Set in Moonville, Ohio, Zelda Tempest is back home, working on her next book after finishing her successful vampire series. Her witch sisters run the family shop, but Zelda doesn't believe in magic. Neighbor Morgan not only believes in magic, but is determined to gain some for himself.

The author's descriptions are outrageous in the best way. It took me a minute to get back into her style, but I really enjoyed entering this world again and look forward to reading Luna's story!

I loved Zelda's love of writing and reading, plus her description of words sticking and seeing the words on the keyboard.

I did find Morgan annoying, immature, and off-putting at first. Once they find common ground, I liked that he recognized he had "cried wolf" about liking her. I do wish he'd apologized early on (which knocked the book down for me). As they embarked on their quest and I saw more of his character, I started to root for him.

Things I liked:
✨ Paranormal romance
✨ Opposites attract
✨ Slow burn
✨ Magical small town
✨ Depiction of neurodivergence (implied for MCs)
✨ Paranimals (especially Forte)

3.75 / 5 stars

Open door / low spice

Thank you to the author, Putnam, and Netgalley for this eARC!

3 - This was fun but ultimately not my cup of tea. I was looking forward to a fun, steamy enemies to lovers romantasy, and while parts of that delivered, I just didn't connect with the romance.

The Folklore of Forever follows Zelda and Morgan. Zelda needs a new idea for her paranormal mystery book and decides to take a trip into Moonville's woods for inspiration. Morgan recruits Zelda for a ghost-hunting trip as inspiration, but it soon turns out that the woods hold a lot more magical creatures than they knew.

The beginning of this book was tough to read. I really could not connect with the FMC, she felt so whimsy and all over the place. I really disliked the MMC at first, to the point where I wanted to DNF but kept going. Ultimately, the book did get better around the 35% mark and as the book went on and the author really leaned into the magical and fantasy elements of the story, I started to enjoy it more. I did really like the setting of the fantasy world! My main issue was the romantic relationship and the dynamic between the two main characters, I just couldn't buy into the romance.

Thank you to Putnam for the free book!!

I greatly enjoyed book #1 in this series by Sarah Hogle and was very excited to receive this ARC. This book really made me think outside the box in terms of how the female main character finds her magical ability. There were a few scenes in the box that the author describes in such a beautiful way, such as Aisling's birthday, however there were also scenes that just felt bizarre (Zelda and Morgan in the kitchen). In the end I found this book enjoyable but it felt disjointed at times.

Zelda may be the author of a magical book series but doesn't believe in it herself even though she is back in her "magical" hometown with her "witchy" sisters running a magic shop. When her neighbor, Morgan, learns of her skepticism, he takes her ghost hunting where they uncover things that may have Zelda leaning into the magic of Moonville.

This was a fun return to Moonville. The town was filled with quirky and over the top characters who just kept the laughs coming. One of those quirky characters was the Tempests' neighbor, Morgan, who was hoping to gain some supernatural powers of his own. Until then, he would mine the folklore of Mooville as he searched for spirits and the Black Bear Witch.

Speaking of Moonville, this was a town built on love magic, and this second installment continues digging into their grandmother's prophecy that the three Tempest sisters would fall in love with the men they were meant to spend their lives with all within the same year.

"She said we would know it was the year when we saw a silver luna moth, and at the time we saw it, one of us would be running from love, one would be waiting for it, and the third would already be in over her head. "

But not only was Zelda a skeptic of the supernatural, she was also a skeptic of love. She had a love-em-and-leave-em history which didn't tell the whole story, and I was rooting for her to open her heart to the possibility of forever, to someone who loved her exactly how she was.

I will admit that the story seemed a bit light on romance, but Zelda's personal journey was well worth giving up some of that page time. I throughly enjoyed watching her grow, change, and embrace all parts of herself. She wasn't saved by love, but rather, she was able to love because she learned to love herself.

This was a laugh out loud celebration of sisterhood, love, and self with a touch of magic that had me flipping the pages. I am eager to return to this charming town for Luna's story which I am sure will be filled with surprises.

very sad to report that i did not like this which is so UPSETTING bc i love sarah hogle :(

i honestly did not like either of the characters, & the plot was all over the place?? morgan (mmc) is SO immature & not one time did i ever stop and think “huh he sounds hot” .. like girl?? he literally admitted he only took her on a date to use her & he had ZERO DEPTH. did not find out one thing abt him until at least 70%

the fmc zelda was in denial abt quite a few things (and not even for a good reason??) & it made the book quite boring at times. she gave me whiplash honestly. overall this book wasn’t for me, i didn’t vibe with the characters at all, but i am looking forward to the third book!

thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review via netgalley. all opinions are my own <3

This book is one huge adventure of crazy proportions! Zelda and Morgan under go so many crazy moments and each one more wild and hilarious than the last!!

