5 stars! This book is every small town romance readers dream. It was very easy to get into the story and immediately fall in love with the characters. I kept finding myself giggling throughout the book, I was super giddy the entire time. I loved every moment and can’t wait to buy a physical copy!

SAVOR IT by Tarah DeWitt follows Fisher Lange, a Michelin starred chef who's on a journey of self-discovery and growth after his career begins to plummet. To get a fresh start, he and his niece, Indy, move to the small town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) for the summer. Fisher intends to spend his summer resetting and consulting on a new restaurant. But then he meets Sage Byrd, his neighbor and the beating heart of Spunes. Sage is willing to help Fisher get the rest of the town on board with the new restaurant, but it isn't long until their relationship becomes more than either of them expected.

This book has everything I wanted in a small-town romance. Quirky and somewhat overbearing neighbors? Check. A farm full of fun animals with hilarious personalities? Check. Twilight and Taylor Swift references? Check! I honestly had a blast reading SAVOR IT. I think I was a little thrown off by how many characters there were at the beginning; between Sage's family, her ex and his new fiancee, the various women smitten with Fisher, and the other players about town, I had a bit of trouble keeping track of who was who and figuring out who was the most important. But as Sage introduced us to Spunes, I feel in love with the town and its citizens just as much as I loved her and Fisher.

Tarah Dewitt has blessed me with another 5 star read!
Sage has lived in the hilariously named small town of Spunes, Oregon for her entire life, and she loves it. Fisher grew up hating small towns and moved out of his as quickly as he could. He became a Michelin Starred chef in New York. After a work disaster, Fisher’s boss gives him a chance to get his job back if he can lead the opening of her new restaurant in Spunes over the summer. He and his teenage niece rent the house next to Sage’s, and the romance begins from there, but with the summer passing quickly, there is a time limit on their relationship.
The book is such a perfect blend of humor and romance. Tarah Dewitt’s writing is so well-crafted. The story is so funny and smart, but also really sells romance.
I loved our two lead characters. Sage comes across as a typical quirky/sunshine-y character, but her personality has depth. I loved all her cute pet animals too! Fisher is a kind person, but he has a bit of trouble adjusting to Spunes. He doesn’t subscribe to the idea of small-town charm.
The romance in this book feels so real and powerful to me. The leads feel attracted to each other from the moment they meet, but the author allows the romance to progress naturally as they get to know each other. Through their friendship they reveal their deepest truths and insecurities, and they really understand each other. The chemistry is authentic, and the resulting romance feels the way that real, true love feels to me.
Fisher’s relationship with his teenage niece was interesting to read. He has a hard time “parenting” her and feels like he is always doing the wrong thing. This is an instance where two characters parallel each other and it’s fun to watch their characters evolve. I found myself wanting to see more of this development on page, but it would have either made the story too long or have cut out from the romance.
I was surprised to read about the character’s opposite experiences growing up in a small town. Sage grew up really enjoying the sense of community in her town. On the other hand, Fisher’s immigrant family experienced discrimination in their town. Most small-town stories seem to really romanticize the lifestyle. While Savor It shows a lot of charm of the lifestyle, I appreciated seeing another perspective and a reason for the character to prefer the city, other than what you usually read.

This is going to be a great summertime read when it comes out! To me, this is the correct way to do the small-town girl/city guy trope. I absolutely adore this and cannot wait to finish Tarah Dewitt’s backlist.

Omgggg I loved this book.
I mean can anyone live up to Meyer Fucking Harrigan? Probably not. BUT!
Sage and Fisher. Omg swoon. I absolutely loved their chemistry and quirks and all their shitty puns. It was so fun to see them try to not fall head over heels but doing it anyway.
So many warm lovely feelings with this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an eARC.

This was such a heartwarming and heart wrenching surprise! I loved Savor Me and was completely invested from the moment I found out the FMC had a three legged cat named Legoless. The small town vibes really hit home with this one and the dual POV was exceptionally well done. I loved that it was a big city guy that fell for the small town girl and I was every bit as invested in their love story as any nosy neighbor would be. The way that they would “savor” each other as one would a favorite dish should have been cheesy, but was delightful. Also, the “Sage” advice sprinkled throughout was excellent and added so much depth to the story. I’m not at all ashamed to admit that I shed my share of tears at the end and I rarely ever cry while I’m reading. This book just hit home in a whole new way and I can’t wait until it releases and I can have a physical copy on my shelf. Thank you so much, NetGalley for the ARC!

Undoubtedly Tarah's best yet.

Heroine and hobby farm owner Sage Byrd needs a win and she's decided that winning her town festival's annual games will be exactly what it takes for the town to stop pitying her. Town newcomer and scorned professional chef Fisher Lange seems like exactly the partner Sage needs to take the prize.

A lovely story in which Tarah creates a perfect balance of humanity and depth for these characters. She portrays Sage as someone who struggles with her identity and the fact that she's nice to everyone to a fault despite getting ridiculed for it, and she describes Fisher as the conflicted hero struggling with grief as be becomes the sole guardian to his niece in the aftermath of his sister's death. In a beautiful progression of strangers to friends to more, they grow close to one another, caring for each other as they deal with their own versions of grief. It was refreshing to have characters that acted their age and communicated well as they confided in one another. It was easy to fall in love with the feelings of this book, the depth of the characters, all of the hobby farm animals including a lonely Clydesdale and an affectionate goose named Gary, and the hilarity that ensues as Sage and Fisher train for the games together.

