This was a cute read. It has a small town vibe with a quirky main character who adopts oddball animals and loves making the most of life, despite how much she has endured.

Sage is a bit eccentric but extremely lovable. She has a collection of ‘punny’ robes and clothing as well as a farm full of ‘unwanted’ animals that she has taken in.

Fisher is a big shot NY chef that has messed up and lost his job. His sister died in a car accident and her teenage daughter is now in his care. Hoping to earn back his job, he finds himself spending the summer in a small town with Sage as his neighbour.

This was flirty, funny, heartwarming and inspiring. The characters are flawed but endearing and you really want them to get it all.

Cute small town romance between a disgraced big city chef and a small town girl. Small town romances aren't my favorite, and this didn't overcome my ambivalence towards them. The pacing wasn't great and I felt like it dragged at the same time the romance seemed to happen really fast. There were other characters that had really interesting back stories that I wish we had gotten resolution on (a future book?). This was just okay for me.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I love love love this book! Fisher and Sage complimented each other perfectly and I loved reading about them fall in love!!

I love books with fake dating (especially when it benefits both of them) but my favourite part is when they realize that it isn't fake anymore

This is the second book I've read by this author and I cannot wait to read whatever she publishes in the future!

4.5 star

This book follows Sage and Fisher. Sage is the small town woman who loves beating to her own drum. She is recently single after her ex of 5 years leaves her for an old friend. Fisher comes into a town with his teenage niece he is now a guardian of. Fisher has gone through his own recent tragedy along with losing his job.
I kept putting this book off for others and I'm kicking myself for doing it. I really did love it.
My only complaint is it took me a minute to get into it but it was like a snowball effect, it just kept getting better as it went. When it was all done I was sad it was over. I’m hoping there’s more books coming from the side characters.

This book is a slow burn. The spice is open door.
Takes places in Spunes, Oregon

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me an ARC copy of this book.

I rated this 4 stars, due to me struggling a bit in the beginning and the third act breakup, personally not a fan of those. Definitely worth a read! This is my first Tarah DeWitt book, and it did not disappoint.

What you can expect, small town romance, opposites attract, friends with benefits, summer romance, Dual POV, flirty and playful banter. Definitely a great summer read!

This book follows Sage and Fisher. Sage is a beautifully written character, the way she cares for those around her, her humor and personality. A very well rounded FMC. Fisher brooding man, struggling with his past and caring for his niece. We saw him grow throughout the book.

They are my kind of match. Because the real world isn't filled with perfect people, it is filled with REAL people and this couple felt real to me.

As a couple they were great, working well with each other and really SEEING each other. They communicated so well and open with the other, as a communicator myself I really loved that. I cackled through many of their bantering moment. Couples grow and I loved how these two grew together, finding peace in each other (so to speak).

This was a phenomenal book! Great job Tarah!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Tarah DeWitt for the opportunity to read and review the eARC of Savor It.

Before I start gushing on how much I absolutely adored this book, I want to say how much I appreciate the author including a list of warnings in the beginning of the book as well as the playlist suggestions. These two additions may go overlooked by many, but for some they make all the difference.

Tarah DeWitt is becoming one of those authors for me; you know, the kind that make you fall in love with a story both emotionally and physically? When I say physically, I mean I got actual butterflies and cried actual tears while I was on this journey with Sage, Fisher, and Indy.

Sage is an expert on grief. She's lived with it for a long time, and it shows. Her wisdom and approach to grief is so relatable; I admired the way she spoke about it to Fisher and how she used her experience with it to grow her relationship with Indy. It was refreshing. There are so many things I love about Sage, but I suppose what I love the most is that Tarah describes her inner turmoil and triggers in such a way that just makes you really empathetic to what she's going through. Even if I didn't feel the exact same way about a lot of things (thank you, past men in my life) I would have an idea of how it feels based on this incredible writing.

Fisher - yeesh. This man. Speaking of refreshing, how amazing was it to read about a man who starts seeing a therapist after realizing what a complete ass he's been and actually puts in the work to better himself? And does!? He's an imperfect guy who learns from his mistakes and wants to be better for himself, but also for the women in his life because they mean everything to him.

