It’s very embarrassing of me to admit that this was my first Tarah Dewitt book and I have no freakin idea why! I loved every second of this story and the writing was beautiful.

This was the perfect small town romance with a great opposites attract trope. I loved the MC’s so much. Both of them have went through a lot within the past couple years and it shaped them into who they are now. The romance was sweet and spicy but there’s a lot more to the story than just that. It deals with heavier topics and Tarah did an amazing job with them. I’d also like to just say how beautiful this cover is. It fits perfectly with the vibe of the story.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s for the e-arc! Release date is May 21st!

I didn’t connect to the characters really until about 70% of the way into the book. I did enjoy the ending and the small town aspects of it

I loved this book! It was everything I could want in a book. Cute, funny, sweet and emotional. I was laughing, smiling and tearing up. The characters were all so lovable. Fisher and Sage were perfection! I especially fell in love with Fisher, as he puts off a tough grumpy exterior but loved how sweet and vulnerable he became with Sage. Enjoyed the cozy small town setting and all the adorable animals! Such a great read that I for sure recommend. I did a review post on my Bookstagram, that I have linked down below.

Thank you to Netgalley and SMP for an eARC of Savor It in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book was quintessential Hallmark (which I LOVE!); but for me it’s a “well I won’t change the channel” but it won’t make me stop while I’m channel surfing either. I have so many conflicted feelings after finishing this book & I know that makes me an anomaly. I didn’t not enjoy myself; it read well for the most part. I had a nice time but I wasn’t hooked.

Things that I really enjoyed in this book include: Fisher dealing with burnout, Sage & her menagerie & leaning what a marionberry was. The moments that hit for me, really hit. I love a good small town romance & Spunes really was that town. I loved the eclecticness of the town & even getting tidbits of history. My absolute favorite moments were Indy learning to handle her teenage emotions after losing her mom. While I felt we didn’t get the clearest picture of who she was, Indy opening up or having unexpected outbursts (Have you ever cooked a goose?!) at the seemingly most random times, had my heart tearing in two. It felt real & emotional. It felt random but it wasn’t because with grief, it just takes that one little thing sometimes. I thought these moments were so heartfelt & overall handled really well.

I think the reasons I struggled with this one a bit can be boiled down to two main things: feeling like we go no depth in any characters or situation, while simultaneously feeling like there was too many things to keep track of. Starting with the latter, there were too many points on contention, that all fizzled & never development into actual plots. Between newly-engaged exes, Town Hall Karen’s, new construction drama, multiple brothers, etc. Not one of the elements actually added any drama or interest to the plot.

I really wanted to like Fisher. I can see what was attempted with his emotions; it took him the entire book to figure them out (even then, he is still trying to work through a lot), therefore we are on the whirlwind ride right along with him. But instead of feeling like a journey it just felt like a lot of incoherent thoughts that continuously jumped from one thing to the next & left too many things open. As for Sage, while she was a fun character, she was doing absolutely nothing. She had no chance for growth, because I felt like she wasn’t ever challenged. Again, we see conflict set up that could have pushed her…but it just didn’t. She was simply living her life, tending to her animals, falling into lust & love, which is a dream, but doesn’t make for the most interesting read.

Bottom Line: this book/premise had so much potential but somethings about it just fell flat for me. I felt a lot of the filler/sub-plots pulled from the overall story & actually weakened the chemistry between Fisher & Sage. If you enjoy small town, forced proximity romances, I would still recommend this one…as I said I still enjoyed myself. However, I will say the tension & build up between some of the side characters had me absolutely SWOONING & I will be sitting here begging HARD for more books in Spunes.

What an absolutely incredible book by Tarah DeWitt I’m still recovering from this absolute gem of a story set in a small town called Spunes, Oregon.

Fisher is a Michelin-star chef in New York and is sent to Spunes on a mandatory hiatus from the restaurant after a slew of bad reviews and negative press. He’s sent to Spunes, Oregon to oversee the construction of a restaurant there and consult on their menu. Fisher moves with his niece, Indy, for the summer across next door to our leading lady, Sage.

Many small town hijinks ensue, Sage and Fisher continue to find each other in vulnerable situations. As they start to open up to one another they form a friendship that crosses over into friends with benefits and more that they can’t stop themselves from falling deeper for one another.

