The beloved author of You Deserve Each Other continues her witchy sister trilogy, this time diving into the trials of middle sister Zelda who doesn’t believe in magic…or the affection of her handsome, zany 80s obsessed neighbor. But she discovers she’s wrong on both counts when he wins a date with her & takes her to explore a local haunted house, which wakes up not only her magic but also her attraction to him. Magical shenanigans ensue. A little bit weird & a whole lot fun, this one is for the goth girls & their hearts yearning to be a true witch of the forest.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an early review copy.

This is the follow-up to Hogle's "Old Flames and New Fortunes", which I absolutely adored and I went into this book with high hopes.

This book centers on Zelda, who recently returned to Moonville and is a writer facing writers block, she does not believe in magic and reluctantly teams up with Morgan to uncover the secret of the Black Bear Witch. While the banter between Zelda and Morgan was charming, the two never felt like they were building romantic chemistry. In addition, Morgan was frustratingly immature throughout the book, and both main characters needed better character development.

While this book lacked some of the charm from the first installment, I'm really looking forward to Luna's book.

"The Folklore of Forever" by Sarah Hogle promised a charming romantasy about a skeptic discovering magic and love, but it fell disappointingly flat for me. The premise—a paranormal skeptic, Zelda Tempest, teaming up with her overly eager neighbor Morgan Angelopoulos for a ghost-hunting adventure in the quirky town of Moonville—had potential. However, the execution left much to be desired.

From the start, the story felt chaotic and unfocused. Morgan’s immature and insufferable behavior was a significant drawback. His juvenile antics, including confessing he only pursued Zelda because he thought falling in love with a witch would grant him powers, were baffling and gave me the ick. His lack of depth or sincerity made it impossible to root for the romance. Zelda, on the other hand, was frustratingly closed off and unrelatable, which further hindered any chemistry between the leads.

The romance was unconvincing, with no real connection or growth to anchor their relationship. I found myself questioning why Zelda continued to entertain Morgan’s nonsense. The interactions between the two felt forced and lacked the spark that Hogle so masterfully delivered in her previous works like "You Deserve Each Other" and "Twice Shy".

The one saving grace of the book was the magical elements and the unique setting of Moonville, Ohio. The whimsical creatures and hints of hidden magic added an intriguing layer to the story, but they weren’t enough to carry the lackluster characters and underwhelming romance.

I wanted to love this, especially as a fan of the author’s earlier novels, but "The Folklore of Forever" was ultimately a miss for me. It’s a shame because I know Hogle is capable of crafting stories filled with charm and emotional resonance, but this one didn’t deliver.

This definitely got better as the book continued. Unfortunately, some BAD tonal whiplash. And a pretty bad slow burn romance; I was actively rooting against Zelda and Morgan for a good chunk of this. Morgan is an absolute train wreck who is simply never as charming as the author thinks he is. I did like when the book got a bit sillier at the end. I was able to embrace it as weird and magical fun. When the book focused on Zelda's love of storytelling, it actually made some very nice sentiments, though not enough to make me come around on the romance.

This was super cute! I loved our main character and the overall romance/plot. I will probably pick up a physical copy and recommend.

This is quite possibly the most unique romance book I’ve read in a long time. The folklore is so mystical and mesmerizing, along with Hogle’s poetic imagery and descriptions. The last quarter of the book felt off to me, as if there were pieces still missing, but I suppose that was the nature of the book. I found it both very hard and very easy to relate to the characters at the same time, only adding to the mystifying nature of the novel. The romance fell a little flat, especially with the beginning part as a backdrop to the romance, and I felt as though the fantasy swept away much of the typical Hogle romance. I’ll always read a Sarah Hogle book, and despite this one not being my favorite in terms of character or plot, it truly transported me to the magic that is Moonville.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for this ARC.

I love a good witchy romance with a cozy vibe, but I just didn't connect well with this one. I later realized it was second in the series and maybe if I had read the first one prior, the world building would have connected better. The plot and characters felt lacking to me even though enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes.

When you read this Sarah Hogle series, you have to prepare yourself for the whimsical! There are rules for the magic that are unique from other traditional sci-fi, but once you learn it, you get it. The Tempest family of witches is completely adorable, and Zelda Tempest is the lonely traveler one of the three. In this second book in the series, Zelda has been away from her town/sisters and is still finding her footing with her home and her work as a writer. Trusting someone who shows interest in her is a massive challenge. Morgan is a fascinating leading man, he's tough to love in the beginning but definitely redeems himself. There is no overly masculine air to him. If anything, Zelda is the alpha in this pairing, which I loved.

This romp has a mystery woven throughout the story, and I thought Morgan and Zelda's banter was the very best part. Their chemistry started from one place and slowly but surely developed into more.

Special thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for this ARC.

Sarah Hogle, you are killing me. This is a 2.5 star read for me, and honestly, the majority of those stars are for ambiance. Morgan may have eventually won Zelda over with his quirks and his charm, but that was not the case for me. There were also so many magical things that were mentioned once and never again. They spent so much time in the woods and then the book just... ended? It had the charm of the first book mixed with the magical forest vibes of Raven Boys, so I had no choice but to be slightly enamored, but this one definitely fell a little flat for me. I love Hogle's writing, so I'll be back, but I don't recommend this to anyone just starting out with her books.

