Beltane Fire

The Hawthorne University Witch Series #0·2

by A.L. Hawke

Beltane Fire is a Short Story taking place a year prior to Broomstick.

It was my freshman year when my best friend introduced me to the spring festival in Hawthorne University. I was studying for finals, but she said everyone, absolutely everyone, goes to Beltane. Because Hawthorne is weird.

Men in red paint jumped flames. Ladies in white dresses with lovely flower garlands awaited the May Queen. But none of that interested me—until I decorated a tree with a super cute guy. We danced around the tree and had so much fun.

But then I saw fire. And within the flames were disturbing images. Even with the spark between me and my new stranger, it had to end. I think that was the day my witchcraft began—you know, the fire that burns in my heart and soul.

Cadence Hawthorne returns in this novelette short story taking place before Broomstick, the first novel in The Hawthorne University Witch Series. This story first appeared exclusively as a free ebook for subscribers of the author's monthly newsletter and on A.L. Hawke's website.

Content Beltane Fire contains profanity, sexual scenes, adult situations, and, of course, witchcraft.

60 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 25, 2023

About the author

A.L. Hawke is the author of the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic, spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beltane Fire is the prequel to the Hawthorne University Witch series that sets the stage for the campus and private lives of the witches and warlocks that inhabit Hawthorne University. Madison and Cadence are in their freshman year and are doing all the social activities expected of first years. They are also being softly but steadily pushed into a life that awaits them with visions, strong emotions, some violence and powerful spells. Alondra is the High Priestess of the coven as well as a teacher of metaphysical history and Bryce is her TA. The story begins with a ritual around the maypole where each witch makes a wish with hopes that it will come true. Cadence wishes for true love and Bryce leans over and tells her to be careful what she wishes for. What a fascinating beginning and the rest of the prequel is golden!
The narration, by Alexa Elmy, was spot on with a dynamic voice, perfect pace and exceptional intonation for each character's personality and attitude.
Note: I listened to this as a prequel as it introduced the characters who would be central to this story. It also described life in the coven of many acts of witchcraft that will be further explored. I also listened to it after The Hawthorne Witch, and it gave me further enjoyment as the story came full circle. I hope this is not the end!

[Ally Doby (Schleicher) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.75 stars: book; 5 stars: audiobook*

This is the second prequel to A.L. Hawke’s “The Hawthorne Witch” series. This short story takes place 20 years after the events of the first prequel “Alondra” and gives you a glimpse of Alondra when she is older, a few previous characters and a new set of characters.

I was excited to see Alondra grown up and still being mysterious as ever. I was a bit heartbroken by a reunion she had with someone from her past because I had high hopes. Hopefully with Book one, I will get to figure out what happened with them.

I listened to the audiobook on Spotify. Alexa Elmy did another amazing job of giving this story life. I loved the way she expressed all the characters and emotions better than I would’ve in my head.

I loved seeing little Maddie (Maddison) grown up and attending college. I am loved that she is the complete opposite of her best friend, Candace (Kate or Katie). Maddie is adventurous and outspoken, while Candace is quiet and shy. They will definitely be interesting to read about in Book One.

I’m excited to see how Alondra, Maddie and Candace’s relationship develops. I’m also hoping to get some answers what happened between Alondra and her blast from the past. I’m curious if Liam’s best friend, Bill, stuck around.

[Ally Doby (Schleicher) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.75 stars: book; 5 stars: audiobook*

This is the second prequel to A.L. Hawke’s “The Hawthorne Witch” series. This short story takes place 20 years after the events of the first prequel “Alondra” and gives you a glimpse of Alondra when she is older, a few previous characters and a new set of characters.

I was excited to see Alondra grown up and still being mysterious as ever. I was a bit heartbroken by a reunion she had with someone from her past because I had high hopes. Hopefully with Book one, I will get to figure out what happened with them.

I listened to the audiobook on Spotify. Alexa Elmy did another amazing job of giving this story life. I loved the way she expressed all the characters and emotions better than I would’ve in my head.

I loved seeing little Maddie (Maddison) grown up and attending college. I am loved that she is the complete opposite of her best friend, Candace (Kate or Katie). Maddie is adventurous and outspoken, while Candace is quiet and shy. They will definitely be interesting to read about in Book One.

