Ascension (The Witches of Pioneer Vale #1) by David A. Combs

SPFBO6

Angelica Brighton is a typical 21st Century High School senior - a diligent student, a track star, and surrounded by good friends. Life on her family’s farm is tranquil, happy, and prosperous. The arrival of a mysterious letter turns her world upside down, unveiling a destiny that leads her into the ancient heart of the nearby forest and face to face with the local urban legend of her sleepy New England town. Anne-Marie Carmichael is a compassionate and hard working wife and mother from the late 17th century. Determined to save her family’s struggling farm from financial ruin, she enters into a hasty bargain that unwittingly turns her into a soldier in a war that has lasted for millennia. Imbued with the primordial magic that extends her life and grants earth shattering power, the fiery natured farmwife must recruit the children of her family for generations to come to stand against the demonic Shade, Father of Nightmares. As the barriers between our world and the Realm of the Demonkin falter, Anne-Marie must awaken in Angelica the might that lies dormant in the Blood of the Firstborn and shape her into the weapon that fate has called for her to become. For only the Witches of Pioneer Vale can hope to win the battle that threatens to destroy not just the pastoral community that Angelica has known her whole life, but existence itself.

Young Adult • Fantasy/Historical • Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery