Thanks to @smpromance for the eARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

The moment I started reading the book, I was engrossed. The story, the characters, the humour, the emotion, Tarah’s prose all combined made for a beautiful book that I did not want to put down.

Sage is a teacher in the small town she was born and raised in, living in her family’s home. She celebrates all the moments - big and small - savoring each one as she is far too familiar with how short life can be.

Fisher moves to the town of Spunes with his niece, Indy, trying to rebuild their lives after the loss of Indy’s mother (Fisher’s sister) and his losing direction in his career as a chef.

It becomes a summer neither will forget as adage and Fisher get to know each other, first as Neighbours, then as a fake-dating couple, and finally, acting upon their mutual attraction, as lovers.

Savor It is a joy to read and I’m so glad Tarah opened her heart and soul to this book and, consequently, to us, the readers, so we can learn how to savour all those moments in our own lives.

First I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of Fisher, NYC chef, who after being put on sabbatical from his restaurant he is sent to Spunes, Oregon to help get his boss' new restaurant with his niece, Indy, in tow. When they arrive they meet neighbor Sage, local high school teacher, and all of her many animals. Fisher immediately gets a lot of push back from the locals in town and Sage decides to help him by being his fake girlfriend and he agrees to be her partner in the town competition, and they beat her ex and his fiancé. As Fisher's relationship with the town and Sage get better, he is also learning how to best help Indy through her pain by sharing his own and they are figuring it out together. As Fisher and Indy lay down roots in town they have to decide if their life in NYC is still the right choice for them.

What I Loved:
- Small town, I love the people of Spunes cause they are in everyone's business and thinks they know what is best for the town it would be such a fun place to visit
- Sage's animals, Sage has a small farm of animals with a cat, dog, horse, chickens, geese, etc and they all have their own personalities and I am just obsessed with all of them
- Summer competition, each summer Spunes has a competition which includes an open water canoeing race and town history trivia which sounds like so much fun and such a small town thing to have
- Sage and Fisher, they are not a traditional relationship and even though they knew there was an end date to their relationship I love they put all of themselves into the relationship

This was a book that I wanted to finish but didn't want it to end cause I wanted more time with all of these characters. If you are looking for a small town, fake dating, big city guy forced to small town living romance with great characters and wonderful relationships then I would absolutely recommend you pick this book up!

New York Michelin star chef Fisher has been struggling ever since his sister’s death. When a review sends him over the edge he and his niece head to Oregon for some time to cool down away from the city and restaurant. When he meets his spunky neighbor Sage he’s immediately captured by her fun personality and knowledge of her small town. She decides to help him with the new restaurant and he helps give the impression she is over her demeaning ex. As Sage and Fisher connect over food, gardening and helping guide his niece their feelings seem more than just causal and temporary. Will Fisher open the restaurant and leave Sage with a broken heart or will he decide small town living really is for him?

With fantastic banter, lovable characters and a beautiful setting you can’t go wrong with this book!

2.5/5 This book got off to a bad start because I was so confused and didn't know what was happening around 8% in that I actually stopped reading and looked up a summary of what it was about. I never do that. I think the quirkiness of the small town makes sense as the story goes along but not realizing who was an animal versus a person or how the town functioned really put me off to picking up the book. That's why it took me thirteen days to read it. Big city guy versus small town girl. Forced proximity because they're neighbors.

I binge listened/read Savor It, immediately sent to DeWitt's small town whimsy of Spunes and wanting to hang out with Sage's animals.

Sage Byrd has always been a resident of Spunes, Oregon with her farm animals. She's seen people come and go, although typically they come back to stay. Coming off a 5 year relationship with the town mayor's son, she needs something to savor. She needs to win the local festival's competition and who better than her new next door neighbor-Fisher.

Fisher was a Michelin start chef in famous NYC. He had it all- until he quickly didn't with the loss of his sister and add in of his niece. Everything blows up and he's given the final chance to save his job. He needs to rehab and open a restaurant in small town Spunes. No distractions, he thinks, until he meets Sage and cannot help but savor her. The best part? The town cannot help but savor them together.

Savor it was a dual POV that translated well from scene to scene. The realness from Indy and captivating storytelling made this novel an immediate 5 star read that had me in my feels. Now, I want to go canoing and fight in a small town trivia contest. I CAN NOT wait to hear/read whatever DeWitt goes next with the town of Spunes.

Savor lt was a cute romance read. It had plenty of scenes that made me laugh. I loved the small town setting and the quirky residents we got to meet. Sage and Fisher had good chemistry. You might enjoy this one if:

🍋 You are a fan of open-door romance
🍋 You love animals! There are quite a few animal friends in this one from cats to a goose.
🍋 You are a foodie. I loved seeing these two characters work on a menu.

