#sarah hogle books

[displayheartcode]

Comedy book recs?

I can’t think of any joke books, but here are some stories that made me laugh lot.

hold me closer, necormancer by lish mcbride - I won’t stop recommending the misadventures of this Seattle-based necromancer stuck in a supernatural turf war

little thieves by margaret owen -a terrible maid steals a pearl necklace, angers a god, and later accidentally starts a cult

the prospects by kt hoffman - come for the queer romance, stay for the muppets discourse

the fell of dark by caleb roehrig - either you live long enough to become a vessel for evil or you stay human enough to take a math exam

strictly no heroics by bl radley - henchpeople of the world, unionize!

out on a limb by hannah bonan-young - a ridiculous one-night stand involving pirate costumes shouldn’t make me this emotional

vampires never get old (anthology) - the title alone is a reason to buy this

[capinejghafa]

the problem with reading (4) books at the same is my brain being like maybe don't do that???

[floruishandblotts]

books I’ve read in January 2025 📖 no. 06

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle

“You ever think you were single for no reason and then you meet someone and realize you’ve been waiting for them without knowing it?”

[mydarlinginej]

read my full review of old flames and new fortunes by sarah hogle here.

From the celebrated author of You Deserve Each Other and Just Like Magic, 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:

Ever since reading You Deserve Each Other way back in 2020, I’ve been a big fan of Sarah Hogle’s brand of chaos and romance, so naturally I immediately added her newest release to my TBR list. Unfortunately, this book was not for me in a variety of ways. A lack of foundation for the romance and strong characterization made Old Flames and New Fortunes fall flat for me.

In a small town called Moonville, Romina Tempest runs a magical shop with her two sisters, Luna and Zelda, with the help of Trevor, the now-owner. After purchasing the neighboring rundown lot, they’re in desperate need of a loan from Trever’s father Daniel. However, after a misunderstanding at what turns out to be Daniel’s wedding announcement with the entire family, everyone thinks Romina and Trevor are dating, which they decide not to clear up once they learn that both of their exes are there. The only issue? For Romina, her ex is Alex, the high school sweetheart who broke her heart eleven years ago and the one who she never really got over. Now, he’s the bride’s son so they’re thrown together constantly over this weekend, resurfacing old, intense feelings.

Typically I start a review with what I liked about the book but honestly, there wasn’t really anything I enjoyed about this book…I don’t even think it was necessarily bad but I just genuinely didn’t care for the characters or the plot (what of it that we had) or the romance. As usual, these are my thoughts, you might feel differently, etc.

The biggest issue I had was with the romance. I’m very much a person who cannot get into romances unless the couple has a decent foundation. Other than a couple random flashbacks, I don’t think we got enough explanation for why Romina and Alex’s dynamic/hatred is so intense now, eleven years later. It seemed like a pretty typical high school break-up to me; even that I’d excuse if there was a little more detail but there was such a disconnect between that and their anguish now that I could not get into their dynamic at all.

read my full review here.

[stratosvere]

Nothing.

It’s a self-appointed martyr’s answer. It ensures that the issue goes unresolved, and that I suffer all by myself. What do I get out of saying nothing?

[blondie20000]

Books I have read in 2023. Rating out of 5 🌟

Drama

Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor. 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Rebel Robin (Stranger Things Novel) by A.R Capetta 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Runaway Max (Stranger Things Novel) by Brenna Yovanoff 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Rise of The Governor (The Walking Dead 1) by Jay Bonansinga 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Road to Woodbury (The Walking Dead 2) by Jay Bonansinga 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Fall of the Governer Part 1 (The Walking Dead 3) by Jay Bonansinga 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Fall of the Governer Part 2 (The Walking Dead 4) by Jay Bonansinga 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Mrs England by Stacy Halls 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 🌟 🌟 🌟

Palace Rogue by William Coles by 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Romance

The Ex Hex (Ex Hex 1) by Erin Sterling 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Kiss Curse (Ex Hex 2) by Erin Sterling 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle 🌟 🌟 🌟

This Christmas by Emma Heatherington 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Thriller

Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Godspeed by Nickolus Butler 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Breathless by Amy McCulloch 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Shadow House by Anna Downes 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Watching You by Lisa Jewell 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

I Found You by Lisa Jewell 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Down by the Water by Elle Connel 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Chain by Adrian Mckinty 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Island by Adrian Mckinty 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Too Late by Colleen Hoover 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Verity by Colleen Hoover 🌟 🌟 🌟

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben 🌟 🌟

Mystery

The Other Mother by Michel Bussi 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner 1) by Sarah Pearse 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Retreat (Detective Elin Warner 2) by Sarah Pearse 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Christmas Killer (DI James Walker 1) by Alex Pine 🌟 🌟 🌟

