Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
2.5/5 stars

Good lord I think if a man talked to me the way Alex talks to Romina I would have driven his truck into the river with him still inside. The way he just. assumes her motivations and her feelings makes me so angry. I guess that makes him a good fit for Romina, who seems to be stuck at age 2o in maturity and can't seem to decide how she feels about him, but god it is frustrating to read. I also just do Not like romances with children in them/children as a central theme so this was overall just a rough read for me. The characters were not relatable and immature at best, and so much of the plot centered around Romina's desire to have children/trauma about a past relationship where a child was involved and that just really, really isn't my cup of tea. If it weren't for the like 2 1/2 relatively tame explicit scenes, I would have assumed Romina and Alex were still in high school and not entire adults with lives and careers. There's nothing overtly wrong with anything in this book, I just really didn't vibe with it.

I’ve read and loved every Sarah Hogle book she’s written so far, but this might possibly be the best (which is HUGE praise). It mixes the yearning and emotion of a second-chance romance like You Deserve Each Other with a dash of magic from Just Like Magic. Plus Trevor is a chaotic good that reminded me very much of Hall. Where YDEO had a lot more humor in its second-chance romance, Old Flames and New Fortunes is far more emotional and moving. There’s a lot more hurt in the past for the main characters to overcome when they meet for the first time in many years. A little fake-dating scheme turns up the tension between them until their restraint breaks it all open… but with so much history and hurt between them, they have a long path to a happy ending. I enjoyed Romina and Alex’s slow and steady reconnection, with the jealousy of a fake-dating scheme between Ro and Trevor thrown in, as well as the slow reveal of their history and how they ended up estranged in the first place. Their story was further complicated by the introduction of Miles into it, which really threw Romina into a tailspin.

I am such a fan of Sarah Hogle’s writing and characters. She always has a fresh take on whatever stories she’s writing and her characters are flawed, but so dang lovable. When I started Old Flames and New Fortunes I didn’t love it at the beginning… but the more I read the more I got sucked in and by the end, I was fully invested.

This is a second-chance romance between Romina and Alex who were high school sweethearts who broke up right before college. It’s been lots of years later and Alex comes back into Romina’s life when his mom gets married to her friend’s dad. Her friend who she is ‘fake dating’ to help him out. Yes… it’s a cluster at first.

Romina and Alex both loved each other so much and that love never really died. That was my favorite thing about this book. Seeing their love come back to life. Alex was so devoted and obsessed. Honestly, the last half was just *chef’s kiss* perfect. I did have some issues with the first half, but I’m not a big ‘witchy’ reader or magic realism fan so I’m sure it was a me thing. I’m so happy I hung in there, though, because this book was great!

Thank you Putnam for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars
Spice level: 2/5
Modifications (avoid these chapters to avoid steamy scenes): Chapter 22, 36

Old Flames and New Fortunes is exactly what I expect from a book written by Sarah Hogle. It's weird and magical. You cannot help but love Sarah's very animated characters. They are ridiculously funny and absolutely splendid. This story even has one very intense fight. Nonetheless, it will leave you with one big, cheesy smile.

Want a cute fall read? This is it! I loved the charm of the town and the characters were funny! The fake dating aspect and how they just fell into is made me laugh out loud. That's something that would end up happening to me... Awkward....

This book was so good. There's plenty of humor, the romance is sweet and sexy. I loved the situations and the sisters. The angst was perfect. There is just so much to love about this one! Romina and her family will grab your heart. I can't wait to see what happens with Luna and Zelda!

The one thing I struggled with this book.... I read in bed at night, hubby was already asleep, and I was laughing so hard that I was afraid I was going to wake him up! The funny quips and flirty mood of this book kept me turning pages long after I should've been asleep. At the beginning of the book, I got the feeling that it was ya. I think it was because of the high school drama bit that was leftover scars for the FMC. But it definitely isn't ya, the mc's are in their late 20's/early 30's. Very fun romance. The sisters, Zelda, Luna and Morina made the story sing for me. I loved their relationship, their witchy store, and the way they looked out for each other. Romance tropes are fake dating, soulmates and second chance love (in my opinion). As for spice, there's a little; I'd say 2🌶️ out of 5. This is a great romance to start off your spring reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Hogle and GP Putnam's Sons for allowing me this e-version arc to review.

