Another magical story from Lynda Cohen Loigman. Last year, I adored Matchmaker’s Gift and was eagerly awaiting Love Elixir. This book was so charming and lived up to my expectations.

Gabra Zackman does a fantastic job with the narration.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a very sweet and wholesome dual timeline story of missed opportunities, sexism with a bit of magic throughout.
Augusta is strong brave woman who has lots to share about the secrets to aging gracefully and with gusto.

It was very refreshing to read about seniors for a change.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh my Heaven's this book was Fantastic!! I've loved all her books & I think this is my new favorite. It is a pure Wonderful magical ride. It has sooo many wonderful messages. You are NEVER to old to be loved, or to love. The ending was so Fun! I didn't want it to end!!
Thank U NetGalley!!

Ok this was such a sweet book. I had not read anything else by this author so I was not sure what to expect. I am usually not a fan of dual timelines but this one worked. It was set in the 1920s and 1980s though I honestly didn’t get the “80s” vibe, it felt more present day, but that is not a knock on the book, just an observation. I did not know if I would like a book where the main characters were in their 80s but I came to feel fondly for everyone. Great, unique plot. I will say I found myself sad and frustrated that their “miscommunication” lasted over 60 years. That is so much time lost and I found myself questioning if it would have been better with 30, even 40 years lost and at least they would find their true love again earlier in life, but I guess that’s the point of the book; that you can reconnect with your one true love at any age? This was a great book and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“A woman of science like her father, an old world healer like her aunt. She believed in medicine and in miracles. She believed in family and in love.”

In this atmospheric story of second chances, Loigman’s signature style is on full display. How she transports readers to another time and weaves in a hint of magic is exactly what I loved about her 2022 novel The Matchmaker’s Gift.

In the 1920s Augusta Stern grows up in her family’s Brooklyn, New York pharmacy guided by her father, a beloved member of the community. After her mother passes, a great aunt comes into the Sterns’ lives with very different and unconventional methods of healing.

We jump ahead to the late 1980s and Augusta has retired to a Florida condo complex where she crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the pharmacy delivery boy from the old neighborhood. Decades of hurt and miscommunication suddenly come back to the surface leading all the characters to question the magic in their own lives.

The settings of the New York pharmacy and the southern retirement community were delightful additions to a lovely story, certain to be a big hit with readers everywhere.

Gabra Zackman’s audio performance added a lovely dimension to a novel I am happy to recommend to other readers.

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman is an easy 5⭐️ read for me on two levels.

First, when was the last time you read a romance novel where the love interests are septuagenarians and octogenarians? That alone should get your attention. How encouraging that the author portrays senior citizens as vibrant, thriving beings still capable of living life to its fullest. Bravo! Augusta Stern is a trailblazer; pursuing a science based career and running a business at a time when women were doing neither. She is determined, successful, and ahead of her time. Her story is the ultimate second chance romance with dual timelines in the 1920s and 1987. Augusta (Goldie) and Irving fell in love as teenagers and were destined to be together until life got in the way. Is love still possible when they reunite (many) decades later?

The second reason this book earned all the stars is because it brought me back to the Brooklyn of my youth. Though I am not Jewish, I was raised in a neighborhood populated by Italian and Jewish immigrants. I grew up surrounded by the traditions, celebrations, and culture of both these joyous groups and my childhood was richer as a result. I recall my mother taking me to the druggist at Rite Drugs on 65th Street for him to diagnose, treat, and minister to bug bites, strange rashes, and minor illnesses. That was the first stop before seeing a doctor. Medicine, in the easily recognizable blue and white paper bag, was often brought to our door by the teenage delivery boy who arrived on his bicycle. Ms. Cohen Loigman has perfectly captured a time when my neighborhood was the entire world and we relied on and trusted local shopkeepers like family. I love it when an author gets things right and she most certainly did. Her impeccable research shines through the entire book.

The audio version of this book is simply magical. Gabra Zackman adds authenticity to each of the characters with her on point accents and inflections. Listening to her transported me to my days in Bensonhurst and I so enjoyed immersing myself in the memories of that simpler time.

I loved this book. It spoke to my heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

“A kind word can fix a person’s spirit. A cruel one can break a person’s heart. Wicked words have caused wars, and honest words have made peace. Why shouldn’t they be able to heal?”

