4 Star Book Review | Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins

SWEET PERIL (The Sweet Trilogy #2)
by Wendy Higgins
Published: April 30th, 2013
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Borrowed from the Library
Purchase: Amazon

Anna Whitt, the 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 vow. 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?

Cover Review:

In the cover for Sweet Peril, we have Anna and Kaidan in front of a backdrop of an ominous red sky. These clouds are perfect for giving the feeling of danger and an approaching storm, just as we know that evil is fast approaching Anna and her friends.

On the cover of the first book in this series, Sweet Evil, Anna looks sweet and unsure of herself and Kaidan looked like temptation itself. But on the cover of Sweet Peril, Anna looks strong and ready to kick some evil butt, and Kaidan looks like he's putting space between himself and Anna, distancing himself.

This cover perfectly shows the current  dynamic between Anna and Kaidan, while also showing that dangerous and deadly evil is coming for them all.

Book Review:

After the New York Summit and the angel's intervention on Anna's behalf, the Dukes have upped the demon whisperers on patrol, watching all the Nephilim in case they are working for the other side. Even though Anna doesn't want to do the work of getting people to abuse drugs and alcohol, she knows that if she wants to survive she'll need to. But a lost message from the angel's gives Anna hope that all Neph can be free one day. Her father gives her a mission with Kopano to find allies among the Nephilim, those who will stand up and fight against the Dukes. Along the way, Anna and Kaidan put aside their issues for the sake of defeating the Dukes and being free of their control.

So in this book, in order to survive, Anna has become the life of the party. But that's not the biggest change we see in her. Anna has become more confident, tougher, and more determined. These are the kind of things I enjoyed seeing in her. These are the traits she'll need to fulfill the lost prophecy about her defeating the Dukes. So I was happy to see Anna become a kick-butt heroine in this book.

There's a bit of a love triangle that develops between Kopano, Anna, and Kaidan. Anna and Kopano become closer as they travel in search of allies, while Kaidan continues to distance himself. But even when he want to put distance between himself and Anna, he gets extremely jealous when she shows interest in someone else, especially Kopano. I'm always going to be #TeamKaidan, so the closeness between Anna and Kopano didn't make me happy, but that changed when an awkwardness developed between them afterward. Even when Kaidan is being a jerk, he can still make me swoon. Sure, I want to punch him when he's being a jerk, but then he'll do or say something that would just melt my anger and my heart. I'm glad that Anna never gave up on him, even when everyone was telling her she had no chance.

I love Anna's father. The Duke of Substance Abuse will do anything to protect his daughter. Their relationship, even though they haven't been together very long, always made me smile. He has so much love, affection, and pride in Anna. You can see his love for her in everything he does. I think that his faith in her ability to fulfill the prophecy really helped boost her confidence.

There was a really frightening point in the book when Anna and her friends were trapped on an island, hiding, as the Dukes had their fun with some women they brought there. That is when it's truly revealed that they want to be rid of Anna and all the Nephilim for good. I was truly saddened by what they did to Flynn. I really liked him. But this is also the point when Anna knows that the time is coming, very soon, for her to fulfill the prophecy.

Rating:

I gave Sweet Peril a 4 STAR rating. This book had everything - frightening conspiracies, newfound friends, hope given and renewed, and love coming out on top. I'm excited to see how the big battle will go down and who will make it out alive. And I'm definitely looking forward to more of Anna and Kaidan (as well as the rest of the gang).


Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NYT bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series from HarperTeen and her independently published Irish fantasy, See Me. She is a former high school English teacher who now writes full time, and lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her veterinarian husband, daughter, son, and doggie Rue.

Wendy earned a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.