I can't say enough about how amazing this book is - please do yourself a favor and check it out. There's banter, there's hot peppers, there's tropes everywhere! On a final note, I implore the author to at least make this a duology because I was left wanting with Wren and Ellis. I can't help thinking their story is not finished (and I would not hesitate to take another journey to Spunes)!

I kind of put this at 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 here. I'm grateful to have had an opportunity to read this book (thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher) but it definitely just wasn't for me. It wasn't *terrible* but it wasn't good. The pacing was totally off (this book was WAY longer than it needed to be), there was a lot of telling instead of showing, the chemistry was totally nonexistent. I basically forced myself to finish it. The epilogue was cute but honestly that and the relationship between Fisher and Indy was the best part. I also could not get a read on anyone's physical appearance throughout the whole book, which was just irritating. There were too many characters to follow, and I kept feeling like there were whole other books about Sage's brothers that would have had added backstory to this one?? Maybe Dewitt plans to do that but unfortunately this one did not hit for me.

3.75 stars
while I initially was really enjoying this, I felt like the ending got drawn out a little bit and it lost me a little. Nonetheless Fisher and Sage’s love story was super sweet. we get neighbours, he’s a chef, she’s a teacher with a menagerie of animals. there’s such real and raw emotion throughout the book that makes it so relatable. I really enjoyed how the two of them complimented one another and the story overall was beautifully written!
Thank you so much NetGalley, and Tarah Dewitt for an arc of this book! Get your copy on May 21, 2024

A small town romance with a big dose of grief relating to parental/sister loss. Parts of it were really good and parts of it felt like a typical small town romance where everyone is in your business and has an opinion on it. It was enjoyable enough but I don't know if this is the first in a series but if it is, I do hope there's a second chance romance in the offing between Sage's brother and her best friend who happens to be his ex-wife. Now, that's a story I'd be very interested in.

What to expect:
- small town romance
- Neighbors
- Fake dating
- Summer fling
- Opposites attract


This was a heartwarming story about life in a small time. And that while life may small, that doesn’t make it any less profound or important. All in all a sweet romance.

The writing was good and editing was great. The book did feel a little low stakes and slow at times but the ending was perfect for this story.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

If I could give this more stars I absolutely would. Wow. This is one of the best romance books I’ve read in so long! The ending had me sobbing and in all my feels.
I loved how well the characters communicated. They felt so real. The side characters had small roles but still somehow added so much to the story. I loved it. I loved it.
The writing style is so good and well done. The “third act breakup” felt impactful and didn’t cheapen the story at all which I loved.
Loved this read.

book review: savor it by tarah dewitt
rating: 3.75

tarah dewitt is FUNNY. this book is low-key one giant pun and im kind of… obsessed with it?

i went in totally blind but i’ll give y’all a little preview of what’s going: welcome to spunes, oregon, not be confused with forks, washington (get it?? ah, utensil humor). spunes might as well be stars hollow. it’s the hallmark perfect small-town and Sage is Spunes’ golden girl. she lives on a farm with a bunch of rescue animals. a farm that shares a meadow with a home that an outside is renting for the summer. the outsider? fisher lange aka former new york chef extraordinaire who’s been sent to spunes to consult on a new restaurant. one funny coincidence after another leads to fisher and sage partnering up for the annual Spunes town competition and maybe kissing in the library (shhhh)

swipe for the vibe that is fisher lange. in new york, his life was “the bear,” and in spunes his life is more “gilmore girls.” this man is the epitome of “this is me trying” by taylor swift. he tries so hard to be the best version of himself for everyone all the time and damn if that isn’t the most charming thing ever. he’s also the legal guardian of his niece in this book so we get the single parent trope, if you loved dewitt’s other book, funny feelings, then you’re gonna eat this up because i think fisher is even better. plus he has earrings??? idk about you but yum. speaking of yum, man has a michelin star and literally crosses the meadow at midnight to bring his girl midnight snacks. MIDNIGHT SNACKS FROM A MICHELIN STAR CHEF. how could sage not fall for him? and fall she does, but he falls first and he falls harder.

