I usually love Sarah Hogle's books, but this one didn't entirely work for me. It has an interesting and promising setup, with some light magical elements that I really enjoyed. However, at the beginning I felt like I was thrown into the world and it took me a couple chapters to find my footing. Despite this, I found the book slow to start, especially with regard to the romance.

Romina and Alex's romance felt like it kicked in without any buildup. Alex went from being insufferable to being sweet without any development to show that change. I never warmed up to him as a love interest. He puts down Romina's occupation (he even laughs in her face), insists he's the only man for her, and is just an all-around smug, arrogant bastard. I almost DNFed several times because of Alex and because the story dragged up to the halfway point. But the chapters are short, and I'd heard there was a twist at 60%, so I kept going out of curiosity.

When the twist came, I wasn’t totally sure if it worked. I said, "Are you kidding me?" when I read it. It came across as being thrown in out of nowhere — it was conflict added for the sake of conflict. It was something that could've come about organically but instead felt like a "gotcha" moment. I also wasn't comfortable with the fact Alex withheld this information from Romina prior to the two of them getting together. It felt like a conversation they should have had beforehand.

One pleasant surprise for me is that this book had some spice. I wasn't expecting that, since in the past Hogle has written closed-door romances or books with very little steam. In this one, she was like, "Hold my beer" and the characters were straight-up sixty-nining in a field. That might not work for readers who have read her other books. I'm not sure if the sex scenes fit the tone of the story, but I didn't mind them.

I'll definitely pick up future books by Hogle, but unfortunately, this one was a miss.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Romina has embraced her witchy ways and will make zero apologies for it, especially when she stumbles across her high school love, Alex. And fake dating her pseudo-boss is the perfect excuse to avoid the chemistry that hasn't lessened between them. But with Romina's business with her sisters on the line, she won't compromise on doing whatever she can to help their dreams come true.
Sarah has some one-liners that just hit me right in the feels. They can be so sweet or thought-provoking or emotional. This will always bring me back to her books. She did a great job with balancing the magical in a modern setting (can't get any more real than small town, Ohio lol). I enjoyed the brief flashbacks to their shared history and the parallels that brought some healing and a chance at a new love for Romina. But if two more books don't come out of this little world, I will riot.
Thank you to Putnam and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

If Sarah Hogle writes it, I want to read it. I’ve read all of her books. You Deserve Each Other set the bar very high. I went into this with high expectations, knowing that I’m not into witch stuff (didn’t matter for this one). I liked the book overall, but I wish Alex would have been honest about his big reveal sooner. I also wasn’t prepared for how open door the scenes were compared to other Sarah Hogle novels. No matter—Sarah’s writing style and humor makes every book an enjoyable read

What more do you need? A magical hometown, three sisters who cherish being witches and a friends to lovers story. Childhood sweethearts torn apart by circumstances are reacquainted by a wedding in said hometown. Romina does her best to make Alex jealous by fake dating his soon to be stepbrother. But Alex sees through it and has other plans. To be wooed, pursued and courted the way Alex did to Romina would be lovely! This magical romance will have you wishing for your own Alex to sweep you off your feet. I really hope we get future books of how Luna and Zelda, Romina’s sisters, find their love as I’m bewitched by this family!
Thank you to NetGallery for the ARC!

I was super excited for Old Flames and New Fortunes but it unfortunately fell flat for me.

Even though it was a second chance romance, it kind of gave enemies to lovers but not really in a good way. I couldn’t STAND Alex through half of the book. He was insufferable and arrogant. (He did have some really tender/sweet moments closer to the end, but STILL)

Also, I mean I get the plot twist was a BIG twist but it also felt a little icky? Like I felt SO bad for Romina.

I wish the magical aspect would have been more pronounced. It was kind of there, but also not there, and I wished there was more. It was more magical realism and when I read a witchy book I want something with Halloweentown (specifically Town High) vibes.

Overall, it was fine. It was a quick read. It did have some heavier topics, so it wasn’t necessarily a light read. I did laugh out loud at a few parts. The writing was well done, and I did enjoy some of the banter. And the playlist at the end? Incredible 🫶🏻

And finally - thank you so much to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

this was such a fun and cute book! I really liked the writing and i love sarah hogle's other books so this was a great follow up

Old Flames and New Fortunes is a lovely spring romance. I haven't read anything like it before and enjoyed my time in Moonville with Romina and Alex. Even though fake dating isn't my cup of tea, I flew through this one. The book cats and magic shop vibes were on point!

