Each woman has her own specialty when it comes to magic. But as the novel progresses, the restrictions placed on them begin to fray at the seams. Each woman's magic begins to leak out which prompts all the women to use their magic to assist their fellow townspeople for various purposes - infertility, writer's block and infidelity to name a few.
But while assisting the townspeople in their various problems, they find horrible events starting to occur. Otherworldly creatures start to appear where they shouldn't and some of their fellow townspeople disappear and are then found dead. These problems are then blamed on the Beauchamp women. Joanna, Freya and Ingrid begin to fear the same result the last time they blatantly used their magic on the townsfolk during the Salem witchcraft trials. With some assistance from Freya and Ingrid's estranged father they begin investigating these crimes to try and prove their innocence. Though these crimes and other plot twists are wrapped up, de la Cruz still leaves us with a major cliffhanger at the end to keep readers in suspense.
Reading the first general description on the novel, I decided to give this book a chance. Though I never read the author's Blue Bloods series, I was still intrigued by what this book might have to offer. What I was actually surprised by was where the plot actually ended up going. Mainly the origin of why all the weird things in North Hampton were happening. I'll give you a hint: Norse mythology. For some this might be a dead giveaway if you're at all familiar but I'm not so I had no idea.
I also enjoyed the way the author portrayed each Beauchamp woman. Freya has always been the free spirit. She's 19 and is a bartender at one of the local bars. She also has a magic fake ID that shows her of legal drinking age even through she's not. Man what I would have done to get one of those when I was underage. She's also engaged to the town's most eligible bachelor, Bran Gardiner, though she's having an affair with his brother.
Ingrid is practically the polar opposite of Freya. She's single, hasn't had any real relationship throughout her immortal life and is a librarian at the town library. She's intelligent and reserved. She's also generous and self-less and wants to help people. That's actually how she decides to start using her magic again. One of her friends and co-workers is having issues with infertility and she helps them by using her magic.
Then there is their mother Joanna. Though in this particular installment, I don't feel the author goes into as much detail with Joanna as she does her daughters, you still get a general idea of her as a character. She's definitely not the traditional mother. Obviously. She doesn't really cook or clean. But she does bake quite a bit. Joanna is also still dealing with the separation and estrangement of her son and husband. I won't go into details on both situations but it's a major emotional and mental albatross on her neck. But no matter her issues, she still tries to be the best mother she can be by supporting her daughters whenever and wherever she can. I think that's what any mother strives to do with their children.
It's pretty obvious to say that I really liked this book. Just on the sole basis that I've written so much on it and this is the only book listed on this post. I think it's rare to find a book or a series that really speaks to you these days. And that's always different for every person. The world is such a diverse place so of course each individual is going to enjoy reading different books and genres as a whole. But I honestly feel that this book and later the series (once the author gets around to writing more) has the ability to transcend and connect to readers outside this particular genre. Plus she probably already has at least some of the Blue Bloods audience already. So hats off to Melissa de la Cruz. You thought up and wrote a good one. And you've just earned yourself another fan.
General rating for this book: A+
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