I love a good octogenarian story and this one with its deep backstory and heartfelt reunions was a true joy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment from life’s heartbreaking experiences to the dramatic revelations and everything in between.

The dual timelines worked really well and as it flashed back from the late 1970s to 1922 what hit me so hard was that a diagnosis of Type I Diabetes was fatal before insulin. It made me, yet again, appreciate the advances in modern medicine.

I did a combo of digital and audio, both are excellent option so if you’re looking for a sweet second chance romance with a little magical realism thrown in, look no further!

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Pub day: October 8

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the arc and Macmillan Audio for the alc via Netgalley.

I was given an audio preview by NetGalley of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman. It is a character driven story with two timelines. One takes place in the 1920's, when she's a teenager in Brooklyn and the other years later, when she's about to celebrate her 80th birthday in a Florida senior living complex. She's smart and want's to follow in her father's footsteps as a pharmacist. It was a time when women were expected to marry and have children. Their ability to do difficult jobs was questioned. Augusta's Great-Aunt Esther came to take care of father and daughter after Auugusta's mother died. Aunt Esther introduces Augusta to her potions and magic. I like Loigman's writing and enjoyed the story. My complaint, being that I'm 78 and have many friends in their 80's, is that she really doesn't understand what being 80 is like. All Augusta's Florida friends seem to be in excellent health, playing rounds of tennis, swimming 25 laps in the pool. More like 70 than 80. The reader did a wonderful job.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Pub Date: 10/8
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Be still my heart. I wish this book was a million hours long. I loved every single second of this absolute gem of a book. I felt every emotion possible and it was just such a treat to read.
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The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is such a unique story. There are so many different elements to this story, there is romance, there's a magical element (while also not being magical at all), and some family drama. This is told in a nonlinear timeline between the past and the present. In the present Augusta has just retired and has moved to Florida when she runs into a few people from time as a young adult. These characters, all of them, from the past to the present, now hold a special place in my heart. Each character was written with such detail, and I honestly just fell in love with them; I want to know them.
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I absolutely devoured this book. I could not put it down. I felt every single emotion while I read this book. I laughed with the characters, I cried for losses, I jumped for joy when the truth came out and I audibly gasped at the twists that Loigman threw in the story. I had absolutely no idea which direction that this story would go, and I loved every single second of the ride. The writing is absolutely poignant and this is one of those books that will stick with you for a long time.
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I listened to this one via audiobook. The author herself, Lynda Cohen Loigman along with Gabra Zackman were the narrators and they were incredible. I felt like I was transported between the past and the present. I was able to visualize this story unfold in front of me while listening to this. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough.
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I felt like I was getting The Lost Apothecary and The Notebook and Practical Magic all in one, while at the same time being absolutely unique to itself. If you can't tell, I am absolutely obsessed with this book, and it will most definitely be a top contender for a favorite of 2024 for me. I seriously loved this book; you need to read it. A huge thank you to NetGalley, Lynda Cohen Loigman and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a sweet, fun, low-stakes book with a feel good ending. I loved the flashbacks and history that was portrayed, as well as the lesson that it’s “never too late”. So cute. Loved this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Gabra Zackman and Lynda Cohen Loigman doe a fantastic job of narrating this story!

Augusta Stern has been on her own most of her life doing what she loves: being a pharmacist. On her 80th birthday she is forced to retire and heads down to Florida where she is adrift trying to find her way. On one of her first visits to the pool, her happy place, she bumps into Irving, an old flame from her neighborhood where she grew up. Is this a second chance at love for these 2?

This story alternates between 2 timelines, Brooklyn, NY in the 1920s and Florida present day (1980's). The alternating timelines were well done and really help the reader better understand the characters and their motivations. This is such a sweet story about the relationships that impact and shape our lives! Highly recommend.

After I read The Matchmaker’s Gift earlier this year, I knew absolutely had to read more by Lynda Cohen Loigman. Thus began my journey to receive an arc of her latest book that just so happens to include my surname in the title. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and the author for this highly anticipated arc.

In 1920s Brooklyn, Goldie Stern is working in her father’s pharmacy when her mother tragically dies from diabetes. It is only a few months later that insulin is brought to the market, further magnifying both Goldie’s grief and the importance of modern medicine. While Goldie’s father, Solomon, is strictly about the medicine, his sister, Esther, brings unconventional remedies for the spirit and soul when she moves in. Goldie is at first skeptical, but is eventually drawn to her Aunt Esther’s alternative remedies when she sees them work. After all, where was modern medicine when her mother needed it? There are, however, rules regarding Esther’s elixirs that Goldie unfortunately learns the hard way.