Old Flames and New Fortunes started off a bit rocky for me but ended up being a really enjoyable and romantic read.

The magic/witchy aspect felt a little sloppy and I just had trouble suspending my belief in this one. BUT the romance aspect of the story was really, really good. Imagine a classic fake-dating trope but you fall for your ex instead of your fake boyfriend.

The best part? ALEX. This man is the blueprint. He comes off arrogant and a little confusing at first but then he is just direct and clear about what he wants and he follows it up with actions.

This book was emotional and thoughtful and handled the second-chance trope well. It also introduced us to a host of other intriguing characters. I hope we get to see the other sisters’ stories in the future!

One benefit of ARCs is that you tend to read books you might not otherwise read. I’m not into mystical stories about witchcraft so I’d have never moved passed chapter 1 but boy am I glad I did bec while Romina calls herself a witch it had nothing to do with the beautiful love story this book is about. It was laugh out loud funny at many times. It’s so cute and the writing so vivid that I read it in one sitting bec I was enjoying this book so much. Great beach read and maybe a fun lighthearted book club pick as well.

*ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I am so bummed that I didn't like this. I'm a huge fan of Sarah Hogle and was really looking forward to this one but it just did not work for me. I felt that the main leads didn't have chemistry together and their romance felt lackluster. Their entire relationship felt like a cop-out honestly. I don't know why they fell in love in the first place when they were teens. And after they met again, I didn't feel any tension or angst. It felt like they fell into their banter and then started dating but there was no proper build up to it.

Also, yes, that whole secret thing that was revealed 60% into the book was 🤐 I'll be honest, I was going to dnf the book and then the plot twist happened so I stuck with the story to see how it would play out and it didn't play out well at all. :/

Alex wasn't a great hero, much less a romance lead. This is not how you want your men to behave in a romance novel pls.

I did love reading about Romina's scenes with her sisters and her best friend, Trevor, but that's about it. Nothing else really stands out as good in this.

At its heart, this is a sweet story about a trio of sisters (Romina being our focus) who are carrying on their grandmother's witchy ways with their combo candle/book/flower shop while trying to expand the business. None of them have been lucky in love, perhaps Romina being the most unlucky of all. First, her high school love left her for college, and then an older man used her for child care and then cut off all contact. But now that high school love is back, and sparks are flying.

There is a lot here that works. I liked the sisters and the entire group encased in the shop. The vibes of the core story are very good -- sweet and flowery and cozy. Romina's fake relationship with her best friend is quite fun and absolutely fooling no one, yet they keep up the façade as long as possible.

But there were things that didn't work for me, some of them big. First, I was almost 40 pages into the book before I learned Romina's name. We jump right in with her working with the flowers, but I think I needed some more grounding in the world before we got to that because my brain wanted to skim right over it. But the biggest thing that didn't work for me was the steam/spice/sex. This book felt like it was written by 2 different people. Like they had this sweet cozy romance and then some editor yelled "Look at booktok! THERE MUST BE SEX!" and then they threw in some F-words and a couple of rather explicit sex scenes that absolutely don't match the vibe/tone of the rest of the book. It's not the spice itself I am opposed to (heck, I just read a Ruby Dixon book a couple of weeks ago), but I did not like the mis-matched vibes. I think this could have been made "steamy" without ruining the vibe.

So overall, loved the romance, hated the spice.

This was a cute fake dating story but set in a really fun world of witchy flowers and a magical town. The characters were fun to read and well developed.

The Details:
Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle
Witchy Rom Com | Fake Dating | Second Chance

Quick Summary:
Romina and her sisters own a witchy lil shop selling candles, books, and flora fortunes (Romina's specialty). They plan to ask their owner/partner Trevor's father for financial assistance when he's in town - which just so happens to be for his surprise wedding. And the son of his soon-to-be-wife? Romina's ex boyfriend.

My Take:
I LOVED this one!! Romina was an amazing character with some much personality and development. I loved the whole family's dynamic. Trevor was also pretty awesome (especially when he had to fake-date Romina for a week). The banter, the wit, the storytelling - I just loved it. And Alex had the right amount of sweet and cocky and jealous. I'm ready for the other sisters' stories now!

Yeah, I'm giving this one 5 stars. Sarah Hogle is my fave.

I knew from this cover that I would enjoy this book but honestly I was blow away by how much I wound up loving Old Flames and New Fortunes. Sarah created an intriguing magical world and a swoon worthy romance that I couldn’t put down.

