Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Hogle
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

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.

CUTE AND QUIRKY.

I enjoyed this one so much. I loved all of the flower content and the whole plot set-up. The magical realism was at just the right level to add to the story without overwhelming it. This was a good second chance romance that brought some heated tension and angst, and some solid jealousy moments too.

There’s a lot of quirky side characters and sub plots that made me laugh. This book balanced not taking itself too seriously while covering some heavier topics too. There was a lot to work through for Romina and I loved where she landed in the end.

I thought a big third act full of nonsense was on the horizon, but pleasantly it was handled really well and with meaning. Unfortunately afterwards the last quarter of the book dragged on too long. I think things could have been wrapped up quicker with the same emotional hit.

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary Romance
• Language: moderate
• Romance: 2-3 open door
• Violence: low
• Trigger/Content Warnings: grief from a break-up that also involves a child

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