In 1987, Goldie is now Augusta: a feisty, retired pharmacist who never married after having her heart broken sixty years earlier by Irving Rivkin, a delivery boy from her father’s pharmacy who fell head over heels for Augusta before suddenly disappearing with another woman. Augusta, on the cusp of turning 80, moves into a retirement community in South Florida recommended by her niece. When Augusta hears a man call her “Goldie,” she is shocked to find Irving resides at the same retirement community she is settling in to. Two things become immediately clear: Irving is still very much smitten with Augusta and Augusta is still very much angry with Irving. But was a magical elixir really to blame for their heartbreak, or was it perhaps something even darker?

Loigman does a seamless job weaving dual timelines together and delivers another heartwarming story about reclaimed love and magic. Gabra Zackman is a takented narrator and brought Augusta to life in all her wit and charm.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Narrated by Gabra Zackman

At almost eighty years old, Augusta Stern is an amazing woman. The daughter of a pharmacist, learning the trade long before she could even go to school to get her pharmacy degree, this work is in her blood. She can let people think that she was so devoted to her career that she didn't have time for a husband and children, she can even tell herself that if she so desires, but the truth is very different. Augusta still nurses a broken heart and resentment over something that happened over sixty years ago, when she thought her relationship with her father's delivery boy, Irving Rivkin, was the real thing.

Augusta harbors a lifelong guilt concerning Irving but also concerning her Great Aunt Esther. As a very unconventional healer, Esther had to hide her healing potions, powders, and healing successes from Augusta's father because he very much disapproved of unconventional medicine. But Augusta admired what she saw her great aunt doing for others and for a while she was hoping to become both a pharmacist and a healer like Great Aunt Esther. But Augusta becomes closed off to all that Great Aunt Esther taught her when things go very wrong.

There is so much love in Augusta's life, along with guilt and resentment. Still, she is a strong woman and forges (in more ways than one) her way through life to come to the time that she's locating to a very spry and active retirement community that her niece thought she'd like. Imagine bathing suited Augusta's horror when she has a meet "not so cute" run in with Irving at the retirement community pool. There is so much that is funny in this story, growing old is not for sissies, but these not so young folks aren't finished living, growing, changing and forgiving. The story is touching and I greatly enjoyed hearing the author narrate her own afterword at the end of the book. I had both the ebook and audiobook on hand so I was able to experience the story via both editions. I've listened to Gabra Zackman narrate several audiobooks and once again she does a great job with this story.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC.

It’s never too late for love. This is such a sweet story of Augusta Stern, a newly retired pharmacist who is turning 80. After retiring to a retirement village in Florida she met again her childhood best friend and love, Irving Rivkin.

In a dual timeline story of Augusta’s life, it follows her upbringing in her dad’s pharmacy and the tutelage of her great aunt and the other ways to treat people, and her life in her retirement village with her 80th birthday quickly approaching.

This is a story of love, heartbreak, second chances, family, and friendship.

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Augusta Stern grew up in Brooklyn working at her father’s local pharmacy. When her mother dies of diabetes (just a couple years before insulin being introduced), her aunt Ester moves in. Augusta learns from her father’s medicine as well as Aunt Esther’s— chicken soup, time and attention, and herbs and spices that create elixirs to improve the health and well being of the community. Augusta falls for Irving, her father’s delivery boy, the one that got away.

The book goes between 1920’s Brooklyn and 1980’s Florida, after Augusta finally stops working as a pharmacist. She reconnects with Irving and her niece Jackie.

This is a heartwarming tale of miscommunication, love of community, and easy vs west medicine. I really loved the setting of local pharmacy and seeing how the pharmacist was part therapist, part parent, part medical practicioner. The romance was sweet, it’s about old people after all. I am a big fan of the heartwarming genre, the “lost time” of the main characters was a bit too heartbreaking.

Audiobook review- I didn’t love the narrator on this one, I feel as though she read it with too stern of a tone, without much change between characters. I recommend digital or hardback as opposed to audio on this one.

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the ARC. Book to be published October 8, 2024.