One of the top things I love in books is unique magic. And while the magic in this book was more low level, and not something that was necessarily over the top and obvious, I loved how unique it was. Romina’s ability to build floral bouquets based on intention using the language of flowers was honestly everything I’ve ever wanted to experience from magic. And I loved getting the different explanations of what the flowers meant in floriography at the chapter headings, and thought it was so clever that the flowers chosen corresponded to what was going on in the story at the time. Honestly, this was the thing that really drew me in to the story, even though the romance really did keep me.

Another thing I love is a second chance romance, and Sarah gave us a top tier one. I would definitely consider this a slow burn, and man was that burn good. You could feel the connection and chemistry between Romina and Alex pop off the page. There were so many moments I was swooning over their interactions, and I loved how they developed throughout the book. Additionally, once we got to the spice, I thought it was pretty freaking good (and when I say spice I mean some good ole open door romance).

One thing that BLEW MY MIND though was that little twist at the end. Something happens where you are like WHAT THE HELL and honestly for a moment it made me so angry, but once we got a bit more explanation I was like okay okay I can get behind this. In the end, this book hit me with the laughs, with some tears, and honestly an all around wonderful feeling, and I gave it 5 stars. As a note, please be aware that there is discussion of child loss (not child death, but loss of a relationship with a child). If this is something that you may find difficult, please be conscious of that before reading.

A fun, magical read. Not my typical book, but I enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced read!

2.5

i absolutely adore sarah hogle (i’ve only read one of her books but i loved it so much): however, i don’t know what it was with this book but i just couldn’t get into it. i skimmed a lot, but i do not wanna give this a lower rating. (because i feel like the 2.5 and skimming is a result of many things) one of the reasons i feel like i couldn’t get into it is because, though i love the surge i’ve been seeing in this concept and the coziness of it all, i feel like i’ve been seeing and reading more witchy books than normal. don’t get me wrong because i do love them !! but i feel like it’s just been a lot ? at the same time, it hasn’t been THAT much. but i think that also made me more critical and bored from this book. this took me wayyy too long to read for my liking.

also, like others, i didn’t like the “plot twist.” overall, i hate miscommunication and tropes like that, and i never really liked alex that much throughout the entirety of the book. i especially couldn’t connect with him but also the other characters as well.

i really recommend sarah hogle to everyone :) and thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book !

This book was an absolute delight! I wasn’t sure at first how I would like it because I’ve read a string of second chance romances that haven’t worked for me. But this was the perfect combo of humorous and heartwarming.

Romina ends up fake dating her friend Trevor, only to discover that his soon to be stepbrother, Alex, is her childhood love. This whole plot was so fun. A different side of fake dating that added to the humor. But at the same time, Romina has a very sad backstory. It really tugged at my heart, made me ball my eyes out because I can’t even imagine going through something like that, and really helped to flesh out her character.

I would’ve loved an Alex POV, but I also liked only getting Romina’s story. It helped to understand her so much better. This is a witchy romance, with not enough witch, in my opinion, but it was exactly what I needed!

Spoiler-I really wanted some kind of resolution for Romina with her and Adalyn. I’m going to imagine a happy ending for them because it’s too hard to think about the alternative.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the advanced copy in exchange for n honest review!

I went into Old Flames and New Fortunes a little nervous based on some reviews I saw, but I’m a sucker for a second chance romance. Flora fortunist Romina Tempest is looking to expand her business in her magical town but to get the loan from her business partner and best friend Trevor’s dad, the two end up having to fake date, but everything goes sideways when Trevor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is her high school sweetheart Alex and their connection hasn’t seemed to have faded one bit in their time apart. Based on the description, I was expecting a little magical witchy town, but I didn’t like Alex’s skepticism about Romina’s magic. This was definitely tricky for me, I didn’t like the fake dating, they didn’t even try with it and it just felt silly here, and Alex felt really arrogant with her. I know they were both hurt from their past but the characters feel a little immature. I wish Alex’s POV was there because the second half of the book he feels like a totally different and kind character. The gestures he makes for Romina are so sweet. In terms of the romance, it’s so angsty and the build up to these two is so good. I loved their tension. The dialogue and side characters were strong too. The writing itself is well done and it’s a great angsty romance plot. Still enjoyable but not my favorite characters.

Found a new favorite romance author with this book. I enjoyed following along as Romina and Alex got their second chance at love and to see how that love brought healing to Romina. I can't wait to read more about her sisters finding love.

This was a cute book with so much romance and magic I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to see what else Sarah Hogle writes because I'll definitely be reading it!