Book Review: Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Reckoning (Sweet Evil #3)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: April 29th 2014
Length: 464 pages
Keywords: YA, fantasy, angel, demon, sins, romance, friendship
Source: Edelweiss

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

Summary by Goodreads 

  

It was so hard to say Goodbye to Kaidan and Anna and all the others after everything that happened over the course of the three SWEET EVIL books. There is a lot of drama and teen angst, also some of the best and happiest moments our characters could wish for. I can't believe SWEET EVIL almost remained a standalone novel a few years ago and now we've been lucky enough to get three whole books out of the story. Wendy Higgins always puts a certain clever spin on events and leaves room for surprises. Her books are merging together seamlessly into one big constantly well-plotted and beautifully written story.

Anna and Kaidan's romance is the biggest part of the story, and I'm sure their fans wouldn't want it any other way. Their relationship is even more intimate, trusting and steamy than before. Actually, it's even more romantic than I imagined it to be. Now there are some very deep emotions that have grown from the strong physical attraction that brought Kaidan and Anna together in the first place. The progress they are making as a couple is just as immense as their own personal maturation. Wendy Higgins' writing makes for a whole bunch of happy readers in the end.

No other series has as many secondary characters that I just can't get enough of as the SWEET EVIL series. Blake, Kopano, Zania, the twins and all the other friends and allies that are set to fight evil. Their stories and relationships, of love and friendship, meant just as much to me as Kaidan and Anna's love story. They all belong together and are bound by their loyalty, love and common goal.

Some readers will probably not be okay with some things happening towards the end of Anna's story. I had to wrap my mind around the fact that they were happening for the greater benefit of Anna and Kaidan's relationship and their friends. The only part I'm still hoping to forget is the epilogue. I found it corny and not in sync with the original story's voice. But SWEET RECKONING isn't the first book with a last chapter that didn't quite fit with my taste. 

SWEET RECKONING is the conclusion to a beloved trilogy, so naturally I want to tell you all about  my favourite scenes (there are so many), but you have to find out on your own how Kaidan and Anna's story ends. And now I'm wishing for many more books written by Wendy Higgins!

  

5/5 ***** SWEET RECKONING - A blazing end to one of the best sexy YA series by the sweet Wendy Higgins!

When I first picked up Wendy's debut SWEET EVIL I couldn't foresee how hard I'd fall for Kaidan and Anna's love story in the end. Kaidan is one of my absolute favourite book boys, the conflict between heaven and hell is as absorbing and the story in SWEET RECKONING as fast-paced as in the previous two books. This is the exact right pick for readers who are looking for a series with a hell of a paranormal story background and a romance on the hotter side of YA contemporary.

""Everything will be okay," I said quietly. 

"The sooner we get rid of them, the better."

His jaw worked from side to side. I wanted him to talk to me.

"What are you afraid of, Kai?"

"I'm only afraid of one thing." His blue eyes hit mine. "Losing you."

Pained fear showed on his face, and it wrung my heart. We both knew what we were up against."

SWEET RECKONING you might enjoy ANGELFIRE by Courtney Allison Moulton, THE FALLEN AND LEVITHAN by Thomas E. Sniegoski and THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER by Jana Oliver. Demons or angels make an appearance in all of them, but unfortunately no Kaidan.

* Have you read SEE ME by Wendy Higgins yet?

* Click here to read an excerpt of SWEET RECKONING!

* Watch the SWEET EVIL book trailer here.

* Do you want to meet Wendy Higgins? Check out her event schedule.

* For further information about Wendy and her books visit www.wendyhigginswrites.com.
 
* Thanks to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for the chance to review SWEET RECKONING! 

Mini Reviews #18

I believe the 18th Mini Reviews edition should have something for every YA reader. Angels, demons and sinners, a cyborg mechanic from a futuristic China and mermaids. Today I'm reviewing SWEET PERIL by Wendy Higgins, CINDER by Marissa Meyer and OF TRITON by Anna Banks.

Sweet Peril (Sweet Evil #2) by Wendy Higgins

Anna is still the good girl at heart, no matter how many innocent humans the Dukes make her turn into sinners. Together with Kopano, the Son of Wrath she's travelling the world to find new allies in fellow Nephilim and ultimately fight for their freedom. Her feelings for Kaidan are true, they can help her win this war...or put her in great danger.

