Hexes Exes and Codexes

Three Tomes Bookshop #4

by Colleen Gleason

Jacqueline Finch’s lovely little bookstore is a special one. Not only is it brimming with books and has a cozy tea shop, but it comes staffed with two very unique Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes’s landlady, and Mrs. Danvers, the creepy and disagreeable housekeeper from Rebecca.

Despite the fact that other literary characters tend to pop out of books on a daily basis, Jacqueline loves her life, running the bookshop and hanging out with her two new friends. She even enjoys the three old ladies who live at the end of the street, and who are most definitely witches. (Which sometimes comes in handy.)

But just when a holiday weekend and the beginning of tourist season commences, Jacqueline discovers that someone has been breaking into the shop at night. All evidence is that they’re doing some sort of conjuring or witchcraftery in her store, and that worries her. But things get a little more tense—and confusing—when Jacqueline’s ex-fiance shows up in town, wanting to make amends. This could put a real damper on her budding romance with the town detective.

Yet, Jacqueline has it all under control…until a woman comes into her store, wanting Jacqueline to put a hex on her ex-husband. The next thing Jacqueline knows, she’s got a bunch of very angry women hellbent on getting revenge on their exes—and anyone else who gets in their way…including Jacqueline.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Audiobook

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

Award-winning, NEW YORK TIMES and USA Today bestselling author Colleen Gleason (who also writes as Colleen Cambridge) has written more than fifty novels in a variety of genres…but always feature smart, strong women determined to right wrongs and get shit done.

Colleen lives in the Midwest United States where she is fortunate enough to be working on her next book.

She loves to hear from readers via her website, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎵🎎

This kindle e-book novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account book 4 of 4 a new release more to come?

Jacqueline is running the book shop with the help of Mrs. Hudson Sherlock Holmes landlady and another lady from the books. This is a story of romance, witches, vampire, and other strange demons. It has a great ending.

I would recommend this series and author to readers of romantic family and friends relationships fantasy stories. 2024

[Linniegayl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun entry in this paranormal mystery series, set in a small resort town in western Michigan. Once again, mysterious things happen when fictional characters pop out of the books in Jacqueline's (our main character's) book store. But this time, instead of one or two, we have a LOT of characters, from seemingly unconnected books appearing to do harm to people in the town.

I truly hope there's another in the series, as this was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I would love to see more of all the characters in town.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read!

This was a fun book, the fourth in the Three Tomes Bookshop series. I have bing- read the entire series, but I think you could read this as a standalone novel. Having said that, I also believe that the back story is richer if you read the books in order.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next book!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another jaunty romp through Button Cove with book characters and magic everywhere! This is easily my favorite of the Three Tomes Bookshop books so far. The chaos, the pop culture references, ANNE BOLEYN, and I absolutely died at the mention of the Mallowan Hall series, which is also on my TBR.

A great beach read, with plenty of magic, female friendships, and a dash of romance.

[༶ Laura ༶ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one did not keep my attention as well as previous installments. Interesting story but I felt it suffered from too many book characters coming into this world. The thought of Austen characters teaming up with Bond girls to curse the cads of this world was an odd pairing

[Kenzley Ricklefs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the part when the characters started to get into the more magical side, and my favorite part was the lady that came in to the library about her ex. Could totally relate to her and her story. however the length of some of the chapters was too long for my taste. Over this is an amazing story line.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Deborah Durand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsy plus magic

Jacqueline Finch is the busiest librarian in town. She inherited a wonderful bookshop in Michigan that came with 2 free employees…fictional characters that fell out of books. Mrs. Hudson, the landlady from “Sherlock Holmes”, makes tea for the customers to enjoy in reading areas and Mrs. Danvers, the haughty disagreeable housekeeper from “Rebecca”, cleans the shop and begrudgingly attends customers when needed. For someone who is used to being alone, Jacqueline has 2 close friends, Suzette and Nadine, a distant cousin, Egala, and 3 adorable witches (ZAP ladies) - Zwyla, Andromeda, and Pietra…80 y/o bohemians! She also has a boyfriend, Miles Massermey. This is a little refresher of the all the central characters. Oh, and her cousin and she are witches, too, but Jacqueline doesn’t know the extent of her powers.
This is a hilarious little story and the first that I have read by this author. The theme is suggested by the title - the trouble with exes and what to do about them or in this case, what to do to them. After a customer requested a hex on her cheating husband, strange things began to happen around the store. A spell book (codex) appeared, Anne Boleyn fell out of a book, James Bond’s femme fatales also appeared, as well as a few ladies from “Pride and Prejudice”. She also had a visit from her real ex. What was going on? Read how one of these women unleashed a curse on cheating men in general. The curse caused a certain anatomical part to shrivel up and fall off! 😱 There are a lot of moving parts in this story, but readers will really enjoy detective Miles romancing our FMC, and his reaction to the surreal events of men showing up in the ER in distress. 😝
I have received an ARC from Booksprout and I am leaving an unbiased review voluntarily.

