Book-It-Forward ARC Tours: Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Witches of East End 

The Beauchamp Family, #1 
by Melissa de la Cruz 

June 21st 2011 by Disney-Hyperion

Courtesy of Book-It-Forward ARC Tours

It’s the beginning of summer in North Hampton, and beautiful Freya Beauchamp is celebrating her engagement to wealthy Bran Gardiner, the heir to Fair Haven and Gardiners Island. But Freya is drawn to Bran’s gorgeous but unreliable brother Killian, and sparks fly when the two decide to play a dangerous game, following an ancient story of love, betrayal and tragedy that harks back to the days of Valhalla.                                                                                                              Witches of East End follows the Beauchamp family—the formidable matriarch Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid. Freya, a sexy bartender, has a potion to cure every kind of heartache, while Ingrid, the local librarian, solves complicated domestic problems with her ability to tie magical knots. Joanna is the witch to see when modern medicine has no more answers; her powers can wake the dead. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a young girl, Molly Lancaster, goes missing after taking one of Freya’s irresistible cocktails. As more of the town’s residents begin disappearing, everyone seems to have the same suspects in mind: the Beauchamp women. 

GoodReads

____________________________________________________________

My Thoughts:

Witches of East End is Melissa de la Cruz’s first foray into the adult paranormal romance genre and it is a fabulous start!

This book follows the three Beauchamp witches in a world parallel to the Blue Blood’s, who many centuries ago use to be Goddesses until the bridge between the worlds was destroyed and they were trapped on this side. After the Salem Witch Trials, which they were involved in, all witches were punished by the council to live as normal, although immortal, humans and to never use magic again.

In the small town of North Hampton when they’re friends need assistance though, Freya, Ingrid and Joanna can’t help but to use a small bit of magic to aid them. At first the town is open to their magic but when residents start disappearing and are found dead the town goes on a witch-hunt.

The Beauchamp women must find the true culprits behind these crimes while navigating the curvy roads of their own relationships. Ingrid has realized too late what she feels for the local detective and must hear daily reports on his relationship with her co-worker, while Freya finds herself in the middle of a steamy love triangle between two brothers, and Joanna must go searching for her estranged husband in hopes to save the world!

Witches of East End started out a bit slow for me but when the pace eventually picked up I wasn't be able to put it down. I read this book in about nine hours; it was glued to my hands!

It’s an exciting adventure packed with love, betrayal, Norse mythology, witches, vampires and zombies. There are also plenty of unexpected twists & turns and super sexy love scenes. Each sister is totally different from the other and their point of views are very diverse; even the mother Joanna is not anything like her daughters.

Cruz takes you through the glom, into Midgard and Asgard - the land of the Gods, and to New York with an intense plot and captivating characters. The ending was a surprise and left me craving the second book in the series, The Serpents Kiss. Which is scheduled to be released sometime next year and I can’t wait!

Mimi and Oliver from Cruz’s Y.A. Blue Bloods series make a few cameos and if you’re an adult fan of the series then I def. recommend you reading the Beauchamp books. It gives a few little hints as to what is going on in the Blue Bloods world as well.

Rating: 4 Wine Glasses - Loved it!