BELTANE CURSE By Tracy Cooper-Posey

Haigton Crossing is a crossroads with its own personality, interesting residents and visitors, a mind of its own, and doesn’t exist on a current map.

From the “everyday” challenges of feeding those in the hotel, with the numbers increasing daily as Beltane approaches; a time where the veil between worlds grows thin. Add in an FBI murder investigation and you get just a hint of the complexity, intrigue, magic and entertainment to be found here.

Absolutely irresistible.

Beltane Curse is the second book in the Witchtown Crossing series that began with Crossroads Magic and introduced us to Anna Crackstone, a very unusual elder woman with unexplored talents.

Beltane Curse begins with Anna trying to explore and strengthen those talents while simultaneously running a hotel and looking after her pregnant daughter.

As Beltane draws closer, all sorts of unexpected guests show up at Anna’s hotel and now, to help a friend, Anna has to solve a mystery on tape of everything else.

Anyone who has ever read any books by this author will know to expect to be drawn into the story. I’ve learned to put up a do not disturb sign. That way no one expects anything of me until I’m finished and my home stays a happy place.

Beltane Curse is a delicious treasure wrapped around a gripping plot, interesting places, complex characters and just plain fantastic writing.

This second book in the Witchtown Crossing series is so, so good. I could hardly put it down. All of the characters from the first book are here. Add in an interesting story and a definitely unexpected ending and you have a fantastic read. Anna is simply a marvelous character I want to read more stories featuring her and the wonderful cast of characters that live in Haigton.

When we were little, we dreamed of growing up to become princesses. But now, we realize becoming a witch is the much better path to follow, just like our heroine in Beltane Curse. Book Two flows quite well from Book One as we learn more about Haigton Crossing and it's inhabitants. Seasons change, as they will, and the story becomes very interesting as our Inn Keeper learns about her powers and how to effectively channel them which results in solving a Supernatural Mystery. Can't wait for Book Three! I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader copy of this book

Beltane Curse is the second installment in the Witchtown Crossing series. This is by no means a different series, the main character is so relatable an humane in all that crazy witchy stuff that makes all the package believable. I love Beltane and how it's weaved into the story. Also if you love detective books this is your one. Tracy's ability to weave genres into one book is incredible, don't miss this one 😜

Beltane Curse (Witchtown Crossing Book 2) by Tracy Cooper-Posey continues the story of Anna, who has had her life turned upside down. It started with her mother’s death, which led to her moving across the US to a town that was a bit different.
So many new issues to deal with keep Anna very busy. Her daughter Ghaliya is pregnant, and this is a very high-risk pregnancy. She wasn’t even supposed to be able to get pregnant.

Now Anna has to manage the Haigton Crossing Hotel which had been her mother’s and a big holiday is approaching, Beltane, which will bring many guests to the hotel.

Since moving to Haigton Crossing, Anna has discovered that there are a lot more than mundane humans in the world and that she is one of them.

This is an enjoyable adventure as we follow Anna’s path of discovery.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC of this book. I LOVED it. You will not be disappointed. I was waiting for the release of this book after having read the first book in the series. I enjoyed learning more about Anna and this otherworld that she finds herself a part of. I liked the way that the residents pulled together when needed to achieve a common goal. There were unexpected twists and turns and that ending… I can’t wait for the next book.

When I began to read Beltane Curse there were a few things I knew for certain. I was embarking on a journey into a strange world; I would not be able to tell where this story would go or what would happen by the end of the book; and, no matter where the story might lead, it was going to be fascinating. And all of these things came true. Even though Anna Crackstone has left her city life on the West Coast and is now living in a small rural hamlet in the Northeast, other aspects of her life had not changed as much. Every day — and sometimes every hour — a new problem presents itself, new demands are made on her time, and someone expects her to do something. All women can find common ground with Anna, most particularly women in middle age, and this commonality draws the reader deeply into her story.

As always, I revel in this author’s ability to fully inhabit her characters and the locations in which she places them. I can hear the stairs in the hotel creaking, smell the coming of spring in the wilds of the rural north of New York State, and feel the cool breezes of the brief northern spring. The intense strain Anna is under, as she tries to keep up with the basics while more and more problems keep coming at her from every direction, is bang-on real life. I mentally reflect “Of course it did!” when sitting on a backless stool for too long makes Anna’s back ache. The places and the people come alive with the author’s wonderful imagery. One vivid example I particularly enjoyed referred to a fern that was dying. It was “sagging over the side of the enamel pot like a dying, gasping fish.” With that image in mind, I could see that plant as if I had been there in the room myself.

This is a marvelous story: surprising, frightening, illuminating, and satisfying. It’s a complete story, in and of itself, but I can hardly wait to find out what happens next in Anna’s life. The wait for the next book in this series will probably feel very long, but I’m confident that it will be well worth the wait. To add my vote with others’ requests (while paraphrasing Charles Dickens), “Please, ma’am, I want some more!”

Always something going on. Not necessarily high action, but the story kept moving with slices-of-life interspersed with the build-up to the Beltane festival. A number of things were building on people and situations introduced in the first book, adding to and enhancing the world-building and character knowledge. There were also new elements including the FBI Investigator who could sense that that something wasn't quite right but clearly had no knowledge of the supernatural to be able to start putting together what.

Thoroughly enjoyed spending more time in this world. It's also good to read about and be able to feel empathy for well-written mature female characters who feel real and are dealing with real world situations.
When's the next one?

Couldn't put it down.

Beltane Curse, Book 2 in the Witchtown Crossing series, by Tracy Cooper-Posey, is a fabulous follow-up to the first book, Crossroads Magic. A few months have passed and Beltane is approaching. Anna has a few things on her plate this time, such as lots of folk showing up for the observation (not all of which pass for human), the FBI camping out at the Inn trying to pin a murder on one of the new residents, an ex-husband stirring the financial chaos pot in her life, her daughter in her final trimester of a high-risk pregnancy, and… Well, you get the idea. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this book (Ms. Cooper-Posey is a prolific writer with a, shock, life beyond authoring great fiction), and it was so worth the wait. Now I will curl back up in a ball and start waiting, impatiently, for the next installment. Heavy sigh.