A delightful read.

A fluffy , light urban fantasy, heavily inclined into the empowerment of mature women.

I know that to read these kinds of books you have to do that suspension of desbelief but If I must make a criticism, it is with respect to the reaction of the protagonist, and the rapid acceptance of everything that was happening.


Will be enjoyed by ppl who love books and literary characters.

good start to a series, but a very slow start up as we get everyone introduced and the world set up. Liked that it was an older character, mystery wasn't that difficult. just a good starting novel.

COlleen GLeason is just amazing. TOmes Scones and Crones was a delight to read. the characters and plot were just great. i really love this author and i am trying to read everything she has written.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good sci-fi paranormal mystery read. Highly recommend

This is a fun romp and a perfect way to escape. It's part mystery and part magic, filled with crones, witches and fictional characters. It is ultimately the story of a middle-aged librarian who inherits a magical book store and, in doing so, found her way home. The three crone characters are empowering and provide a positive expression of aging. This reader looks forward to meeting all these characters again.

Tomes Scones and Crones has all the ingredients of a cozy mystery dashed with some new elements. This book series has a promising future. I adore the main character being in her late forties, she’s relatable. Most of all the bookshop setting is intriguing and add pastries and I’m all in.

Jacqueline is a librarian in the city of Chicago and after 25 years at the same job, she is given the pink slip. What does a single female of the age of 45 do after losing her job? She inherits a bookstore. The store has the charming name of the Thee Tomes bookshop and belonged to a distant relative, can life not be better? On Jacqueline's first day of opening the store she discovered a dead man.
I struggled with this book, there is nothing against the writing or the characters, in fact, I adored the characters, but the entire time, I felt like I was in an episode of Murder She Wrote. This is the first installment of a new series, perhaps as the story unravels my interests will grow. However as the story sits, I award 3.5 stars, mainly due to Colleen Gleasdon's great characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Colleen Gleason, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Tomes, Scones and Crones is available now.

This is a cozy mystery with a supernatural twist. What drew me in, of course, was the bookstore setting. Unfortunately, while I did find parts of the book entertaining, it didn’t quite keep my attention throughout.

While I thought Jacqueline was a good main character, I really didn’t care for the way her character was introduced. Instead of showing the reader who she is we are told, unfortunately, with a quick “about the character” sort of introduction at the beginning, I wasn’t given the chance to really appreciate who she was before being given her history and as a result I was not overly invested. However, once things got going, that eased up a little and I was able to just get to know an interesting character. I did like that she was a little older, instead of being a twenty-something. It allowed her character to develop in ways that are outside what I have seen in many books recently.

The kitties were snarktastic (as most cats are), but the other characters seemed a little disjointed to me. My favorite part of the book was the bookstore. In fact, I really could take or leave the rest of the book. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just wasn’t for me. It felt a little too fluffy, if that makes sense. I think a nice, cozy mystery has a ton of potential (especially in a year like this one), but something just seemed to be missing. I can’t put my finger on what. Perhaps I wanted a little bit more substance to my fluff.

At the end of the day, Tomes, Scones and Crones was rather forgettable. While it wasn’t for me, it was cute and would be a good rainy day read for readers who like a very sweet, lighthearted book.

This was exactly what I wanted from a magical cosy mystery. I love that the MC is in her forties and the adventure is intriguing. I’ve always liked Gleason’s books – especially the Stoker and Holmes series – and this did not disappoint. One to read on a cold grey day with tea and a roaring fire.

This is a perfect cozy mystery to read on rainy day. Written from the POV of the protagonist, it’s like she took a deep breath and let it out quickly.. that’s how I felt when this book finished iso fast. I received an advance copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Yes I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for good coy mystery.

When Jacqueline Finch's life implodes, she inherits a strange bookstore in the small town of Button Cove. The Three Tomes bookstore has some strange occupants - two housekeepers with literary backgrounds, fictious visitors and the three ladies across the street are asuredly witches. Her inheritance is not what it seems and Jacqueline will need to embrace some strange gifts to keep her new home and new friends safe.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, but the manipulative actions of the ZAP ladies bothered me enough that I had difficulty reading it. I really wish Jacqueline had been given a choice rather than be forced into her new life. I do not believe I will be reading any more of this series, but your mileage may vary.

I received an eArc of this work in exchange for an honest review - thanks to NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for the opportunity.

A cozy tale about starting over again (with a little help from a friendly and meddling trio of witches), Tomes Crones and Scones is a charming fantasy novel that would be perfect for fans of Practical Magic, Miss Fisher's Mysteries, bookish heroines, and tea drinkers.

