SAVOR IT by Tara DeWitt is an upcoming release about a chef who kind of imploded his career a bit when he lost one of his Michelin stars. He's sent to a small town as a punishment-slash-redemption opportunity and learns that what is really important in life might not be what he had originally thought.

I thought it was very tender, as they gradually opened up to each other, helped each other. It deals with grief and burnout and letting other people's opinions affect your dreams and the annoyances and advantages of small towns. It's lovely.

Also, and this was something that could have bothered me but was perfect: it uses the word "savor" the exact right number of times. Not too many, not too few. It's like a perfectly seasoned dish, judiciously deploying it for maximum effect.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I just have to say I loved this!

It took a little bit for me to get into it but once I did, I COULD NOT put it down! I stayed up reading it into the night. I absolutely love small town romance. I laughed so hard and ugly cried reading this book. Seeing how Sage was there for Fisher and his niece deal with grief and loss was everything for me (especially reading this while losing three people close to me). Sage was the comfort and encouragement I needed in those moments. I love everything about the sunshine/grumpy thing Sage and Fisher have. It kept me coming back for more. Hopefully, we see more of Sage and Fisher in the future!!

God I love small town romances. This book was super cute! I will say it was a bit cheesey but I enjoyed Sage and Fisher. The smut was good and I’ll pick up another book by this author.

It took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did, I found myself reading into the night!

This is a very heartfelt romance. It had me smiling, crying, kicking my feet while giggling. All of the feels were involved.

I am also not a huge fan of small town romances, but this book didn't give off that judgey vibes that most small towns stories have. The MFC was an angel who just made the whole book so fun to read. She is whip smart, blunt, and thoughtful. The MMC is too, and together they blossom into a couple worth reading about. The character development is on point, the banter is bantering, and the romance is sweet yet steaming!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC on this book for my honest review.

I really loved this book. It made me laugh and it made me ugly cry. There is not too many books that I read that do actually make me ugly cry (in the very best way). This book is really a book of self discovery. For some it may be where they live, who they love, what job they do, or what really is important in their lives. This book had it all including a very enjoyable and funny amount of animals/pets.

I will be picking up more books by this author and I can't wait to read them.

I’ll admit that it took me a bit longer to get into this one… but then I was up until 2:30a finishing it. I’ve read many similar storylines over the years, but this was done the best. Her supporting characters never feel like caricatures, they feel very real. Everyone is imperfectly perfect! I really felt like I was IN Spunes.

I was super, super thankful to receive access to an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review… but now what do I do?! Can’t wait to read more from this author.

10* stars.
I adored Fisher. Sage was just simply a perfect example of best human goals.
The way they both struggled through life and then just got each other was the best part of this book.
They are couple goals and I hope we get more stories from this town. This was my first book from this author and it will definitely not be my last.

Wow this was great. There was a good balance of hard stuff and joy I felt myself relating to the characters. Such a beautiful story.

Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for this arc!
Trigger warnings⚠️: grief, death of a loved one (off page), career burnout, bodily injury (off page)
4/5⭐️
Gave my first star to this book when I saw that the FMC and I share the same name!🤭
Tarah Dewitt made me feel all the feels in this summer/ small town romance. Through every page I wanted to embrace Sage and swoon over Fisher. I loved the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between Sage and Fisher! I also like how it showed how both Fisher and his niece, Indy dealt with their grief and how Sage taught them to love😭💕! I highly recommend that you make Savor it by Tarah Dewitt on your tbr this summer. You will meet Sage and Fisher on May 21,2024!

I throughly enjoyed this book.
I always love a swoon worthy grumpy sunshine love story.
I throughly enjoyed the small town vibe this book gives out, and even though both characters have some trauma they are dealing with they offer some witty banter along the way.
I mean don't we all do that to deal with ours?
Again this book is swoon worthy, and probably the only book I've read that takes place in Oregon that isn't about vampires that I throughly enjoyed.

