LAILAH BY NIKKI KELLY
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance
Source: Fierce Reads Giveaway (ARC)
“I desperately needed answers. There was so much I didn’t understand.”
– Nikki Kelly, Lailah
Series: The Styclar Saga
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Synopsis: 
The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.
On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.
In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?
Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is. [Goodreads]

In a battle as old as time between good and evil, Cessie (Lailah) is not sure what she is and where she falls into the great divide of angels and vampires. The only information she has about her past is what she has relived through her dreams and even then she is not sure how much of it is true. That is until she runs into an injured stranger named Jonah and her whole life slowly starts to change as she learns more about who she is and what she is. There is suspense, mystery, action, romance and of course some swoon worthy men!
This book was exactly what I needed. I was completely captivated by the story, world and characters that I had a hard time putting it down and actually read a majority of the book in one sitting! I was nervous going into this book because of the vampires and sometimes they get a little weird and overdone, but I was pleasantly surprised and loved the world. The world building and development were fantastic! The world building was subtle enough that it wasn’t overloaded all at once, but you learn alongside Cessie (Lailah). I also loved that the book was based in Europe, it created a beautiful setting and a great feature to the story! Kelly laid out a story that was so beautifully written and flowed so well that it was so easy to devour. There was a youthfulness to her writing that allowed me to easily connect to Lailah and totally understood her, her problems, feelings and where she was coming from as well as Brooke and the other characters.
The characters sure had large dynamic and unique personalities! Kelly did a fabulous job crafting some absolutely amazing men! The earn the title for being swoon worthy and each have their own personalities and qualities that enhance each of them! I have to say although Gabriel is the handsome angel that is protective and caring,  I am definitely into the bad boy vampire with that great sass! I loved that each character had their own stories and connection to the other characters. Lailah was a strong female character and definitely had a mind of her own. She went through a lot and there was lots of character development seen through the whole book.
As much as I loved and adored this book there were a few things that annoyed me a little, but I was able to ignore for the most part because of the great story, world and characters! There is a love triangle, this should be no surprise because most paranormal romances (basically YA genre in general) seem to have this element. There were also times that I was reminded a lot of Twilight (and not just because they are both paranormal romances with love triangles and vampires) it was certain words and actions that instantly took me back to Twilight, but it only happened a few time.
Through the clichés, came a story that I found unique and a new take on the typical good versus evil story. It had a fresh twist our world and the idea of heaven and hell. There were twists and surprises, swoony men and great characters full of life and personality.There were some great swoon worthy quotes and great fangirl moments. It left me wanting (needing) more and has become a guilty pleasure read for me that I am sure will become a re-read very soon! I highly recommend it for fans of Richelle Mead, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Stephanie Meyer. It read like the greats that came before it, Twilight, The Vampire Academy, White Hot Kiss etc. (This is not just because it is about vampires it is because it is a captivating paranormal romance!)