This story is a mystery with a bit of hero's journey (which is fantastic to see in a character over the age of 40), and is a very fun and light bit of reading, with a somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable, ending. After a series of unprecedented disasters that removes our main character from her home, job, and all current relationships, former Librarian Jacqueline Finch suddenly finds herself the owner of a slightly magical bookshop in a small town in a cozy part of the American Midwest and comes face to face with fictional characters, witches, and a dire lack of coffee. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the magic system made sense in context. There was great set up for future novels while still being able to tell a complete story in this one book. There definitely seems to be a lot more to explore here, and the bits of mystery are laid on just right.

The relationships were fairly well handled and while not totally organic - I definitely felt the hand of the author in the magical nature of interactions, especially in how some of the friendships felt insta-formed. Much of the connection between Jacqueline and her peers felt very Sex in the City, and I think would be very appealing to fans of that genre.

Generally, this was a great light read and was pretty fun. I would be interested to read more and see what other fictional characters might come to complicate the lives of the characters we've met so far.

I’ve read some of Gleason’s Gardella books and I loved them so requesting Tomes Scones and Crones was not even a question. I really love reading books which are set in bookstores or libraries.
I liked the story and am curious what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

Tomes Scones & Crones is the first installment in author Colleen Gleason's Three Tomes Bookshop series. They say once you turn 40, and you are unmarried, you are an old crone. Take it from me, they don't know what they're missing not being tied down. Well, 48 year old Jacqueline Finch isn't ready to retire and settle down just yet. She has no husband thanks to her fiance cheating on her. She has no children, or animals, and her alleged friends are backstabbing bitches or steered her in the wrong direction when it came to dating, etc.

For 20 years, she was the resource librarian for the Chicago Public Library system. Then one day, thanks to the interference of three witches straight out of Macbeth casting (Andromeda, Pietra, and Zwyla), she's told that she's out of a job, and only given 5 days severance pay. What's worse is that a nasty rumor her and a married man turns alleged friends against her, and Jacqueline's home is sold right out from under her without any prior notification.

The only place she seems to have to go is a place called Button Cove, Michigan where she's inherited a bookshop called Three Tomes. The bookstore is a place where Jacqueline discovers characters like Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Danvers who seem to run the store, along with two insolent cats named Sebastian and Max who more than steal the show. Somehow, literary characters of Sherlock Holmes’s landlady and Rebecca deWinter’s creepy and sardonic housekeeper are living persons who work at the bookshop (when they aren’t bickering with each other).

Not only does Jacqueline have to contend with them—and the idea that people regularly eat pastries while reading books in her store and drink tea, of all things! But the morning after she arrives, the body of a dead man is found on her property. Jacqueline soon meets the bearers of her bad and good fortune who bear a startling resemblance to the Witches Three from Macbeth. (Yes, my lovely followers, you will find out why they utterly destroyed Jacqueline's life in order to bring her to Button Cove.)

Later, an actual witch named Egala shows up at her bookshop and accuses Jacqueline of killing her brother Henbert, and the two women who own businesses across the street, Suzette Walley & Laura Clemson, seem determined to befriend Jacqueline. Jacqueline has to save her friends and the bookstore as well as help Mrs. Gulch, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the book, not the movie, find revenge and get home. Let's not forget about the destined to be romantic inclination in Detective Miles who seems to be everywhere Jacqueline goes.

I think that one of the underlying context's of this story is that no matter what your age is, you can definitely start over if you change your unwillingness to try new things. Jacqueline does a whole lot of soul searching while being pushed by the three crones into opening her eyes to her new reality and finally decides that she doesn't need her so called former friends who turned away from her when the rumors started instead of standing with her. I am hoping that Suzette and Laura will be true friends to Jacqueline since they are all about the same age.

The sequel to this book, Purses, Curses, and Hearses, releases in February 2022. I'll likely continue reading this series to see what other literary characters crawl out of books and makes Jacqueline's life challenging.

As it is the spooky season, my foray into reading witchy books continues.

I read Gleason’s The Clockwork Scarab (the series where Sherlock Holmes’ niece and Bram Stoker’s sister solve crimes), and I recall really liking it but I never went forth to read the sequels. I think most of you reading this get it: too many books and not enough time. By happenstance, an author friend who happens to be friends with Gleason promoted Tomes Scones and Crones on Facebook and once I recognised the name AND that Gleason is a Michigan girl, I got my hands on an arc.

Which brings us to Tomes Scones and Crones which throws in some Macbeth witchy delight coupled with a magical bookshop in an adorable village with adorable villagers along with the hunky police detective located in N. Michigan with an over the hill (48!) librarian as the protagonist. At first thought:The Scottish play is great! I’m an over 40 librarian! I spend half a year living in a small village in N. Michigan. Is Gleason in my brain!?

Maybe.

Tomes Scones and Crones has a lot going on: it’s got a group of punky crone witches, fictional characters that come to life, an adorable village, a beyond dream of a bookshop, a villain that isn’t really scary, and new friends. The premise is great but the execution of some of it not so much.

