ARC Review: Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Title: Dark Kiss

Author: Michelle Rowen

Publication Date:  May 29th, 2012

Genre: YA Fantasy - Paranormal

"I don't do dangerous. Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing-and I don't know if I can get it back. Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me.... NIGHTWATCHERS When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising..." ~See it on Goodreads

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Well I’m always a little skeptical with books about fallen angels, maybe it’s because I have mixed feelings on the majority of the ones I’ve read (Daughter of Smoke and Bone being an exception). So I don’t immediately lean towards that particular subject matter, plus I’d seen a lot of mixed reviews for this one so I didn’t have super high expectations when I was starting this book.

However, I’m glad to report that I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would, the premise of the story was interesting and well planned out. The author did a fantastic job with the world building and the pace was perfect, I didn’t think the story moved too fast but then it wasn’t slow or boring either. There was also a little mystery mixed in there as well and it really kept my interest until the end.

I really liked Samantha, she was strong and intelligent. She took the challenges she was faced with head on and didn’t start acting all soft and whiny like some female characters in other YA novels tend to do (definitely a pet peeve lol). I absolutely freaking LOVED Kraven!! It’s no secret that I’m a total sucker for the snarky/sarcastic, smart-ass characters lol, and I’m happy to say Kraven fits that type perfectly. He was hilarious and had me laughing out loud at several parts of the story, I loved his personality and he was such a memorable character. On the downside, I wasn’t really impressed with Bishop. I didn’t get a good connection with him at all and I kind of forgot about him when I wasn’t reading something directly referring to or including him. I mean I get that Samantha (and I’m sure every other girl in the story) thought he was “so cute” but beyond that his personality just wasn’t memorable to me so I wasn’t really interested in him *shrugs*

The one main thing I didn’t like about the story was the ending, I had several questions that went unanswered and was kind of confused. But since this is the first book in the series I’m hoping the questions will be answered in future installments *fingers crossed*

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this book and I’m really glad I decided to give it a chance and read it. I’ll be continuing on with this series for sure.

4 Stars! 

Now before I end this I just have to say, how much do you love that cover?! I mean can you say hotness?! I mean the guy on the cover is pretty darn good looking right?? haha. Anyways, I love the contrast of the light and dark colors and the way the wings look kind of like ink spreading behind him, it has a bit of mysterious feel to it and totally captures the eye.