Old Flames and New Fortunes didn’t quite have the same pull that Sarah Hogle’s previous books had for me at least. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not a fantasy reader that it didn’t have the same appeal to me or if it was a combination of things on why I didn’t work for me. I enjoyed parts of the book but the slowness of the beginning really dragged for me only to have the gas pedal slammed down really fast and then let up again. I do think Romina and Alex have chemistry but I just couldn’t wrap my head around how they were at the beginning of the book vs the middle and then the end of it.

My favorite (and in my opinion) peak Sarah Hogle book is You Deserve Each Other and think everyone should pick it up if they are interested in giving her books a read.


Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

It was fun to see Alex try to out Romina and Trevor’s fake relationship. Full of emotion, humor with fun characters and a few witchy vibes.

Not your typical fake dating. Loved the witchy attributes and the fake dating trope. The setting of small town Moonville is so cute. I love the whimsy and magic. This is my first read by Sarah Hogle and I am eager to read more.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was given the opportunity to read the arc of Old Flames and New Fortunes, and I absolutely loved this second chance spicy romance.

I understand that some people found the character of Alex frustrating, but I found him entertaining. They were both pining and jealous, and he was definitely putting up a front to disguise his true feelings.

Romina was sweet and a very relatable character. More than anything she wants to be a mother, and despite the fact that certain people took advantage of her kindess, she remains a sweet person. She definitely speaks up for herself more and isn’t afraid to go toe to toe with Alex.

This story features magical flowers, modern witches, fortune telling, language of flowers, fake dating, angst and pining, as well as a lot of banter that was massively humorous.

There is a suprise that some might hate, but it made sense and fit into what the Romina wanted. I also think that Alex was very respectful of her triggers and patient. She definitely made the decision she wanted in the end in my opinion.

I loved this book so much. I ran to the bookstore to get my copy to reread and cry to one day again.

Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for this Arc.

✨✨✨✨✨/5

4.5 stars rounded up!

Romina Tempest is a flora fortunist in the mystical town of Moonville - that is, she uses the meanings behind flowers and plants to help people with their love lives. Unfortunately, Romina's own love life is pretty stagnant after her high school sweetheart Alex broke her heart, and her only other serious relationship ended in an incredibly painful way. When Alex returns to Moonville for his mother's wedding, Romina ends up pretending to date her friend Trevor, who is also Alex's soon-to-be stepbrother after a mix-up that she decides to keep going because she doesn't want Alex to know how hurt she still is from their breakup all those years ago.

This book was simply EVERYTHING to me and I will think about it for a long time to come. I was a little hesitant to read this, after trying another book from the author in the past and the magic realism premise just not working for me. This book did have some magical elements with Romina and her sisters owning a mystical candle/floral/bookshop, but this felt more realistic and worked. It took a little bit for me to really get into the story, but once I did, I loved it. Romina and Alex had me laughing out loud and kicking my feet. This book was equal parts hilarious and SO tender, with depth and plot twists and secrets galore. The payoff at the end was so incredibly sweet, heartwarming, and tender and I'll be thinking about Alex's declarations for a while.

TW: mention of past psychologically abusive relationship, mention of neglect of a child, death of a parent (off-page), death of a grandparent (off-page)

I really wanted to like this book. And I still do love the idea (plus the cover!).
What I enjoyed about it:
- the cover
- the premise
- the chapter titles (each one is a different flora and it's meaning)
- the characters

What I didn't like:
- the whole story felt too disjointed to me. I felt like I never understood what was coming next - it jumped around without enough explanation.
Unfortunately not one I would recommend.

Old Flames and New Fortunes was a fun and angsty romance with just a touch of magic. I loved the FMC and her sisters (especially Zelda) and I hope we will see future books pop up to follow their love stories. I thought Romina was an interesting main character and I loved the elements of flower magic we got to see sprinkled throughout.

The main complaint I have is that this book was waaaaay too goofy at times. I generally appreciate a little goofiness here or there (anyone who has read Hogle’s Christmas romance knows what I mean), but it just didn’t work as well here and made the characters seem way more juvenile than they actually were. I also really didn’t love the MMC. Alex just seemed very smarmy and I didn’t get the appeal. Also, the casualness regarding his reveal at the halfway point? Not for me.

You may enjoy if you like:
*Second chance romance
*Fake dating
*Small town/Stars Hollow vibes
*Cottagecore witches
*Shenanigans

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for a review copy.

DNF @ 20%. Like most of my DNFs, this is a "it's not the book, it's me" situation. I'm in a bit of a book slump, and I've been starting and stopping books left and right. I can't find ANYthing that is keeping my attention.

