As someone who has read a million love stories, I can confidently say that no one does it quite like Sarah Hogle. Her writing is so witty, her characters so enjoyable, that you really can’t help but want to be immersed in her stories, even if the premise didn’t really appeal initially. I felt that way about Just Like Magic, and I felt similarly about Old Flames and New Fortunes. Both books ended up blowing me away. I loved this story- it made me laugh and cry, and I didn’t want it to end. Alex was a fantastic hero- smart, sweet, and slightly obnoxious which is always a draw for me. Romina was an excellent character as well, and the backstory of her previous relationship just broke my heart. The secondary characters, particularly Trevor and her sisters, added so much to the story as well. I absolutely loved this one. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc.

I was immediately attracted to this book due to the witchy element. Don't ask me why, but I've always loved this kind of stuff. It was woven into the story so well and was kept on theme throughout the entire book, which made my little mystical heart happy.

Romina and Alex's love story is so spectacularly wonderful and heartbreaking, and the hope in their reunion literally gave me butterflies. (Or are they moths?) I do think Alex forgiving Romina for her lies and them reconciling so quickly was a little unrealistic. All of those tangled up feelings would take a long time to smooth out and talk through. That was my only issue with the story.

I loved all of the characters in the book, from Romina and Alex to their families and friends, down to the cats at the shop. They all had distinct personalities that were so lively I could picture them all in my head.

I really adored this story and hope there are more books about the other Tempest sisters' happily ever afters! And more of Romina and Alex's happily ever after. And Trevor's! Okay, just more happily ever afters for all of them.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

My new ranking:
1. You Deserve Each Other
2. Twice Shy
3. Just Like Magic
4. Old Flames and New Fortunes

I've always loved the way Sarah writes her MMCs but Alex is just NOT it. I can tolerate talk about past lovers but THAT REVEAL (which is unfair on Romina because he kept acting so childish towards her out of disbelief that she has "moved on" from him while all this time we didn't know he [redacted]) out of literally nowhere and how it was "resolved"? Nope, just nope.

Fingers crossed her next release will be a better one.

Thanks to Sarah Hogle, Putnam, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely adored this book and everything in it. Romina and Alex’s relationship was so pure, it was my first time reading about a second chance romance and i don’t see how it could get better than this! Romina was everything I needed in a main character, family oriented, a strong personality (i literally need to be her best friend rn).

I’m soooo excited for this book to be released and to see everyone’s reactions to it. Sarah Hogle has outdone herself once again.

The cover is gorgeous, love it. I really wanted to like this book. I felt the beginning was slow and kept going in circles. I had a hard time following along because we'd be into one scene then the next chapter would be short going over something from the past i.e. how the main character originally met her ex boyfriend then the next chapter would go back to present day. It started to get confusing and some of it didn't feel needed At points I thought I was missing something or somehow skipped over stuff then realized what was going on.
Overall it was a lovely book and if you like this type of style it would be a great read, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGallery and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC.

This book gave me whiplash and I really don't know how to feel about it.

The first half was wonderful! My home state being described beautifully, magic, plants, cute little shops, dealing with heavy topics like trauma, great dialogue and banter. I was obsessed!

Then they reveal the second chance romance MMC's secret (which is huge and super gross to keep from someone) and we just...skate over it. Like it wasn't a big deal.

Queue him being super full of himself, cocky and borderline narcissistic and then completely ignoring the FMC while basically stalking her???

This was two different books and I only liked one of them. It makes me sad because I would rate the first half 5 stars! I was so into it.

I hope the author considers a major rewrite before this comes out in April! It could really be redeemed.

I give this 3 stars as it is. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 stars but take this with a grain of salt because most of my complaints are more subjective things and I love love love Sarah Hogle with my entire heart and soul so it does pain me to give anything less than 4 stars.

I’ll start by saying I liked most of the characters in this, especially the side characters. Everyone was really fun and I felt added to the story, even if sometimes there were so many names that I found myself having to go back and look them up to see who was who. I especially loved the relationship between Romina and her sisters, as well as the friendship with her and Trevor. The cozy fantasy (more like cozy magical realism) vibe in this book was also great. I kind of wish it’d leaned more towards fantasy than magical realism since that was what I was expecting from the description (probably my own fault) and I prefer that more, but I still enjoyed reading and absolutely loved Moonville. If this factionalized version of the town were real it would perhaps be the only thing that could motivate me to go to Ohio.