[Sheri-Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each time that I start one of the Three Tomes Bookshop books, I smile with anticipation of what adventure Jacqueline will have next. As expected, Hexes, Exes, and Codexes was no exception. I won't give any spoilers, but oh, did my heart brighten when a certain book hit the floor. Like Jacqueline, it brought more curiosity than the previously fallen books in the bookshop. 

I've said this after every book I've read in this series: "I want to live in this bookstore!" Never mind that I'm old(er) and out of shape. It's fiction, and fictional me can handle anything those...um...books throw at me! Yes, I definitely would love to live in this, dare I say "charming" bookshop!

Oh, but the mayhem that ensued was definitely more than I'd expected, making it harder to put the book down and keeping me up past midnight one night!

Do yourself a favor and grab this book. It's wonderfully distracting! Oh, and if you haven't started the series, what are you waiting for?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Different Kind of Bookstore . . .

Jacqueline Finch has a wonderful bookstore with a couple of unique attributes. Books and a tea-shop already make it awesome. But this one also is the home of two other “employees” that catch your attention as we meet Mrs. Hudson (yes, Sherlock Holmes’s landlady) and Mrs. Danvers (creepy and disagreeable housekeeper from Rebecca that I am not familiar with). Apparently witches are likewise quite comfortable visiting this bookstore. What isn’t comfortable is that someone may be breaking into the shop at night. Are they up to something? And her ex-fiance arrives wanting to get back together! Oops, that one could be awkward! But when a group of women expect her to hex their exes to seek revenge, things start to get ugly. Can they be stopped? (Up until the vengeful women, I was enjoying the story. I didn’t thing the vengeance thing made much sense.) My favorite part was the book characters we meet. That has been done before, but it’s still fun and anything can happen which keeps it “fresh”.

[KH_mama_08 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gleason charms the pages once again while weaving a story with wholesome friendship, warm beverages, sweet romance, and a touch of mystery. I love the friendships that are emerging as Jacqueline settles in to her role in the bookstore and finds her place (and her people!) in the community. Gleason keeps you on your toes as you turn the pages, trying to figure out who may have come from a book, which book will fall next, and what the end game is.

Although this book is the fourth in her Three Tomes Bookshop series, and she regularly refers back to happenings in previous books, it can also certainly be read as a standalone novel -- but if you do, of course the risk is that you will likely be compelled to start the series from the beginning!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hex an ex and a codex. Sounds like the beginning of one of those bad jokes. Unfortunately the plot of this one seems like a bad punchline. It’s all a bit ridiculous. A bunch of random characters from two different eras come and want to curse all men who wronged women. Sadly it doesn’t get more complex or interesting than that. I like the whimsy of characters from stories coming alive and wreaking a bit of havoc trying to live out their storylines in the real world, but this one just falls flat for me. I like the main characters and the romance development was a nice addition but other than that not for me. Your mileage may vary.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Marissa (rissareads13) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Booksprout in exchange for my honest review.
I somehow missed that this was the fourth book in a series and really felt out of the loop concerning the happenings of the Three Tomes Bookshop. I really enjoyed the premise of the story and all the shenanigans that happened but the writing was quite rudimentary. Perhaps if I had been sucked in with the first book I wouldn’t have minded, but the characters and the magic of it all just fell flat. Nothing was believable and it kind of felt like a bad dream. I know it’s a little unfair to judge a whole series based on a later book, but it’s also not making me want to read the others. All in all a fun idea, just not for me.

[Stephanie Herron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacqueline finds herself dealing with Anne Boleyn and mysterious happenings when more than one book flies off the shelf in her bookstore. She isn't sure what is going on and needs the help of her friends Nadine and Suzette, along with the ZAP ladies. Trying to fend off people coming in the store to get hexes for their exes while dealing with various characters from the books becomes even more challenging when dealing with her ex coming to town and her current love interest back from visiting his daughter. Lots of action and humor with a touch of romance makes this a fun book to read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jocelynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

love this series but this was different vibes

2.5-3 ⭐️

I’ve been obsessed with this series because it’s so unique and wonderful. It has such a cool premise with characters that are easy to love, in a comfy cozy setting & each book having new plots. But this one fell really flat for me.