That being said, I am a big fan of Sarah Hogle and her writing. Her books are full of whimsy and magic, and Old Flames and New Fortunes is no exception. Romina, our FMC, is a florist with a penchant for floral-based magic, and she's wanting to grow the business into something even bigger. There's fake dating. There's second-chance romance. There's misunderstandings, and magic, and a little mayhem (or at least I predict mayhem will ensue). I'll probably circle back to this one at some point in the future because I *do* love Sarah's writing so much. It was just not the right time when I tried picking it up the other week.

I'm giving it four stars, even with a DNF, because I'm interested enough to try again when I'm in a different headspace. And because I love Sarah and her books, even when I put them down.

I have mixed feelings about this book. So many parts I loved and others I thought were a little too much.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Old Flames and New Fortunes is a second chance romance featuring Romina and Alex. The two of them dated in high school and broke up before they went their separate ways to college. Neither of them have ever really gotten over the other but have each had major life experiences in their years apart. When Alex’s mom is marrying Romina’s business partners dad it brings Alex back to town and they reconnect.

While parts of Romina and Alex’s romance was sooo sweet and beautiful this book was alllll over the place. I mean there’s a fake dating trope, there’s kids, there’s romance set up for her sisters. I was waiting the whole time for a moth (yes the bug) to appear. I can’t even really decide how to feel about the romance because of all these other aspects.

The things that were done so well - the town and some magical aspects. I loved the small town vibes and I loved all the floral magic references. I also loved the side characters. Parts that involved them were very funny.

Second chance romance is my favorite trope and I would have liked this more if it was a little more refined. There’s a major twist with Alex and the fact that there’s two parts of this book was extremely unnecessary. It could have been only one part, much shorter, and no fake dating first part.

Overall, I want more people to read this simply so I can hear others opinions. But I don’t think this book was edited down enough.

This was whimsical and fun while being magic and seriousness all in one. I loved the way Romina has transformed her flower shop in such a magical way. Maybe now it's her try to bloom with someone from her past?

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC of Old Flames and New Fortunes in exchange for my honest review!

I think a lot of people are going to really love this one, especially due to the setting. The town of Moonville is instantly charming, it’s one of those places that I wish existed in real life because it was so genuinely cozy. It made me feel like Practical Magic-vibes which is one of my favorite movies. I also really loved Romina, I think her occupation as a floral fortunist was such a fun element to the story, which again, added to the Practical Magic feeling.

I did not love the men in the story, both Trevor and Alex were less than desirable in my opinion. It made it hard to read at points in time, especially when Alex was SO smug all the time. I just didn’t prefer reading about him. I also did not love his big secret, it felt like a punch in the gut when it popped up in the story.

Overall, I did still enjoy the book and believe that it’ll do really well with cozy romance readers!

That was the most absurd yet hilarious experience, she says every single time she finishes a Sarah Hogle book.

The first half drove me bananas but the second half made it all worth it.

SARAH HOGLE THE QUEEN OF SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE 🙌 the way Sarah infuses pettiness into her characters breathes life into me, I was cackling and kicking my feet the whole time. The banter between Alex and Romina was so chaotic and refreshing, but I loved all their sweet little moments too. And the plot twist at the end of part one 😩 I’m notoriously bad at anticipating what’s going to happen in a book so I was NOT expecting that but I loved the way it was handled. I had the best time reading this book!!!

The Practical Magic-vibes were off the chart with this one! I loved Moonville and the Tempest sisters.

Romina, our heroine in this tale, is a magical florist who helps people with their romantic lives, one bouquet at a time. Her sister, Luna, makes candles, and their absent sister, Zelda, is a writer and runs their fantasy bookstore. Honestly, what a perfect set up! They need money to expand their business, and their friend's businessman dad is coming into town. Perfect time for a investor presentation! When the dad drops the bomb that he's marrying Kristin, Romina freaks because that means Kristin's son, Alex King aka Romina's first and true love, is also in town! She and her friend, Trevor, decide in a split second decision to fake date to make people a little jealous. And from there it goes!

I really enjoy Sarah Hogle's writing and characterizations. Romina is splendid - a bit immature sure, but spunky and adorable! Alex, I liked a bit less. He purposely got in Romina's nerves and, as a result, mine. The reveal of Miles wasn't my favorite, but I thought their reunion was sweet overall. Two flawed people finding their person once again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this ARC.

I unfortunately had to dnf this one. I got half way through and wasn’t connecting with the characters at all. I liked the concept of the story but I couldn’t get past my dislike for Romina and Alex.

