Once again, Lynda Cohen Loigman has written a beautiful story.

This book focuses on two sides of healing a patient. We all know how doctors advise and prescribe specific medicines that are available through pharmacists. But there’s another way to treat symptoms such as coughs, congestion, skin rashes and infertility. A person trained as an apothecary prepares a special elixir of herbs and plants. The author shows both sides with two timelines from the 1920s and 1980s.

It feels like I know the characters. Augusta Stern is a young girl with aspirations in the early 1920s of becoming a pharmacist like her father, Solomon Stern. It’s a time when most women were set to get married and have children. But Augusta had more on her mind working at Stern’s Pharmacy and following her father’s career path.

Irving Rivkin was a simple, kind delivery boy in the drugstore who fell in love with Augusta. He appreciated her intelligence with science, enjoyment of poetry and constant hard work that never seemed to slow down. He also liked that she was athletic and pretty. This was the girl he was hoping to marry someday. But he kept his thoughts private.

My favorite person was Aunt Esther who became part of the family when Augusta’s mother died. She was a stern, no-nonsense, plainly dressed woman originally from Russian. She spent years studying the effects of compounds and had a gift of healing people. She went into the kitchen and mixed specific plants and hard-to-get herbs while saying positive words. Augusta watched as she created amazing elixirs for different ailments. Most people were happy however one wasn’t.

The story has been told many times before -- life doesn’t always go according to the plans. There are complications, heartbreaks and mixed messages. Yet, the author amazes me with how she does everything right: describing a handful of characters so you can visualize each one. She keeps the chapters not too long but ending with suspense that makes you want to jump ahead. More importantly, there is a good message in the plot that brings old-world charm to the pages which warms our hearts.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of October 8, 2024.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern isn’t just a story of a second chance romance, but also a story of a woman who won’t let anything come between her and her dream of a career as a pharmacist in a time when women were rarely accepted in that role. Augusta had several inspirations for her pursuit; a mother lost to diabetes before insulin was available, and a father who is a successful pharmacist and staple in their neighborhood. But the person who inspires her the most is her great aunt, Esther, a woman with extensive knowledge that didn’t have the opportunity to have a career of her own until her skills gain her a reputation for curing the ills of the women in the Stern’s New York neighborhood. The pharmacy and the Stern’s home above it serves as an anchor point for the earlier part of the story where Augusta begins falling for delivery boy Irving Rivkin, and her sister Bess has a romance of her own. But things go awry and the future Augusta and Irving seemed destined to have never happens. Years later, Bess’ daughter Jackie convinces Augusta to move to Florida after retiring from her most recent job and lo and behold who should she run into at her new community but Irving Rivkin. This sets Augusta down a path she never wanted to take but needs to, and gives her the chance to learn what happened so many years ago. When Augusta and Irving reunite Augusta is about to turn eighty, and I love how the romance is about older people. The way it’s written feels very appropriate for people of that age, while showing that you’re never too old to find love and happiness. It does feel like it gets a bit too predictable at times, and the occasional switch to Irving telling the story interrupts the story because it isn’t consistent, but it’s an enjoyable book with multiple inspiring storylines. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My goodness I loved this book! This is a dual timeline novel about Augusta Stern, in her childhood home in Brooklyn and her as an elderly woman who has just retired to Florida. August's father owns the neighborhood pharmacy and she works in his store, fascinated by everything he does for his customers. When Augusta's mother dies of diabetes (just a year before insulin becomes available on the market) and her great aunt Esther moves in, Augusta is also drawn in by Esther's ability to heal as well. Only Esther's healing doesn't have the blessing of science that her father's has. Augusta is drawn to both, and wants to learn both, even though her father doesn't approve.

As an elderly woman who has just retired as a pharmacist and moves to a south Florida retirement community, she comes across some people from her past, including Irving, who broke her hear when she was 18.

I don't want to say much more since the book isn't out yet, but I loved this book so much! I had a few minor quibbles, but nothing that really bothered me that much. I grew up in south Florida so the parts of the story set in the 80s in Florida felt so familiar. Each chapter alternates between Augusta's youth in Brooklyn in the 20s to the late 80s in Florida, as we get closer to Augusta's and Irving's real, untold story.

I thought the writing was so easy to get into, and esp the chapters set in Brooklyn, just were so evocative of the time and place. I felt I was in her Brownsville neighborhood, and in Stern's pharmacy, and Aunt Esther's kitchen, with her chicken soup simmering on the stove.

But the storyline in the 80s, I feel I related to Augusta a lot. I'm not as old as her character, but I'm also nearing retirement, and thinking about how my life has turned out, often not as I expected.

I did anticipate how the story would resolve before we got to the big reveal, but I didn't mind, and in fact, was glad, because otherwise I think I would have been mad at Irving.

This is such a terrific book about choices and second chances. I haven't read anything else by this author, but I hope to in the future.

In this dual time historical fiction novel, teenage Augusta Stern loses her mother to diabetes shortly before medical Insulin is discovered that could have saved her life. She finds herself very interested in learning how drugs work from her father the pharmacist, as well as how herbs and natural remedies can work from her Aunt Esther, who some refer to as a witch vs her preferred term of apothecary. She is also interested in the delivery boy that works at the pharmacy, until her breaks her heart.

