I really enjoyed Savor It by Tarah DeWitt. This story is a Dual POV following Sage and Fisher who decide that their pull to one another is too strong and despite knowing that there will be an end date, they should just enjoy one another in the "now" and deal with the consequences later.

The one thing that felt off (which is why this book didn't achieve five stars for me) was the pacing of the storylines. It felt like there was a lot of build up to this end of summer festival that essentially was overshadowed by a major family emergency, but even that was brushed over. There was a lot of focus on the little things, but the big stories that were built towards just fell off the radar.
This partially works because a big focus on the book is about finding joy in the little moments, but I felt more attention could have been paid to these storylines.

Overall, I really did love this story and the characters. The farm animals were all adorable and I really hope we get a second book in this universe (maybe following Ellis and Wren????? One can only hope!)

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So super cute!! Tarah DeWitt is a great writer and makes you very invested in not only the plot but also the love story and the connection between the two series! I am so excited to see what else she writes in the future!

Sage is a person who believes in finding joy in the small things in life. Fisher, a Michelin star
chef moves into town with his niece to oversee the construction of a new restaurant.With Sage's
help, he learns to navigate life in a close knit community and rediscover his love of cooking. With
Fisher's help, Sage will discover her own strengths.
Perfect beach read.
#SavorIt #NetGalley

2.5 Stars

no one is more sad that I didn’t love this one as much as me. It’s my first book by this author and after hearing all the hype around her previous works, I was so excited for Savor It! The premise of small town girl, big city chef, forced proximity, and the possibility of romance! I was ready to go!

It started so strong and I was pumped! The banter! The internal conflicts! The forced proximity. It was great! Then it felt like it was dragging for me. I wish there was like a better explanation of time? I was so confused?? They had 9 weeks but there was no real definition of time. It’s like 2 weeks then 2 months later? And why so many conflicts??? Jealousy over the ex boyfriend getting married. Her migraine? His overcoming his issues with his job? The brothers fire accident? The festival (which was suppose to be the main thing that got pushed so far out of the book I forgot it even was still happening)The break up?! It was just so much!!

I loved their chemistry! The first kiss! The crush developing! It was so good I was swooning but then it just sizzled out for me. I wasn’t like omg this is amazing! It felt like forced?

There was also so many side characters to keep track of. And different animals all with their own names and personalities. It was just overwhelming. I understand that is a small town and that the town is important to Sage, but the town itself became more of a focus point when we has the restaurant construction happening, and the festival prep on top. But the festival storyline kind of dropped off the planet after the first kiss between Sage and Fisher.

I hope to read her other works and feel that love that everyone else did for this author but this one was not it for me.

Loved it, full stop. Opposites attract when a small-town farmer meets urban chef, and they progress from friendship to friends with benefits to love. It was funny and romantic and engrossing. And yes, I did get teary near the end.

I hope this is the start of a series. I would happily revisit this small town (and catch up with Sage and Fisher along the way).

Highly recommend!

This is an entertaining read. Fisher and Sage are strong, relatable, interesting, complex, intriguing, entertaining characters. I enjoyed them as individuals and a couple. The path to their HEA, is not an easy one for them but fun to read. Indy and the animals add both levity at times as well as add to the angst of the story. The secondary characters – including the town itself – added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. This story has poignant moments involving loss/grief that are very touching and real. I love the growth of both the main characters throughout the course of the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book gave me all the feels - it was fantastic, and I have no notes. I loved Sage, I loved her animals, I loved the small town aspect, I loved the food. I loved the relationship between Sage and Fisher - the chemistry between the two of them was intense. I highly recommend this book.

First of all I loved Funny Feelings like ALOT!!!! So going into this book I had high hopes. Sadly I was a bit disappointed with this one. The premise and take away was really good. “You don’t have to have this big huge life that changes the world for it to be a good life” I really loved the main characters Sage and Fischer. They had really great chemistry right off the bat but then it kind of sizzled. I wanted to know more about Wren and Ellies relationship. I feel like they definitely need a spin off. I felt like the over all flow was kind of off especially with the timeline. There were a lot of animals with different personalities to keep track of and towns people introduced briefly. It got a little too much for me.

