Alex + Romina. The couple that made everyone believe that HS sweethearts really can last forever. This book perfectly illustrates and captures that innocent hope and the magic of when first loves really are forever loves. Though they separated and took detours away from each other, the connection never died. It was just dormant. Sleeping. Until the time was right and a set of circumstances brought the love right back to the surface.

I loved the small-town setting and hints of magic. I'm especially excited that this seems to be the first in a trilogy of the Tempest Sisters and am hopeful for Luna and Zelda's stories to equally entrance readers.

My two points of contention are only that It did seem a bit longer than it needed to be, and I felt like throwing in that Alex has a child 300 pages in to the book was a bit of an unnecessary bombshell. That said, I did enjoy the story overall.

This is my second book by Hogle, I have read and liked "Just like Magic" this one however I found hard for me to connect with the character. I loved the magic of the flower shop, but I was hoping there would be more magic and funnier. I will read this next one in the series as I love this small magical town.

I always love a good fake dating romance, so I will continue on.

Romina is flora fortunist and wants to expend her shop and continue to use the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest their love lives. She gave up on her own love life long ago when he broke her heart. But then he is back in town for a wedding that she will be doing, so she decides to fake date her chaotic colleague Trevor who will soon be stepbrother to ex Alex. Things start to get crazy, and it is becoming very hard to keep up with the scheme and also keep her heart intact.

Loved this one! However, it drug on once Alex moved to town.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own

A quick romance just in time for the season where escapist fiction is the remedy! Perfect for fans of witchy, slow burn romances, our main characters are old high school sweethearts who have found one another at their second stage of adulthood. Does love last? Do they truly hold grudges after a painful years-ago breakup?

Flora fortunes and entrepreneurial pluckiness were my favorite traits in my main character. There have been many good novels where the language and symbolism of flowers are the strength of the main character and it is a fun trope to indulge in! Alex, the love interest, came on way too strong in the beginning, in my opinion, but I think it was meant to grow tension. Dialogue seemed a bit forced in places, but overall an easy and fun romp of a read!

Meet Romina Tempest, current Flora Fortunist in the small town she grew up in. Romina loves to create magical creations with her flowers to help her customers in their life. Along with her sisters and friend/current owner of the shop, the group along with other shop owners in town, love to give a magical spice to everyone's life. Enter the ex-boyfriend who comes back into town for a wedding. Confused that Romina chose this path because she denied it growing up, Alex tries to get back into her life since they were both each other's person who got away and probably why they aren't able to find love and romance in their life now.

Old Flames and New Fortunes is an enjoyable and quick read which reminds you that you never know what could happen in your life when you least expect it. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequels for this series to see what happens next for each of the characters and getting to know them more.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Putnam Books and Sarah Hogle for this ARC!

All reviews and opinions of this book are my own. Thank you!

DNF at 10% - the boring details of the first few chapters were too much and I had to stop reading. I didn’t need to know about the main character’s niece not doing her homework and needing braces.

Sarah Hogle is a must read for me now, regardless of the book. This was no different. This looks to be the start of a new series and I am SO here for it.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book. We love to see another florist romance. However, I'm not sure if it was done in the best way. I like second-chance romance, but the magical realism doesn't add much to the book and the dialogue was a bit to robotic and clunky for me.

Having liked other Sarah Hogle books, I wanted to love this. But I DNF after trying for weeks to read it. I'm sure it is the perfect book for some, but it just was not for me.

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I am absolutely infatuated with Sarah Hogle’s writing style. I would read her grocery list if she published it and I’d probably be giggling and kicking my feet. I just spent 300+ pages with a perma-grin because I immediately fell in love with Alex and Romina. I don’t even like second chance romance! But I’m pretty sure Sarah Hogle is a witch herself so I’m not even surprised that I enjoyed her version. I need everyone in the world to read this book so I can talk to everyone I meet about it.

I just finished "Old Flames and New Fortunes," and it’s a steamy second-chance romance that’s as magical as a bouquet of enchanted flowers!

