Old Flames and New Fortunes

Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle is Hogle's 2024 first instalment in the Moonville series, set in a small, enchanted town tucked away in rural Ohio. Romina Tempest is a floral witch - a "flora fortunist" - who uses the language of flowers to craft love charms and magical fortunes at her family's shop, The Magick Happens, which she co-owns with her sisters. Helping others find love is second nature to her. Finding it for herself is another matter entirely, especially after a heartbreak eleven years ago she's never quite let go of.

The plot is set in motion when the shop's potential financier announces his upcoming wedding. Romina needs an invitation, and getting one means agreeing to fake dating her chaotic colleague Trevor. It's a manageable plan, right up until she discovers that Trevor's soon-to-be stepbrother is Alex King - her high school sweetheart, her greatest love, the boy who broke her heart. What was supposed to be a simple business manoeuvre becomes a weeklong tangle of old feelings and new complications, as the second chance romance Romina swore she'd never pursue starts pulling her back in with every encounter.

Hogle layers the forced proximity and slow-burn romance with real emotional stakes. Romina's guarded protagonist energy is deeply felt - she's spent years channelling her gift for love into everyone else's happiness while carefully avoiding her own. The witty banter and sharp dialogue between her and Alex give the story its propulsive energy, but it's the quieter moments, the weight of history between two people who never fully moved on, that give the book its depth. The hidden magic of Moonville itself feels like a character, a place where the impossible hums just beneath the ordinary.

The found family dynamic among the Tempest sisters adds warmth and texture throughout, grounding the romance in something larger than two people. Hogle also weaves Paranormal elements - witchcraft, floral magic with a genuinely distinctive internal logic - into a story that never loses sight of its emotional core. The result is a contemporary romance that leans into the whimsical without sacrificing the very human fear of opening yourself up to someone who once hurt you.

Readers who love a small-town setting with genuine magical atmosphere, sharp comedy cut through with emotional vulnerability, and a romance that earns every page of its resolution will find a lot to love here. The Moonville series continues with a second instalment, The Folklore of Forever, so there's more of this world to look forward to after the final page.