Thank you to st Martin’s press and netgalley for an arc.

I only read 50% of this book. I am so upset that I didn’t love this one because I loved 2 of her other books! I am honestly surprised this one was written by Tarah. The writing was so different from her other books. I immediately had a hard time getting into the first couple chapters. The dialogue was very confusing and I found myself having to reread paragraphs at a time to figure out what was happening. As the story progressed to the halfway point I felt like the pacing was all over the place and completely jumped around. I had a hard time following the plot. The plot wasn’t engaging and nothing really happened by the halfway point. I’m glad this one is getting good reviews, but for me the writing was lacking this time.

This was a cute small-town romance that I think most people would really love. I think the pacing was off sometimes and it was a bit of telling and not showing, but overall I thought it was very charming. I also think some of the side characters could have used a little more development too. I feel like Wren and Ellis were developed and then they were not fully followed through. Maybe the second book in this series will be a second chance romance between them? I also loved the hobby farm aspect.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martins Press and the author for the ARC.
Savor It is small town romance at its finest!! First off, to my Abby Jimenez friends, add this to your list. Like Abby’s rom-coms, you get a sweet + spicy romance that is balanced out with heavier topics, such as, grief and loss. Savor It is about savoring the good even when life throws curveballs and challenges, and even if that good is only temporary. The mental health rep gets an A+ 👏🏻 but -1⭐️ because it felt a little too close to another book I read recently - from the summer romance/fling, to finding your people, down to even the unexpected guardian trope. Overall, really enjoyed this and it’s a quick read that delivers everything you could want in a romance.

Meh. I really just did not care for this book. I have never read any of her other books in the past, but with the high ratings already out for this one I went in really hoping to have discovered a new author to love. I'm clearly an outlier at this point, so take my review/opinion for what it is worth, but I was so bored and ready to move on from this book while reading it. I feel guilty giving less than 3 stars, but I just can't justify it based on my experience. It's 2.5 at best, but I am rounding down for the sake of Goodreads.

If you like cute Hallmark movies in a book, you may enjoy this. It is essentially a Hallmark movie in book format. Chef from the big city of NYC comes to start up a new restaurant in a small town meets the girl next door and falls in love and there is nothing wrong with that! However, that alone wasn't what I had issues with while reading. I felt no chemistry between the two characters. I actually enjoyed both of them, but it felt superficial and surface level the entire time. I felt we skimmed through alot and it lacked details where I would have wanted them.

Also, there was a lot of telling versus showing the reader and events/ scenes were covered after they take place in the characters' head in a very rushed way versus the reader being able to watch it take place in real time. That frustated me. Almost like I was reading someone's diary about their day if that makes sense.

And another issue I had was I felt like I was reading a book about nothing. Oh, there were things happening, but because we just barely skimmed over them it felt like reading a highlight reel. I don't want to be bogged down with information, but I'd like to appreciate what is going on just a little bit.

The amount of times the author worked the title into this book was also overbearing. I love when the authors work the title into their stories, but this was excessive. Also, after the first time the MMC makes the joke of taking "sage advice" (the FMC name is Sage) it stopped being funny and just made me roll my eyes.

All in all, this book was clearly not meant for me, but I think if you have read her books in the past and enjoyed them, you will enjoy this one as well. It is a highly praised book, unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. And that's okay!

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

This is my favorite by Tarah yet! The small seaside town, the character development, the banter, the steamy slow-burn. I loved every minute of it and found myself underlining so many parts. Easy 5 stars!

Wow.

In the beginning I thought I would be getting fake dating, small town drama with a splash of teenage angst. And while that wasn’t completely wrong, all of that was certainly the backdrop of beautiful love story.

So much respect, honesty, growth, vulnerability and love.

