Review: Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L Armentrout

Stone Cold Touch

Author: Jennifer L Armentrout

Series: The Dark Elements

Pages: 464

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release date: 21^st October 2014

Amazon

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

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…

Review - 4/5 Stars

As most of you would know, I am a huge fan of pretty much everything JLA has written and Stone Cold Touch would be included amongst them but it was trademark JLA with the snark and repetitive sayings that let it down a smidgeon for me as well as a love triangle and indecisive MC that drove me bonkers but overall it was still thoroughly enjoyable.

Main Characters – I think Layla is great; witty and sweet, I can’t say I agree with some of the choices she makes but she is torn being half Warden and half Demon, my heart broke for her with the Wardens; I felt they had let her down. I wasn’t a big fan of Zayne in the first book but in SCT he had me swooning, the way he protected and cared for Layla was extremely sweet but in saying that Roth still holds my heart, he was an ass at the beginning of the book but by the end he was back in my good graces and I adored him.

Plot & world-building – We continue to learn more about the Wardens and Demons as well as Layla and her evolving powers, there was mystery in the unusual events happening around Layla  - the whole story was addictive and came together nicely, there was a nice blend of tension, suspense, action, betrayal and shock reveals.  

Romance – We get some wonderful steamy moments, but it peeved me off that Layla was playing both Zayne and Roth; her indecisiveness drove me crazy at times! Admittedly both guys have their appealing traits but if she was with Zayne she was swooning over him and vice versa, I didn’t feel it was fair to either of them. I am still Team Roth – I don’t think romantically there is a future with Stony.

Overall – I have no idea in which direction JLA is planning to take this story, I am loving the element of surprise and the shock plot twists we have been given along the way; we are left with a cliff-hanger ending so I am more than eager to read the next book in the series.

About the author: # 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia. 

All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true. 

Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.

She is the author of the Covenant Series (Spencer Hill Press), the Lux Series (Entangled Teen), Don't Look Back (Disney/Hyperion) and a yet untitled novel (Disney/Hyperion), and new YA paranormal series with Harlequin Teen.

Jennifer also writes New Adult and Adult romance under the pen name J. Lynn. The Gamble Brothers Series (Tempting the Best Man/Tempting the Player) and Wait for You. Under her pen name, she is published with Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.