I loved you deserve each other. It is an incredible book. Because I loved it so much I keep giving Hogle a chance but none of her other books have lived up. Unfortunately, I found the writing clunky and the book hard to get into. There were too many characters introduced early and their relationships to each other were very confusing.

A cute witchy and floral themed book centered on high school sweethearts who reconnect. If you are into fake dating tropes, witch vibes, or one true love than this is a good book for you. I struggled a bit with the first half and second half feeling like two totally different books with different character personalities. I could have skipped the fake dating half, normally I love that trope but this time I wasn’t wild about it. The book also had some spicy scenes at the end that felt a little out of place to me. Overall, I liked the second half of the book and Romina’s journey into taking a chance on love again.

I loved almost everything about this book: the main character, the premisse, the setting, the witchy element, the characters. Except for one thing: the love interest. And it's kind of key for your enjoyment of a romance to love the love interest. It's a second chance romance, but I just didn't feel any angst, or any chemistry. I could tell you hardly anything about this man's personality, which is odd considering every other character was so fleshed out. I know Sarah Hogle can write amazing love interests, because I've loved them in her other books, so I can't help but be disappointed by this.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

I was drawn to this book initially because You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle is one of my all time favorite rom-com books. It was laugh out loud funny and I've been searching for a book to scratch that itch ever since.

I enjoyed the touch on magic that this book has coupled with the second chance romance. However, I would've rated it higher if the magic theme had continued throughout the book. The first part of the book reconnects Romina and Alex, years after the high school sweethearts broke up before going to college. When part 1 finished, it seemed like the themes I enjoyed so much in the beginning (learning the meaning behind flowers and how Romina interacted with magic) was forgotten.

This isn't saying that I didn't like the second part! I think part 2, where we are along for the ride of Alex wooing Romina, was so fun and cute to read. I feel like I even fell in love with Alex a little?? Part 2 was a breeze to get through and SPOILER ALERT I'm so happy that we didn't go through another break up and turmoil to get our happy ending.

I'm hoping Sarah writes novels on the other sisters, Luna and Zelda!

P.S. I was given an advanced copy of this book to review.

Sarah Hogle has mentioned at one point that OLD FLAMES AND NEW FORTUNES was one of the first manuscripts she wrote. I'm happy that it's coming out in the world soon, and happy that it had time to develop as Hogle worked on her other charming books. OLD FLAMES AND NEW FORTUNES captures the good and bad of small-town life, the highs and lows of giving yourself over to love in the wrong places, and the inherent delight of an Asian himbo fake boyfriend.

Since I read Sarah Hogle's "You Deserve Each Other" I've been desperately hoping that every subsequent book matched its excellence. I really thought that this could be the one, but there were a few areas that fell a little flat for me.

I absolutely adored the characters; they were quirky in all the right ways, and I'm a fan of second chance romances. The problem came in the last quarter of the book with one of the main characters hiding a HUGE secret from the other.

Usually this would be a source of betrayal or uneasiness of some sort, but it's almost as if the whole situation is just glossed over. It didn't make sense to me, and it came completely out of left field.

That situation notwithstanding, the book was cute. It just didn't fill my "You Deserve Each Other" sized hole in my bookish heart.

Such a fun ride!! I love Sarah Hogle's brand of humor with my whole entire heart, and this delivered on all her signature goofiness, with pockets of heart in between. It was funny, angsty, sexy, and heartfelt all at once. It made me want to live in Moonville - specifically in Luna's apartment.

I am an unapologetic Hogle fan girl. I adore her writing. She is an auto-read, auto-buy author for me. She writes amazingly flawed female main characters. I really liked Romina and Alex. I loved the premise of this book. I loved the pining and longing. I absolutely ADORE the way Sarah leans in to a soft third act and avoids the big dark moment that tears them apart only to put them together again. Soft endings forever.

Also this is new for Hogle- there is not only sex on the page, there is face sitting.

