Becoming Crone

Becoming Crone

Series: The Crone Wars #1
Genres: Fantasy & Magic
Published on June 17, 2021
Format: eBook Source: Owned

She wanted purpose. She found dark magick and war.

For Claire Emerson, there is nothing ordinary about turning sixty.

First, there are the crows. Then, a pendant that unlocks a gate to a house in the woods--which comes with a snarky gargoyle, an entirely too-sexy wolf shifter claiming to be Claire's protector, and a legacy that turns her reality upside down.

Because divorced, menopausal grandmothers with creaky hips and hot flashes? They don't just randomly discover they're next in a long line of powerful women protecting the world from the dark magick of Mages.

Claire's first instinct is to turn tail and run back to the safety of baking cookies and reading bedtime stories. But when it becomes clear the Mages have targeted her, she may have no choice but to accept her calling. There's just one problem: she never got the lifetime of training she was supposed to have, and her magick is... well, unreliable would be an understatement.

With the Mages threatening everything she loves, can Claire learn what she needs to in time to become Crone? Or will she be the one to lose an ancient war—and her life?


You all know how much I adore books with older female protagonists. What could be better than a fantasy story that starts on the main character’s 60th birthday?

Claire is just out of a bad marriage. She learning to trust herself to know what she wants out of her life now instead of listening to her ex-husband’s voice in her head about how women are supposed to behave. Her daughter-in-law keeps sending her stories about aging and now is throwing Claire a birthday party that she doesn’t want. The party is at Claire’s house so she gets to clean up after it.

Her grandson gifts her a pendant that he found at a thrift store and Claire’s world goes upside down. Now the owner of the thrift store wants it back. She seems to be attracting crows. She can see messages in her morning newspaper that seem to be written directly to her.

Claire is thrown into a magical world that she didn’t know existed. Even worse, she has had none of the magical training that she was supposed to have before taking on this role. Her new companions – a werewolf and a gargoyle – are horrified to find that their new Crone has absolutely no idea what is going on.

Add in evil garden gnomes and Claire’s cat who is not amused by these turns of events and this is a delightful first book in a new series. I’ve preordered the next book. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Also, isn’t that cover just gorgeous?