A coming-of -age novel featuring three generations of witches in t he 1960s, this whimsical yet heartwarming debut explores the importance of family and the joys and heartbreak of discovering who you truly are.
WHAT WE SACRIFICE FOR MAGIC
by Andrea Jo DeWerd
Crooked Lane, September 2024
It’s 1968, and the Watry-Ridder family is feared and respected in equal measure. The local farmers seek out their water charms and the teenagers their love spells. The family’s charms and spells have long served the town, passed down through generations of witches descending from the Black Forest.
Eldest daughter Elisabeth has just graduated high school?she is expected to hone her supernatural abilities so that she can help her grandmother, the indomitable Madga. She’s also expected to marry her high school sweetheart, and live the rest of her life in the small town of Friedrich, Minnesota. But all she can ask is why her? Why is her path set in stone?
She soon discovers that magic isn’t the only thing inherited in her family. That magic also comes with a great price- and a big family secret. The more she digs, the more questions she has and the less she trusts the grandmother she thought she knew. Who is Elisabeth without her family? She must ultimately decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for her family, for their secrets and their magic, or risk it all to pave her own way. A touching look at family and coming into one’s own, WHAT WE SACRIFICE FOR MAGIC is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman and Louisa Morgan.
Andrea Jo DeWerd is a writer, speaker, and the founder of the future of agency LLC, a book marketing and publishing consulting agency. Andrea received her M.S. in Publishing from New York University and B.A. in English from the George Washington University. Born and raised in Minnesota, Andrea now lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. WHAT WE SACRIFICE FOR MAGIC is her first novel.

Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret.
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At the spry young age of twenty-five, Sai has led a quiet life, keeping the family teahouse up and running —even if that means ignoring the past-due notices—and taking care of his ailing mother. But he has a not-so-secret gift that he’s parlayed into a side career: he was born with the ability see the red threads of fate between soulmates, which lends itself nicely to matchmaking. Sai has thus far been content not to follow his own thread, the only one he’s ever seen that’s gray and fraying.
In a world abandoned by the celestial guardians and left to suffer a tyrant king’s reign, all Astraea knows is safety in seclusion. With fragmented memories of only five years of her life, she’s determined to discover more about her past, even if that means fleeing the cruel arms that hold her safe from the wicked vampires rumored to roam the land. But when Astraea stumbles upon the mysterious Nyte, she soon realizes determination alone isn’t enough to guard her heart. He lingers like the darkness that expands between the stars, and soon she discovers her captor’s wicked means of control weren’t based on a lie to keep her under lock after all. In her desperation, Astraea accepts Nyte’s help before she can decide if she might have sold her allegiance to one of the bloodthirsty beings the people of her world fear. Once their bargain is struck, Astraea’s chance to escape comes in the form of accompanying her best friend Cassia to the King’s Central. There on royal territory it’s the centenary of the Libertatem, a succession of trials hosted by the king in which five human lands compete for a cycle of safety from the vampires seeking blood, claiming souls, and savaging after dark. So when tragedy strikes, Astraea must decide if taking the place of a murdered participant for the safety of her kingdom is a ruse worth dying for, or if protection—and the answers to her past—really are her strongest desires.