Kindle Price:	$2.99
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Holly Barbo

Follow

A Beltane Gift (Quick Reads Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Holly Barbo (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 9 ratings

See all formats and editions

A paranormal short story set in Scotland, with cultural heritage at its heart.

Summer in Scotland, and Mari is working on an archaeological dig of a Viking burial ship during Beltane, a time of the year when the veil shrouding the spirit world thins.

What could possibly go wrong?

A Beltane Gift is a contemporary story with historical elements and a wee bit of the paranormal. It won first prize in the PGP Short Story Competition in August 2015. It is also available as part of the anthologies Change of Tides and Tendrils.

This short story has planted roots in Holly’s imagination. It’s possible it will be continued in other books.

A Quick Read book is a short story available as a single small book. In both ebook and paper format, it is a perfect small gift or for escaping to another place and reality when you only have a tiny block of spare time.

Print length

45 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

April 2, 2016
File size

784 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DSAGE8K
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Paper Gold Publishing; 2nd edition (April 2, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 2, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 784 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 45 pages

Customer Reviews:
4.6 9 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Holly Barbo

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Holly’s world is shaped by her love of family (which includes an adorable rescue kitty who has stolen her heart), the beauty of nature and an irrepressible curiosity that frequently has her turning over rocks and questioning what she finds. This sometimes sends the reader down a rabbit hole into an alternate view of the world than what they expected. Holly’s mind can be an interesting place.

In all her work, Holly weaves alternative worlds with threads from today.

To get the latest news just subscribe to Holly's newsletter. The button is on the right of the page.: http://hollybarbo-books.com

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

9 global ratings

3 star

0%

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Brian P. Lane

Wonderful story and characters.

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2016

I received a copy of this book in exchange for brutally honest review. (This is a copy of my Goodreads review)

Scotland. Archaeological dig. Vikings. All good!

This is a smartly written short story with a charming leading lady, Mari, along with two love struck assistants, and a nasty boss.

I didn't expect as much as I received from this book. The story stayed upbeat with plenty of character development, interesting actions by the characters, and a neat spin towards the middle I didn't see coming but made the story all the more enjoyable.

Highly recommend for quiet time read before bed or at the beach.

I hope this author carries Mari to more stories.

Special note: I don;t normally rate a short story with 5 stars but i really liked this one.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cynthia

Great Story...but why go so Soon?

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this story very much in the anthology callrd "Tendrils", which has many of Holly's short stories. I am always amazed at the research Holly must have done to present such clarity of her Characters. I also am amazed at how, without reducing the richness of History, Holly can blend the traditions of the past along with its characters and characteristics with characters from the modern time. The interaction of the two cultures seems very easy and very real. In my opinion that takes a very great writing ability. My only reservation about this story is that the ending is rather hurried and abrupt in its historical listing of how the characters lives move on. I like the idea of explaining what happens their lives as they move on. however there was so much depth that could be explored both in the reasoning of the antagonist and the adventures and learning of the main characters. I do hope that Holly expounds on this story of the future!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Belinda C

A really great short story

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2016

Holly has a way of weaving a story that makes a reader happy. A Beltane Gift is written with such clarity that you just feel like you there with the characters. In it Mari our heroine is an archaeologist working on a Viking homestead dig which turns out to be where her family settled years ago. A fox gives her a kitten because her ghostly ancestor asked him to. The history is very well researched . All in all a great quick read

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

This was a captivating story. My only problem, it is a short story, but there is definitely room for expansion. I would love to read more.

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2016

This is one of those stories that, once you read it, will stay with you for a while. I first came across it in an anthology some months ago, and loved it. Holly Barbo is a master of descriptive language, which makes the Scottish setting of this story really come to life. She seamlessly weaves together two different time periods with just the right amount of historical detail plus a deft touch of magic. Rooted in the everyday, yet spiced with fantasy, the suspense in this short story steadily builds to a rather karmic ending that left me smiling.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Camille

A haunting tale

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2016

With A Beltane Gift, Holly Barbo has once again woven a tale that immediately captures our imagination. We meet Mari, a smart, charming young archaeologist working on the excavation of a rotting Viking ship in Scotland. We quickly find her caught up in challenge, mystery and puzzling apparitions. A kitten—a very real kitten—shows up at her campsite, along with an ethereal Scotsman from the 13th century. The author deftly combines this background of ancient culture with the very real story of Mari’s present-day world.

As the story concludes, one is left hoping Holly will come up with another story, perhaps a series of stories, where we will again find Mari using her special talents in equally intriguing circumstances.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

H & H Supply

When short stories are this good, we readers often yearn for more

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2016

The book was a page turner.
When short stories are this good, we readers often yearn for more. We forget that it's s short story.
Good book.