We meet new Nephilim, Zania and Flynn. Kopano, Blake and the twins are in for a fight against the Dukes as well.

With our jet set queen Anna travelling to meet the other Nephs we are seeing different cultures and exotic places. The change in scenery is well-done, taking us to places all over the world. It's a lovely collection of new impressions and the travelling makes SWEET PERIL so much more exciting. Whenever we were granted a scene with Kaidan all my senses were set on high alert, forbidding myself to miss even the tiniest details. This boy sure is the right to be the Son of Pharzup, the Duke of Lust. SWEET PERIL allows us to see many new facets of him, e.g. his emphatic and selfless character. Anna and Kaidan are exploring their domestic and cuddly side as a couple a bit. As much as they can be smoking hot, they can be cute as hell, too. 

5/5 ***** SWEET PERIL - The seven sins have never been sweeter and more tempting! 

After an amazing first book in the SWEET EVIL trilogy, I read SWEET PERIL in only one day. Engagingly written as it is, it was just as addicting as Wendy Higgins debut novel. Don't underestimate Kaidan Rowe's lust or better love spell!

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publishing Date: April 30^th 2013
Length: 371 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, lust, sins, travelling

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary 

Sweet Peril Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is just a simple mechanic with a step-mother and two step-sisters. That's until she meets Prince Kai and gets on the bad side of Lunar Queen Levana by awakening Kai's interest. See the fairy-tale parallels? Of course, it's Cinderella!

CINDER is set in New Beijing, so there are apparent Chinese and Asian influences on characters and story. New Beijing has an original history which is currently determined by a plague that's spreading through the nation.

There are a bunch of fairy-tale retellings, but this one has an impressive magic of its own. Marissa Meyer took just one idea of an old story and made her very own story out of it. A very basic Cinderella retelling is pimped with a futuristic sci-fi interface. Who would think to make cinderella a cyborg? Sadly, I didn't click with the cyborg elements, even though they were inventive and a highlight for other readers. 

Kai and Cinder's dialogues are too funny, sometimes even sneaky and allusive, hinting at a more romantic interest on both sides. Their love story did help make CINDER a more interesting read, but wasn't a highlight either.

3,5/5 ***/* CINDER - A futuristic and cyborg-tastic fairy-tale world created by Marissa Meyer with much care and love for detail.

CINDER is not as explosive as I thought it could be, but unlike any other YA novel I've read. Marissa Meyer wrote a fairy-tale retelling of a whole new quality. She invented her own world, with the potential to not only be home to one fairy-tale character but a few more, like Rapunzel or Little Red Riding Hood. A versatile world I'm definitely coming back to!

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publishing Date: January 20^rd 2012
Length: 387 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, futuristic, cyborg, fairy-tale retelling, romance

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary 

Cinder Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Of Triton (Of Poseidon #2) by Anna Banks

Being the reason for starting a war between the two kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton isn't the worst there can be about your life, right? Finding out that your mother is the long-lost Princess of an underwater kingdom is worse. You are forbidden to be with your love, a true Prince. And what about learning that as a Half-Breed both kingdoms want to see you dead? 

OF TRITON might fill the spot next to OF POSEIDON on your book shelf, but barely adds progress to the actual story. What happened to Anna Banks' brilliant plot of the first book? Couldn't see it continuing in this sequel.

As Emma's mother's past is very important for the story in this second book, parts of her history are recapitulated and reconstructed and with that the story took a direction I couldn't enjoy that much anymore. Her mother's infuriating temper doesn't allow any discussions at all. And so she couldn't very well count on me to feel any kind of sympathy towards her. Then Emma and Galen's relationship isn't as fresh and as adventurous as in OF POSEIDON (which I loved). Can we please just abandon the adults in this story and let the teens have their sexy times?

3,5/5 ***/* OF TRITON - Not as much splashy underwater fun as the first book offered.

This is probably the shortest sequel ever. OF TRITON is weaker in story-building and romace-wise than the first book in the series.  Nevertheless it felt great to be back with our awesome sea crew, because Emma, Galen and their friends sure provide entertainment. I'm setting all my hopes on OF NEPTUNE to be the worthy and epic conclusion to OF POSEIDON.

