Lifetime has given a 10-episode series order to Witches of East End, an hour-long drama based on Melissa de la Cruz’s best-selling novel.

Cannot wait!

This Lifetime TV Pilot is based on the popular book series of the same name by Melissa de la Cruz. In the books the three Beauchamp women—Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid—live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret—they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there’s Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.

For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it’s time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.

Main characters:
Julia Ormond as Joanna Beauchamp
Rachel Boston as Ingrid Beauchamp
Jenna Dewan as Freya Beauchamp
Patrick Heusinger as Dash Gardiner
Daniel Di Tomasso as Killian Gardiner
Nicholas Gonzalez as Matt Torcoletti

Recurring and guest stars:
Madchen Amick as Wendy
Glenne Headly as Penelope
Tom Lenk as Hudson Rafferty

Tom Lenk has snagged a recurring role on Lifetime’s Witches of East End pilot. He will playing Hudson Rafferty, Ingrid’s fellow librarian and gay best friend who helps her cast a fertility spell on one of their pals.

Rachel Boston will play Ingrid Beauchamp, the quirky, yet smart sister of Dewan’s Freya Beauchamp. The show is set in North Hampton and tells the story of Freya and her sister, who are unaware that they have magic powers until Freya becomes engaged to a rich philanthropist and their mother (Julia Ormond) is forced to tell them about their gifts.

Lifetime has ordered the drama pilot for Witches of East End for 2013, this was announced yesterday by Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President, Programming, of Lifetime Networks. Maggie Friedman wrote and will executive produce Witches of East End, which will be produced by Fox 21. Erwin Stoff of 3 Arts Entertainment will also executive produce.

A little background on the book series:

Witches of East End centers on the adventures of a mother and her two adult daughters — both of whom unknowingly are their family’s next generation of witches — who lead seemingly quiet, uneventful modern day lives in Long Island’s secluded seaside town of North Hampton. When one of the daughters becomes engaged to a young, wealthy newcomer, a series of events forces her mother to admit to her daughters they are, in fact, powerful and immortal witches.

The second book in the series: Serpent’s Kiss was released on June 12th.

Publisher’s blurb: Joanna and her daughters, bookish Ingrid and wild-child Freya, are just settling into the newfound peace that has been cast over their small, off-the map town of North Hampton. With the centuries-old restriction against practicing magic lifted, casting spells, mixing potions, and curing troubled souls has never felt so good for the three witches. That is, until everything gets turned upside down–from Joanna’s organized kitchen to Ingrid’s previously nonexistent love life to Freya’s once unshakeable faith in her sexy soul mate, Killian Gardiner.

When Freya’s twin brother, Freddie, suddenly returns, escaped from Limbo and professing innocence on a long-ago crime, Freya should be ecstatic. The golden boy can do no wrong. Or can he? Freddie blames no other than her fiancÉ Killian for his downfall, and enlists Freya’s help to prove it. Now Freya doesn’t know who to believe or trust.

And for the first time in–well, forever, really–Ingrid is also busy in love. Matt Noble, the handsome and charming police detective, has won her heart. But can romance work between a virgin witch and a mortal who doesn’t believe in magic? Things get even more complicated when it appears Ingrid is harboring the prime suspects in Matt’s police investigation.

To add to the chaos, a dead spirit is attempting to make contact with Joanna–but does it mean to bring harm or help? Joanna asks her sort-of ex-husband Norman to help figure it out, only to accidentally invite him to a Thanksgiving dinner with a dapper gentleman she’s recently begun dating.

As the witches pull together to discover the serpent within their midst and the culprit behind Freddie’s imprisonment, everything is thrown into peril. Will the discovery come too late to save those they love most?