Book review: Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle

 

published April 23, 2024

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A steamy second-chance romance about a magical florist’s unexpected reunion with her high school sweetheart as she fake dates his soon-to-be stepbrother.

A small, magical town tucked away in rural Ohio, Moonville is the perfect place for flora fortunist Romina Tempest to expand her shop, where she uses the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest their love lives. After giving up on her own big romance eleven years ago, at least she can bask in the promise of others’.

So, when the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps on the opportunity to discuss buying the business. What better place to negotiate a deal than at a wedding, even if she has to fake-date her chaotic colleague Trevor to get an invitation? But all hell breaks loose when she discovers Trevor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is none other than Alex her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who, eleven years ago, broke her heart, and who now thinks she and Trevor are dating.

What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a week-long fake dating scheme, as Romina resolves to make Alex pay for breaking her heart. The only issue? She can’t deny their still-burning connection. Caught between proving to Alex what he lost, and coming clean and risking her business, Romina must decide whether giving Alex another chance means going back on herself, or finally releasing her hold on the past.

MY REVIEW:

Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Romina is a florist and uses magic through the flowers and the flower's meanings. She pretends date a guy who ends up being a soon to be step brother of her ex,
Alex was her high school sweetheart and she never got over him. As we read more about him then he never got over her either.
I thought the book was cute.
The one thing I don't like with books meant for adults are the cutesy cartoon covers. It looks like a mid grade fairytale cover.
I received the arc from netGalley for review.

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Sarah Hogle

Website

https://www.sarahhogle.com/

Twitter

witchofthewords

Genre

Contemporary, Romance

Sarah Hogle is a mom of three who enjoys trashy TV and provoking her husband for attention. Her dream is to live in a falling-apart castle in a forest that is probably cursed. Her novels are You Deserve Each Other, Twice Shy, Just Like Magic, and Old Flames and New Fortunes.

Book Review: The One by Julia Argy

 

Published April 18, 2023

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A razor-sharp and seductively hypnotic debut novel about the very fantasy of falling in love.

Emily is not particularly interested in dating. She simply wants to change her life after being fired from her dead-end job. So when she is recruited for the popular reality dating show The One, it doesn’t take much thought for her to sign up; it’s not as if she’d actually fall in love. But upon her arrival on set, it becomes clear her producer, Miranda, will do nearly anything to make sure Emily gets engaged by the end of the season, even if it means breaking Emily’s trust. The pressure builds as Emily navigates her connection with the lead and a growing relationship with another contestant. As the arc of the season begins to slot into place, both Emily and Miranda are forced to decide what they want—and what they are willing to do to get it.

A brilliant send-up of our cultural mythology around romance, The One examines how people can confuse wanting to be looked at—to be singled out and desired—with desire itself.

MY REVIEW:

The One by Julia Argy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book made me see exactly what I thought The Bachelor and Bachelorette shows are like. Very fake, being told how to act and what to say or how to say it. I know the show is all about ratings which is how the story is in this book.
Emily lost her job and has no wheres to go. She gets recruited for the show but doesn't expect anything from it.
Dylan is the bachelor in this story and I like him but felt like I do just watching the commercials of the tv shows, yuck. Why would I want to see a guy I might want to be with kissing , making out and god knows what else with the other girls?
I did feel bad for Dylan a few times.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin fo the book to review.


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Julia Argy

Website

https://www.juliaargy.com/

BOOK REVIEW: The House In the Pines by Ana Reyes

 

                                                      Pub Date 03 Jan 2023

                                                    PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton

                                                      Buy from Amazon

Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed....

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they’d been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can’t account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer—the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother’s house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father’s book that didn’t stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank’s cabin....

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.

                                                      MY REVIEW:

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.
Now years later she sees a you tube video of Frank with another woman and she just drops dead.
Maya is aso trying to stop her addiction that she started years ago and then goes to find Frank and whatever happened to this woman.
At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin....
I really did not understand at first what was going on and the more I read and about the house thhen I knew something creepy was going on.
Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the book to review.

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                                                                 Ana Reyes


Website
https://www.instagram.com/anareyeswriter/


Ana Reyes has an MFA from Louisiana State University. Her work has appeared in Bodega, Pear Noir!, The New Delta Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and teaches creative writing to older adults at Santa Monica College. The House in the Pines in her first novel.