I want to acknowledge that I am reading this very early and possibly some editing will change some of the following.
However, the plot seems disjointed. It felt like it was trying to do too much. As main plot points we have the following:
Romina and Trevor need money to fix the plot set to be the extension of their current store
Romina and Trevor enter into a fake relationship and Alex seethes in jealousy
Alex's mom is marrying Trevor's dad
Romina and her three sisters run a store that was their grandmother's
Romina had a very bad relationship and she is very skittish now
Romina and Alex reconnect and fall in love even though Alex has a secret
Romina make floral fortunes and those are minimal in the second half

SPOILERS after this point

I am here for a silly premise that leads to a fake relationship, you will get no complaints from me. However, this one fizzled out quickly. And once it fizzled out, so dod the plot line regarding the greenhouse and the plot is was on. I wanted a bit more there. And Alex fixed the greenhouse floor? How? When? Why do we not know more about this. It was such a stressor for Romina and then it is just over.

Romina's sisters are fantastic. They basically disappear in the third act. Although there is a hysterical scene where they all go to Alex's house and it reminded me of the antics from You Deserve Each Other. Loved this. I wanted more of Luna and Stella. I assume we will see them again in later books, but I wanted more to be invested.

I feel like Alex's son was a plot moppet. I hate plot moppets. Romina wanted so badly to be a mom. For her, a HEA with a baby is the goal. But Alex's son appears and Romina is taken back to a previous relationship she had with a man who had a child. But then Alex's son mostly disappears while we get on page dating from Romina and Alex. Either make him a real character or take him out of the story.

All in all this was an enjoyable read. I will read it when it releases. In the first third of the book when Romina and Trevor are doing their fake relationship charade, it really reminded me of the snappy dialogue from You Deserve Each Other. It had the softness of Twice Shy. It had some magical elements, but not the fantastic bonkersness of Just Like Magic.

This one pains me to write.... but I just didn't love Old Flames and New Fortunes. However, in Hogle's defense - I only have myself to blame. There was no doubt about the storyline or murkiness around the elements of magic in the book - and yet I chose to read it anyway. This genre is my least favorite, but I (mistakenly) thought I could push through out of sheer fangirl strength for Sarah Hogle. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I still love Hogle and will continue to read and champion her books - all while remembering that the supernatural is not a topic I want to revisit. Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved Old Flames and New Fortunes! I loved all the characters and their dynamics. Even though it played into so many tropes, I was excited for each twist and turn of their relationship. This book gave me a romance I can root for and I absolutely loved it. Alex is the cutest love interest and even his quirks made him so fun to read about. Highly recommend.

Typically fake dating trope + second chance romance is not my thing, but this one was *witchy* which IS my thing. Add in language of flowers + cottage folklore + spring time and high school sweethearts and sure, I'll read your book.

I loved this read, and perfect time of year (October) for a witchy second chance romance! The characters grow on you and it’s one of those books that you know the sisters stories could totally play out to come! I’m not usually one for second chance romances but this one had a FMC who is all things flowers, cottage core vibes and I’m all for that. I also loved get witchy magic was creating with flowers, it was so sweet!

I have had been waiting on pins and needles for this book. And, it did not disappoint. This story is heartwarming, sweet, fun, with laugh-out-loud moments, and at times was quite an emotional ride too. I love love it!

I wasn't fond of the writing style. The beginning is very confusing and I couldn't understand why it began that way but I pushed through and it became very descriptive about nonsense.

The intro should've definitely been different and the flow of it too.

Sad that I had to stop after reading a quarter through.

I know this book is coming out in the spring, but I felt like it was the perfect early October vibe!! This second-chance romance has magic, flowers, and fake dating (the wrong guy), what more could you want?

Romina is a flora fortunist who uses her magic and flowers to help others find love. when her and her sisters desperately need help for their business, a sales pitch ends up with Romina fake dating a co-worker to try to get a loan from his dad…. only to find out her fake bf’s future brother-in-law is none other than Alex, her greatest love and her greatest heartbreak.

