Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3) by Wendy Higgins
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.
In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.
3 1/2 stars
Warning! This review WILL have spoilers for Sweet Evil (#1) and Sweet Peril (#2)!
In my review of the first book, I moaned about the character of Anna being blah and swooned over the sexiness of Kaidan. My basic feel was that it wasn’t worth the hype it was getting. In my review of the second book, Anna was still blah and Kaidan was still swoon-worthy. However, despite it’s “middle book syndrome” I declared that this series was a guilty pleasure I just couldn’t quit, despite questionable plot choices.
Quite frankly, this book is exactly the same.
I will say, this book was probably the most fast paced of the series, with the highest stakes. Everyone, from the dukes to Anna and her friends, are picking sides and grabbing weapons. There’s no more posturing, like in the last book.
Anna, though, is still stubbornly “sweet,” as the description calls her. She has a few moments of being drawn to drugs and alcohol, but they’re fairly blase considering the potential. Her only fault seems to be loving too much.
Kaidan, though, man. Kaidan. From Sweet Evil to Sweet Peril he took a jump to being way more 3-D than Anna, and this book is no exception. He’s sexy and he’s sweet and he’s scared and he’s brave. His struggle against his demonic nature is real, but so is his ability to fight it. I could marry this guy.
The whole Kaidan versus Anna thing mentioned in the description is not a big of a part of the plot as the blurb makes it seem, which was disappointing. Still, watching Kaidan try to protect Anna and stand up to his dad at the same time was pretty great.
The pals also make a reemergence in this one, in a big way. Anna’s “army” may be tiny, but I love each and every one of their personalities in a big way. It isn’t often that this many characters can be so unique and lovable, but this is done well here.
SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!
Kaidan and Anna’s whole big thing in the last book was that they couldn’t have sex because Anna needed to stay “pure” to wield the sword. This becomes a problem when Kaidan’s dad summons her, since he can smell virginity. Anna’s dad of all people decides the only way to fix this is for Kaidan and Anna to get married. REALLY? Of course they get mushy and gushy and say yes and then all their problems stem from trying to conceal that bond from the twins’ dad. Oy. (Believe it or not, this is also a smaller part of the book than I thought it would be. Other than the fact that this means they can have sex now.)
SLIGHT SPOILERS END
There is actually a death of one of the main characters by the end of this book, in a way that I totally did not expect. Given the mushy-gushy of the series most of the time, I didn’t believe that would happen. Since you know this death is coming for a while, it really aids to the whole higher stakes feel of this book. Besides this poor character, everyone else gets to be happily paired off and do the whole fight for love thing.
All in all, the ending was pretty good. It contained nothing I didn’t expect and wasn’t particularly heart pumping. The epilogue, however, bowled me over with the mushy-gushy in a way that made me squeal and cry and do some other things. KAIDAN, GUYS.
Basically, this series is still a great guilty pleasure for me. It’s steamy, the guy makes me fall over myself to swoon, and the plot is engaging enough to keep me entertained. I do love the concept, even if I think it was under used. The paperbacks are cheap enough that I would suggest a buy of at least the first one if you’re looking for a new swoon-read, and say as a definite for searching out in the library. I came for Kaidan and stayed for Kaidan, and he didn’t disappoint!
My Life is a Notebook 
Well said review!!!
Thank you!