Sweet Evil by: Wendy Higgins

Synopsis: What if there were teens whose lives depended on being bad influences? This is life for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil.

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 it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

A cross-country trip to meet her father forces Anna to face the reality that hope and love are not options for her kind. When she confronts her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Thoughts: Sweet Evil is an alluring debut that is down right seductive. It’s sinful, addictive, and just down right irresistible. This book will you have you wrapped around its enticing finger within the first few chapters. I cannot rave enough about how much this book reeled me in and tumbled my emotions. I. Want. More.

We start off with Anna Whitt. She’s the pretty girl that keeps to herself. The one with one best friend who’s always by her side. The girl who really does no wrong. A girl who can somehow see and feel your emotions around you. But, that all changes when she meets sexy drummer, Kaidan Rowe. She doesn’t want to be sucked into his cocky charm and be one of his physical flings, yet she cannot seem to stay away from him. And Kaidan just so happens to knows who she is and why she can do the things that she can do. Anna soon finds herself sinking into the world of sins, and she may have to keep sinking. Her life may depend on it.

This book was unlike any angel and demon story I’ve read. And what I loved most is that it’s more oriented towards the demon side. The concept and the way that Wendy presented each type of demon basically blew my mind. Imagine being a Nephillm meant you we’re actually dangerous. That being a Nephilim didn’t make you an angel, but a demon. A demon that will lure you to your sweetest sin. What I loved about how Wendy presented these “demons” was that they we’re quite easy to relate to and you *almost* understand why they do what they do. It was quite an interesting and thrilling take on the seven sins plus more.

It’s not just the way Wendy weaved her story that got to me though, it was the characters and how real each and every one of their stories felt. Anna, the protagonist, probably being one of my favorites. She’s the type of character that starts in one place in the beginning of the story and she ends up a completely different person by the end. But, Anna doesn’t spiral downward, she spirals upward into a stronger and smarter girl. And her interactions with her family, friends, and Kaidan just felt so real. I could feel each and every one of her emotions.

Which brings me to the seductively brilliant, Kaidan Rowe. Anna and Kaidan’s relationship (if you can call it that) I thought was presented and developed beautifully. It’s not insta-love or well, maybe it is, but they don’t fall into each others arms. I loved their constant getting under each other’s skin. I loved their arguments, because they were real problems that they needed to be  solved. Okay, so back to just Kaidan. I honestly, want to just sink into his beautiful hair, beautiful eyes, perfect grin, wonderful English accent, and just stay there. I must admit, there’s one side of me that goes ‘He’s a man whore! Gross!’. But, then the other side of me sees why he is the way he is and how he must do those things to survive. It makes me understand him and his ways. I’m still waiting for him to crack open and show the heart that I know is in there. And I cannot wait to read more of him. Here’s a passage about him that just killed me and completely broke me and I absolutely loved it:

“During those split seconds I watched him until his sight focused. Seeing me up there had broken something inside him.”

The time frame for Sweet Evil also made everything feel so much more real for me. It made the relationships, the build up of something coming, and Anna’s development all so much more real. Also, it’s not just those two main characters I loved either. I loved them all: Jay, Patti, Roni, Marna, Kope, Anna’s father, Blake (and that sexy eyebrow piercing), and I even liked Ginger. When you adore almost every character in a book, even the evil or snarky ones… you know it’s a book worth falling in love with. And that’s exactly what Sweet Evil did for me. I loved every single word and every single line. The whole story was just one thrill or one heart attack after another. And I can honestly say I loved every gosh darn sexy moment.