This book was fun, it was flirty, and it might be my favorite of Sarah Hogle’s so far! I loved Romina’s relationship with her sisters, and was not expecting ~that~ plot twist, but thought it tied into the story perfectly. Be sure to pick this book up next spring!! Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this super sweet, funny and heartfelt romcom! I loved the witchy elements, and even though I don’t think it necessarily takes place in the fall, it definitely belongs on a list of cozy autumn reading recs somewhere. I also felt like the sense of place was done really well in this story; Moonville feels very tangible and lived in. It seems like this is setting up to be a series with future books also taking place in Moonville—fingers crossed, because it was a very cool setting. My only critique is that the pacing felt a little off towards the end, which sort of dragged. That said, I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a fun and heartwarming read. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Putman for the advanced reader copy.

*3.5 stars*

A heartfelt second-chance love story brimming with spellcraft and botany, Sarah Hogle’s latest encounters some major stumbling blocks.

It goes without question that Hogle is a phenomenal talent. Her tangible prose makes every scene explode with feeling. Profound emotional exchanges and searing moments of personal growth are really her bread and butter. The world-building here is whimsical and sweet, while most of the characters we are introduced to provide fantastic layers to the story. (The MC’s family and their love-centric magic shop, in particular.)

It’s worth nothing that I am typically not a fan of second-chance romance tropes, or small-town tropes, and yet I still really enjoyed reading OLD FLAMES AND NEW FORTUNES. That said, I struggled with the overarching conflict point in this and how the love interest handled sharing something incredibly important that he had plenty of opportunities to reveal to the MC. It was hard to root for the progression of their relationship after that point, especially considering what the MC went through and how she communicated that experience before being straight up blindsided. Given all of the circumstances, I would have also preferred to see an ending that gave more than what was delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for witches so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Publishers for this ARC.

I rate it a 3.5.

I want to preface that I LOVED You Deserve Each Other and Just Like Magic, so going into this book I thought I would also love it the same way. I loved the love story with Naomi/Nicholas and Bettie/Hall. And I loved the ridiculousness these stories had. There were a lot of things that I loved about this story such as the whimsical fantastical feel, the fake dating was so much fun to read, the flashbacks to before the main couple initially broke up, the jealousy trope had me cracking up kicking my feet and giggling, the angst was chef's kiss, I LOVED the acts of service and dedication Alex (MMC) put into getting back with Romina (FMC), overall Sarah Hogle knows how to write a story that makes their reader feel wholly encapsulated in the story.

What I did not like was how many characters there were in the story, I got confused and had to keep going back to figure out who they were in the first place, so the flow of the story felt finicky. They kept introducing new people into the account and it was hard to see how they fit into the story as a whole. I also did not like how Alex seemed to question everything Romina was doing like a person can change in 11 years, but he kept saying things like "Since when do you do that" or "That's not you" like bro...back off. Something that almost put me off entirely was the plot twist at around 60%. Alex and Romina had been spending all this time together because of this wedding that was happening and Romina told Alex about all the bad things that had happened to her in the 11 years they were part and then Alex dropped this bomb and said "I never had the chance to tell you"...what??? Like why would you do that? But nonetheless, I kept reading but I was still annoyed at the plot twist.

I think the good outweighed the bad for me so if you are a Sarah Hogle fan, I would recommend it but just be aware that the plot twist may ruin it because they are happy and in love until that 60% mark, and then Romina is left contemplating her whole existence and while Alex does work really hard to understand her POV and try to make her feel that their love will conquer all, I am still left a little annoyed.

I love how Sarah Hogle had quickly become a favourite of mine. It was such a unique, sweet and a lil adventurous book to read about. I can't give it anything less than 5 stars. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn't have loved this one more. Sarah Hogle knows how to serve wit and good ‘ol second chance romance with enough grovel!