I liked this book more than You Deserve Each Other, but it was still just ok. It felt too long, and the relationship development between Romina and Alex was uneven - rushed at some points and too drawn out on others.

This is by no means the worst writing, but this is my second Sarah Hogle book and I think I just don't connect with her writing style and characters.

I love a whimsical small-town romance, quirky antics and personas, and watching two people fall in love.

Sarah went witchy and open-door in this one! 😍

Her books are weird and whimsical in the best way and OFaNF delivers.

This is a must-read for second-chance, small town romance lovers.

Things I loved:
ANY moment where the love interests are talking to each other. The chemistry was amazing
The flower magic- especially the way the love interest uses it throughout the book. SO Romantic
The sisters + Trevor- Sarah Hogle is hilarious and any group scene with these characters was hilarious
The backstory of about how our main characters ended up breaking up was well written and so sad

Things that were a miss:
The current day conflict felt so manufactured and after a certain point it felt like we were just waiting for the main character to get it together

Overall enjoyed this immensely during dialogue and actual story progression more than I disliked the filler giving this 4 stars for me.

Old Flames and New Fortunes is Sarah Hogle at her best! If you love magical realism and romance, this is the book for you!

Thank you Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC of Old Flames and New Fortunes! All opinions in this review are my own.

I liked the set up of this one at first. I love the magical shop run by the three sisters and how each one has a specific section of it. I also liked Romina and Alex's banter in the beginning. However, her stubbornness not to reveal that her relationship with Trevor is fake got old and I wasn't a fan of the turn the plot took in the second half. I still want to read the other books in the series because I'm hoping I will like a different trope more.

I ended up enjoying this at first it was a little slow but I hung in there and I glad I did. Thank you netgalley

Thank you so much netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

Sara Hogle is an auto buy author for me. I love her past work, but unfortunately this didn’t work for me. I did love Romina and Alex’s chemistry but it wasn’t memorable. I think the sex talk wasn’t written well and it was just too long.

Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle had well-developed characters and a plot that was engaging. This book was a great read. I highly recommend!

**Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are voluntary and my own.**

3.75⭐️

don’t get me wrong, i thoroughly enjoyed this book. i loved the romance, the history the 2 main characters had and the fact that it’s based just 30 minutes away from where i live (and i’ve been to the Moonville Tunnel). the only thing i didn’t love was that i felt like it could be A LOT shorter. i feel like there were certain points where i was getting bored. within the last 2 hours, i wanted to stop listening to it because it felt like the story wasn’t progressing anymore. if there were parts cut out from before the 2 main characters got back together, then we could’ve seen a lot more of their life as a family which i would have appreciated more than just hearing over and over again about how she was fake dating a friend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc!!

This is a really cute story and I loved the concept of magic within! Romina is talented with flowers and creates floral fortunes for people using specific flowers that are believed to have certain magical properties. For example, a specific flower may make someone’s passion for their partner increase, etc. The flowers cannot make someone do something they don’t want to, but can nudge someone in a certain direction if it is truly how the person feels. Romina’s sister, Luna, has a similar talent with candles, and together they run a magical shop of sorts with the building owner and their friend, Trevor. The building used to belong to their grandmother, but their mother sold it upon the grandmothers death, which devastated the sisters. They dream of one day owning the building again, but Trevor has no interest in selling. Trevor is a budding entrepreneur, and when his father decides to come to town, he’s hopeful it’s to invest in their business. However, things take an unexpected turn- Trevor’s father is not there for the business, but instead to marry Kristen, the mother of Romona’s ex boyfriend from high school, Alex.

On top of that, Romina and Trevor end up in a fake relationship stemming from a joke and now must keep the farce up to save face. Alex, who is in town for the wedding, is immediately suspicious of the relationship and doubts its validity, doing what he can to prove it’s not authentic.

Alex and Romina are thrown together more and more during wedding festivities, which makes it increasingly obvious that they aren’t over each other.

If I’m being honest, this book would have been rated higher if the magic played more of a role in the book and if I didn’t find Alex so insufferable. For about 90% of the book I felt like Alex was overly obnoxious and condescending, and I just didn’t understand what Romina saw in him. I’m also not a huge fan of the high school sweethearts reunited trope, but Alex’s character just didn’t help.

This is still a cute read, and others may not have the same feelings about Alex! Many of the other characters were very charming to me, and I would definitely read stories about the other sisters if the author ends up doing that.

This book was so fun and so magical. I enjoyed hanging out with this friend group, but I honestly could have used a little bit more magic! Some of the powers felt like an after thought. Though, the way the male lead used flowers to communicate with her was SWOONY. Overall, I very much enjoyed this one!

This was a fun book, and while I enjoyed, it didn't really bring anything unique or fun to the table. It just kind of rests in my mind alongside all the other similar books I've read! If you're looking for something to spend time on, you will probably enjoy the story/book...but, if you're looking for something unique, this book is not it.

What a sweet story of second chance love. The descriptions in this book were so detailed, it made me feel a part of the story. I hope there is more to this series

This was a cozy read with Sarah’s signature silly banter. And also the most awkward not-sex scene ever.
While some may strive for hyper sexy over realism, Sarah gives her readers that clumsy awkward feeling when we overthink a moment we’re really excited about and then rewards her reader with a surprising sexy quirk that we did not see coming but actually yeah that does make sense now that I think about it.
This wasn’t my favorite of her books, but I had a great time reading it all the same. I know any book she writes will be a comfort read and I’ll be ready to pick up her next one.

While I eventually ending up enjoying this book, it was a really hard book to get started on. I was about to quit reading but am glad that I stuck with it, there are a lot of characters to sort through and keep straight. In the end Romina and Alex are the leads and after having to sift through them all I didn't really connect with them.

The story was of to a good start, but couldn’t hold my attention.

I liked the. Characters and the plot of the story. Each chapter starts of with a flower and the meaning behind it. I wasn’t feeling the connection between the main character and the ex like the author intended.

This book wasn’t for me, but I may ry it at another time.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Sarah Hogle may easily be my favorite author of all time... With You Deserve Each Other in my list of top 5 favorite books of all time and Just Like Magic being my favorite Netgalley find and on a shortlist of 5 star reads for me I was so excited to see that she was releasing a new book! While this one was less my style than the other two that I have read, Hogle is such an incredible writer and I always find her main characters super relatable and this release was no different! I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to read her novels and hope that she keeps writing!!

The story was sweet. I had a hard time getting into it at first. It had a somewhat slow start. Apologies for the delayed review.

Sarah Hogle is one of the only authors who will convince me to pick up a magical realism book. This book (set in Ohio!) told a uniqye love story between flora fortunist Romina and her first love, Alex.

Things I enjoyed:
- TREVOR was the funniest character ever
- The fun magical element
- A beautiful Ohio town filled with quirky and lovable town folks

Things I didn't like as much:
- Alex was mean at points to Romina and it rubbed me the wrong way
- REALLY hated the secret kept from Romina. It was an unnecessary part of the story.
- Trevor would have been a better love interest than Alex IMO