Witches of East End

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz, 2011 Hyperion Books

     After the Salem Witch Trials Joanna, Ingrid, and Freya Beauchamp were forbidden from using their magic, and in the last three hundred years they've refrained. But the limitations are beginning to chafe; they want to help people. Joanna has powers of renewal and destruction; her daughter Ingrid can see into the future and weave down-home magic with her knot-work; Freya, Ingrid's sister and Joanna's younger daughter, crafts love potions.
     When Freya falls for a local magnate the whirlwind romance seems like many she's experienced over the years. However it's Bran's brother Killian Gardiner who satisfies Freya's appetite for romance, excitement, and fuels her adrenaline rush. And Freya isn't the only one discovering romance: Ingrid finds an unusual attraction to a local police detective.
     With the joy of a new relationships the women discover themselves taking risks with their magic--one simple charm becomes another and soon the trio are practicing forbidden skills. Through the magic they discover forces at work in North Hampton, a grey mass over the ocean and unnatural nature around the town. Joanna seeks out her estranged husband in New York City for help with the situation.
     Chaos whirls around the town faster and faster, until Johanna and Norman discover it is the byproduct of Killian and Bran Gardiner's age-old battle over Freya and the breakdown of the boundaries between worlds. Memories of eternity return to the Beauchamps as they discover their history as Norse gods and goddesses.
     Though their lives are those of normal people, the Beauchamp family are immortal and personify their realms of power--Joanna is a mother with power over life and death, Ingrid is a librarian dealing with the daily lives in the community, and Freya is a bartender at the local pub.
     Both Ingrid and Freya live their lives anew, each rediscovering her magic and her heritage in each generation. As they learn to navigate the changing world each young woman makes mistakes and questions her place. Witches of East End is a book for older teens dealing with the struggles of women navigating life, love and age-old relationships cast into shadow by the near destruction of the Earth.