Stone Cold Touch - Review

Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2)

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published: October 21, 2014 by Harlequin Teen

464 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

Every touch has its price

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…

MY REVIEW:
If you're new to this series, this is about a 17 year old girl named Layla, who is part Warden (or known to humans as gargoyles)/part Demon - and her demon side is a succubus, thanks to her Mom. It's an odd mix considering the Warden's kill any and all demons to protect humans.

Layla has been raised by a Warden clan out of Washington, D.C. and for the most part they have treated her like they would any other warden. This part of the story is all about trying to find out who is creating wraiths. Some of the Wardens suspect Layla but she has no memory of sucking anyone's soul from them, except for that one time....but she would remember if she were taking souls of anyone from her school, which happens to be where the most chaos seems to be occurring.

Zayne is the only son of the clan leader and he has always protected Layla. As she grew up and matured though, his feelings started to change towards her - which is something she always wished for but never thought would happen. There's only one problem....she can't get close to anyone with a soul. The need to feed becomes too strong and she would die before she harmed Zayne in any way.

So for those of you that don't like books with love triangles then you probably won't be a fan of this aspect of the story which plays a BIG part. That's your warning. Layla struggles with her feelings towards both Roth (check out book one for more on him) and Zayne. She feels guilty acting on her feelings with either of them even though she doesn't have a concrete relationship with them. Zayne has been a rock for her, a protector and at some point her feelings for him became a crush and have grown even deeper than that now. But Roth....holy hotness! Being a full demon, not just any demon, but a crown prince of Hell, she can be around him without any barriers since he isn't affected by her demon side and he doesn't have a soul. This is one love triangle that I can't decide on!!! Both of these guys have become favorites of mine and Layla is great with both of them. UGH!!!

Fans of Armentrout, and those who have been following the progress of this series, will know that she held a poll to vote on who you wanted to see Layla end up with in the final book. The winning guy with the most votes (which by the way, the vote tallies were kept secret) at the end would be how she wrote the ending with Layla. I didn't vote since I had not yet read book two. I'm not sure I could choose anyway.

Paranormal Romance fans will enjoy this story. It is different given the gargoyle aspect, at least it was different for me, but it doesn't lessen the hotness factor one bit. Plus, there's a twist at the end I wasn't expecting. Maybe I should've seen it, thinking back on it now, but none-the-less it caught me off guard.

Favorite Quotes:
There were so many risks, but as my heartbeat skipped, I realized that half demon or not, life was full of risks and I was tired of not living - of not trying. A date couldn't be bad, right?

"But there is so much you don't know or understand," he said, tilting his head so that his words brushed the lobe of my ear, sending a shiver down my neck. "So don't claim to know what I really want or what I would do to protect it."

Final Rating - 4 stars