Witches of East End, by Melissa de la Cruz (Beauchamp Family #1)

I am really lazy. So lazy that I wanted to blog about this book but I wasn't in the mood so I risked forgetting what I thought about it. And guess what-I did. So please forgive me if I am lackluster in my review and this posts lacks the luster I try to put in my other reviews.

So Melissa de la Cruz writes a short story where Oliver (character from Blue Bloods who never gets the girl-you know, the best friend who is in love with his best friend who is having a grand romance with someone else) gets over Schuyler with the help of a mysterious bartender named Freya. Then Freya disappears and Oliver is on the road to happiness and the story is over. It is not the end of Freya though-the witch is one of the three "Witches of East End" along with her older sister whose name I think is Ingrid, and her mother whose name I most definitely cannot remember.

Freya, Ingrid, and let's call her Mom live somewhere on Long Island and I am scared to tell you the details because of how slowly they are released. I don't know what's safe to tell and what isn't so please forgive any spoilers. Freya's magic is love and love potions and that sort of thing; Ingrid weaves talisman-spell-thingies that heal; Mom can bring back the dead but doesn't like to. But, because of some event that you don't find out about until later, the three aren't allowed to use their magical powers and have to live an ordinary life, or as ordinary a life as they can. Freya is engaged to a millionaire but is falling for his brother. Ingrid is a librarian getting help on a project from a mysterious stranger. Mom is boring. I like Ingrid best because Freya is too wild and Mom, as I said before, is boring. Ingrid is calmer than Freya and has fewer boyfriends and has awesome powers.

I liked how de la Cruz revealed the serious background info slowly, not telling it all right at the beginning, or having all the bombshells dropped in the last chapter. Not that there weren't bombshells dropped in the last chapter-they just weren't background info. The plot was okay, but the characters (except Ingrid) were really flat. That got on my nerves at times. It was also a little too racy for me, especially anytime it was told from Freya's point of view. It was disorienting to read a chapter in that frame of mind then change to the sweet librarian for Ingrid and the boring old lady for Mom.

A recurring theme is how everyone loves men more than women. A mother has a special place in her heart for her son. A mother-in-law hates her son's wife but loves her daughter's husband. I never really thought about it till now and it does make sense. However, as de la Cruz also points out, this is caused in part by women's cattiness. And I agree. Personally, I am very catty. And my pointy ears and whiskers don't exactly help.

4.6 stars. I can see how someone might love it, just not me.