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Authors: Melissa de La Cruz

Winds of Salem

BOOK: Winds of Salem
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PRAISE FOR THE
Witches of East End
series

“Move over, zombies, vampires, and werewolves, and make way for witches. Melissa de la Cruz, author of the bestselling Blue Bloods series, ably sets the stage for a juicy new franchise with
Witches of East End
… De la Cruz balances the supernatural high-jinksery with unpredictable twists and a conclusion that nicely sets up book 2.”


Entertainment Weekly

“Centuries after the practice of magic was forbidden, Freya, Ingrid, and their mom struggle to restrain their witchy ways as chaos builds in their Long Island town. A bubbling cauldron of mystery and romance, the novel shares the fanciful plotting of Blue Bloods, the author’s teen vampire series… [B]reezy fun.”


People

“A magical and romantic page-turner…
Witches of East End
is certain to attract new adult readers… The pacing is masterful, and while the witchcraft is entertaining, it’s ultimately a love triangle that makes the story compelling. De la Cruz has created a family of empathetic women who are both magically gifted and humanly flawed.”


Washington Post

“For anyone who was frustrated watching Samantha suppress her magic on
Bewitched
, Ms. de la Cruz brings some satisfaction. In her first novel for adults, the author… lets her repressed sorceresses rip.”


New York Times

“What happens when a family of Long Island witches is forbidden to practice magic? This tale of powerful women, from the author of the addictive Blue Bloods series, mixes mystery, a battle of good versus evil and a dash of Norse mythology into a page-turning parable of inner strength.”


Self


Witches of East End
has all the ingredients you’d expect from one of Melissa’s bestselling YA novels—intrigue, mystery and plenty of romance. But with the novel falling under the ‘adult’ categorization, Melissa’s able to make her love scenes even more… magical.”

—MTV.com

“De la Cruz has, with
Witches
, once again managed to enliven and embellish upon history and mythology with a clever interweaving of past and present, both real and imagined… [It] casts a spell.”


Los Angeles Times

“De la Cruz is a formidable storyteller with a narrative voice strong enough to handle the fruits of her imagination. Even readers who generally avoid witches and whatnot stand to be won over by the time the cliffhanger-with-a-twist-ending hits.”


Publishers Weekly

“Fantasy for well-read adults.”

—Kirkus

“A sexy, magical romp, sure to bring de la Cruz a legion of new fans.”

—Kelley Armstrong,
New York Times
bestselling author of the Otherworld series

“Fans will be delighted with the next entry in her new adult series. A compelling tale of powerful magic, romance, betrayal and suspense.”

—Library Journal

For Mike and Mattie

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Praise for The Witches of East End series

Dedication

Epigraph

Once upon a time in North Hampton…

Salem: Spring 1692

Chapter One: A Violet War

Chapter Two: Of Plums and Pie

Chapter Three: Secrets

Chapter Four: In Bloom

Chapter Five: Mr. Brooks and Miss Beauchamp

Chapter Six: The Proposal

North Hampton: The Present: New Year’s Eve

Chapter Seven: What Dreams May Come

Chapter Eight: Brother Time

Chapter Nine: The Newlyweds

Chapter Ten: The Most Important Girl in His Life

Chapter Eleven: Of Gods and Men

Chapter Twelve: The Salon des Refusés

Chapter Thirteen: Detective Noble

Chapter Fourteen: Cavern in the Woods

Chapter Fifteen: Fighting Fire with Fire

Chapter Sixteen: The Perfect Family

Chapter Seventeen: From the Mouths of Babes

Chapter Eighteen: Gone Baby Gone

Salem: May 1692

Chapter Nineteen: Miracle Worker

Chapter Twenty: Raise the Roof

Chapter Twenty-One: Thank Heaven for Little Girls?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Whish Witch

Chapter Twenty-Three: Loose Lips

Chapter Twenty-Four: Love and Marriage

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Immortals

North Hampton: The Present Valentine’s Day

Chapter Twenty-six: The Hammer Strikes

Chapter Twenty-seven: The Family Three

Chapter Twenty-eight: The Manny Diaries

Chapter Twenty-nine: My Boyfriend’s Back

Chapter Thirty: The Price of Admission

Chapter Thirty-One: Tequila Sunset

Chapter Thirty-Two: Shower the People

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Price of Admission, Part Two

Chapter Thirty-Four: Where Things Come Back

Chapter Thirty-Five: Put a Ring On It

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Price of Admission, Part Three

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Monster at the End of the World

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sliding Dates

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Trickster’s Son

Chapter Forty: Mother Goddess

Time in a Bottle: Salem, North Hampton: Past, Present

Chapter Forty-One: Friend of the Family

Chapter Forty-Two: Black Widow

Chapter Forty-Three: Fork in the Road

Chapter Forty-Four: Crucible

Chapter Forty-Five: The Man in White

Chapter Forty-Six: Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter Forty-Seven: Appointment with Death

Chapter Forty-Eight: Alpha Girls

Chapter Forty-Nine: Nemesis

Chapter Fifty: Freya’s Diary

Chapter Fifty-One: In the Land of the Blind… the One-Eyed Man Is King

Chapter Fifty-Two: Goose Chasing

Chapter Fifty-Three: The Death of Spring

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Love of a Lifetime

North Hampton: The Present: Easter

Chapter Fifty-Five: Left Behind

Chapter Fifty-Six: One Wedding among the Funerals

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Longest Journeys Begin with a Single Step

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Loves of Her Life

The Nine Worlds of the Known Universe

The Gods of Midgard

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Melissa De La Cruz

Copyright

Jealousy is always born with love,
but does not always die with it.
—François, Duc de la Rochefoucauld,
Maxims

Once upon a time in North Hampton…

In a rambling colonial house in a little elusive town by the sea on Long Island’s northern and easternmost tip, a silver-haired witch named Joanna Beauchamp lived with her two daughters, Ingrid and Freya. Blond and brainy, thirty-something Ingrid was the local librarian, while barely-out-of-her-teens Freya was the wildest bartender who had ever mixed drinks at the North Inn’s bar. The women lived quiet, solitary lives, suppressing their natural talents in adherence to the Restriction of Magical Powers. The law was handed down from the White Council after the Salem witch trials effectively ended the practice of magic in mid-world after Freya and Ingrid were hanged in 1692.

Immortals, the girls returned to life, scarred by the experience and wary of the mortal world, and small-town life continued apace for centuries until the day Freya won the heart of the very handsome and very wealthy philanthropist Bran Gardiner, whose family owned the Fair Haven estate on eponymous Gardiners Island. Helpless against the force of her desire, Freya celebrated her engagement by having a torrid affair with Bran’s younger brother, Killian, he of the dark, smoldering good looks and devil-may-care attitude.

Following Freya’s lead of throwing caution to the wind, the witches soon unleashed their full powers—Joanna, whose
specialty was recovery and renewal, brought the dead to life. Ingrid, a healer who could tap into people’s lifelines and see the future, began to dole out her spells and charms to any patron with a trying domestic problem, and even gave the mayor’s wife a powerful fidelity knot. Freya, who specialized in matters of the heart, served up heady potions, and every night at the North Inn became a wild, hedonistic romp. It was all a bit of harmless, innocent, enchanted fun until a girl went missing, several residents began to suffer from a rash of inexplicable illnesses, and a dark menace was found growing in the waters off the Atlantic, poisoning the wildlife. When the mayor turned up dead, the finger-pointing began, and for a moment it felt like the Salem witch trials all over again.

BOOK: Winds of Salem
11.55Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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