I love how Tarah doesn't always use on-page dialogue to show us relationship growth. She has a lovely way of setting a scene and painting that picture for us without always relying on conversations. While she does this very well, I still would have loved a little more relationship depth for these main characters. I felt like the last quarter of the book was a little bit rushed in a sense.

I also would have loved some more context on another prominent couple in the Byrd family, although, it seems like the lack of context may have been intentional as there seems to be some speculation that they may become the focus of Tarah's next book from some of the other reviews on Goodreads 🤞🏻

All in all, what a fun read. Tarah has been auto-buy for me since I discovered her last year, and she still absolutely excels at creating a perfect balance of feeling and hilarity.

4.25/5⭐

Savor It is now one of my comfort reads - 5 stars. Sage and Fisher are the perfect couple, with neither shying away from their emotions (I love it when the MMC actually says what he is feeling). This is all perfectly layered with humor and sizzling chemistry. The dual perspective adds the perfect layers of depth to the story and I loved getting to see their relationship from both sides. Seeing Fisher and Indy heal and grow themselves and their relationship was a real joy. Sage could have easily been one of those “quirky small town girls” that feels insincere and too much of a stereotype. However, Tarah adds depth and layers to Sage that make her feel real and not too over the top. This is the perfect small town romance and one that I will be returning to. I hope Tarah makes this a series as I am dying to be back in Spunes.

Tarah DeWitt did it again.
The thing about Savor It is that the title perfectly captures the theme of this book. Life is short, love is delicate, and circumstances are tenuous. So when you find that perfect season with that perfect person, Savor It, because it will end all too soon.
The depth of Sage and Fisher’s characters are not to be underestimated. Beautiful, deep, nuanced people exist in this novel. And the layers of storytelling make this novel deeper than your standard Trope books. If I could reread this book all over again fresh, I’d pay money to do so.

Thank you NetGalley and st. Martins for the ARC of this book! 5 stars ⭐️!!! Sometimes all you need in life is a small town slow burn romance and this was exactly that.

I loved the setting of Spunes Oregon, (and maybe I’m just biased bc my dream would be to live in Oregon) but I the small town feel was captured so quintessentially in this book.
I felt like I was not only falling for Sage and Fisher, but also with the town and townies.

Sage and Fisher had realistic flaws and their communication with each other was a breath of fresh air in the contemporary romance genre. Even the third act break up (which I normally hate) was done amicably rather a stupid made up miscommunication.

Overall, I had so much fun reading this book and will likely continue to pick up books by this author.

Savor It was my first Tarrah Dewitt novel, and it did not disappoint! This is a beautifully written novel that explores grief, living in the present moment, and self discovery. These heavy themes are perfectly balanced with spice, an eclectic small town, and Sage’s cute farm animals.

Sage and Fisher resisted falling for one another, resulting in off-the-chain tension that made me want to savor each page. I also really liked the open discussions about therapy.

I would have liked to see more of the summer festival storyline played out. I feel like a lot of the story focused on the festival, but this storyline wasn’t completely fleshed out.

I LOVE a romance where I find myself rooting for the couple, but even more for the individuals in the story - and that's what this is! Sage lives in a small Oregon coast down, and she's reeling from a break-up that everyone knows about. Then, Fisher, a burned out chef and his niece Indy who are both grieving the loss of their sister/mom show up as Fisher is consulting on a new local restaurant. I loved the authentic feels in this one as there was a lot of emotion. This is what made it so good. I felt like I really got to know (and love) Sage and Fisher, and I so wanted the best for them in so many ways. It was just a wonderful read all around. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this May 2024 release!

Tarah's books deliver a powerful blend of warmth and depth. This story, set in a magical town, features compelling characters that quickly draw you in. The narrative seamlessly balances coziness with tackling tough themes, making you laugh and cry. Simply put, I adore love stories by Tarah DeWitt.

Many thanks to the author Tarah DeWitt and publisher St. Martin's Press for providing me the eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This title will be released on May 21, 2024.

4.5 STARS

Pick up this small town, grumpy-sunshine romance goodness! You get a sweet premise but characters who get surprisingly deep and emotional in the effort to find direction in their lives. Also, Tarah DeWitt’s easy breezy humor is on point through the whole book. Sage and Fisher’s meet-awkward is perfection!

Our main characters and their beautiful unfolding romance truly carried the book. Sage’s love of the little things in life is beautiful and moving. I fell in love with the town of Spunes not because it was so unique or interesting but because of how lovingly we see it portrayed through Sage's eyes. Fisher too experiences the wonder of nature, life, and finding a family in Sage. This book is kind of slowburn--up to the 60% mark, Up until that point, their attraction sizzles and sparks off the page. They build a strong foundation of friendship before diving into the romance that is filled with honest communication and vulnerable truth-telling.