In the more recent story line Augusta's niece encourages her to move to a retirement village in Florida, where she connects with her old flame and makes new friends as well, and we eventually learn the secrets of her past.

I found this character driven book moved very slowly, making me put it down often between reading sessions. I could not figure out why the author chose the 1920s and 1987 for her timelines as the story did not seem to specifically relate to those time periods. Although I always enjoy older protagonists and this was no exception, I did not really engage with many of these characters and at times some of them did not seem very realistic. I often enjoy character driven novels better on audio and since it is not available in that format yet it may work better for people like me in that format when it comes out.
Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the e galley in exchange for an honest review.

Lynda Cohen Loigman's THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUST STERN (publishing October 8, 2024) was a disappointment after truly enjoying THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE.

In this novel, the author introduces us to Augusta Stern, whose diabetic mother passes away just months before insulin comes on the market. This ignites her passion in pharmacology on top of her father being a well-respected pharmacist in 1920s Brooklyn.

After a very long career, Augusta is being forced out of her current job in 1987. Her niece Jackie recommends a retirement community in Florida, and there Augusta runs into her old flame Irving from the 1920s, who ended up fleeing her and marrying another woman a week later. This dual timeline novel rotates between the 1920s and 1987. Parts of the 1987 storyline were interesting (a love triangle with people in their 80s!), but soon it got tedious. The 1920s storyline was more compelling, but it had it owns issues.

Things that I had problems with:
* The 1987 storyline felt very modern. If you're going to intentionally set a story in 1987, make it feel like 1987 and not 2024 without technology.
* Inconsistencies in character - At one point Augusta at 80 years old is admiring herself in the mirror in a bathing suit. In a different scene, she's afraid to look at herself in the mirror in a dress.
* Characters. Augusta as a young person had such a personality. In the 1980s she didn't have much of a personality. Esther had such hope for being an interesting character, but she ended up always being in the kitchen in a scarf mixing up a potion with a pithy saying here or there. At one point, we're teased that she's going to reveal her backstory, and it ends up only being a paragraph or two! The men (Irving and Nathaniel) dressed differently in 1987, but seemed very similar in personality. The winner of this book is Jackie.
* The plot has very uneven pacing. It's very slow for most of the book. The reader is then given the missing puzzle pieces in the last chapter.
* Very minor, but I wasn't a fan of naming a couple Bess and George. I constantly thought of Nancy Drew!

I think this will best work for a reader who is looking for a book with an older protagonist who reunites with their first love.

A duel timeline romance that keeps you on your feet.
The main character who learned medicine from her Pharmacist father and her Apothecary Aunt must decide which path is right for her. She learns a lot along the way and faces many tough decisions that cause a big misunderstanding and regret later in life. Make sure to save this to your TBR! It'll be a great Autumn read.

This is the most charming, most wholesome book I have read in a very long time. This book is pure magic and I am still thinking about it weeks after finishing it up. Lynda Cohen Loigman did an amazing job navigating the timelines and the complexity of the characters in this book. This book is so well written, it just sucks you right in. I felt ALL of the emotions reading this book, and I cannot recommend it enough! Everyone should experience the magic that is The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern!

What a surprise is the best of ways! Is this a sappy romance where that I would never admit to enjoying? Yes Is this an engaging historical anthropology lesson of Brooklyn, NY in the 1920s and 30s? Also, yes. Is this an engaging story of friendship, family, loss, acceptance, patience and living a full life? Yes Yes Yes.
Maybe because my eyes are still watering or maybe it really is a well written book, but this story stole my heart. It's fluffier than my usual reading and I loved every page of it. There's something enjoyable about this story for a wide range of audiences. I appreciated the depth of the characters especially in their senior years. Lying about your age at 80 so you can work longer as a pharmacist?! How cool is that.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Set in two different time periods, the 1920s and the 1980s, we see Augusta’s life unfold as a teen and young woman and then again at her 80th birthday. I loved Aunt Esther’s story and her natural healing potions The book shows how we assume things happen, or don’t happen, due to circumstances we have no idea about or control over. What a fabulous cast of characters! Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

::Sigh:: This was such a wonderful book. It had all the things. Magic, romance, elderly people bickering in hilarious fashion. What’s not to love? My favorite part was the message of how important your life is at any age. That it’s never too late for anything. 18 or 80, you are worth it. My heart is full. I loved it!

This. Book. Augusta is going to stay with me for a long, long time and Lynda Cohen Loigman is absolutely an auto-buy author for me. Thank you so much to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for the ARC.

Pull a barstool up to the soda counter and crack this one open the first chance you get. You’ll be instantly transported to the streets of a 1920s Lower East Side pharmacy. Widower Solomon Stern slings prescriptions and wisdom to his community; he plays the roles of both a doctor and a counselor and must carefully straddle lines in Prohibition-era New York City.

