White Hot Kiss

December 16, 2013
Armentrout (the Covenant books) launches her Dark Elements series with a forbidden romance—or two. Layla is a half demon, half celestial Warden in a world where balance is maintained by implacable hatred on both sides. Protocol dictated Layla’s destruction, but for unknown reasons, the patriarch of the Washington, D.C. Warden clan has raised her as an adopted daughter. That hasn’t prevented her from falling in love with the son of the house, Zayne, though her demon heritage means she can never kiss him without killing him. Her kisses are safe for Roth, however—a high-ranking demon who knows Layla’s secrets and keeps many of his own. Layla’s 17th birthday has triggered changes in the supernatural balance that only Roth seems to understand, but accepting his knowledge also means accepting truths about her demonic nature that Layla is desperate to ignore. For all its paranormal apparatus, this is, at base, a good boy/bad boy love triangle, well-paced and peppered with intriguing details that allow both Romeo-and-Juliet swoons and a zombie apocalypse to have their turns. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

December 15, 2013
Yes, it's another novel about exotic paranormal hybrids, but this one's written with wry humor that seeps into nearly every sentence, making it constantly entertaining no matter its subject. Layla is half Warden, gargoylelike creatures aligned with angels who roam cities slaughtering demons. She's also half demon. Layla has been crushing on Zayne, a Warden who lives in their communal home, but knows she can't ever kiss him for fear of sucking out his soul. Instead, Layla spends her after-school hours on the streets of Washington, D.C., marking demons so that Wardens can easily find and kill them later that night. However, Layla misidentifies a demon that turns on her, whereupon she meets Roth, who shows up to protect her. As an upper-level demon, Roth can't be tagged and would prove a difficult target for the Wardens. However, Layla finds herself strongly attracted to him and reluctantly begins to trust him. It doesn't hurt that Roth is a great kisser. Layla's problem with divided loyalties doesn't interfere with the stopping-Armageddon plot, and the narrative sizzles with as much tension as romance. Armentrout's sophisticated, layered humor keeps the narrative bubbling all the way through, and she delivers a terrific character in Roth, the unrepentant demon. Of course, both Zayne and Roth fit the chiseled-abs, drop-dead-gorgeous mold, but this is a romance. Totally entertaining. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

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December 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 With this first title in her new Dark Elements series, powerhouse author Armentrout delivers another action-packed, believably narrated ride through a paranormal world as seen by a teen. Layla is like any 17-year-old with high-school woes, BFFs, and a crush that won't stop. While her human friends know she lives with a family of Wardens (gargoyles), they don't know about her nonhuman lineage: Layla is half gargoyle and half demon, which renders her an outcast in both those worlds. With a long-standing crush on a super cute Warden, Zayne, that seems doomed because of both her mixed blood as well as the fact he seems to regard her more like a little sister, Layla thinks her life is complicated enough. Then she meets demon Roth, the most dangerous, kissable guy ever, with his tattoos and bad boy smile. Roth insists he knows more about Layla's past than she doesand that her Warden family has deliberately kept her in the dark too long. Intense, well plotted, and very readable, this title should fly into the hands of every paranormal reader out there.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Armentrout is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, which means she has lots of hungry fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)