I will say at times there was a lot going on but in the chaos I found laughter and a magical place I wish was real!

I really liked this book, which is surprising because I wasn’t completely enthralled with book one. Zelda presents as such a gloomy grump, which I adore. And Morgan is literally a ray of neon sunshine and fanny packs. He’s so truly bizarre and I adore him. This book has the slowest of slow burns, so be prepared for the relationship to feel a tad rushed toward the end. Thanks to Putnam for the ARC.

I really wanted to love this book so much! It definitely had elements I enjoyed but all in all felt very disjointed and all over the place. The love interest comes off as a pestering little brother type rather than someone you would actually have interest in regardless of how attractive he is meant to be. It felt like several different books mashed into one. The element of books being magic I loved and I completely agree I just wish this one had landed a bit better.

It’s just fine a typical romcom both lead annoyed me a times. I didn’t read the first book so I wasn’t totally sure who everyone was or how they were related over it was just fine

I love the Moonville series and Sarah Hogle is one of my favorite rom-com authors, so I was soe excited to get this ARC! This did not disappoint. I want to move to the dreamy, witchy town of Moonville. I love Zelda's story just as much as I loved Romina's in the first one. I love how Zelda is such a paranormal skeptic despite coming from such a witchy family and paranormal town. I love the cottagecore vibes. I want to live in Moonville! I really love that this is closed door romance.

Sarah Hogle is and always will be an immediate-read author for me! I love her style and unique stories so much.

That being said - this one didn't do it for me. I was OBSESSED with the first book in this series (Old Flames and New Fortunes) - the characters, the chemistry, the banter, the MAGIC. But I feel like this one wasn't at the same level. Don't get me wrong - it was still beautifully written with complex characters and lovely magical realism. But I didn't vibe with the MMC or the chemistry between the two MCs.

Solid 3.5 stars for me, and I'm obviously going to be reading the 3rd book!

I received an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley and Putnam Books in exchange for my honest review. This book was quirky, cute, and hilarious. The way the author writes about the supernatural and magic was perfect. My only complaint is that the romance element kind of felt forced. The main characters seemed more likely as best friends and I think the book would have been even better with a platonic love storyline.

I love Sarah’s quirky stories and loved being back in moonville! This book was obsurd at times which absolutely delighted me, I loved her Christmas book and had been wanting to feel that joy again. But I was not a huge fan of the MMC and that took away from the story a bit. I feel like the town, the sisters, the setting was perfect but the romance didn’t dazzle me.

Sarah Hogle has a magic touch when it comes to writing about the Tempest sisters in her Moonville series. The Folklore of Forever, the follow-up to the wonderful Old Flames and New Fortunes follows middle sister Zelda Tempest as she returns home and sets about figuring out her relationship with her sisters, her home, her writing and magic. As she explores these different aspects of her life, she finds her self adventuring with Morgan, a local who works out of her family’s shop. Soon, they set out to discover what magic they can find together.

While Old Flames sparkled a bit brighter for me, it was fun to revisit the Tempest family dynamic and get to know Zelda, who was largely absent from the first book. Morgan and Zelda lacked the chemistry that Romina and Alex had, but their quirky banter was a blast.

Sarah Hogle is one of my favorite writers and I loved The Folklore of Forever. This book was funny, charming and nostalgic for me. It gave me early 200os vibes when romcoms were topping the women's fiction category and it reminded me of Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes, books that were perfect subway or airport reading.
Sarah Hogle brings us back to the charming, magical little town of Moonville for a second installment, this time with Zelda Tempest as the female lead. I loved Zelda and her skeptical inner monologue. Her struggles with writers block and imposter syndrome felt emotionally relatable and I love how Hogle depicted her hyperfixations. Zelda had been called a "manic pixie dream girl" by other reviewers and I think they're using the term wrong. This book is definitely about Zelda's journey, reconciling her memories and finding her path in her work as a writer and her relationship to magic and how it's intertwined with her family relationships. However, she has interest in the macabre and avante garde fashion. Her love interest, Morgan, believes that if he makes her fall in love with him, he will gain magical powers. He's written to be an annoying, clownish figure in her life before they find some common ground. He loves 80's fashion and music. I really enjoyed their heightened differences and the goofy, romcom feel of this pairing. Neither one of them are a "self-insert" type character, which was refreshing. Their decisions feel appropriately reactive in their world and while both goofy and quirky in their own ways.

