Tag: sarah hogle

Book Review: Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle

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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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Book Review: Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Holiday Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Sarah Hogle
Publisher: Putnam
Release Date: October 4th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bettie Hughes once knew the comfort of luxury, flaunting a ridiculous collection of designer shoes and a stealthy addiction to CBD oils. That is, until her parents snipped her purse strings. Long obsessed with her public image, Bettie boasts an extravagant lifestyle on social media. But the reality is: Bettie is broke and squatting in Colorado, and her family has no idea.

Christmas, with its pressure to meet familial expectations, is looming when a drunk Bettie plays a vinyl record of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” backwards and accidentally conjures Hall, an unexpectedly charming Holiday Spirit in the form of a man. Once the shock wears off, Bettie knows she’s stumbled upon the greatest gift: a chance to make all her holiday wishes come true, plus a ready-made fiancé.

But as the wiles of magic lose their charm, Bettie finds herself set off-kilter by Hall’s sweet gestures. Suddenly, Bettie is finding her heart merry and light. But the happier she gets, the shorter Hall’s time on earth grows. Can Bettie channel the Christmas spirit and learn to live with goodwill toward all men? Or will her selfish ways come back as soon as the holidays are over?

From the author of Twice Shy comes a sprightly Christmas novel, a rollicking romp through the absurdity of family holidays and the hope of new love.

EMBRACE IT.

Oh my goodness, this book was wholly different than any other holiday read I have come across before. And I adored it???

We have a completely unlikable main character who has some major growth and things to work through. Enter in the book personification of Buddy the Elf and you have the love interest, Hall. I liked these two together! The reverse grump / sunshine trope worked perfectly here and I thought the ending was sweet.

Plot wise, I can’t say much was going on that I could gather. It’s a bit scattered for awhile and yet I burst out laughing more than once. The quips and one liners and all of the name drops somehow fit right in. The quirkyness of the story allowed a lot of free flow.

The spirit of the holiday season was brought to life. I loved many of the second half sentiments and now I feel like I am ready for all things Christmas after this book. Perfect for the season if you’re looking for something lighter and fun.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kissing
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of psychological abuse from a previous relationship

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Book Review: Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Sarah Hogle
Publisher: G.P Putnam
Release Date: April 6th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?

Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.

Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous—and it turns out he has very different vision for the property’s future.

Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

SECOND HALF SAVE.

I went in really wanting to love this book after having mixed feelings over You Deserve Each Other. Fortunately, this was leaps and bounds better for me personally and I look forward to seeing what Hogle writes next.

Now to this book specfically, the first half was ehhhh. It was slow and the one thing I didn’t love over the entire book was Maybell’s alternate universe? I thought it was odd, took me out of the book every time it happened and didn’t fit well.

Besides that, when the second half hit things picked up beautifully. Wesley IS SUCH A CINNAMON ROLL. My poor heart swooned at each confession and realization of how much he was doing without Maybell knowing. It was incredibly tender and kind. It was a dash of enemies to lovers with forced proximity that hit, and hit well. It was flippin’ adorable. Just all of it. He’s honestly the real gem here.

I like the anxiety representation here too (often specifically, social anxiety). It’s been awhile since I have truly felt seen by an author’s words and that was the case here. Feeling and knowing those exact emotions made this story even deeper for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE how the communication aspects (for both Wesley and Maybell) played into this. I thought it was heading for a crash and burn, but NO. It was perfect. It was everything I would want to hear in that situation and I couldn’t believe the pure love and kindness shown to both characters. Gahhh, the sweetest.

It was all so wholesome and full of heart. I’m so glad the second half opened up. I about teared up many times and WOW I JUST LOVE THEM OKAY.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses to mostly closed door scene
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one, catfishing

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Book Review: You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Sarah Hogle
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: April 7th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They’re preparing for their lavish wedding that’s three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.

Naomi wants out, but there’s a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.

But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they’re finally being themselves–and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.

When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.

HAD POTENTIAL.

I loved the concept of a lovers to enemies TO LOVERS again. Thought if it was written out well, we could have a smash-hit. Lots of good reviews convinced me to pick it up and I have been let down by my own interpretation.

One of my main issues is that 60% of the book is spent in the enemies stage. And not the joke-y, cute, steam-building enemies I’ve read, but actual enemies. I couldn’t believe they ever actually liked one another. Nicholas and Naomi were so mean to each other. It really rubbed me the wrong way and I had a hard time swinging back around to them working things out. Naomi was so adamant about leaving Nicholas that frankly, I was agreeing with her. I hit the point multiple times where I was like, sure dump him. Not a good sign.

I saw Nicholas trying so much more, and since we never got his POV that’s all i got from him. I did like his character and his efforts. I felt bad that he had to deal with the saltiness from Naomi. Most of these issues could have been easily solved with some honest conversations, not petty pranks.

There were definitely some sweet moments towards the end and I did like those. It ended on a good note and how I felt things should have wrapped up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; love scenes are little detailed

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