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The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is the first book I've read by Lynda Cohen Loigman. I listened to the audiobook format, and it was a quick evenly-paced novel. It didn't slow down, and kept me guessing until the very end.

This novel has a dual-timeline in both the 1920s and the 1980s. In the 1920s, the main character, Augusta, grew up in a Jewish community in Brooklyn. Her father was a pharmacist and her father's delivery boy, Irving, soon becomes her best friend and love interest. Just as soon as Augusta believes Irving will ask her to marry him, everything goes south, leaving her confused and wondering if he really loved her at all. Fast forward to the 1980s, when Augusta moves to a senior community in Florida, and finds out that Irving lives there too. Through a series of events involving the love potion created by Augusta's aunt, they discover what really happened all those decades ago and they fight for another chance at love.

The overarching theme was love: both familial and a sweet second-chance romance after six decades of separation. I wouldn't classify it as a romance novel -- it was more of a women's fiction or literary fiction with a thread of romance. The best part of the story was reading the author's note at the end -- do not skip that part! It was amazing to witness Lynda's real life experiences and relationships that shaped this book. Additionally, the amount of research she put in to this book to represent the 1920s Jewish culture and history of women in pharmacy was astounding.

My bottom line impression: I enjoyed it! It was like a warm hug. What a unique story, with endearing characters, and a satisfying ending!

Content Notes: No romantic scenes except for a few chaste kisses. Moderate language used sparingly. There was a bit of magical realism to the book, with an incantation used and some implied lights flickering afterward, but no explicit references to witchcraft in other ways.

Notes about the audiobook narration: Narrator Gabra Zackman did an excellent job in this dual-timeline novel recording, representing the voices of Augusta's younger (18 year old) and older (80 year old) self. Gabra created distinct voices for the many characters to keep them all audibly distinguishable. Her voice was believable for both the younger and older versions of Augusta, sounding neither too immature or too old when appropriate. Gabra's voice was pleasant and easy to listen to.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the complementary copy of this audiobook. My review is my own opinion and in no way influenced by the author or publisher.

On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier.

I loved every single thing about this book. I absolutely adored Augusta and her crankiness, Irving the lovable putz, Esther and her magical chicken soup, the subtle Jewish representation and so much more. I could seriously go on and on but I'll stop there, just know that this book often had me laughing out loud ! I loved that Augusta's story was told by switching back and forth between present day and 1920s Brooklyn, in her Jewish neighborhood where her father ran a successful pharmacy. We really got to know these characters and I found Augusta to be so strong and resilient. I loved that she followed her passion in a time when women typically didn't do such things and grew into a woman who continued to speak her mind. The way everything came together was perfect (lol good job Jackie!) and I was so happy with the ending. This book was a delight from start to finish and I can't recommend it enough!

I haven't loved an audiobook this much in so long! I thought the narration was perfect and loved her voices for the different characters. She really brought Augusta to life! I also loved her voice for Esther and thought the subtle accent was well done! There were some parts where you could tell the narrator re-recorded over the prior recording because the voice will change significantly for a sentence or two, it was noticeable but not a big deal. I understand this has to be done but thought I'd mention it since I noticed it. Loved!!

This title felt less “magical” to me than The Matchmaker’s Daughter, in that the actually storyline honestly seemed to drag and the element of magical realism just simply didn’t seem as alive.
Thankful to NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read this book.
I would still recommend the title, because overall the content was clean for an adult modern book.
Excellent palate cleanser.

I really enjoyed The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. I listen to the audiobook version and it was so engaging.

A sweeping novel of second chances, a life well lived, and everyday magic. Augusta Stern has followed in her father's footsteps as a pharmacist and is finally retiring after an illustrious career. When she moves to a Floridian retirement community, she is confronted with her past and has to face her memories- the good and the bad. At 80, Augusta isn't sure if she wants to dredge up all those old feelings, but it seems that they are coming whether she likes it or not. As she encounters old friends, relives her memories, and wrestles with what to do now- she can't help but ask the age old questions- Are we ever too old for a happily ever after?

Loigman weaves multiple decades together with lovable, timeless characters and evocative imagery. I could feel the cool waters of the swimming pool in Boca Raton as clearly as I could smell the spices in Esther's chicken soup. This novel is wonderfully captivating, enticing, and heartfelt.
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