I really wish the fake dating concept had been taken more seriously! Alex acted like didn’t believe it at all for most of the time, and Romina and Trevor were putting in the lowest amount of effort possible. The jealousy could have been so much more delicious (not that I didn’t enjoy what we got). It also lasted for way less time in the book than I thought it would, and I was left wondering what could possibly happen in the amount of pages that were left. I also got a tiny bit bored with the plot once it had moved past that, as I much prefer pining and that wasn’t really delivered on.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Alex as a love interest. I couldn’t help comparing him to Wesley from Twice Shy and Nick from You Deserve Each Other, two of the greatest book bfs ever and also both from Sarah Hogle. Alex is nowhere near the same tier level as them. He was just very presumptuous, controlling, constantly acted like he couldn’t believe Romina was no longer in love with him, and kept a MAJOR secret from her then acted like it wasn’t a big deal when it was revealed. I also really disliked him not understanding why she was afraid to commit fully when she’d explained what had happened in her past relationship, which made her fears pretty reasonable. However, towards the end I started to like him more. Him being all in and obsessed with Romina felt like a little much at times but eventually I just decided to stop judging him and think of it as sweet. I also did really love the banter between him and Romina the whole time, their dynamic and chemistry was really cute. Overall his character is the bulk of the reason I decided to give this a lower rating.

Overall this was a cute read. Sarah Hogle is maybe the only author in the world that would make me jump into a second chance romance with no hesitation.

I fell so madly in love with this book! It is one I will be thinking about for years to come! I cannot get enough! I simply cannot wait to get a copy so I can continue to devour it!

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I loved the interactions between sisters, as I never had a sister growing up. This isn't a typical romance that I would pick up, but I ended up really enjoying the whimsical storyline and the tropes. Alexander and Romina had great chemistry and banter, which is always appreciated. I will definitely be reading more from Sarah Hogle!

This is one of those romances that make you grin uncontrollably but also want to cry because WHY ISN'T THIS MY LIFE!!!

I should have expected that though because it's Sarah Hogle, one of the best at evoking this specific sort of feeling.

Old Flames and New Fortunes follows Romina Tempest, who wields the language of flowers to help couples find love as the small town of Moonville's resident flora fortunist. Ready to expand her shop, Romina jumps at the chance to pitch a new business plan to a potential financier who's in town for his wedding, going as far as to pretend to be dating his son, Trevor. Things take a turn when she finds out Trevor's soon-to-be step brother is none other than her high school sweetheart – the man she once believed to be the love of her life. Alex is just as she remembers and so much more, including so much more perceptive. Fooling him with her fabricated relationship proves harder than she expected, especially once old, buried feelings come bubbling up to the surface...

The magical, cozy atmosphere of Moonville pulls you in from the first page, the perfect backdrop to such a lovely romance. Romina and her family's magic was so fun to read about, and Romina's own affinity for flowers was so unique and intriguing! My only grievance is that we didn't get to read more about her ability as well as her backstory alongside her sisters. Perhaps in books two and three...

Romina herself is such a formidable yet relatable character, and I loved that we got to know her in the present but also in the past through the use of mini flashbacks. This same sentiment extends to Alex: what a dreamboat <3 His dynamic with Romina was electric and their banter had me grinning like an idiot time and time again. I highlighted so many lines he said to Romina that had me genuinely speechless. Speechless and depressed. Again, why isn't this my life!?!

I appreciated the development of Romina and Alex's relationship as they slowly reckoned with the other's presence in their life again, going from tense in a bad way to tense in a very good way... I also commend Hogle for her execution of the notorious "third act conflict" which had the potential to be very forced and dramatic but didn't come off that way at all.

Keep an eye out for this book in April 2024 if you're searching for a book that'll make you grin and giggle and also genuinely *feel* for all of the characters involved, you definitely will not regret it!

Excited to read more from this universe!

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Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book <3

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to the E-Arc. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the sisters in this novel. I love their interactions with each other. I just find the magical element to be an added bonus. I definitely could have used even more of that for sure. I thought the second chance was done well.

I felt the first half of the Arc to be kind of slow. I wasn’t a fan of the fake dating trope. I just didn’t feel real for me. That may have been the point but it felt rough to read.

Overall, I still would recommend this book. I’m just not sure if it was for me.

A second chance magical romance to warm the heart.

What do you do when your ex walks back into your life? You pretend to date your friend so he knows you’ve moved on. The problem is he doesn’t believe in your “relationship” and you still have that chemistry.