“I know we were supposed to accept the impermanence of this thing with you and me, and enjoy it in the meantime, but I just keep digging in, and now I’m drowning in you”

There are so many aspects to this book I loved, from the prose to the descriptions of Fisher’s food to all the rescue animals. I mean, mini donkeys?! The library in this town sounds like a fantasy and this book had me laughing, crying, and grinning like an idiot. I felt every range of emotion reading this and kept clutching my chest. It was just so dang good and a really lovely building of their relationship through a lot of different activities and conversations and situations. This was such a beautiful book and I look forward to listening to the audiobook.

“It’s been a privilege to fall in love with you”

4.5 stars. I absolutely adored this book! I love Sage and Fisher so so so much. This book not only had me feeling all the feels but it also had my giggling and kicking my feet. I will definitely be recommending this novel!!

Unfortunately, I found this book to be a bit too slow for my liking and I didn't feel the connection between the two main characters. I enjoyed the small town feel of the story - however, the amount of characters we were presented with made it difficult to keep up. The story felt a bit too descriptive at times.

An amazing read. As someone from "Yoos Bay," I loved the references to my area in this beautifully written, magical book. Sage and Fisher are pure magic.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC. I was not expecting to love this one as much as I did! It had so many of my favorite things: sweet characters, laugh out loud moments, a small town romance, and characters who actually communicate their feelings to each other! I could weep. This was my first by this author and I went right out and bought Funny Feelings before I had even finished if that gives any indication of how much I enjoyed this book.

Well she did it again, this book felt like a slow start to me, but once again I found myself totally wrapped up in Sage & Fisher.

I think at first the story just felt busy, I was confused with Sage but the more I read, the more I was drawn into her world and Fisher (and Indy!) grabbed at my heart instantly.

The chemistry between Fisher & Sage was so perfect too. I love a calm and quiet take charge kind of man. I highlighted half the book. 🫠 “No, Sage. I think you’d respond better to being very intentionally worked up,” he tells me. “Should I tell you how?”

I was given and ARC copy of this book and my opinions are my own.

Such a cute, feel good romance. Fisher had been lost and angry and gets sent to a small town by his former boss to help her and hopefully himself as well. Sage is the small town sweetheart that wants to help everyone and everything (enter her farm of misfit animals). I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the town and Sage and her brothers have an amazing relationship that was very heartwarming. This book has the feel of a Hallmark movie and the author even references this in the story. It is a nice romance and I really enjoyed Sage’s character in general and Fisher and his niece also had exponential growth that was very fulfilling. Overall it’s a wonderful story that kept me entertained.

I loved this! Super cute romance.
I loved the setting: small town PNW, small hobby farm. I loved the main characters: both flawed yet with big strengths and came together perfectly! (and a MMC that's a chef will ALWAYS grab my attention immediately)

Also-- THE COVER! THOSE COLORS. Beautiful!

Told in dual POV of the FMC, Sage and MMC, Fisher this was well-written and descriptive. I thought this was a quick read. I loved Sage's sass and I loved Fisher's grumpy side. This was funny and when they came together to work towards Sage's goal of winning the competition these two really began to feel like a team. I rooted for them so hard.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I absolutely loved this one! a perfect and sweet small-town romance, the banter was so good and punny but the character development for both Sage and Fisher as individuals but also together as friends/lovers was perfect!

Going into this book I was unfamiliar with the author and unsure what type of book I’d be getting and I absolutely loved it.

It was giving The Bear meets Firefly Lane meets your favorite Hallmark movie.

She spent enough time developing both main characters as well as the supporting characters without it ever feeling pointless. She tackled some heavier topics such as grief, anxiety and burn out but in a way that was digestible and made you fall in love.

Sage and all her animals gave such a light energy and often times had me giggling. Fisher sounds like a hunk of a man that I’d like in me life.

If you love a Grumpy/sunshine romance that has spice, quirky farm animals, moody chefs and nosey small town neighbors, this is the book for you!

I don’t typically think of small town romances when I think of favorite tropes, but I think this was the book that tipped the scales for me. Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington 😂) is my new favorite small town.

First, as someone who lived in Oregon for most of my 20s, I LOVED the references to actual towns in Oregon, with the names changed slightly. It was adorable.
Spunes was the sweetest small town. Everyone was a community, and you really felt it. I loved getting to know the characters and places through both MCs, we get to see it through the eyes of a local, and a newcomer.