I love a cozy witchy romance and this was definitely that. The world building is as fascinating — I didn’t realize this was the second in a series, and maybe would have sunk into the world better if I had read the previous one. Enemies to lovers is a bit of a hit or miss for me but it felt believable here, and the tensions between the main characters grew wonderfully into romance.

2.5 stars rounded up because book one was good.

After loving the first book, I was really looking forward the next Tempest sister's love story. This was, I'm afraid, a huge disappointment. I can't help but wonder if the author had writer's block like Zelda and this book is the combination of different draft ideas cobbled together. While it had some good ideas and I love the cosy world-building with Studio Ghibli-inspired forest characters, the plot didn't gel together, it was missing a clear story arc.

I could forgive the lack of plot development if the romance were strong, but yikes! What romance? Morgan started off as decent (and I liked him in the first book), but then he did a 180. He had the temerity to get angry because Zelda said she wasn't a witch after he spent $250 on a charity date with her so she'd fall in love with him so he could get magical powers. WTF?

Morgan was basically Pepe Le Pew. Utterly irritating, constantly following her, interrupting her when she's trying to focus and he never apologises to her. Even Zelda admits he's ‘calculatedly charming’. This guy was like a crypto podcast douchebros and it came off as Zelda being stalked into loving Morgan. The only decent thing about him was he was childfree and got a vasectomy (and I loved that the book talks about the differences between men and women wanting to get sterilised). I kept waiting for anything to redeem him, but nothing, it was just a toxic red flag relationship.

So yes this is a massive miss, but, at the same time, on the strength of book one, I will still be reading book three with Luna's story. Here's hoping that one is better.

Thanks to GP Putman/Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

I will never skip an enemies-to-lovers trope 🤩 This book was whimsical, steamy, and downright adorable. I can’t wait to re-read in the fall during Halloween!

This was a sweet, cozy paranormal romance that I truly enjoyed. The characters are adorable and I enjoyed every minute of their story.

I think this was a very cozy read, however I can’t help but feel disconnected to the characters and the story a bit. Perhaps this might’ve been something to do with my reading experience. I would like to try and read this again. But these are my initial impressions with the first read.

For people who like supernatural romance Sarah Hogle is a a winner. She does it again in this sweet tale and it will be a big hit, especially for Halloween displays and romantasy bookclubs.

I loved this book so much! I haven’t shut up about it since finishing g it. I’ve preordered a physical copy. I read the first in the series earlier this year and enjoyed it but this one is even better!

Cozy and witchy romance perfect for the fall - a great Halloween read for when you’re trying to get festive and spooky!

This book was a pretty cute book (especially for Halloween!) I solidly believe this book is a 3 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️!

One thing that did irk me about the marketing of this book is how it is described as an “enemies to lovers romantasy” book. This book (while it does have fantasy elements — ie. witches and magic/sorcery) it gives more of a paranormal vibe, in my own opinion. The setting is incredibly modern and other than the very few characters that are described as possessing magic, there really isn’t much else that points to it being fantasy (even urban fantasy). Also, the main couple is definitely not a true “enemies to lovers” dynamic. It instead gives, “I find you mildly annoying in an attractive kind of way” vibe. This is definitely not a bad thing, just inaccurate word choice on the publisher’s end but definitely not the author’s fault! It is still a dynamic I enjoyed overall!

Overall I really did enjoy Morgan and Zelda’s story and I love how it can be read alone or further enjoyed if you read the first book in the series. I definitely recommend reading “Old Flames and New Fortunes” to get the full experience of seeing characters from the first book make appearances in this one, but it is also not needed as the main storyline follows the new couple, Morgan and Zelda!

There were a fewwww confusing moments (primarily the in the woods scenes) that I wasn’t a super big fan of the way it was written but i definitely did enjoy the book overall as a quick, fun little read!
I will definitely be reading and looking forward to the next book in the series!!

Steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, The Folklore of Forever wasn't my favorite Sarah Hogle, but it was still enjoyable. The writer was a little lackluster compared to the first, but I still had a good time.

This book is a good example of why Goodreads should allow you to rate a book zero stars. From the very first sentence in the book it's clear that this is the worst example of lazy writing - "Legend has it that the first sentence of a new book is always the hardest." Kill me now. From there we're introduced to the main character, Zelda, who is a writer struggling with writers block who isn't actually trying to get past it in any realistic way. This meta aspect of a lazy writer writing a lazy writer is further shown as we learn Zelda wrote a seven book series about a vampire in a town called Villamoon, but somehow never realized she based it on her hometown of Moonville. How could she possibly have realized that?!

She is the definition of a one note character whose only defining characteristic is that she grew up in a magical town as a weirdo too weird for even her weird town, but now defiantly doesn't believe in magic. But at least Zelda has this level of character development because not a single other character is even given that much. The main love interest, Morgan, is a good looking creep who is only interested in Zelda because he's heard a legend that if a witch falls in love with you then you'll get magic powers too and he's desperate for some magic of his own. He literally says as much after he buys a date from her at a town auction - "You wear a witch's hat in your author photo. It's on the back cover of all your books. Deceitful behavior for a not-witch." Welcome to chapter 4.

At 30% it became boring to even highlight the worst lines as there were just too many. Save your sanity and just skip it.