Killer in the Snow (DI James Walker 2) by Alex Pine 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Winter Killer (DI James Walker 3) by Alex Pine 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Darkness on the Edge of Town (Stranger Things Novel) by Adam Christopher 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Silent Cry (Detective Gaby Darin 1) by Jenny O' Brien 🌟 🌟 🌟

Deal Breaker (Myron Bolitar 1) by Harlan Coben 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Drop Shot (Myron Bolitar 2) by Harlan Coben 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Fade Away (Myron Bolitar 3) by Harlan Coben 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Coffin Road by Peter May 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Cove by L.J. Ross 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Horror

This House Is Haunted by John Boyne 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

The Whistling by Rebecca Netley 🌟 🌟 🌟

Haunted by James Herbert 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

[afairycreature]

I'm fully convinced I could do a beautiful movie adaptation of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle. I just love how they don't get along in the beginning and how they learn to re-love each other in a way they both appreciate and take care of each other. I just have a clear image what the movie could look like. December, winter forest vibe. Not a Christmas vibe but it has Christmas. I think It could be a very good rom-com movie. Not a boring premise or the same storyline as others. A new concept. with a good soundtrack and beautiful images, think a24 think 'sleeping with other people' and 'the edge of seventeen' and 'sleepless in Seattle

[cozycritiques]

Review: Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle

Not to be dramatic, but I would rather drink battery acid than be in the throes of a crush. Crushes are fun in theory (ask me about my many dreamland husbands), but in reality, they’re energy vampires that are more trouble than their worth...All this emotional work, only to always end up being hurt by it? When I drag a glance over my dating history, the polls are conclusive. Nothing good ever comes from a crush.

- Twice Shy

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the e-ARC

Tropes: Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Mistaken Identity, Roommates, Virgin Hero, No Third Act Breakup Representation: Mental Illness (Anxiety) Spice Scale: 🌶🌶 CW: Catfishing, Anxiety Attacks, Mentions of Death, Hoarding

The entire time I was reading this book, I felt like my heart had been wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket. It was so sweet and refreshing. From the start, it seems like your classic “grumpy and sunshine” trope, but the farther into the book you get, the more both you and Maybell realize that Wesley isn’t really all that grumpy after all. He’s shy, sweet, and giving. He pulled at all of my heartstrings. It’s no wonder that Maybell starts to fall for him, despite her best efforts.

Watching Maybell and Wesley fall in love was an absolute delight. The pacing was on the slower side, but I found it worked for the best with Maybell and Wesley. If they had gotten together any faster, it would have felt too forced. Their slow coming together was based on their bond over their love for Violet, through which they developed a fundamental understanding of each other. After reading this, I firmly believe that everyone needs a Violet matchmaking for them even beyond the grave.

Read the full review on my website!

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Twice Shy | Author: Sarah Hogle | Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (2021)

[fiercestpurpose]

I enjoy Victor LaValle's comics but he's a really good prose writer and that tends to get lost in comic books. Unfortunately, the last time I tried to read a Victor LaValle novel, it was The Changeling. There is a child in that one (I should have been tipped off by the title, honestly) and nothing will make me stop reading a book faster than a child.

[sognareleggiesogna]

RECENSIONE: Maledetto il giorno che ci ha fatto incontrare di Sarah Hogle 

Cari Sognatori, Lily ha letto il romance scritto da Sarah Hogle e pubblicato dalla Always Publishing !!! Genere: Romance Data di pubblicazione: 12 Dicembre 2023 Ebook / Cartaceo Affiliati Amazon Trama Naomi Westfield ha un fidanzato perfetto: Nicholas Rose è il tipo d’uomo che le tiene la porta aperta, si ricorda cosa preferisce ordinare al ristorante e proviene da una famiglia altolocata che…

[meeghanreads]

WWW Wednesday — 17 April 2024

Hello friends!! Welcome to this week’s WWW Wednesday — 17 April 2024!! WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words, where you answer the three following questions: What did you recently finish? What are you currently reading? And, what do you think you’ll read next? Let’s see what I have been reading… (All images will link to Goodreads if you click on them.…

[pipperoni32-blog]

Old Flames and New Fortunes

by Sarah Hogle / 4 stars

This book had me flying high, ecstatic, brimming with laughter. So much that I had to start a group text to tell book friends they needed to read this IMMEDIATELY. Along the way, while I searched for the publication date, the worst happened - I read a one star review. It reveled that a one of the characters had a SECRET, a secret that evidently ruined the book for them. I was crushed. Flattened. Wings cut, nearly in tears. This book was perfect. Noooooo!

So I read on, a little more cautiously, had some more moments of pure joy and laugh out loud bliss. Then, the plot twist came. And… it could have went better. Was I annoyed at this character and the way they chose to reveal things? Yes, I was. Was it a jolt? Also yes.