4.5 stars!

savour it is my first read of tarah dewitt’s and certainly will not be my last. it’s as if she heard all of my annoyances with the romance genre and took that information and personally wrote me the perfect romance novel.

a couple that communicates! a couple that actually get along! a couple that actually shares interest! a couple that actually care about each other! the list could go on and on about how perfect she made sage and fisher, especially for each other.

but more than that - she made the atmosphere of savour it amazing. every small town character has a purpose. they were in some way a part of sage and fisher’s story and not just some minor side character.

this book perfectly captures vulnerability and the “what-ifs” of life and relationships. watching sage and fisher completely open themselves up to each other and reveal each and every quirk about themselves to one another was such a breath of fresh air compared to many other books in the genre.

as many books do - savour it does feature a third act break-up, yet it’s done so maturely with so much communication and understanding and love!

anyways this was a really beautiful romance novel and i really enjoyed every second of it!

thank you st. martin’s press and #netgalley for this arc! i truly appreciate it!

—MINI SPOILER ALERT—

I’ve yet to come across a Tarah Dewitt book that I didn’t like, and this book is no exception to that rule.

One of the things I really like about this book is that the two main characters, (Fisher and Sage), are quicker to be affectionate than they were in some of Tarah’s other books. I also like the themes that Tarah explores in this book. Both of the main characters either have dealt with or are dealing with loss in this book. Fisher had recently lost his sister and gained guardianship of his niece, Indy (who also has a pretty great character arc in this story), Sage having lost her mom when she was young and had to experience being raised by her older brothers. This novel also explores the theme of burnout, which I find is not as widely talked about in books as often. Yes, I have read many books where characters are stuck in low-paying jobs and dread going to work or books where the characters are self-prescribed workaholics, but love their jobs so they find it worth it. I like how Fisher speaks of his burnout and doesn’t know how he feels about his line of work. It also describes the guilt and shame you experience surrounding not being able to perform at the level you know you’re capable of. I thought it was very thoughtful the way Tarah expressed these thoughts through Fisher.

I also love the fictional town of Spunes, Oregon, that Tarah created. The town was extremely cute and had a fun set of characters. I could see a bit of the small town I live in. This book also had enough small-town angst to fill a mid-2000s pop punk song, but not from the characters you’d expect it from. I find that a lot of books set in small towns don’t always have the difficult dichotomy between hating the town you’re from and wanting to leave it, while also loving the town you’re from and feeling like it has had a profound impact on you. Tarah did a good job of towing this line.

Also, an impossible task that this achieved? It made me like the goose in this book. This is saying something. I have an irrational fear of most birds and geese are my least favourite (I live in Canada, and Canadian Geese are the spawn of Satan).

I believe this book is going to be everyone’s favourite summer read. Everyone mark your calendars for May 21st.

I would also like to thank the people at Netgalley, St. Martin's Press/ St. Martin's Griffin and Tarah Dewitt for giving me access to this advanced readers copy

(3.5) Hot Chef Fisher moves to small town with his orphaned niece, meets quirky nextdoor neighbor, competes in town canoeing event? And what if he also... falls in love?

I enjoyed this a lot while I was reading it, but unfortunately haven't found it super memorable since finishing it. Here are some things I enjoyed:
-Hot chef, obviously
-The heroine was quirky, but I didn't find her super grating
-Character growth between both was great
-Third act conflict that makes sense, and that you know is coming the whole time. I just really appreciate it when the parties involved get through a breakup without treating each other terribly

Things that didn't quite work for me:
-The town competition aspect fell really flat for me? No one actually seemed that invested (including me!), and then it all kind of amounts to nothing anyway. There was maybe a better way to throw these two together
-Most of the storyline surrounding Fisher's niece. I'm surprisingly neutral on kids in romcoms, but she was honestly exhausting (even though I did enjoy her goose soulmate)

I do recommend this as a fun, low-angst romance, but it's not necessarily a favorite.

