Book Recap: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Cover Inspection:
This is completely unrelated to books, but...
that dress is just GORGEOUS.
Me want.

SUMMARY (book description based on GoodReads):

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?

BOOK REPORT CARD:

Cover	3.5
Plot	2.5
Writing	3.5
Characters	3.0
Ending	2.0
Overall Rating	3.0 Very Good! (89% to 92%) * highest rating possible is 4.0

LOCATION/SETTING:
The story is set in modern day Georgia.

MAIN CHARACTERS:
The main character is Anna. She lives with her adoptive mother. From childhood, she considers herself as different as she can "see" the feelings of people and her senses are enhanced. She's a good girl, the kind that would make parents proud and happy - no smoking, no drinking, no sex. Then there's Kaidan, the ultimate bad boy. Rich. A drummer. English accent. In the book, he was described as HoTT. He's so hot, he deserves an extra T. And um... he's the son of the Demon of Lust.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:
Half angel half demon Anna needed to find and speak with her demon father to find out more about herself. With the help of that hoTT (again with the extra T) bad boy Kaidan, they embark on a trip from Georgia to California to find out more about Anna's history. Anna falls for Kaidan somewhere along the way.

LOVE:
There are a lot of things I loved about this book! I love road trip books, and I love paranormal even more. So what happens when you combine the two? You get Sweet Evil. This book is basically a road trip story with a hoTT half demon of lust with an English accent. What's not to like?

Another thing I liked are the kissy scenes. Imagine the hoTT (emphasis on the extra T... LOL!) son of the Demon of Lust. Uh huh. Now add some quasi-detailed descriptions, such as:

• "smooth ridges," 
• "careful and slow," 
• "not enough for him," 

and what you now have is a delicious make out scene worth reading again and again.

I also like that Kaidan is very frank and candid about sex. A complete opposite of the virginal Anna. They are total opposites, and they cannot help but be magnetized to each other. There were a lot of awkward conversations between the two. Those scenes were just so sweet, and sometimes funny too! They made me laugh. They made me sigh. They made me smile.

What stood out the most for me are Anna's tender moments with her demon father. Who would've thought that a demon father has a soft side? These moments are actually the touching part of the story. Her father is very loving and sentimental, despite his being a demon.

With respect to the writing, there is a perfect balance between dialogue and description. The description is not overwhelming. On the other hand, the story is not driven by the dialogue or conversation between the characters. One does not take over the other. Also, I love the sensuality Higgin's writing - like eating strawberries dipped in rich, dark chocolate. Just yummy.

NO LOVE:
Anna and Kaidan's relationship didn't really develop. Kaiden is careful in pursuing the relationship because half demons are not allowed to be with each other. But the tension between the two is just undeniable. So, I would say it's just a matter of time.

I feel that the last few chapters were rushed - the chapters were skipping from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's.

FAVORITE CHARACTER:
Kaidan, naturally. A Lusty half demon with a sweet, romantic side. He initially wanted to appear hard and tough, but underneath he is soft. A fluffly marshmallow.

FAVORITE LINE:

“Kaidan... do you think you could try to be a gentleman, at least while we’re traveling together, and maybe wear shorts to bed?”
“Ahh... I see.” He sat back. “The sight of my arse gave you quite a fright, did it?”

MUSINGS:

Virginal Anna.
Honestly, Anna's sweet nature made me want to throw up. In the early parts of the book, Anna was too naive and too sheltered. She is too protected. Plus, her adoptive mother is so preachy about her virtue. It became annoying to a point.

Love Triangle. Maybe?
There is a possible love triangle between Anna, Kaidan and this other half demon Kopano. But it's pretty obvious that Kaiden is the star of Anna's heart from the start. Kopano seemed more like a distraction.

Mafia summit among the Dukes of Evil.
The idea about 12 Dukes of Evil is just wonderfully unique. There is one duke for every sin. There is a Duke of murder. There is one for lust, another for substance abuse, hatred, and so on and so forth. And they meet like mafia heads to talk about spreading evil and all. It's an interesting idea.

Innuendos anyone?
Sweet Evil is a beautiful combination of sexy and cute. It's a story about seduction and temptation. Almost every conversation between Anna and Kaidan ends with a sex joke or an innuendo, making this book one of the sexiest YA books around.

Cliff hanger
This book ended with a cliff hanger, so not all questions were answered. There were still some issues that needed to be addressed in the next installment. All in all, Sweet Evil is fun and sexy read, and I enjoyed it very much!

DOODLES:


AUTHOR'S WEBSITE:
Wendy Higgins

SIMILAR READS:
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

CONTENT REVIEW:
profanity: moderate
violence: moderate
sexual content: moderate (talk of virginity)
mature themes: moderate to heavy (smoking, intoxication, drug use, talk of abortion)
age recommendation: 14+