Not only is the cover STUNNING but this novel is amazing.

Sage has a hobby farm with misfit animals, and a huge garden. Her 5 year relationship has ended, and her ex is now engaged just a few months after their break up. She just needs a win.

Fisher is an NYC Michelin starred chef who’s raising his teenage niece after the death of his sister. He’s struggling to keep it together and frankly, failing at it. He’s is Spunes, Oregon to oversee the construction of a new restaurant and really isn’t a fan of small towns.

It’s a quiet story of two people who really need each other. A funny, sweet, romantic, emotional, steamy, slow burn. It’s a small town romance with a great message: live by your own standards and no one else’s. Be happy by your own measure.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 Stars!

"Something tells me I couldn't have you pegged in a decade, let alone a few days, Sage. But even I can tell that you're vast."

Recommend If You:

• Are looking for ALL the small-town romance vibes
• Have ever considered having a hot fling with the NYC chef who's only in town for the summer
• Like the movie Sweet November but minus the terminal illness
• Would totally have one of every animal
• Like some feels with your romance
• Love the opposites attract trope
• Enjoy single dad/uncle vibes

Travel to Spunes, Oregon and meet Sage and Fisher. I had so much fun listening to this book and found myself laughing out loud more than once.

Sage is trying to prove to the town that she doesn't need their pity after her recent break up. Fisher, on hiatus from being a chef at a NYC hot spot, is in town for the summer to prep for the opening of a new restaurant.

Fisher and Sage meet at a time when they're both struggling. They are neighbors so they agree to help each other. That and the children they both care for have an instant attraction (his niece and her nephew).

This author's writing and the story itself gave me major Emily Henry and Lucy Score vibes.
Sage and Fisher are so great together. They have amazing chemistry. They're compassionate, lovable, complex characters with lots of baggage to work through. By helping each other grow, they become each other's happy place.

I don't think the author has confirmed anything yet, but there better be more books for the rest of the Byrd family. I need more on a few characters!

& And finally, Karissa Vacker and Teddy Hamilton did such a phenomenal job with the audio dual narration here. Their deliveries were authentic and they completely brought these characters to life.

What a perfect summer read!! In real life I am a city girl, but I love a good small town romance and this book perfectly fit the bill! Welcome to Spunes, Oregon...a tiny town on the Oregon coast where it's impossible to hide in a crowd and everyone knows each other. It felt like a West Coast Stars Hollow to me. Sage has lived in Spunes her whole life. Her home is her cozy oasis where she takes in animals of all sorts who need a loving home and tends to her thriving garden. Two of her three brothers are still in Spunes, as is her best friend Wren, and she loves guiding the youth of Spunes as their teacher. It's a small life, but a happy one, and all that is missing is someone to share it with.

Enter Fisher and Indy. Fisher is an award-winning chef from New York who is suffering from a misstep in his career. His boss sends him to Spunes for the summer to prepare their new restaurant out there. The deal is that he can return to his restaurant job at the end of the summer, a redeemed chef. To make matters more interesting, he is now guardian of his teenage niece, Indy, so together they begrudgingly head west for the summer. They end up renting the home across the field from Sage, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Things I LOVED:
- the animals! I fell in love with all the animals sharing Sage's home. Her heart and compassion for the animals was awesome!
- the way the reader got to know Fisher and Sage through the snippets and stories they shared with each other. They both have walls up due to tough events in their past and it was beautiful to watch them soften and thaw.
- the details of the fictional town of Spunes. This town doesn't exist IRL but with the details Tarah provides about the rich history, the quirky townsfolk, the buildings in town, and the land itself, it felt like a real place.
- the humor! I LOL'd several times throughout this book --- and I am still giggling about Fisher and Indy's first night in town.

Things you can EXPECT:
- Fake Dating
- Grumpy/Sunshine (him/her)
- Single Dad vibes (he's guardian to his orphaned niece)
- Slow Burn (but there's some spice once they get there)
- Small town romance
- Stars Hollow vibes (complete with goofy town hall meetings and nosy townsfolk)
- Third Act Breakup (necessary and mature), BUT also HEA
- Friends to lovers
- Trigger warnings: Grief (both MC's are dealing with grief), Loss of loved ones (past), career burnout and life path uncertainty, caring for a grieving and angry teenager

Final thoughts: This book was like a hug! I've had other Tarah DeWitt books on my TBR for ages, but this was the first book of hers I've read. I very much look forward to reading her previous books as well as any future books. Supremely grateful to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tarah Dewitt for the ebook ARC! I have LOVED everything Tarah’s written, and this book was no exception.

