I actually got an ARC of this one a long time ago, but my ereader is stupid and broken and would not let me upload it, sadly. Jerk ereader. But anyway, I finally got around to buying myself a pretty little physical copy and absolutely beyond adored it. In fact, I couldn't stop reading it, it was so good. It wasn't perfect, but I still really loved it very much. I thought it was a fantastic story.
THE HEROINE
SAMANTHA DAY
Samantha Day is your typical girl-next-door. She's so relatable and I loved her completely. I found myself drawn into her story and who she was. I immediately found myself wanting to learn more about her from the very beginning. She was awesome and mysterious and develops beautifully. It was really interesting to watch her transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end.
THE LOVE INTEREST
BISHOP
Oh goodness, it would have been impossible for me to not fall deeply in love with him. I admit that his name isn't originally a turn-on, but I have this D&D game that I play sometimes with a character named Bishop who is possibly the hottest thing since fire, so I was biased when I began. But he quickly moved into my heart of his own volition. He is really sweet and protective, and tries so hard to be good. I admired him greatly for that. Also, he's just so awesome. Protective. Sweet. Strong. Powerful. Troubled. Really, really hot. I was deeply in love with him, even though he isn't as sexy as Kraven.
THE REALLY SEXY DEMON
KRAVEN
As much as I am in love with Bishop, Kraven is just so sexy. I love bad boys. I just love, love, love bad boys. And Kraven has got to be one of the sexiest bad boys I've come across in quite some time. Seriously, I want him. I do not even know how to explain how much I love Kraven. Like, so much. SOSOSO freaking much. I love Kraven ridiculously much. He's naughty and somewhat insane. Dark and maybe a little cruel. Sexy. Damn sexy. It's incredible. Like, how does someone even get that how? Well now, this is turning into a hopeless ramble so I'm gonna shut up, since by now I'm sure you know how desperately much I love Kraven anyway.
THE VILLAIN
NATALIE
Natalie intrigued me at first, but unfortunately I quickly became bored by her. She doesn't have a whole lot of substance and while she does start off different then she ends visibly, there's no real arc and she isn't really that interesting. I would have liked to be incised her head, though.
THE PLOT
Dark Kiss started off a little bit slowly. It took a while for any real action to happen. First, it sets everything up prettily and waits as you try to figure it out. Unfortunately, yes, it does take a while to get into anything interesting.
Still, once it gets started, it really gets started. The action is still a little on the slow side. It's not really action-packed, although there is definitely a lot of action. It was definitely a hard book to put down. I really didn't want to stop reading it, although much of it was because I wanted to get to the end. Not because it was bad, but because there wasn't exactly a ton of action, as I've said.
It was really interesting, though. Angels and demons forced to work together because of a great evil. Some got along alright, some really hated each other. The dynamic was great.
Even though the plot was a bit too slow-moving for my taste, the awesomeness of it all really made up for the lack of speed. Overall, it was awesome and I loved it! And Kraven.
THE ROMANCE
I loved the way this romance was, even if it definitely veered into the instalove zone, which was unfortunate. Still, while it is underdeveloped it is believable in a strange way. I could feel the sparks between Sam and Bishop. While I felt some chemistry between Sam and Kraven too, I'm glad she doesn't want him because I'll take him any day. But moving on! Sam and Bishop have a really good romance getting started and with further development it could really flourish.
THE WRITING
Michelle's writing is nice, if a bit too juvenile. It's told in first person POV by Sam, and sometimes she sounds a bit too young. However, the prologue from Bishop's POV in third person is completely beautiful. I really loved that part, and the rest of the book might have been better if told in third person, but oh well. Sam does have a really relatable voice, which helps make her so real.
THE ENDING
The ending was awesome! It left me satisfied. I felt that just enough was wrapped up, the main plot of this book all resolved but enough left open for problems in future books. It doesn't close off avenues, and leaves a lot. It wasn't a huge and cruel cliffhanger, but it most definitely left me wanting a lot more!
WRAPUP
I absolutely loved Dark Kiss! I really cannot wait for the next book, and will be reading it as soon as is humanly possible. I already have a feeling that I'll never be able to get enough of this series. And why would I? It has its faults, but it's also incredibly awesome and a ton of fun! I am a Michelle Rowen fan for life!
FINE.
****FINAL RATING: 4.35 RED ROSES****