From this point on in the book, the mood also shifted. Before we had snarky, one-upmanship reminiscent of "You Deserve Each Other", one of my go to books when I need some laughs and the reason I love Sarah Hogle in the first place. The reason I was madly texting and assembling the book club. After this moment, we're left with something a little softer, more fragile. We find out more about the past, and we have the final tension keeping them apart.

Because of the mood shift, for me, that moved this book down to a 4 star instead of a 5. Did I still love this book? A little woundedly, but yes. Would I still recommend it? Absolutely.

I'm also glad that this is set up to be a trilogy - I'm not ready to leave behind these sisters, or their quirky, nosy little town!

[childrenstoryhour]

My yearly pleasure is reading holiday romances and this one was so stinking cute and funny.

[stratosvere]

I am finally accepting that I am simply nobody else but myself. I will always only be me. A little bit naïve, a lot idealistic. In the regard of many, understated to the point of forgettable, and easy prey, because my heart is so large a target. But those who deserve to be in my circle will like me just as I am, and will treat me the way I deserve to be treated.

[justmybookthots]

[August Update]

These Broken Stars

I remember starting this book several years back and not loving it. Honestly, when I reread it recently, I gotta agree that the intro was kind of a turn-off when it came to the characterisation of the male lead, but once the spaceship crashed, things got much better (that… came off more sadistic than I expected it to. I just meant I liked how the hero took charge when disaster struck).

Honestly, what I didn’t account for was how sad the story was. I felt angry at Lilac for endangering her life when she knew it meant leaving Tarver all alone in that forsaken land (that was so SELFISH), and also I was so sad for the Whispers. The biggest reason I continued to read was because I wanted to untangle the mystery behind what the Whispers were, and hmm. I guess I kind of got a vague explanation? It still wasn’t very clear by the end of the story. I am just not science-y enough to get it.

While neither Tarver nor Lilac annoyed me individually, I don’t think there was much chemistry between them. A lot of the story was just them trying to survive and I don’t think that had to be as boring as it was written? There could have been banter, there could have been more interesting conflict between both leads, but none of that happened. They just trooped on and on and on through the wilderness. The only thing that interested me were the strange whispers and visions Lilac was sensing.

Pretty meh book, overall. Didn’t buy the romance, didn’t love the denouement of the story. It just made me sad and sort of annoyed.

You Deserve Each Other

THIS BOOK. THIS FUCKING BOOK.

While I was moving through These Broken Stars and Belladonna like molasses, I picked up this book on the side, intending to just sift through it, and next thing I knew, I was speeding through the pages at a breakneck pace. 

I did not expect to love the first half as much as I did. Two petty lovers hanging around and being spiteful to each other instead of just breaking up sounded very… juvenile to me (at least when I read the reviews) but you know what? I HAD SO MUCH FUN. Ironically, I found that to be the best fucking part of the book. The kind of shit this couple pulled on each other because they’d fallen out of love was absolutely hilarious. Also, can I mention how much I adored Nicholas? He was utterly unlike any hero I’d read so far; he was pompous, high-strung, opinionated, prone to rants… In fact, he reminded me of an OC in a story I’d written years ago, who was decidedly NOT romantic male lead material. Once I wrapped my head around the fact that Nicholas wasn’t normal, I loved him so much more. XD 

Also, I lost it during this Office reference:

My favourite sequence was the whole phone nonsense. One of Naomi’s pranks accidentally damaged his phone, so he tried to take hers but she wouldn’t let him, and it was just… Amazing. Mainly because he thought she was cheating since she was desperate to hide her phone but in truth she just didn’t want him to see her job rejections, and the misunderstanding that culminated in was… well. It was a lot of delicious fun, is all I’ll say.

Now. On to the second half of the book.

How could something so spectacular in the first half nosedive so hard??????? I was so, so crushed. I felt that Nicholas, who’d all his life been a mama’s boy, transitioned too fast to someone who dared to stand up to her. All of a sudden, he was being VERY aggressive with his mother and it just… didn’t feel natural to me. I totally do want him to learn to stand up to her, but I wanted it to be realistic. People don’t just change overnight, not when they’ve grown up conditioned to always defer to someone. 

Also, his relationship with Naomi suddenly went from wholly negative to wholly sweet. Out of nowhere, they could do no wrong at all, and everything—EVERYTHING—clicked with each other. This part of the story is where a lot of readers found the book enjoyable, but I found the transition very jarring. It didn’t feel realistic to me. I wanted a mix of good and bad, with the good slowly outweighing the bad. Instead, we just got a sudden onslaught of good, and all their previous issues disappeared.

I honestly feel appalled that this book worked so well and so poorly for me at the same time. I wanted—I still want more—more from Nicholas and Naomi because they were such a hoot, but not in this way. Ack. It's depressing. It's novels like this that make me wary of ever admitting I'm enjoying a book I'm midway through because you just never know.

You might just jinx the whole experience. 

- 24 Aug 2023