My only criticism would be that the start was a bit rocky for me. It felt a little overly wordy and info-dumpy. But everything took off for me once the two main characters meet. (I would also add that other readers might possibly find the writing style of the whole book quite wordy as far as emotional inner monologue of the POV characters--but that didn't bother me.) The story introduces wonderful side characters but is by and large 95% of the time zoomed in on our MCs.

P.S. to the author: PLEASE OH PLEASE write a second chance romance spin-off/sequel book for Ellis and Wren! I need it desperately in my life.

Thank you so much for providing me with an ARC copy of this book!!

I would just like to say that even though 2024 just started this might honestly be one of my favorite books. This story was so beautifully written and I absolutely loved every character in this book not just Fisher and Sage. I love how there were different pieces moving throughout the story such as Indy and Fisher and their individual backgrounds and history (along with their history as family) and also Sage with her own background and insecurities. The way that these topics and backgrounds just blended together so smoothly without it feeling rushed or forced was honestly one of the best feelings ever as a reader. I loved that I didn’t have to think about what was going on because it was so very clear and every issue was addressed at the exact time that it needed to be addressed.

I was truly sucked into this book and despite me not being a very visual person, I could imagine everything so vividly that I wish I myself could go live in that world and move in next to them to find my own small town romance. Their romance was written in such a cute, funny, and pleasant way I literally have no complaints I can think of.

That being said, this definitely felt more than just romance, it felt very raw and lots of growth involved. There were so many topics of self worth, self love, family, grief (many types of grief) that this book just honestly maybe I’m still in the high from literally JUST finishing it, but I personally really loved it. I will say, I wasn’t shedding tears every chapter, but there were definitely a lot of parts that were nice lessons or touching moments for sure.

I highly HIGHLY recommend this and I’m so excited for it to be out to everyone to enjoy hopefully as much as I did!

This book made me feel all the feels. I thought the relationship between Fisher and Sage was real and relatable and just so sweet. They were each trying to find their own paths in life after going through hard things, and the small town of Spunes, Oregon brings them together. There were a few places where it didn't feel like the story was moving fast enough, but it tied up well together in the end.

Spiciness: 3/5 🌶️

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

The title of the story is what first drew me towards the book. Then I read the description and that’s what made me decide to read the story. This story is extremely slow which would probably be described as slow burn.

The characters.
Sage - small town girl
Fisher - City boy.

The setting: Spunes, Oregon. I actually thought the name of the town was mentioned a little too much, and started to wonder if this was some advertisement for the town but truthfully, I’m not even sure it really exists.

I thought the story was OK. The ending was cute, but expected. I’d like to thank Net Galley for this complementary copy in exchange for an honest review..

I really enjoyed this book. A sweet romance story told from dual POV. Fisher and Sage were the perfect pair. I especially enjoyed seeing Fisher and Indy’s relationship develop as a side plot in the story. The author provides some trigger warnings, mostly centered around grief. However, I thought it was done well and explored grief without being depressing or difficult. Small town romance, strangers to lovers, mild grumpy sunshine.

This was a sweet but spicy RomCom. I was hooked when I read the library scene. I needed a feel good story with spicy. This book checked all of my boxes. This is a city guy meets small town girl. Fisher is figuring out how to be a guardian to his niece. Sage has to deal with seeing her ex boy friend around town with his fiancee. Fisher helps Sage in a competition. The MCs know this is just a summer romance or is it more?

Savour It, is a slow-burn love story about two people from seemingly opposite worlds trying to work through loss and find their way. Sage, is a small-town teacher and hobby farmer who struggles with being pitied after going through a breakup with a long-term boyfriend. She is now dealing with her ex’s recent engagement and is looking for a way to shine. Fisher is a hotshot NYC chef, who is new to parenting after the loss of his sister. After losing the passion for his work he was sent on a sabbatical in Spunes to find his way while setting up a new restaurant.

Despite a slow start in the first two chapters I was quickly drawn in by DeWitt. The connection between Sage and Fisher was evident from the start but it was the library scene that sent my heart fluttering! I loved that the story was told from a dual point of view and how DeWitt developed the characters and their relationship in a realistic and relatable way. I especially appreciated their quirky nature and that they stayed true to themselves right through to the end.

I reread the book description after finishing the book and would have loved to see the restaurant and competition story lines a bit more developed. That being said, I was so engrossed with Sage and Fisher I couldn’t put the book down! Filled with small-town charm, emotion, connection, steam and humour this is a captivating story of figuring out what you want vs what you think others want from you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt and the publisher St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh Sage & Fisher, you're gonna break me. I love a FMC who just knows who she is, and helps the guy sort through his struggles with a little fun with fake dating. This is one of my more heavily highlighted books in recent memory. Dewitt gives the characters a good amount of time for self-reflection. Liz and Fisher give you all the reasons to love them. A cute town, adorable side-characters (give me more robes, dammit), farm animals, and personal growth that's not all forced into a last chapter. Happy to read any more in the town of Spunes. Please keep them coming.

I only knocked a star off because wanted the last few chapters to go on longer, and I feel like I lost out on some groveling and swoony hijinks.