First, there is the main character who is the over the hill librarian. Gleason was either writing tongue in cheek, which could be a possibility, or she really believed this archetype of a librarian was the real deal. Not gonna lie, sometimes I wanted to shake her because her attitude towards being a librarian was not what 21st century library science is about and it is TOTALLY OKAY TO EAT AND DRINK WHILE READING IN A LIBRARY! Most libraries allow snack and closed drinks to be near books. Second, the reason how Jaqueline lost her job is also a bit sketch and wouldn’t fly in 2021s sensibilities even though the book was written in the 2020s and not the 1950s. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Third, the mystery wasn’t really satisfying. And the throw in of another character acting a part of the plot felt a bit gratuitous and half-haphazard as if Gleason came up to a point and needed some filler for the story.

You may be thinking, is there anything to like about this book? Of course! The punky crone witches are a lot of fun, the bookstore premise sounded amazing, and the new burgeoning relationship between Jacqueline and her new friends seemed real. I loved how Gleason stylized the yoga instructor and the baker as real people and not characters. The flirt flirt romance with the Thor like police detective wasn’t so bad either.

Taken as a whole, the book IS a fun frothy and quick read and while Gleason has many books under her belt, I’m giving her some leeway on this series because it is a new series and she’s still ironing the kinks out. I do recall that with The Clockwork Scarab, I remember feeling a bit “quois?” about some of the scenes but I loved the idea so much I stopped overthinking and let it just go.

I’ll do the same for the Three Tomes Bookshop series as book two is coming out in the spring. There is a wonderful world to play in, like I said, Gleason has set up some great building blocks now it is only time before she truly shines.

Writing a review for a book that you can objectively say isn't bad, but that you didn't particularly enjoy is difficult. The writing and editing in Tomes, Scones and Crones is fine. The pacing seems fine. The character development seems fine, etc. I even really appreciated a 48-year-old heroine and the 'claim the power of your later life' moral of the story.

I just didn't especially enjoy the book. I didn't care for Jacqueline, found her largely unpleasant. I thought the literary device of having the crones discuss everything as a means of relaying it to the reader was annoying. Plus, their meddling would be infuriating. The romance is only hinted at. The villains were so villainous as to be caricatures, even down to evil = ugly simplicity.

And I found something vaguely ick- inducing about Danvers and Hudson being literally reduced to their jobs. It goes a long way towards undermining the theme of women (even/especially older women) are full, empowered individuals to then have two female characters pulled from literature to function as housekeepers and housekeepers only, they disappear when not keeping house. Thereby erasing any further importance or potential they, as individuals, might hold.

This was structurally sound and will probably shine for a lot of people. It was a flop for me.

I’d actually rate this as a 3.5 star read. This is first in a new series. The concept of characters from books coming to life to fulfill a current purpose was intriguing. The book took a while to settle in and find its direction. As a result, the first half or so was slow and felt a bit directionless. The murder that was introduced early on became only a peripheral part of the story. The second half of the book was better and more focused. The messages of friendship, helping others and having value at any age were a nice addition. As a first installment in the series, this is good introduction. It’ll be interesting to see how the series progresses.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Olive Heber Books for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a fun cozy mystery and is the first in a new series. I felt for poor Jacqueline in the beginning. She had a pretty bad day. But overall this is a fun read. It made me laugh. I didn't want it to end. 3.5 stars

A little disappointed by that one. I love fantasy, books, tea, and I especially love having a mature hero. I mean, I'm a mum, I have gone through puberty and survived and I certainly don't want more gloom and angst from my hero. There is too many teen fantasy books out there. The problem is the main character might have been much older than me, she didn't feel like it. I did not find her relatable or likable and I did not care about her at all. Because the book is a little slow going at first, that made it hard to keep going. The plot is fine, but I wish the main character had something going for her, because as is, it feels like lots of people make a GREAT effort for her to have a nice life, and you really wonder why. But I had the same problem with Under the Whispering Door by Klune, so if you liked that one, this one might be right up your alley. I just don't have the patience to see unlikable people bloom into nicer people.

This is the first book in the charming new series "Three Tomes Series" by cozy author Colleen Gleason. I found this book delightful. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own . I was enchanted by the cover and enjoyed reading this debut in series.

Jacqueline is a librarian in a big city with a orderly life she enjoys. She has been a librarian for 25 years. When 3 magical crones come and change her life she takes on the responsibility of managing a magical library in a charming small town in Michigan. The adjustment to running her own library the eccentric townspeople and a bit of magic changes her life for the better . Soon she is part of the magic, the small town and living a life she never imagined .

I loved everything about this book. The author has truly captured the library, the paranormal aspect and the great charcters. I like Jacqueline as a older protagnist (finally! ) who embraces her life changes however ecentric they may be. The literary charcters added to the story are a fun addition. The sleuth was well crafted and pleasing to conclusion as Jacqueline proved to be a savvy smart investigator . Very well done to the author. I look forward to the next in series.