While the magical setting and quirky premise were delightful, I felt the plot sometimes got a bit too tangled in misunderstandings. Nonetheless, it’s a fun, heartwarming read with plenty of enchantment and second-chance romance vibes!

Adorable second chance romance! Romina is a witch who runs a little village shop with her sisters. Her talent is in making floral arrangements that also have a little charm for the receiver. She and her good friend/shop owner try to visit his father to ask for a loan and end up in a fake dating arrangement. Enter Romina's ex Alex who is smug and persistent in his attentions to Romina. This book was fun and angsty and included other romance tropes like enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forced proximity-you name it! I won't name another one since it's a secret that comes out about 60% in. I wanted to live in this little world and visit Romina's shop. Alex was almost too perfect.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

If Sarah Hogle is writing it, I'm reading it - period. I've really enjoyed all of her other books, though this one was not my #1. The trope here is really a second chance romance, which I love.

While I enjoyed this, and will still pick up what Hogle writes, this one fell flat - it had a bit of trouble with pacing and didn't love some of the secrets that were revealed in the book. Will I read it again? Probably. Will it be the first I reach for? Probably not.

Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley!

When reading something by Sarah Hogle, I do expect some fun magical realism mixed with life lessons and a cute little romance. It definitely delivered on that.
Small town second chance romance, with some spice and fake dating! I wasn’t expecting the first spicy scene at all. Which also kind of translated to I didn’t expect a lot of the 2nd half of the book. I think mostly because the impactful moments weren’t as strong as I would have liked. Also I never had any moments where I connected to the characters.
It was still sweet and magical, easy read for sure!

Thank you NetGalley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and the author for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion! This is the first novel I've read by Sarah Hogle, and I was NOT disappointed. All of the reviews mentioning how cute her writing style/stories were so accurate! If you enjoy second chance love stories and cozy witch vibes, this is the book for you!

Old Flames and New Fortunes is a magical small-town romance following Romina, a witch, and Alex her former high school boyfriend. When Alex returns to their cozy hometown for his mothers marriage, our main characters find themselves drawn back into each others lives.

I enjoy second chance romances, but I found myself having a hard time connecting to the characters. I loved Romina and her flower powers, and I really enjoyed the setting and quirky characters. But, I found myself having a hard time connecting to Alex- especially after the plot twist is revealed later in the story.

However, Sarah Hogle is an excellent author, and I will be reading all of her future books- even if this story wasn't my favorite!

It took a few chapters to really get the story flowing. I put it down a few times in the beginning but after a while it got better and more engaging. I thought it was cute and the characters were okay. Not my favorite, not my least liked. Just in-between.

I'm a big fan of Sarah Hogle, and if she writes it, I will most likely read it. The main reason I rated this book 4 stars is that I read it...forgot to review it...and can't remember really anything about the book other than I thought it was cute. This tells me that while I enjoyed it, it wasn't a standout novel.

If you enjoy witchy books with a HEA and some hijinks thrown in for good measure, you should 1000% read this book. If you don't enjoy those things...then you should read this book anyway, and maybe you'll change your mind.

I really liked the story, and the protagonist. Moreover, the characters in this book are as vibrant and diverse as the spells they cast. Each character leapt off the page with their own unique charm and complexity. Their relationships and interactions added layers of depth to the story, making every twist and turn all the more engaging.

This was a quick, easy, and cute read. Sarah Hogle's books are one of my go-to's when I want a lighter read with an adorable love story. Her characters are always endearing and make me laugh out loud. I know he wasn't one of the main characters, but Trevor was my favorite. He was so goofy and ridiculous, I just couldn't help but adore him. A part of me kind of hoped that he and Romina would wind up together instead though, so there's that. Kind of made it difficult for me to truly jump on board with Alex and Romina, but they eventually won me over.

It's not the best by Hogle, but I still recommend it for romcom lovers who aren't super critical. You can easily get lost in this story if you aren't trying to analyze it too much.