The December Witches by Jennifer Claessen with illustrations by Heidi Cannon

Welcome and a huge thank you to author Jennifer Claessen, who joins us today with exclusive author content on The December Witches. 

As fans of The December Witches Trilogy we were delighted to be invited to join the blog tour for this final instalment!

Read our exclusive author content here and follow the blog tour, information below,  to find out more. Look out for the review by Sarah Broadley underneath.

 

A look back at the trilogy

You join us now at the beginning of the third and final of the ‘A Month of Magic’ books so a recap is definitely necessary!

 

Warning: spoilers below about October and November so don’t read on unless you’ve already got to know the Merlyns and the Morgans!

In October, Clemmie’s magic descended from the stars for the first time, but despite being under pressure from her Merlyn aunties, she couldn’t really use her power. She found out Aunt Prudie, Aunt Connie and her mum had a plan to try and keep their month of magic for longer, only for their rival coven, the Morgans, to steal the three elder witches and their plans and giant pumpkin away.

Clemmie and her cousin Mirabelle begrudgingly made friends with young Morgan hags Kerra and Senara. Together they pieced together an ancient tapestry about the original Morgan and Merlyn witches, realised how dangerous magic is and that they must return it to the stars.

The rescue their coven elders in a spectacular battle at the Morgan castle and release the magic from the pumpkin with a magical sword. All their magic returned to the stars and they celebrated Halloween!

But then – in November, Clemmie, ignoring her cousin Kerra, tried to fix their family tapestry as a way to apologise to her aunties for all the October chaos and spoiling their plans to keep their magic forever.

Despite knowing there was no magic left for the Merlyns, knights kept arriving at their home and, fleeing them, the young hags returned to the Morgan castle.

The Morgans too were facing threats from wild loose magic as fires sprang up everywhere and a forest began to grow and cover everything. The Merlyns and Morgans took shelter together and realised the twisted magic was spilling out of their ancient family tapestry.

Young Morgan hag Kerra, tired of being ignored, made herself Queen Knight to seize the tapestry and, in a chaotic battle, Clemmie found her voice and confidence to lead all the witches to victory against the knights. They wrestled all the magic back into the tapestry – but lost Kerra.

The witches celebrated Pie Night with fireworks, but Clemmie couldn’t stop thinking about her cousin, now stuck inside the tapestry…

Clemmie’s thirteenth birthday starts with a bang, quite literally, as she discovers she’s been chosen as a One True Witch. Excitement tinged with wary intrigue surround her as she fizzes and pops with an abundance of magic.

Is it possible to have too much magic running through her veins? Mayhem ensues as Clemmie is in a race against time to stand up to the ancestral powers that threaten her very existence. As Clemmie and her fellow hags join forces with the Morgans, she must release the overpowering surge if she’s to survive but at what cost?

Who, or what, is behind her predicament? Can the two covens come together to help her grasp the ancient magic? Will  her past stop her realising her full witch potential?

Jennifer Claessen’s final part of the A Month of Magic series will have readers on the edge of their seats.

A brilliant end to the story of a superb cast of characters and the magic that makes them unique and special in so many ways.