If you look up the words "book hangover" in the dictionary, a picture of Savor It will be right beside it!!

I was so excited to receive an ARC of Tarah DeWitt's upcoming release, and it did not disappoint! The setting, the characters, the plot, the spice - everything was so well done. I adored Sage and Fisher, and their intricacies, individuality, and their journey. Fisher is officially my blueprint for fictional men!! DeWitt gives her characters such depth and I felt very connected to both of them, and even to the supporting characters (*cough cough* the geese).

If I had to be picky about some things I didn't like, I would say that I wanted there to be more connection to the grief that Sage and Fisher have. I thought that it was really left until the end, and this could've made a bigger impact to the overall story.

This was a very cute very light romance story. I thought Tarah DeWitt's writing was so fun and easy to read. The story line was just fun. Nothing was too high of stakes and the scenery was beautiful. I thought the chemistry between the two was charming. I really like's Sage's personality, it felt very relatable... especially about the gophers, lol! I will definitely recommend this book to others.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.
This is my second Tarah Dewitt book and I loved it. It had some of my favourite things to read in romance books:
• small town
• single parent/guardian
• grumpy(ish)/sunshine
• animal side characters
• steamy scenes
I especially loved the goose that bonded with Indy. That girl needed some unconditional love and it’s so fitting that an animal gave it to her.
The book is filled with humour and wisdom and emotions and romance. It’s such a feel good read. Definitely recommend 4⭐️

I have been reading some wildly intense books lately and LOVING every minute of it BUT the fear of being inspired to create some real life drama with all that I read I thought it would be smart to take a break and read a book classified as a Romance.

Joke was on me.

Savor it. is not exactly what I was thinking it would be but turned out to be a heart exploding, fan-flipping-tastic book that blew my head right off my shoulders!

I loveddddddddd this book.

I was first introduced to Tarah DeWitt when I won a giveaway on bookstagram for Funny Feelings. I devoured that book and still think about it often (if you haven't read it yet, you must!)

I should have known right there that there was no way I would be putting this down.

Savor It, is a fast paced, witty, romance with a strong focus on small town vibes with lots of charm and spice. I believe this book will be enjoyable for a wide demographic of readers.

After reading both Funny Feelings and now, Savor It, I definitely consider myself a fan girl of DeWitt. She has easily become an auto buy author and I am so excited to see what she will come out with next.

Teaser:

Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She's learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win―something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.

Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.

A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like...

Filled with spicy summer fun, small-town charm, and Big Feelings, this highly anticipated romcom is Tarah DeWitt’s best yet.

This was a fun "small-town" romance novel to read. It is a romance with layers which is always my sweet spot when reading. This book takes on 2 individual characters with their own emotional wounds that are enhance each other's lives without being a Band-Aid for each other (a large pet peeve from other novels I have had). This book is enjoyable in and of itself but also as stated previously the layers adds to various life lessons and character growth even beyond the two love interests.

Fisher, a Michelin-star chef and a former small-town kid who made it big in New York. After the loss off his sister, taking in his niece, and losing his job, he's given the change to help his ex-boss out with a small-town restaurant project in Oregon.

Sage, a townie through and through, has broken up with her longtime boyfriend. And now he's engaged. She feels destined to live alone in her small town and is trying to be content with her life like it is instead of doings things for her own happiness.

I love the prose in this book. It's written so fluidly - no stilted sentences here. No overuse of simple metaphors and, for me, it makes it easily read. This author can describe emotions that made me feel it in my chest. Not me tearing up near the end! Yes, I'm sure it's predictable but IDC because it was a lovely read.

It's got coastal Oregon scenery, misfit animals on a hobby farm, a kind-hearted FMC, an emotional wreck of a MMC, culinary vibes, the kind of love story that slowly builds, cute banter, and low spice (it doesn't happen off page, but it's not very explicit).