Truly a privilege to watch them fall in love. Can’t wait to add a physical copy to my “trophy shelf”

**This book will be published on 05/21/2024!**
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

Throughout this story, we follow Fisher and Sage. Sage is a small town girl, living in her childhood home in her hometown of Spunes. She has a “farm,” if you will, of random animals she has taken in and a garden. Fischer is a Michelin star chef in NY, who actually lost a star and his job after some unfortunate events. He is sent to Spunes to monitor and help with the building and designing of a new restaurant of his past employer, with the agreement that he will return to his old job once it’s done. Fisher also has custody of his niece, Indy. Once they become temporary neighbors and friends with Sage, things start to change after feelings get involved. Will the impact of another stuffy, small town & feelings make Fisher and Indy want to stay or will they stick to the plan and move back to NY

This was a cute story that definitely brought out some emotion (I’m a sucker for love- who doesn’t love, love?!). BUT some of the writing was troubling to me. There were time breaks in between short amounts of time, like minutes. To me, that isn’t how breaks should be used, but I guess I could see why she did it. Also, I’m glad I read this book on my kindle because there were SEVERAL words I had to look up. This took away from parts of the story because I had to reread and then wonder why that word was used instead of a different word. This was also a slow burn, and it didn’t catch me into it as much as I wanted, so it did take me longer than normal to read. If you enjoy slow burns and stories with lots of love though, you might enjoy this one! Just have a thesaurus on hand!

I really enjoyed this sweet romance set in Oregon, a place that is personally dear to me. Fisher and Sage are well-developed characters who have been through so much. I felt like the author did a great job of balancing the heavy things that they went through with the light and the heat of their romance.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review Savor It before publication.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a sweet read with some deep moments/conversations that really stood out to me. This was my first book by this author.

Love love this book so much. The romance, the storyline, the found family, and the animals!!! I love Fisher so much and Sage. Everything about this was perfect.

Maybe I am so attached to small town romance novels because I am from a small town- either way this one was perfection. In this moment riding off of the high of finishing the novel, I am struggling to find words to describe how this book made me feel.

Upon being forcibly removed from his job as a head chef at a prestigious restaurant- Fisher with his niece Indy in tow is banished to the small town of Spunes. Given a chance to redeem himself, Fisher is tasked with creating a menu for a new restaurant opening there- albeit it proved harder than originally anticipated when some of the towns busy bodies are actively working against the restaurants opening. With the help of his floral-loving temporary neighbour Sage, he seeks to win over the town and move forward with his project.

Sage is Spunes' sweetheart, unfortunately after the demise of her five year relationship with the towns golden boy and his subsequent engagement to an all childhood friend, she's getting a lot of pitying looks flung her way- and she's over it. When Fisher shows up next door, in desperate need of a friend and maybe some serious SAGE advice, they come up with a plan to both warm up the town to the new restaurant and compete in the yearly festival.
This book was like the equivalent to golden hour in a field of wild flowers. It gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling when reading it and I LOVED Sage. Her outlook on life is so beautiful and her selflessness and willingness to help others was so adorable. Her family dynamic was also interesting (having three brothers! oh my).

Following along as Sage and Fisher fall in love and face their own insecurities was so therapeutic. Sometimes when I read these kinds of stories they're hard to get lost in because the characters don't always feel like they are real people. But Sage and Fisher could walk by my house and I wouldn't be surprised in the least.
This was my first novel by Tarah Dewitt, but it is certainly not my last.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of Savor It. Pub date: 5/21/24

Solid 4 ⭐️s! I love Tarah Dewitt’s characters & story-telling, with Funny Feelings being in my top 3 RomComs of all time. I appreciate how she handled the topics of loss, grief, & identity in Savor It. I think Sage is a veritable treasure trove FMC & Fisher is easily a top contender for an ideal book boyfriend (weekly therapy appointments? *swoon*). I do wish we had gotten a bit more of the quirky small-town vibes & side characters/dialogue (à la Stars Hollow), but I enjoyed the setting & fictional history of Spunes, puns galore, & some mouth-watering descriptions of Fisher’s food.