I loved the way grief was handled. I loved the relationship that built between uncle and niece.

I loved the small town vibe and the setting. I loved the slow burn and then the chemistry once it was burning. It is very sweet. Very romantic. Very swoony. Plus Fisher’s a chef…

Five gajillion stars!! I fell in love instantly with the little town of Spunes and Sage felt like she was plucked straight from my brain. It was filled with heartfelt and quirky characters, non stop banter and laughter, but with such heavy hitter storylines that will absolutely tug at your heart strings. I’m still thinking about these characters, and can’t wait to read more books by Tara!

This was such a heart-wrenching small town romance! As someone struggling with grief, I really appreciated Fisher’s journey and how Sage helped along the way.

My only issue was the pacing, it took forever to get somewhere and then it felt rushed.

I might be an outlier but I found this to be quite too sickly sweet for me. I expected more emotional depth given the set up with Fisher and his niece but it didn’t really come or at least I didn’t feel like it was organic and authentic.

The romance seemed to ping pong between hallmark movie cliches and über horny moments which felt really uneven. Ultimately I just didn’t buy how these two fell for each other or how they made sense. Maybe it’s because the FMC, Sage rubbed me the wrong way, or maybe it’s that Fisher felt pretty bland personality wise despite this book being dual POV.

For all the sunny, quirky glitter vibes were supposed to get from Sage, she sure did have a giant chip on her shoulder. Her random triggers and snippiness generated a lot of eye rolls for me because it felt like a really desperate attempt to make the good girl feel ~nuanced~. And more often than not, she’s just internally berating herself, almost daring someone to fight with her and it got tired. She was also very whiney and bit “she doth protest too much” getting annoyed when Fisher follows the boundaries she herself set. She just felt too chaotic for me.

All in all, I struggled to like either MC, felt the romance was lackluster and didn’t really execute the romance tropes convincingly, and the overall plot felt lackluster.

This is a super fun, beautiful, quirky and enjoyable romance! Dual POV.
There isn't too much spice which I'm good with but I know some like a lot of spice!

It's definitely a slow burn romance but very enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this book.

Sage and Fisher had such a unique connection. Their character development individually and as a couple was amazing. I loved how they supported one another through the challenges they were facing. I also loved the maturity that each showed throughout the book.

My only complaint is that I felt like the ending was rushed. There was so much anticipation to see where the story ended, I just wanted a little more.

Thank you to NetGalley and author Tarah Dewitt for this ARC of Savor It!

While it took me a while to achieve momentum with Savor It, once it finally hooked me, I found this to be a charming, cozy read. The build up to the chemistry between our two main characters is what nearly lost me, as the first few chapters were slow for me, but I'm happy I stayed reading. Sage and Fisher coming together felt inevitable from their first meeting, and I could see how they matched each other as they slowly got to know and understand one another, appreciating one another for exactly who they are and where they are at in their lives. This is now my second Tarah Dewitt book, and I have to say I really appreciate how her stories worm their way into my heart. This one in particular was a nice convincing I needed towards the "simple" life, so to speak; that the big, expansive world and the burnout that (maybe) waits out there isn't always what you need, despite what your preconceived notion is. For that lesson, I am grateful to this book!

Savor It is the most perfect title for this book because that was exactly what I wanted to do the whole time I was reading, SAVOR IT. I officially want to pack my bags and move to Spunes and LIVE inside of this book. Savor It is a perfect summer read with all the summer vibes plus a beautiful romance, punny humor, grief handled in the most beautiful way, and characters that you wish were real. I absolutely love how Sage and Fisher found each other and how well they understood each other and communicated their feelings. I love that they let the other be exactly who they were and found the beauty in their differences. By the end I was ugly crying in my bathroom in the BEST WAY and have found a new favorite book!

"You once told me you thought you were a lot of nots." "I want you to know that to me, you're everything.

I LOVE YOU FISHER LANGE.

After literal months of one of your employees spewing Islamophobic nonsense toward an influencer and then DOXXING her, SMP released the weakest statement that seemed to double down on this employee’s racist stance. #SpeakUpSMP

This is the best book I’ve read in a long while. I don’t think I’ll ever get over fisher and sage. This story was definitely not as I expected. But it was perfect. Incredibly angsty, funny, and warm. Small town romances will just always do it for me. I’m obsessed with every charcater in the serie.

Pretty cover and, with chefs as the trendy hot guy profession these days, I figured let's try a new author for me from NetGalley. This was so so-so, that I actually squeezed in and finished 2 other books before getting back to wrap this one up. I'm sure there may be other stories from this author set in Spunes, OR. I'm not sure I'll return for second a taste.