Augusta is eager to follow in his footsteps despite being let down by medicine when she lost her mother to diabetes only months before insulin treatments were made available. But when Augusta’s Aunt Esther moves in and begins treating Solomon’s customers with more “alternative” (dare she say — magical? — methods), Augusta is torn in two directions as she tries to determine her life’s path. All the while, romance is abloom between Augusta and Irving, the pharmacy’s delivery boy. Soon, though, he finds himself tied up in trouble that may rip him from the solace he’s found with the Stern family.

We go back and forth between the 1920s pharmacy and Augusta’s retirement to a Florida community where she is forced to reckon with her past. She must decide whether healing is a strategic, medical process or an ancient, magical one. Or, just maybe, a bit of both?

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I have read previous books by this author so I knew I was in for an enjoyable story and I was not disappointed. This book focuses on Augusta and Irving during the 1920’s as young teenagers with a doomed love affair and their unexpected meeting in Florida in the 1980’s at a retirement community. I always enjoy dual timelines so this story had some historical background of New York City in the 1920’s involving poverty, crime and the underground world and also the sense of belonging to a community. I don’t want to give more detail , but this story had a bit of everything, romance, history, women in the medical field and women practicing their own medical practices to help the community. This book was an enjoyable, light, engaging story, I would highly recommend it , I enjoyed all the characters in this book.

A timeless tale of love, regret, and the enchanting possibilities of second chances. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a beautifully crafted story that reminds us it’s never too late to find clarity and magic in our lives. It’s a testament to the enduring power of love and the importance of reconciling with our past.

The novel's historical backdrop of 1920’s Brooklyn is vividly brought to life, enriching the narrative with authentic details and a sense of nostalgia. Augusta’s internal struggle between her father’s conventional wisdom and her great aunt’s mystical healing practices adds depth to her character and the story.

The rekindling of Augusta’s connection with Irving in their later years is tenderly portrayed, offering a touching exploration of love, regret, and the possibility of redemption. The mystery of the past and the unraveling of old secrets keep readers engaged, while the themes of forgiveness and second chances resonate deeply.

I loved this one! im seriously so sad I finished it because I didn’t want it to end. The dual timeline was done perfect and the characters were all amazing. The love between Irving and Goldie was the sweetest, most tender love. It’s heartbreaking but at the same time so beautiful. I will definitely be recommending this one to all my friends!

Was greatly looking for to this, but unfortunately was a miss for me.
Sounded charming, but too saccharine. I lost interest.

With thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this e-ARC.

THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook to read.

Like chicken soup for the soul with a bit of magic and a dash of heartbreak along with laughter and a dose of romance sprinkled with hope. I really enjoyed this light and nostalgic read of, The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. A predictable story but entertaining.

Augusta Stern becomes a pharmacist and takes over her father’s pharmacy. Augusta’s Aunt Esther is a huge influence in her life and encourages her to dabble in herbal remedies too. Augusta Stern reluctantly retires in 1987 at the age of eighty years old and relocates to a retirement community, Rallentando Springs, in Boca Raton, Florida. Augusta bumps into an old friend, Irving Rivkin, from her hometown of Brooklyn, who was her father’s delivery boy at the pharmacy, as well as, her boyfriend. It triggers painful memories of their courtship when Irving abruptly abandoned her. The story is told in flashbacks of her youth in Brooklyn and current year 1987.

Will Augusta finally get the answers she deserves of why Irving abandoned her all those years ago? Did Irving ever truly love her or was he simply playing the part? Is it possible to recapture the lost magic of youth?

When Augusta Stern is pushed into retirement at age eighty she feels cheated, she still has a lot of good years left. Her niece Jackie, helps her to relocate from New York to Florida into a deluxe senior living community. Upon arrival, Augusta discovers there are two people living in the community with strong emotional ties to her past. This is a book about second chances with a strong theme of it never being to late to find happiness. It's a feel good story, told in two time lines. I would recommend it for someone looking for a light, breezy read, wholesome and not too complicated. The characters are from another era, easily relatable and very sweet.
Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

What a good book!!! Such a good story and great writing style. This was my first by this author and will not be my last! A cute mystery book. I enjoyed this book!

Augusta, who is on the cusp of her 80th birthday, moves into an active senior community in southern Florida where she sees two people from her childhood, one of whom was the love of her life. Sadly, he dumped her and married someone else, without any explanation.

From there, the chapters switch back and forth between the 1920s and 1987. (I'm happy to say it worked with The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern and I liked both timelines equally!) I loved the magical realism, too.

My only complaint is that so many of Augusta's reactions felt teenager-ish to me. I hope that by the time I'm 79, I'll be at least a wee bit more mature than she!

Having said that, I delighted in the humor, heart, and hope I found in The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern and I recommend it!

Many thanks to both #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. The expected publication date is October 8, 2024.

#HumorHeartHope

Oh, I’m saddened to say that this book fell flat for me. It has many elements that I typically devour; A feisty, soon-to-be octogenarian, told from a past/present POV, and magical realism. There was truly no magical realism. Many of the behaviors of Augusta were cringe-worthy and unbelievable that a woman of that age would act in such ways.