little afraid of everything that has the potential to happen in Empower.

I feel like every time I review the books in this series, I say pretty much the same thing about Violet in each of those reviews. But I can't help it, I love Violet. She's such a strong person, and even four books in, she still surprises me. But as strong as she is, Violet also has this incredibly vulnerable side that makes me love her even more. And if I'm talking about Violet's vulnerability, I have to talk about Lincoln and Phoenix. I love Lincoln and Endless made me love him even more. Lincoln was also one of the reasons I yelled at my Kindle a lot. But Phoenix is actually the one who surprised me this time around. As much as I was starting to really strongly dislike him, he really comes around in Endless. The character I can't get enough of, though, is Spence. He just always manages to put a smile on my face. But there always seemed to be more going on with Spence. At this point, I would totally read a story all about Spence.

I loved Jessica Shirvington's Endless. This is story that took me on an absolutely crazy ride, but I loved every moment of it. Now I'm just counting down the days until I can read Empower and see how it all ends.

Waiting on Wednesday (80)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming book release they are particularly looking forward to reading.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:
LET'S GET LOST BY ADI ALSAID

Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes ever Tuesday--and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth--sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

I'm a sucker for a good road trip story and Let's Get Lost sounds like just that. Plus it's contemporary and we all know I'm a sucker for that too (and apparently that's all I'll be reading this spring/summer). This story sounds like it has so much potential and I can only hope that it can live up to what I have built it up to. Either way, I'm really looking forward to reading Let's Get Lost.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid will be published July 29, 2014 by Harlequin Teen.

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

Title: Maybe One Day

Author: Melissa Kantor

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: February 18, 2014

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plants for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine. 

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the late page is turned.

Before I even started reading Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day, I had been warned that it was a story that would pull at my heart strings. And it did. By the time I reached the end, I was a complete mess. But it was completely worth it.

Olivia and Zoe have been friends for as long as they can remember. They've always known what their future would look like. But that future started changing when Olivia and Zoe were cut from NYBC the summer before their sophomore year of high school. Now juniors, Olivia and Zoe have re-imagined their future, but that future never included Olivia being diagnosed with leukaemia. Zoe does everything she can to stay positive and put on a brave face for Olivia. But the sicker Olivia gets, the more trouble Zoe has staying positive. Without Olivia around, Zoe doesn't know who to turn to for support. When she starts falling for Olivia's crush, Calvin, Zoe thinks she's found a way to deal with it all, even if she feels guilty about it all. And even though the odds are against her, Zoe knows Olivia will make it through this. She just has to.

When I got Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day in the mail, it came with a note saying I should keep ice cream or cake close by as I read. I really should have followed that advice. By the time I reached the end of the story, I was a complete mess of tears. This was a truly moving story, looking at how something like leukaemia doesn't just affect the person with the diagnosis, but also their friends and family. Because first and foremost, this was a story not about romance or dance, but about Zoe and Olivia's friendship. And as sad as they story could be, I loved that it was focused on the girls' friendship. So often in YA, friendships fall by the way side once romance comes in. Maybe One Day showed just how strong friendship can be, how important it can be, to the point where friends become family. In a way, reading about the friendship made me miss my own best friend. And of course, that ending brought me to tears, but also made me smile through those tears, because that's just who Olivia and Zoe are.

I loved Olivia and Zoe, and I loved their friendship. They were so different, yet similar in so many ways. But they were perfect for each other. As cliché as it might be to say, Olivia and Zoe balanced each other out perfectly. Seeing them together made me smile, despite everything else that was going on in their lives. And like I already mentioned, seeing Zoe and Olivia together made me miss my own best friend and the fact that university made it so we're so far away from each other. Beyond the friendship, there was also romance, but in an understated way. I liked that Calvin didn't push Zoe to do anything she didn't want to do. He was just there for Zoe, in as much as she allowed him to be. My only wish is that I could have seen a little more of that story, no matter how much I loved the story's focus on friendship.

Melissa Kantor's Maybe One Day was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. This story about two best friends is one that will make you want to pick up the phone and call your own best friend. You don't want to miss out on this one.

Waiting on Wednesday (79)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming book release they are particularly looking forward to reading.

THIS WEEK'S PICK:

SAY WHAT YOU WILL BY CAMMIE MCGOVERN

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.

Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.

When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

I have been wanting to read Say What You Will ever since I first heard about it. The premise sounds so interesting and unlike anything I've read before. At the same time, the synopsis doesn't really give much away so it's hard to tell exactly what is going to be happening in this book. Regardless, I can't wait to read it. And it's contemporary and we all know how I feel about contemporary. 

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern will be published June 3, 2014 by HarperTeen.