Witches of East End

This has to be one of the strangest springs I've experienced. We had really warm weather in late February in to March, but then the snow came back again and again. We had to keep using our furnace through May because the weather just didn't want to warm up. Finally last week we started to have some truly beautiful weather, summery, bright sunny, 80 degree days. The first three days of this week were miserably hot. The humid 90+ degree days we usually see in late July. But yesterday the temp dropped back down into the 50s, and today is more of the same, but with a rainy, overcast sky. The constant ups and downs of the barometric pressure have a huge impact on my pain. From tracking it over time along with my pain level, I've learned that I hurt more as it rises. Today is a miserable day. I just want to lie in bed and not do a heck of a lot. The good news is that I get plenty of reading done. The bad news is that I'm babysitting two boys for the summer. They are both very sweet and don't seem to mind my staying in bed, but I feel bad that I'm not coordinating fun for the three kids (including my own Mia). Hopefully I'll have some good days where we can make the most of the vacation.

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz is the first book in an adult series by the author of the YA Blue Bloods series. The Beauchamp women have made their home in North Hampton, a small town on the tip of Long Island that is just as mysterious as Joanna, Freya, and Ingrid. These three witches have kept their powers under wraps for the last few hundred years after being punished by the Council. Freya is engaged to Bran Gardiner, the owner of Fair Haven a grand manor just outside of town, but she can't help the feelings she has for his brother Killian. While working at the local bar, she decides to finally embrace her true self again and puts a selection of "love potions" on the menu. Ingrid is the uptight sister, working at the local library and trying to save it from the town's economic troubles. When Freya's magic doesn't seem to bring down any punishment, Ingrid decides to help out the town's women through charms, but she discovers that many of them all seem to have a strange gray mass inhibiting their ability to conceive or create. Joanna, the girls' mother, has funneled her energy into baking and redecorating their home (again and again and again), but she mourns the loss of her missing son and hides a secret about the girls' long-lost father. de la Cruz gives readers information about the Beauchamps history bit by bit, teasing and tantalizing until the pieces all come shockingly together. Mimi Force from the Blue Bloods series makes an appearance, but that section of the book feels a bit forced and doesn't quite fit in as well with the rest of the story. Of the sisters, Ingrid is the more likeable. Freya can't quite seem to keep her pants on, and is completely torn between sexy and electric Killian and shy and safe Bran. The book is incredibly sexy with a twisted mystery that will keep readers guessing. I really enjoyed the book once the real history of the women was revealed, but the story seemed disjointed and suffered from de la Cruz trying to keep the readers in the dark for too long. The resolution to their legal troubles seemed a bit too neat, but the epilogue hooked me, and I will definitely be looking for the next book in this series in hopes that the author will have hit her stride.

Thank you to Goldberg McDuffie Communications for providing me with a copy of this book for review.