I loved the hijinks, the magical paranimals, and cozy small town. The romance in this book on the lower end but I think this book will find its audience. If you love the absurdity of You Deserve Each Other and the inner world of Maybell in Twice Shy, you might enjoy The Folklore of Forever as much as I did.

Thank you to Putnam, Random House and Netgalley for giving me an advanced reader's copy of this book.

I’m not entirely sure how I felt about this, I basically read book 1 because I got the ARC for this book and though I really enjoyed this (the culmination of everything was pretty fun so it got way more gripping past the 70% mark), the romance was definitely the least compelling aspect for me. My biggest issue with the MMC was simply his inconsistent characterization which made it difficult to route for him until late into the book but I did like Morgan, he just very much seemed like what I assumed Trevor would be like, instead of what I pictured in the first book.

Truthfully, I still expected Zelda and Morgan’s adventure especially as a journey of Zelda’s return to magic, writing and her childhood self so that part was lovely and got an extra star from me! Also loved hearing about the other characters I loved even though I literally gasped aloud when I learned Luna has face tattoos like helloo where were those last time?!!!

That being said, I did feel the chemistry between Zelda and Morgan, it just didnt feel like it was nearly as satisfying as that of Romina and Alex even with their banter and I can accept that as long as I imagine that all the sisters simply have a different relationship to magic (and Love! alike) especially when it’s revealed that Zelda was actually not the sister running from it (despite what everyone assumed).

I also genuinely thought it was fun to have a love interest that is kinda canonically annoying so it makes me want to defend Morgan more than he probably deserves bc I definitely was kinda icked when he revealed he only wanted magic at first and he only barely controlled it by the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an ARC for review!

This will be a fun cozy fall read for anyone looking for that type of book!
Kind of a fun concept with a FMC who doesn't believe she is actually a witch or have any abilities and the MMC who totally thinks she's a witch.
This book did feel a little rushed and wished I knew it was the second book in an interconnected standalone series.

Was it cute? Yes. Was it lifechanging? No.


Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

Another absolute BANGER by one of my all-time favorite authors! The first book in this series is one of my favorite books ever, so I had high expectations. And they were met!

Zelda is such a beautiful, complex character. When she finally moves back to Moonville, Ohio, she’s resistant to fall for the allure of magic, which she knows isn’t real. If it were real, it could be proven! And you can’t prove that magic exists! But when she starts to see and hear things no one else can, she’s forced to reconsider her worldview. Maybe she actually is a witch, just like her sisters.

And don’t even get me started on Morgan. He has the absurd sense of humor I’ve come to expect from a Sarah Hogle character, and his sweet, boyish charms were the perfect fit for Zelda as she learned to rediscover the magic she’d lost after her childhood.

I don’t normally laugh out loud when I’m reading, but this book was an exception. When Sarah Hogle described Morgan as the kind of guy who starts sentences with “Guess What?” I actually choked on my English Breakfast Tea. Diabolical. Brilliant. Incredible.

Join me in preordering this amazing book, out April 8th!

Some delightfully niche things in this book that are going to make you laugh and smile:
🐿️ Magical squirrels
🎶 In the Hall of the Mountain King
🎪 Circus animals
🥵 Natural hot springs
✍️ A ballpoint pen
🧙🏻‍♀️ Hallucinogenic potions

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. This was a cute, witchy rom com. I enjoyed it very much and looking forward to reading more by this author. I rated this book a 4 stars.

This is a toughie: I really love Sarah Hogle’s book (“You Deserve Each Other” is genuinely romantic and screamingly funny) and I enjoyed the first Moonville book, but this one doesn’t have much in the way of all those previous pluses.

Zelda and Morgan … didn’t seem like this in the first book? Morgan seemed much goofier and sweet, and Zelda didn’t seem so flighty. That we start in the middle of Morgan already trying to get with Zelda is so awkward, and Hogle is never able to get us to the point where we understand and care about what the hell is happening here (beyond, of course, Morgan’s secret, which is also upsetting and pretty disqualifying for a romantic lead). The bridge between this and the first book just feels nonexistent, and it’s like we start en media res of an entirely different story, and things simply never get back on track.

The magic of this one? Missing, painfully so. I hope we bounce back with Luna’s story.