Sass Luckett is cursed. Not because her truck keeps breaking down, her bank account’s on life support, and she’s constantly dodging packs of dire wolves looking for a witch-sized snack.

No, Sass’s family is literally cursed: they must stay and guard their small town of Rattler’s Run from the Crossroads, the Bermuda Triangle of the prairie. If Sass and her sisters flee, the uncontrolled magic will wipe the town straight off the map—and the world will be overrun by the unnatural critters that emerge from the cataclysm.

Not to mention that there are a couple of generations of Luckett ghosts hanging around the attic, just itching to point out how she’s failing.

Sass dreams of a completely different, completely normal life far away from Rattler’s Run. But that would require money and magic she just doesn’t have.

And then some fast-talking, big city researchers offer her a fat paycheck to play tour guide on the Crossroads. When all hell breaks loose—literally—Sass realizes they’re not tracking normal wolves at all. The strangers are actually government agents investigating the magical shenanigans in and around Rattler’s Run, and somehow they think Sass is the key to restoring balance in the Crossroads.

There’s only so much cursing a witch can take, and Sass is running out of friends and patience. It’s just a matter of time until she’s sh*t-outta-Luckett.

Series – The Witches of Rattler’s Run = Crossroads Burning – (next release in 2021) –

Title:  Crossroads Burning
Series:  The Witches of Rattler’s Run #1
Author:  Layla Nash
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Publication Date:  March 29, 2018
Star Rating:  4

Crossroads Burning is an… intriguing story.  I’ve seen the genre listed in various places as Urban Fantasy, but also as Paranormal Romance – I think, if possible, this one toes the line right between the two, but that’s just an opinion.  No matter what genre Crossroads Burning falls into (officially) it is a story that caught my attention and held it firmly until the ending.

I have, frankly, so many conflicting images of who Sass really is.  At times she comes off as a silly girl who I wouldn’t trust with magic to save my life – yet at other times she’s a fierce warrior facing down danger like she was born to do this (which, in a way, she was).  Perhaps Sass is more like the rest of us than we’d like a story heroine to be – flawed, human in a paranormal world, with doubts, strengths, and weaknesses.

There is definitely danger here, and government minions stirring up trouble, werewolf packs on both sides of the good, the bad, and the very ugly going on around Rattler’s Run.  Sass and her sisters are guardians of a sort for this location of an extremely volatile portal into chaos.  Keep the Luckett family in town and all goes well.  Move on or bring in outsiders bent on trouble and that danger will present itself faster than you can imagine.

This isn’t what I’d consider a short book by any means.  There’s a lot going on here, secondary characters, and vile villains to contend with.  Still, Crossroads Burning kept my attention (even when I wanted to toss my e-reader at the wall over some silly move).  And, yes, I’m being a bit vague with details because I believe this is a story that each reader should experience first-hand.  I can tell you that I enjoyed my time spent here, loved some characters, liked others, and loathed a few along the way.  There’s mischief, laughter, a bit of romance, sadness, and that ever-present danger.

I hesitated to review this story because I didn’t see anything more in this series for a very long time.  I spent some time this morning doing a bit of research, and it seems that there is another book due out sometime in 2021.  I will be keeping an eye out for a return to Rattler’s Run.  I’m not a huge fan of cliffhangers – and perhaps not officially one, there were definitely questions that I wanted answers for by the ending of Crossroads Burning.  Hopefully, I’ll find them sometime in the near future.

(just an opinion here – love the newer cover with the rugged-looking background, it seems to fit this story so much better)

I own a Kindle edition of Crossroads Burning.

Available in audio or for your favorite e-reader.