Witches of East End

Based upon the books written by Melissa de La Cruz, this story revolves around the lives of the Beauchamp women who reside in North Hampton, Long Island.  The matriarch of the family, Joanna, is keeping a secret, a very deep secret from her daughters Ingrid and Freya.... they are witches.  She's keeping another secret as well, she and her sister Wendy are immortal and cursed.

Joanna is cursed to bear children, the same two children every generation, and watch them die in early adulthood.  This causes her such anguish that during this lifetime she has hidden her powers and suppressed the girl's talents in the hopes that they will live normal lives and have a normal life span and in fact, this is the longest lifetime either girl has experienced.  This plan hasn't been completely successful as the girl's powers have leaked into their unsuspecting lives, causing absolute havoc in Freya's life and giving Ingrid an absorbed interest in witchcraft although she firmly believes it is complete bunkum.  The revelation of their true nature comes as quite a shock to both daughters but for Freya, it's a much needed explanation as to the odd things that occur around her and for Ingrid, it's a holy crap moment especially when she learns that she's astoundingly powerful and has, in fact, successfully performed a fertility spell on a friend.

Wendy is cursed with death, she can die but is resurrected within hours of her demise, she also has the additional ability to shape shift into the form of a black cat.   Along with her abilities and her curse, Wendy is the typical younger sister of a staid and composed older sibling, meaning she's very free spirited, flouts whatever strictures put upon her but can be depended on in a crisis.

Enter the crisis.... While Freya's engagement party to Dash Gardiner, a doctor from a wealthy family, is in full swing, a murder is committed not far from the party site.  The wife of the victim survives the attack and later identifies Joanna as the perpetrator, which she could not be, since she was at the party.  The next day Wendy appears after a century apart to warn Joanna that she's read the cards and trouble is coming.  Trouble in the form of a shape shifter who takes the appearance of Joanna and has an axe to grind, a very large axe.  Joanna did not always follow the witch's rede and she's made any number of enemies over the centuries and now she's facing some serious retribution towards herself and her daughters.

Enter secondary crisis...... At her engagement party Freya meets Dash's estranged brother Killian and she's inexplicably drawn to him to the point that she's dreaming about him and has more than one passionate encounter with him.   There's something more than meets the eye with the Gardiner family and it's not just dysfunctional relationships.

So, all in all, this is the story of a family of witches who are trying to keep their proverbial asses out of the fire (what else is new?), I'm not sure where it's going to end up but for now it has my attention and I'll keep watching.

Renee