I still love the characters and everything, and the plot for this one was just as unique as previous books, but ended up being very anticlimactic compared to the previous books & there were a lot of repeated sentences & descriptions.

Still recommend the series and hope to see another one in this world coming!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book in the Three Tomes Bookshop series.

In this one, Jacqueline is unsure who has come out of the books and why it involves burning pages in the New Age room. She also is starting to deepen her relationship with Miles.

But when more weird stuff starts to happen, Miles becomes suspicious. Can he accept the magic of Jacqueline?

I enjoyed the deepening of their relationship as well as the mystery of why a varied cast of characters were coming out of books. A fun read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cassandre Thornbro · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has not read the previous books in this series I enjoyed how it was easy to pick up on bits of the back story without needing all the details to enjoy the story. Loved the characters coming out of the books and the thought behind the sub characters that are the ones seeking revenge. Can’t go wrong with magic and romance sprinkled with a little drama and revenge. I will have to go back and read the others and look forward to what might happen next!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hexes, Exes and Codexes by Colleen Gleason is a delightful Paranormal Cozy and I am so disappoited that I am late to the game on this series! Although this book can be read as a standalone, it's always nice to round out the back story and expand on the narrative

Full to the brim with colourful characters and notable figures from Literature and history, a good deal of action, intrigue and just a little smidge of romance, this book is a real pleasure to read

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ann Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bookshop cozy mystery that comes alive with characters in books and requires little attention.This will put you in a Halloween mood with a strange list of book characters and locals centered around a strange hex on men known as the castratus curse.

You have to use your imagination for this one which bordered on ridiculous when characters from 2 different eras appeared to take out their vengeance in men.

The romance scenes were definitely cringe worthy between the main character and her beau!

Overall, I am not a fan but it will bring Halloween alive in a strange way.

[Lolly Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and well written
Jaqueline and the ZAP ladies love to spill the tea both the verbal and herbal kinds! Things get hectic when a James Bond character clashes with a whole bunch of historical characters hellbent on mystery and mayhem.
I laughed so much reading this because it is fun as well as being well written. Detective Massermey is also interesting. I would defeintely read more.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you get when you take a former librarian turned bookstore owner, three eccentric older crones and literary characters who come out of the books they were written into? You get a very delightful read to curl up on the couch with! Wonderful characters with plenty of laughs and a touch of romance to keep you reading! I can't wait for the next one!

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth book in the series and for me, it was the best. The main characters are interesting, intelligent, and have become beloved to this reader. The plot is straightforward and easily followed, and the premise is preventing some serious revenge happening to quite a few not so innocent men. I most certainly recommend this book!

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had everything that I enjoyed from the previous three books in the Three Tomes Bookshop series. It had a great element that I enjoyed a lot and thought the characters were written perfectly. It had a great overall feel to it and I was engaged with the story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Bridgett H. Faherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable series. Will she ever figure out her powers and get a handle on them. Multiple characters from multiple books are wreaking havoc in the village. What happens when they send the Queen back and then they wind up in her book? How does the relationship between Jackie and Miles develop? Surely there is more to come. Definitely leaves you guessing.

[Robin Siota Breeding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t mess with the Bond Women

This was a fun story. I enjoyed the story line, the characters and the plot. There was a lot of great humor as well as some interesting moments. I hope Jacqueline and Miles get some alone time soon. I love the ZAP ladies and want more background on them! Looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Clara Lash · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much fun and I really loved all of it from start to finish.

This bookshop is so charming, I’d love to live there!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something new

This series was very enlightening. Everyone who reads and has a picture in their head of their favorite characters, can now imagine that that person could come out of their book. I enjoyed this series and look forward to others by Colleen.

[Terry Polston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun series. A librarian inherits a bookstore but characters from the books keep popping out of the books and complicating her life. A lot of humor and fun ensues, plus there are a lot of literary mentions.
Highly recommend.

[LaGina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting visit to Button Cove in the fourth book in this series. Always interesting to find out who will also be visiting The Three Tomes Bookstore and what adventure will await Jacqueline and her friends.

[Ashley Breza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revenge! How many people in this world would love to get revenge on someone who had done them wrong? Well in this story we see jacqueline and her friends combatting wronged women with revenge plans. Another good story in the latest release in this series