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Fibs and squabbles and spells . . . oh my! A small, magical town tucked away in rural Ohio, Moonville is the perfect place for floral witch Romina Tempest to use the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest love in their lives. After giving up on her own big romance eleven years ago, at least she can bask in others' happily ever afters. When the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps at the opportunity to discuss the business . . . even if it means 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 King: her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who broke her heart. What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a weeklong fake-dating scheme, as Romina quickly finds out she can’t deny her connection with Alex. Caught between her livelihood and her heart, Romina must decide if taking a second chance on first love is worth the risk.
Fibs and squabbles and spells . . . oh my! A small, magical town tucked away in rural Ohio, Moonville is the perfect place for floral witch Romina Tempest to use the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest love in their lives. After giving up on her own big romance eleven years ago, at least she can bask in others' happily ever afters. When the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps at the opportunity to discuss the business . . . even if it means 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 King: her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who broke her heart. What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a weeklong fake-dating scheme, as Romina quickly finds out she can’t deny her connection with Alex. Caught between her livelihood and her heart, Romina must decide if taking a second chance on first love is worth the risk.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the cover
Chapter One
Blackthorn: Our path is beset with difficulties.
Twin purple roses, one bud closed. Love at first sight.
A two-leafed red carnation. I must see you soon.
Eight-and-a-quarter inches of grape ivy. I desire you above all else. The magic hums to let me know I'm on the right track, and I smile, busily fulfilling a pickup order at my luckiest time of day.
It is late April, when flowers have begun to swallow up the stone walls, when it's just warm enough that I can take my coffee in the courtyard at dawn and watch blue chase pink from the sky, stars popping like soap bubbles. My world is alive with the fragrance of freshly turned soil and shivering mist, chickens clucking around my ankles and eating the bugs on the brick pavers before the bugs can eat my crocuses.
To my back is the carriage house I've lived in for the past three years, built in the French country style, with sandy stone and white shutters decorated with moss and ivy. Rows of elevated flower beds burst with riots of hellebores, bleeding hearts, forget-me-nots, bluebells. This courtyard, with its five-foot-tall perimeter and the witch hazel tree that's even older than the neighborhood, flowering quince with peach blooms, the shock of yellow sunrise forsythia-is all my kingdom.
My heart tap-dances to a song in my soul, inherited from my grandmother, who inherited it from hers, and yes, I can believe it. Curious tourists in my family's shop ask me frequently: Do you believe it, truly?
I reach for buttercups-What golden radiance is yours!-but catch my hand drifting, landing inexplicably on blackthorn: Our path is beset with difficulties. My hand jumps back.
"No, it is not," I tell the flowers sternly, plucking a buttercup instead. "Your path is simple and happy, and ends in a September wedding, just like Cecelia dreams." Cecelia, one of my regulars, is determined to turn her boyfriend into a husband. Of course, my flowers won't force him to propose. They'll merely spark an idea in his mind, if magic agrees with the pairing. The spell is informed by the flowers' traditional symbolism and how each flower reacts to the others. The twin purple roses are representative of how they met, the carnation expresses urgency, and the ivy symbolizes how Cecelia feels. They tell a special story, one imbued with magic to help spur on Cecelia's wishes: Once upon a time soon to come, Gustav will happen to be ten minutes early for work, so he'll decide to walk the long way around, passing a jewelry shop. He'll glance in the window, and right there in the front, he'll notice a gem that'll remind him of his beloved Cecelia. Now, magic can tempt Gustav to the shop, but whether he chooses to walk inside is his own business.
I'm pretty sure I invented flora fortunes. I call myself a flora fortunist since "creating floral arrangements using the language of flowers to magically bring a person's romantic hopes to fruition" is a mouthful. Much like tarot or palm readings, I can't cast my own will over a person's destiny. I can only intuit what a person's love life needs and try to attract what they desire-to get the object of their affections to notice them, to get over an ex, or to encourage their ex to get over them. My spells never force love, only open up possibilities.
With the buttercup added to the mix, I'm overcome by a tingly slide of wrongness; whenever I make a misstep, I get a sensation like I've put one foot through a rabbit hole in a field, I've sat in something sticky, or there's dust in my eye. Itching and muck and bad tidings, the dread of having missed an appointment, a phantom popcorn kernel I can't get out of my teeth.