Sarah Hogle proving yet again why she’s on my list of auto-buy authors <3

The moment I started reading this book, I was instantly in love. I mean, the concept of Flora Fortunes was in itself so cool and interesting! And then you add in Sarah Hogle’s incomparable MCs (seriously, there are no others like them! All of her books have such unique and fun main characters)


- LOVED the Tempest sisters! Romina was amazing, I loved being inside her head!! But my favourite sister was definitely Luna. Although we got very little of Zelda but I’m really hoping we get love stories for Luna and Zelda too so we can get more of them!!
- The Magick Happens was a truly magical and enchanting place. Infact, the whole town, Moonville, was so dreamy that I really wanted to step inside the pages of this book and be there to experience that magic myself. It was so beautiful, the way Sarah Hogle had set this place up, how she has given us history, memories and descriptions of this place!
- Found Family is one of my favourite tropes and I loved this loud, funny, totally bonkers group of friends SO much! Trevor was another one of my favourite characters! Teyonna and Trevor made such a cute duo, I definitely want more of them! Aisling too!
- I loved that the chemistry between Romina and Alex was off the charts! The tension! The banter!! I couldn’t stop reading! I also really liked how the focus of their love story was not just on the physical aspect but practicality of their relationship too. I loved how Part 1 was all longing, tension and banter and then Part 2 was all love and understanding each other.
- There was an unexpected surprise at the end of Part 1 (no spoilers from me!) which kind of threw me as it was out of nowhere but I’m glad I got the time to get used to it.
- Themes of familial love and the importance of nurturing strong relationships with one’s children was also explored which was a thoughtful aspect to read about.
- I also appreciated the engaging discussions on the diversity of women's desires in life. From the choice to have children or not, to finding contentment in what they already possess, etc. And I loved that you could *see* all these different types of women in the book, it was not just talk.

If you're a fan of:
- Delightful fake dating antics (surprisingly, not with the love interest, but just as, if not more entertaining, you’ll see),
- Heartwarming second chances,
- The charm of small-town romance,
- Sizzling chemistry,
- A protagonist who's a floral witch,
- A very fun scavenger hunt,
- And a wonderful found family
(Plus manyyy more highly entertaining things!!)

Then Old Flames and New Fortunes is a perfect match for you! I HIGHLY recommend it!!

A huge thank you to Penguin Group PUTNAM, G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Netgalley for giving me a chance to read an early copy of one of my anticipated reads of the year!

I was enjoying the book for the first half and then I was LOVING it! Hogle put a fresh spin on some of the typical tropes you find in romance books: fake dating (but not between the MCs), second chance (but only a few jumps to the past), HE wants a hand necklace (LAAAWWWWWD).
The magical elements were whimsical and they made for a very dreamy setting and the side characters rounded out the story. This book made me chuckle, made me squeal, and at one point left my mouth hanging open!

My heart is in Moonville, Ohio a small magical town where Romina a flora fortunist lives/works using her flower whispering skills to encourage love lives. The setup of the flower shop is breathtaking and feels like you’re in a secret garden/fairy land. Amongst her beautiful flowers she shares the space with her sisters who run a candle business and a paranormal bookstore. Romina is hoping to get her plans for a town night market squared away but they need financial assistance. Turning to her friend and investor Trevor they make a plan to ask his Dad for help.

Hoping to pitch the idea… they were taken aback by a huge announcement and old flames that were present.

This book was MAGICAL… fake dating… second chance… found family…the descriptions of flower was enchanting and I’m happy to see we get to revisit Moonville and maybe learn more about Romina’s sisters!

I love Sarah Hogle and I will for sure being adding a finished copy to my shelf! The cover gives off all the feels of inside the book! Pure whimsy!

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam📖
Releases 4/2

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This book was really good! Small town, romance, scheming.......and did i mention MAGIC!! Old Flames And New Fortunes has a bit of it all, thats for sure. Sarah Hogle is a new Author to me , I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for her next book

This was my first book by Sarah Hogle and I enjoyed it.
The magic vibe was subtle but present. Romina is a character you can’t help but love and Alex is definitely a swoony love interest. The tension and angst that builds between them is well written . I thought the Moonville cast of characters were endearing and I could tell there was buildup for more stories set here with these characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of Old Flames and New Fortunes.

I love a good book with witchy vibes. Alex wasn’t my favorite but grew on me. I felt there was a bit too much going on with the second chance romance, fake dating, etc. And the fake dating was so fake.

The “big secret” really irritated me. I don’t know how you could keep that from someone so long and it just made me huff and want to close the book.

A magical florist reunites with her high school sweetheart while fake dating her soon-to-be stepbrother. What could possibly go wrong?

Second chance romances are one of my favorite tropes and this one didn’t disappoint in the slightest. I enjoyed the banter between the MC’s and their chemistry was sizzling from the very beginning. There’s a lot of LOL moments throughout the story which made it even better. And the magical element was a really nice touch!

Thank you so much to Putnam Books and Netgalley for the e-arc!

Mixed feelings about this one!

On one hand, I loved everything about the concept. The twist on fake dating was fun, and I loved the flora fortunes concept. I also loved the dynamic between Romina and her sisters, and I'm incredibly excited for how this seems to be setting up a series with future books focused on each sister.

But... On the other hand, I just did not like Alex. He came across as way too conceited and full of himself. And then... I just liked him so much less when we got that discovery at the end of part one.

I still enjoyed the experience of reading this because Hogle really has a way of writing engaging stories, but I think this is my least favorite because of just how little I liked Alex.