sage is a ray of sunshine. in the best way. i love how she gets wicked offended when fisher calls her too nice and stands her ground that being nice doesnt mean people can walk all over her and she’s tired of being everyone’s doormat just because they have her pegged as the bright, nice girl who’d never say a word back. go off girl. the girl next door is not a caricature — she’s a real girl with dreams and a life and feelings!! what a refreshing take on this character. i loved her. i loved that she gives “sage” advice. i love that she’s always dishing out the best puns. i love her!

the only qualm i have with this book is that the whole town competition thing that “brings them together,” really was not the thing that brings them together at all and was oddly kind of pushed off to the side and low-key forgotten about. that’s literally all. what a cute romp.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

While I would follow this author to ends of the earth I need you to hear me when I say this book is so good. It's a small town summer fling that gives you the perfect satisfied ending. When Indy lost it because she found out geese mate for life?! I was already crying along with her and that made me moronically laugh through my tears. The side characters are as much as part of the story as the main characters because that's just how small towns function. There is spice but it's not lude, there's no other way to describe then just saying it's beautiful in the way it was written. I love how chaotic yet sincere the fmc Saige is. I truly had such a fun time with this book and I can not wait to recommend anyone to this book. If you didn't know this author also wrote funny feeling and that is in my top 5 so go check it out!

4.25 stars

The connection and sweetness just flows between these two, and who doesn't love a good Twilight or Lifetime Movie pun! Indy was a great addition to Fisher's story. It did seem a little repetitive in the middle so it lost me a tad bit there but it brings it all back around fairly quickly and I wanted to keep reading as fast as I could. Don't let the cover fool you there is definitely a bit of spice.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Tarah Dewitt and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up DNFing this rather quickly into the book as it was pretty boring. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨ARC Review ✨

Thanks to Tarah Dewitt, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Savor It in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on May 21st and I cannot wait for people to read it! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

cute cute CUTE! This was such a feel good, small town romance that can be read in one sitting. I, however, did not finish it in one day, but I could have! (that’s all that matters).

Sage Byrd, born and raised in Spunes, Oregon, has always loved her small town. Raised by her 3 older brothers after her parents died, Sage didn’t ever feel lonely, even when she was alone. Fisher Lange is a Michelin star chef, recently fired for an outburst, and now taking care of his 15 year old niece, Indy, after her mom dies suddenly. Fisher ends up in Spunes to work on a new restaurant, and happens to be staying at the house right next door to Sage. The two quickly bond over Sage’s many strange animals and training for the annual canoe competition. I loved the vulnerability that Sage and Fisher had with each other, and I felt they were never afraid to say what they were really feeling (which is something that bothers me with other romance books). Fisher is a mental health king and even consults his THERAPIST when he’s at a fork in the road- stay in Spunes and live the small town life, or go back to New York to continue his career as an accomplished chef.

Tarah DeWitt can do no wrong. This book was (excuse the joke) utterly delicious. The warmth this book exudes was so nice and I loved the slow development and love throughout the book

I wanted to love this one, but I just didn’t. I really liked both main characters, but I felt like they were lacking chemistry. I wanted more dialogue and interactions between them. More tension and angst. It felt like we learned most about each character through their own inner dialogue vs interactions. There was a lot of filler that I didn’t care about, and the ending had a lot crammed into it, which made the pacing feel off.

This book is such a perfect soft, summer read. The author’s character work reminds me a little of Kate Clayborn in that there’s such attention to small, emotional details that make you feel connected to the people on the page. I do wish we could have had that same attention paid to our main characters’ other relationships. I wanted to hear and feel a little more about these close ties in a small town rather than just scratching the surface, but that would have taken too much time away from Sage and Fisher’s story. This book is a soft blend of humor, romance, and emotional angst, which is just what I love in a romance novel.. It’s the perfect read for a summer evening on your porch swing, or in a nod to Sage, maybe a great book to curl up with in your sun room.

Thanks to NetGalley and St, Martin’s Press for letting me get a jump start on what will likely be one of my favorite books of the summer with this ARC. I look forward to reading more of DeWitt’s work.