...
Reviews-
Starred review from December 1, 2023
Hogle (Just Like Magic) returns with a delightfully magical second-chance romance. Romina spends her days with her sisters, working in her grandmother's candle shop and creating floral arrangements in her own style of magic called flora fortuna, using the language of flowers to help the lovelorn find their way. The shop is expanding and in need of a cash infusion, so Romina agrees to fake-date her best friend Trevor so his soon-to-be-married financier father will put up seed money. There's one catch--the son of the financier's bride is Alex, Romina's first love whom she's never quite gotten over. Sparks are definitely flying, and Romina isn't sure her business or her heart can survive the wedding week. On the surface, this is a lighthearted rom-com, but there's a thread of real loneliness and longing underpinning the fake-dating high jinks. While second-chance tropes don't appeal to every reader, the reasons Romina and Alex have been apart feel true-to-life. VERDICT The world Hogle has created is cozy and warm, and fans of her previous work or of witchy romances will be crossing their fingers that this is the start of a series.--Lacey Tobias
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 5, 2024 This cozy and witchy rom-com from Hogle (Just Like Magic) introduces the small mystical town of Moonville, Ohio, where fortune teller Romina Tempest and her sisters hope to expand the magic shop they co-own, if they can find the funds. When potential financier Mr. Yoon announces his upcoming wedding, Romina is determined to secure an invitation—but her only way in is as Mr. Yoon’s son Treavor’s date. Frenzied, funny Treavor is a good friend and game to fake a relationship—but their mission gets side-tracked when Romina learns that Treavor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is none other than Alex King, Romina’s high school sweetheart and the boy that broke her heart 11 years ago. Now, Romina wants Alex to pay for the pain he caused her, and what was supposed to be a small fake-dating scheme turns into a weeklong charade. Despite her grudge, Romina can’t deny the lingering attraction she shares with Alex, and sparks soon fly between them. After a slow start, Hogle ramps things into high gear with a fun take on the fake dating trope that will have readers genuinely wondering how Alex and Romina will find their way back to each other. The result is a beguiling and heartfelt story of rekindling love. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary.
February 1, 2024 A witchy florist is reunited with her high school love in this lightly magical second-chance rom-com. In Moonville, Ohio, a town steeped in lore about magic and love, Romina Tempest and her sisters run The Magick Happens--a shop with flowers, candles, and books. Romina calls herself a "flora fortunist" and uses the language of flowers to help her clientele with their romantic woes. Her own love life has been nothing but heartbreak, so when she unexpectedly encounters her first real love, Alex King, whom she hasn't seen in 11 years, old feelings resurface. The two of them antagonize each other, but their flirtation comes naturally. Too bad Romina is fake-dating her friend Trevor Yoon--who also happens to be Alex's soon-to-be stepbrother--as she tries to secure Trevor's father as an investor in the shop. Lies and secrets will eventually be revealed, and Romina will have to decide whether she's willing to risk her heart once more. The magical elements add a nice touch of whimsy to this humorous tale, while Romina's damaging former relationships and desire to be a mother add realistic dramatic heft. The story feels like it's trying to do too much at once, however--too many side plots and tropes--which makes it feel messy and meandering. Some readers may also be put off by all the secrets Romina and Alex keep from each other initially. Still, Moonville is an enchanting town many will hope to revisit. A somewhat muddled yet still charming small-town love story, with magic.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 15, 2024 Moonville, a quaint town in rural Ohio, is where Romina Tempest and her two sisters run a whimsical shop full of candles, flowers, and fantasy books, all infused with the sisters' magic. Romina calls herself a flora fortunist and uses the language of plants to make spellbinding arrangements. The owner of the shop, Trevor, is Romina's best friend, and they hope to secure a loan from his father to help expand the business. They walk into what they think is a business meeting only to find that Trevor's father is announcing his impending marriage to the mother of Romina's high-school sweetheart, Alex King. Furthermore, Alex is there. Right there. The boy who broke her heart over a decade ago is back in Moonville. Romina and Trevor find themselves in the middle of a fake-dating scheme to get back at Alex, but through the chaos, Romina and Alex realize that an ember of their teenage love still burns. This second-chance romance is a bit jumbled at times, but Hogle (You Deserve Each Other, 2020) succeeds in crafting a fun romance with a touch of fantasy.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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