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publishing Date: May 28^th 2013
Length: 246 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, underwater kingdom, mermaid, romance

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary 

Of Triton Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Cover Reveal: Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins

SWEET PERIL, the sequel to Wendy Higgins' SWEET EVIL has finally got a cover and I'm happy to share it with you. Anna and Kaidan look hot and totally develish don't they? How do you like the cover?

Publication Date:  April 30, 2013 from HarperTeen

 

Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a claim. She’d been naive about a lot of things. Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

 

Wendy Higgins was born in Alaska, grew up an Army brat, and lived all over the United States before settling in the Washington, DC area. She attended George Mason University for her undergrad degree in creative writing, and Radford University for her masters in curriculum and instruction. Wendy taught 9th and 12th grade English in a rural school before becoming a mother and author. She now lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet Peril is her second novel.

 Book 3 of The Sweet Trilogy, Sweet Reckoning, is slated for spring/summer 2014.

And if you haven't read SWEET EVIL, you totally should!

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Summary by Goodreads



Thank you Wendy for letting me be a part of the SWEET PERIL cover reveal :)

Book Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Evil

Author: Wendy Higgins

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publishing Date: May 1^st 2012

Length: 453 pages

Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, fantasy, sins, demons, angels

Source: Bought

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Summary by Goodreads 

SWET EVIL is so forbiddingly well written that I can't imagine anyone ever setting this book aside for more than a few minutes after starting it. Well, I needed to for bathroom and kitchen breaks, but believe me, I would have read straight on from beginning to end if that was possible.

Anna is one heroine I could almost 100 % identify with. A very rare occurance. She's the good girl, shy and very emotional about everything.  

That Anna is one of a kind adds thrill and curiosity to the story. She is angel and demon all at once. Having an angelic mother and a demonic father. Everything's new to her and she has yet to find her destiny and place in life. How evil does she have to be to survive the Dukes constant supervision and how much evil might kill the goodness that makes her the person she is?

Kaidan, our male protagonist, is pure dynamite. Erasing every other book boy from my dreams. Well, as the son of Pharzuph he knows how it's done. Ladies, get ready to be expertly seduced! Kaidan Rowe is attractive, sexy and even if he would never admit it, he has a heart and is very capable of using his brain and not only..yeah, you know.

The contrast between Anna and Kaidan is enormous at first look. He is the bad boy, having to have as much sex as possible to please his demonic father of lust. Anna is the angelic good girl. You'll see them being together is an explosive combination. Anna will be tested and also Kaidan has to face who he really is.

I like how much Wendy Higgins extracts from her characters and gifts to us readers. Her characters are made of awesome!

There was one teeny tiny thing that bugged me though. Wendy Higgings incorporated a few German sentences, which I really appreciate. More foreign languages in YA English books, please! But somehow the phrase got mixed up and wasn't translated correctly. I guess it just slipped through the edits.

What would SWEET EVIL be wihout the big evil? Wendy Higgins spins a story of sins and acts of kindness. Goodness battleling evil. So there's no way round meeting the various Dukes of sin and all the bad in the world. Quite entertaining I say. Expect to read a lot about inappropriate behaviour, much cussing, cheating, sleeping around etc. 

There's a list of the Dukes and their offspring at the end of the book, so don't worry if you can't remember all the names and attributes after their first mention.

Up until a few days ago Wendy Higgins hadn't been sure if there would be another book in the SWEET EVIL series. The news: Harper signed her for a trilogy. So there will be two more books after SWEET EVIL!! I can hardly contain my excitement.

1) of the will to sacrifice

2) what happens on road trips...

3) of the sweetest angelic heroine

4) of temptations one simply cannot resist

5) of a bond of sizzling hotness extraordinare

5/5 ***** SWEET EVIL – A seductively delicious treat!

This book was so much more than I'd hoped it would be. Kaidan and Anna's connection is sizzling hot. The entire cast is so brazenly charismatic and wonderful. The challenge to ever get that book out of my mind is on! It's a real joy for sinners and a dare for saints! SWEET EVIL makes you want to be both!

* Read an extract of SWEET EVIL here. 

* Watch the book trailer. 

* Here's the SWEET EVIL playlist. 

* Want to meet Wendy? Check out her event schedule! 

* Want to read the first chapter from Kaidan's point of view? Click here! 

* For further information about Wendy and her books visit www.wendyhigginswrites.com