The main characters were fantastic. Sage is the sweetest soul and I loved everything about her. Her animals, her adorable sunroom, her family.
Fisher is such an adorable somewhat grump and I loved getting to watch him come out of his shell and overcome his disdain for small towns to fall in love with Spunes, and Sage.
They both had realistic trauma that made them vulnerable and seeing them open up to each other and grow to depend on each other was so sweet. Their chemistry was also 🔥🔥🔥!

This was such a fun book, I absolutely loved it and am so excited for Ellis and Wren next!!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 5/21/24

Sage has lived in the small coastal town of Spunes, Oregon her entire life. Her world might be small, but she loves her life with all her animals and her friends. However, that world is feeling a bit smaller and more stifling when her ex gets engaged and everyone in town is looking at her with pitying eyes. She needs a win and she thinks the annual summer competition at the town festival would be the perfect opportunity if she could only find a partner. Fisher is new to town. He was a Michelin star chef in NYC until a scandal led him to be sent to Oregon to open a new restaurant. The townspeople of Spunes are not the most welcoming to Fisher, so he makes a deal with Sage. She will help improve his image in town and he will be her partner for the competition.

This book is full of steam, heart, and humor. All of the Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) got me every single time. The small town vibes (and many Hallmark jokes) made for the perfect romance backdrop, and add in the food descriptions and a friendly town competition, this book had so many fun aspects. Sage and Fisher only added to the charm of this book. Their chemistry was incredible and each of them had an incredible growth journey. I couldn’t help but root for them both together and in their individual lives.

I adored the audiobook narrated by Karissa Vacker and Zachary Webber. They did an incredible job bringing these character to life.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was absolute perfection and I would not change a single thing, Tarah DeWitt… the person that you are. I’m obsessed with your brain, I wanna live in it. The biggest forehead kisses for you. 🥹🥹🤎

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

By all accounts, I should have really loved this book. It had the makings of a 5 star read for me: a small town with its own quirky, fun personality, unique side characters with a lot of depth, and two main characters who you can't help but root for and fall in love with. For whatever reason though, this book just didn't work for me.

I think it may be a me thing though - I just struggled to get into it and didn't find myself excited to pick this up. I do think it will be favorite for so many people and a perfect summer read. This book has a lot of heart and the writing is great, so I hope my review doesn't deter anyone away from it, but this was just my experience!

Savor It is a sweet, spicy, funny and swoony romance that had me laughing, blushing and just overall giddy. I thought it was a really beautiful story, I loved how it started out and how it all played out. The setting was great and just made me feel all cozy with the small town setting.

The characters in this book are a treat. Fisher and Sage were so much fun, the banter between them was hilarious. The tension was palpable and the chemistry was off the charts. It was a true explosion when they came together, you could truly feel their connection. Also, they actually communicate their feelings and emotions, there is no miscommunication, that was a HUGE bonus for me !

I thought it was a very flowy read, it was cute, sweet, swoony, adorable and overall just a great love story. I hope this becomes a series so we can see more of the brothers.

✨️ Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress & @tarahdewitt for my gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 50%. I've been trying to read "Savor It" for a few months now but it wasn't working out. At first, it was a case of the wrong book at the wrong time but later also became a lack of connection with the story and waning interest in wanting to read it.

I don't dislike anything about "Savor It." However, as I was reading I felt mostly indifferent and bored at times because not much of interest was happening. It took a while for the story to really get going and picking up the pace, but by then it was too little too late.

There were a few things I liked about the story. Sage and Fisher had good banter between them and I can partially see how good they were together. I liked Sage's kindness and penchant for lacking a filter in certain conversations / situations. I also loved all the animals Sage takes care of. Fisher is a good guy who's doing his best to take care of his niece, Indy, who's still grieving the loss of her mother (Fisher's sister). I felt anger on Fisher's behalf learning about how and why he essentially got fired as head chef and cared enough about him to hope he regained his passion for cooking while he's temporarily in Spunes, Oregon.

"Savor It" has been widely and highly praised and therefore took that as a good sign on top of my initial interest in reading this book. The story as a whole is okay. Perhaps one day I'll finish it or skim read to see how everything turns out for Sage and Fisher. Unfortunately for now, it's a DNF for me.

Thanks again St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the e-arc to read in exchange for an honest review!