3.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the E-Book. I finished this book with one word in mind. Swoon and also I need a King in my life. At first I was just like okay and then something shifted in the book and I was all in. I loved the sister vibe and I loooveeedd Trevor I want more of him he is soooo funny. Cant wait to read more of Moonville

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. This was a second chance romance mixed with a little humor and this book was a litter spicier than I thought it would be. I’ve never read Sarah Hogle before so I didn’t know what to expect. There weren’t many spicy scenes but the ones that were there were good! I definitely plan to read more from this author!

3 stars (rounded down).

"Old Flames and New Fortunes" by Sarah Hogle hooked me for the first 50%. The first half of this book is amazing. It's full of brilliant banter, wit, mysticism, and fun. The small-town magic of the quirky Moonville, Ohio, is brought out by Hogle's obvious passion for the town and her characters. Her words are poetry, waxing lyrical about flowers, lost love, new beginnings, crazy shenanigans at the hands of the townsfolk, silly festivals and traditions and spells, etc. I loved how the main characters, Romina and Alex, might be getting their second shot at love. It's painfully obvious they are still crazy about each other, even though they parted many years ago. Unfortunately, it feels like there is a massive disconnect in the story. It wants to be this frilly, magical love story, but the trauma and other hard-hitting subject matters feel tacked on and inorganic. Any interest I had for the characters and this story takes a nose-dive when a late-book addition of a new character that was previously undisclosed comes out of literal nowhere, absolutely ruining the story for me. It yanked me right out of reality, and mind you, this is a book about a "floral witch." It felt like a cheap "gotcha!" moment that was wholly unnecessary. Romina's fixation on wanting to be a mom also put me off quite a bit. She comes off as desperate, not authentic, almost like she'd be with any man who she thought could/would give her a child. There's also a lot going on in this story, far too many moving parts for a romance like this. Some of it is unimportant, and some of it feels unexplored (which makes no sense because this book feels LONG). Speaking of which, there's no way this book needed to be as long as it was. While the whimsy is there, this book is too chaotic with little payoff. No Sarah Hogle book is ever going to eclipse the greatness that is "You Deserve Each Other."

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Hogle, Penguin Group Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Well this was just darling!

This was my first Sarah Hogle book and it definitely won't be my last!

In this novel Romina, a modern day witch, has embraced her witchy ways in this magical small town, second chance romance! Alex, Romina's ex, is back in town for a big wedding and when they bump into each other sparks fly! Add in small town hilarity, pseudo-fake dating a colleague, slight forced proximity, and a dream on the line and you have the recipe for a really engaging story!

I couldn't get enough of the slow burn tension, the angst, the hurts that needed healing, a twist I didn't see coming, and the emotional depth wrapped up in a cozy magical package!


loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC! All opinions below are my own!

This second-chance, witchy romance centers around Romina, a flower-shop fortune teller who is reunited with her high school ex-boyfriend, Alex, when his mom returns to town in order to get married. In the midst of the shenanigans, Romina pretends to date best friend, Trevor, to no avail.

This book does second-chance romance so, so well - truly, on the par of Happy Place and (maybe even better??) than Forget Me Not. The fact that Alex was a first-love and deep love really was so well portrayed, even in the flashbacks. I loved that throughout the entire book Alex was simply just a simp - he clearly fell in love with Romina first, way back when, and while those flashbacks feel sort of sporadic at first, they all coalesce into a story that feels reminiscent of a memory. They come in pieces, as you pick up little things like a love for Milky Ways. I will say, once the story about WHY they broke up comes out, I felt a little mixed. I love that Sarah Hogle has added this little piece of "I was the number one woman in his life," because that feels true of high school love...AND how uncomfortable that would be as Alex's mom, to see that world imploding for her son in that way. She didn't add a lot of author-guided emotion about whether that was too extreme of an emotion or not, especially given this is a second-chance romance where our two characters ARE meant for each other and end up. But I almost wanted some...reflection? on that?

Alex is a lovely main male character with the perfect dash of jealousy, charmingness, and obsession with Romina. The flashbacks really just make him out to be even cuter, I keep imagining a floppy Justin Bieber hair that all the middle school boys I knew wore. He always went the full mile, and Sarah even added extra groveling and cuteness towards the end to drive home that satisfaction (no third act breakup woo!)

This book was a little less witchy than it sounds from the description. I will say, the start of the book was a little slow to pick-up, just given how much time she spends describing the store and the flowers. I wish that had been sprinkled a little more evenly throughout the rest of the book. I'm excited to continue this series, to see how our other two sisters. end up finding love! This is a 4.5 stars for me, with a 2.5 for spice!