Beltane by Erin O'Riordan

Beltane by Erin O'Riordan

Published: 2009
Pages: 188
Sexy romance

Twin sisters Allie and Zen have always shared everything: including an unconventional upbringing at Pagan Spirits Farms. They even fall in love at the same time. Pagan priestess Allie thinks she’s met the man of her dreams in her buttoned-down lawyer fiancé, Paul Phillip. But is he everything he seems? Zen, a witch gifted with the sixth sense, falls for Orlando. But there’s a catch: Orlando is married to someone else.

As the celebration of Beltane nears, the sisters seem destined to be unlucky in love. But the Goddess moves in mysterious ways, and May Day may turn out to be magic for them after all.


This on took me for a trip, first I disliked Zen and Orlando, then I liked them again. Then I got a bit confused when I figured out what had to happen, and I didn't like one of them again. But then I liked that person again. Lol, yes it went up and down. Though I did like Allie and Paul Phillip all the time through out the book. But that is what a book should do, make you love and hate characters. They are only human after all. And I couldn't see the things that were to happen happen. They just sprung on me (even though I figured out one thing, which I loved in the end). You have to read and figure out what I mean.

There was mostly Zen in this book, so perhaps that is why she stirred the most emotions in me. She is a witch and owns a little store. Her sister Allie on the other hand is a pagan priestess and has just married and wants to start a family. But Zen who can sense what others are feeling knows that something is not that right about Paul Phillip. But what? She can't say and he does seem to adore her sister. So they go off into the sunset. While Zen heads back home and later sees a man in a bar, Orlando Parisi is a hunk, but there is a weddings rind on his finger. Could she really do just that? The Goddess says do no harm and breaking up a marriage is not something that is right. That will cause problems. And this all while Allie is having problems of her own.

And then a little excerpt from their first meeting for a feel of the book.

"No boyfriend. And the closest thing I've got to a kid is Gillian. I'm sure I'll get around to having kids one of these days. I've got time, I'm only twenty-three."
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but you seem older," he said. Zen frowned, so he explained. "I don't mean you look older. I mean you seem more mature. Wiser, maybe."
"I don't know about that," Zen replied. Orlando didn't say anything, so she kissed him. She breathed in the soft floral scent of his aftershave.
Orlando was very still at first. Zen wondered if she'd made a mistake, or if he didn't like the way she kissed. She looked into his eyes, looking for some clue.

But for you who thinks this is a book about adultery, it's not. And everything that happens does so for a reason. Before I saw that I did have a problem with the whole thing, then I liked it, then I disliked it, then I saw the light. I can't say anything more.

We get to follow them in their relationships, the ups and downs. The hardship and yes the sex. Because that there are. Not tasteless or too much, not so that it interferes with the story. But woven in so it makes sense. One scene did make me go oh no, oh really, and I couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

Then there is the whole pagan thing which I of course like, I do have the name Blodeuedd for a reason. And now I got to read how these two girls celebrated Beltane, oh yes, it got wild. And Beltane was the perfect way to set everything right in the book. After that it was a smooth ride to the end.

As for the world, it's ours, nothing strange going on here. Though of course the empathy thing does stand out, that is th only thing, and then just some good old normal magic in the end ;)

received a copy for a review