I’m excited to see how Alondra, Maddie and Candace’s relationship develops. I’m also hoping to get some answers what happened between Alondra and her blast from the past. I’m curious if Liam’s best friend, Bill, stuck around.

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is a nerd. She always studies, but her roommate convinces her to join the campus-wide rager in celebration of some may-day pagan holiday. Then the costumes for this event are oh so close to togas. But then, not all is bad for Cadence. Her BFF Madison introduced her to Bryce, who gave her some of his homebrew, and she later found out that he was a TA, that is after she embarrassed herself by laying a good one on the hot young man during a dance. A dance where she hallucinated people having sex and, off in the distance, animals having sex. People were stripping off their clothes, fire, and other strange hallucinations. She thought Bryce had spiked her drink, but her friend Madison told her she had a vision and also said to her that she must have a lot of magic in her.

Interesting reality. It feels more grounded or real, like our normal mundane lives. The physical world-building is good. The ethereal world-building is personal but descriptive. The character’s interaction could be real. The character’s history is lacking.

For a short story, this recount has the advertised genres. I give this read four stars out of five stars.

[Geff Ratcheson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prequel to "Broomstick". I read it after Broomstick; I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it first.

There is apparently another Prequel in this series, called "Alondra" which I am interested in.

My 4 star review of Broomstick is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This review will probably make a lot more sense if you also read the Broomstick book or at least my review.

This mainly introduces the main characters of Broomstick: Cadence, Madison, Alondra & Bryce; & a few of the more minor characters. It is a long "short story" or a short novella.

And it features an earlier "Huh, this doesn't make sense" (to the character) supernatural experience by Cadence (aka Kate or Katie).

I may have given this 4 stars if I had read it before Broomstick, I honestly don't know for sure.

The rest of the series is superb.

I received a copy of this book at no charge, and I'm leaving an honest review.

[Jennifer G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of Cadence's first campus festival with her best friend Madison- the Beltane Fire. After drinking mead and writing their wishes down, they join a ceremonial dance around the maypole. Cadence wishes for true love. She then experiences vivid visions that leave her aroused and unsettled.

This is apparently a prequel to the Hawthorne University Witch series, which I have not read. Therefore, this story meant little to me. It was not entertaining as a standalone without a prior story background.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook: I was entertained by this additional short story that featured some of the characters from "The Hawthorne University Witch Series". I liked this tale which depicted when and how Cadence Hawthorne discovered her witchcraft. There were some sensual descriptions included. Alexa Elmy's narration was good, and her performance gave a voice to Cadence. I was given a free copy of the audiobook through Spotify, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually expected worse. It's a prequel, so it kind of ends without much besides just a couple scenes. It somewhat reminds me of Ninth House, though not as good. It is a little more explicit than that one too. What really killed it though was the narrator with just an awful valley girl type voice. Makes me wonder if the writing is worse than I give it credit for and the voice just sounds like it.

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great prequel to the Broomstick. It’s a quick read that introduces us to Cadence, Madison, Alondra & Bryce who we have met previously. It’s an exciting and intriguing read that gives us insight into our characters, witchcraft and a little romance! It’s a great series and this novelette is a wonderful addition.

[Amanda Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay, but it spent a lot of time setting up and didn't actually finish anything.

I don't know if this is a serialization or just the first few chapters of the first book, but I couldn't tell if I liked the book when it finished, so I'm not invested enough to get another book.

The writing wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either, and there were some rough patches through the story.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun, short story. College students, witchcraft, and some facts about Beltane. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

I thought the narrator did a great job too. I enjoy when they make the effort to change their voices a little to denote the different characters.

[Marie Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this were longer I would have quit reading, but it was so short I went ahead and finished it. There wasn't any resolution given in this prequel and it didn’t set up anything that I'm interested in enough to pick up the first book.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was over way to quick

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to a new series. Unusual characters that will keep you intrigued.

[Lita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little teaser to get you to read the series.

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

25 minute read. Inconsistently written in a combination of third person and diary style eg it would suddenly switch to “I have dark hair y’ know

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from a vision that was only about an orgy, nothing happened. I’m assuming the vision was the plot 🤷‍♀️

[Kirby Randall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely no point to this book

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

An interesting introduction to this series that leaves you with a lot of questions