3.5

Alex and Romina were high school sweethearts whose gut wrenching breakup before college was mostly a major misunderstanding. When they cross paths again both of their lives look very different than they’d expected. They can’t seem to shake the feeling that things between them aren’t finished after all.

This second chance romance didn’t quite hit for me. I didn’t dislike it, but it was missing some of the magic from Sarah Hogle’s earlier second chance You Deserve Each Other. I think the biggest issue for me was that I really didn’t like Alex at all until the last quarter of the book. He belittled Romina’s magic and kept a life changing secret from her for longer than felt fair. There were some swoon-worthy and sweet moments in the end, but overall this was just okay for me.

This might be for you if you love: ❤️‍🩹 second chance romance 🔮 witchy vibes 💐 floral fortunes

i did not enjoy this magical story. i also haven't liked hogle's last few books because of her writing style

This was a roller coaster of a read for me. Normally, an ARC can take me a little over a week to get through. This book, however, took me 2.5 weeks to get past the first 10%... not a great sign. I haven’t read any Sarah Hogle before, but I know that her books are revered and beloved in the contemporary romance world, and so I was ecstatic to read a book that was a romance with a sense of magic through flowers. But a few issues made it nearly impossible for me to get to the end of this book.

Firstly, there wasn’t actually… any… magic. Maybe it was my misreading of the marketing, but I was expecting on-the-down-low witches with a flower shop, who wove their witchy sensibilities into the storyline. Nah, just some sisters who play into flower meanings (which could’ve been incorporated into the plot so much more, but felt woefully neglected).

Secondly, the story took forever to even get going. I don’t think Alex (MMC) is introduced till nearly the 20% mark, and once he is… you just loathe him? I know that second chance romances are always messy by nature, but this man was infuriating and not in a sexy way. I found myself skimming entire chapters, utterly disenchanted with every aspect of the plot and not rooting for Romina or her rekindled romance.

To the book’s credit, it gets better after the 60% mark: aka, after the two MCs stop lying to each other (ish). There is still so much withholding between the two of them, and I think they actually finally dispense with their last secret at the 80% point, which feels insanely late in the book, but the romance did get notably more palatable and fun to read through. Also, Romina’s feelings about it aside, I just love a single dad. We love a man who can care for someone behind himself (I know, the bar is on the floor, nee, underground).

By the end of the book, the sweetness of its ending had won me over somewhat, but the first two-thirds of the novel were so painful to get through that only so much repair could be done. I can’t speak for the rest of Hogle’s novels, but this one didn’t really hit the mark for me. This one gets 2.5⭐, rounded down to 2 for Goodreads.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

i love sarah hogle. she's one of my auto-buy authors, so when i got approved for this arc i was so excited -- AND SHE DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

everything about this was perfect - a little witchy/magical, second chance romance, fake-dating to make someone jealous, <sisterhood3, a man possessed and obsessed, AND THE TWIST AT THE END OF PART ONE. i have never and will never doubt sarah hogle to bring everything to the table.

let's hit the points:
1. a little witchy/magical + sisterhood: i love that both of these tie together with a big reveal and callback at the end. i love the connection to magic each sister feels/has (even if not all of them embrace or acknowledge it). i love the feeling of coming home for family (zelda lysm) because i've recently made this decision, to move far away from what i've always known to be closer to my sister. i will never love anyone the way i love my sister.

2. fake-dating/a man possessed + obsessed: ALEX. i didn't think there'd be a man more obsessed that i'd be in love with more than nicholas rose but he literally masterminded his way into romina AND MY!!! life. like he is a man that worships his woman -- in every way btw. iykyk. i am an agent of chaos so i LOVE a miscommunication trope and this book does it so well because it's not in a way that leads to a third-act break up (which this book doesn't have, just in case you were wondering) but it's the sort of lead up to the entire climax which you don't know until you get alex's side of the break up when they have The Talk and it's just so masterfully crafted TO ME.

3. THE TWIST. i'm not gonna spoil it and detail it but so know that i literally GASPED out loud. sarah hogle GOT me, y'all. and for her to put it at the very END of part one and then go into part two ugh her brain is so scary and BIG. it's so good. SO GOOD.

i feel like there were hints to more books and this being a potential standalone series and i very much hope they do because this entire ensemble is too much fun to let them all go so soon.

anyway sarah hogle i love you thank you for your brain.

thank you netgalley and putnam for the eArc in exchange for an honest review <3

***UNPOPULAR OPINION***

I really tried to like and enjoy this book but it was a miss for me. Romina was fun and quikry but Alex was an annoying and immature joke as potential love interest to Romina. The chemistry between them felt forced and cringey. I was not feeling the swooning or sparks between them at all....

At least the cover was cute!

Cannot recommend this one.

Thanks to Sarah Hogle, Netgalley andPenguin Group GP Putnam and Sonns for an ARC in exchnage for an honest review.

Available: 4/2/2024