This book was cute if not a little too wacky for me. I laughed at some of it, but then found it a little ridiculous. It didn’t make me mad though.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Sarah Hogle has been a favorite author of mine and this was such a great addition to her book list.

Alexander and Romina fell in love in high school, but separated and have not spoken since. When it turns out that Alexander’s mom is marrying Romina’s coworker’s dad, and Romina and said coworker have pretended to date, we get plenty of tension and chaos plus a twist on the fake dating trope and plenty of forced proximity greatness.

This book is filled with so much heart and whimsy. Sarah Hogle never fails to remind us to have fun at any age and not take life too seriously. Even though many topics are tough—recovering from a breakup, family tension, and more—we get a great balance of levity as well. Easily one of my top books of the year.

Releases 4/2/2024

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

3 words: swoony, eccentric, & snarky (in a good way!)

I went into this expecting something very witchy and whimsical and I would say that the witchy factor is pretty dialed back and more of a sub-sub-plot. I was also taken back a bit by how mean the MCs were to each other at the beginning to where it had me second guessing if we would get a happy ending?!? LUCKILY it turned around in the end and we got some truly swoonworthy scenes! Specifically Alex’s confessions of love??? Literally giggling and kicking my feet on the couch!!!

Overall the writing was good and I was surprised with a few actual laugh out loud moments, specifically the snark between the two MCs. There was some extra florish in the wording that you don't usually see in a rom-com that matched with the flower descriptions at the top of each chapter!

This isn't the type of book I normally gravitate towards but I love Sarah Hogle so I went for it! It was a fun read and I think it would make a very entertaining movie!

Oh my ✨ stars✨ I loved this book! I am a sucker for first love second chance romance and Hogle did not disappoint!

I absolutely loved Romina and Alex; I could feel their spark even in their early high school days. The chemistry between them was searing! I love the evolution of their love from immature and reckless to grown up and solid.

I found the twist with Alex to be an extra layer of maturity and depth on his end and another mile marker in their time apart. I know that it's a soft spot for Romina, but it very clearly was not to spite her. Life went on after their break up, thr world did not stand still.

I absolutely loved the other characters! The love between sisters and niece are beautiful and fun. And Trevor made me laugh out loud! He reminded me so much of Ben Schwartz in Parks and Rec that that's who I kept picturing 😆.

All in all, I love, love, loved this book! I'm hoping it's a series since the sighting of the luna moth means Luna and Zelda's chances at love are coming and Gilda's fortune claims Zelda is next!!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC of this book!

This one had some sweet moments but was just okay for me. The main character, Romina, is part of a family that practices magic and runs a magic shop with floral fortunes, candles, etc. When the owner of their store attempts to ask his father for money to help the business, they all learn that Trevor's father is about to get married to the mother of Romina's high school sweetheart Alex. The rest of the story is a run of the mill second chance romance. As I said, if was just okay for me. I think the witchcraft elements and "magic" are just not background details that I'm a fan of. I did enjoy some aspects of the love story, though.

Old Flames and New Fortunes has the kind of romantic tension that makes you feel like your heart is in your throat when these characters interact with one another - that's the feeling I'm always hoping to experience when I read romance and Sarah Hogle absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one. This is definitely worth the read for that alone, in my opinion.

That said, Alex was not a particularly likable hero, and that took something away from an otherwise excellent execution of this story. The way he spoke to Romina was arrogant and condescending, and he was clearly prone to temper tantrums and destructive behaviors. These tendencies, combined with that SURPRISE reveal over halfway through, made it difficult to trust and root for this character. This guy has a lot of red flags that almost made me afraid for the heroine, and that's an unusual thought to have when you're reading a contemporary rom com.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this and will likely buy a physical copy once this book is published. Sarah Hogle is an auto-buy author for me and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for the other characters in this universe down the road.

Thank you netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read this book. I was so excited for the this book because I love Sarah hogles books so much but it wasn’t my favorite out of all of her books. I really loved the tension and chemistry between Alex and Romina! I also loved Trevor so much! I liked all the little surprises this book had and omg the throwbacks of little Alex had my heart melting! I couldn’t really get into other aspects of this book other than the romance like I just couldn’t get into the flower parts and I felt like the book got very slow at times especially in the beginning. I did love the jealousy that Romina and Trevor’s fake dating brought out in Alex and loved that he was so open about it! Alex had me falling for him so hard in this book!

Cozy fantasy romance at its best.

Cozy fantasy is a tough genre to get right and I think that Hogle does such a beautiful job.
Romina and Alex were quite a pair and their journey to be together was nothing short of captivating and heart warming