This book surprised me with how much I liked it, because it started a little slow for me. Once I got more into the story, I fell in love with the story of Fisher and Sage. The author did a great job of building their love and putting in a good amount of angst. This book had me crying big tears and then soothed my soul by the end. I recommend this book, especially if you like small town, close proximity, and let's make your ex jealous tropes.

God I loved this book. It was a little different than I was expecting going in (I thought it would be more of a romcom), but in the best possible way.

If you’re going to do a lot of internal emotional growth and grief processing, I don’t *need* a terrible amount of plot. Dewitt knew what she was doing when she plopped a grieving, burnt out chef and his teenage niece/ward in a little Oregon town and put them next door to a ray of sunshine that creeps into both of their hearts against their better judgement. Sage just gives Fisher room to feel however he feels and in turn, Fisher encourages Sage to stretch her wings a little bit.

I think these are two people that have worked themselves into boxes that aren’t where they want to be and they really needed each other to help them realize that the world is in their grasp and even if it’s not big giant decisions that they need to make, they can still reach for the little things that can make their lives happier and more fulfilling.

And as sweet and cozy as this small town romance is, there’s some heavy grief work being done here. Sage was orphaned pretty young and raised by older brothers. Fisher lost his big sister in a care accident three years prior and is now responsible for his teenage niece. So not only are they wildly attracted to each other, they’re able to connect over that painful feeling losing someone you love leaves all over you like an uncomfortable coat you can’t shake off.

And I love that Dewitt gave us the angst. Fisher js returning to NYC at the end of the summer because he has to put Indy first. And he does. It’s Indy that’s the final decision maker that decides that they’re happy ending is back in small town Oregon. Between all the dinners and canoe race training, all three of these lost little ducks begin to heal and find their place in a little family of their own. Loved.

Tarah, I’ll be sending you my bill for the Kleenex I went through in the last ten percent.

Loved this book. The connection between the two main characters was so well written, I was so upset at the end of the book I was crying. I have to read her other books now!!

✨B o o k • R e v i e w ✨

ARC || SAVOR IT by @authortarahdewitt

Release date: May 21, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

If you’re looking for the perfect summer small-town romance read, here it is! I’ve loved @authortarahdewitt previous books and this was no exception!

This one started out a little slow for me, but then sucked me right in! You can’t help but fall for the cast of characters that were both very charming and relatable. I loved the small-town Gilmore Girls vibes and the “sage” advice sprinkled throughout the book!

Read this if you like ⬇️:
•Dual POV
•Grumpy x sunshine
•Slow burn
•Funny banter
•NYC chef x small-town teacher
•A farm of castaway animals
•Gilmore Girls vibes
•PNW setting
•Single guardian
•Friends with benefits
•Just for the summer

My favorite book of Tarah’s is still The Co-Op, but I also really enjoyed Funny Feelings. Be sure to check them out if you haven’t already while waiting for the release of Savor It in May!

Thank you so much to @authortarahdewitt , @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

🏷️: #savorit #tarahdewitt #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookstagram #romancereads #bookworm #booknerd #booktrovert #bibliophile #bookrecs #netgalley #arcreview #igreads #goodreads #thecoop #funnyfeelings #booklover

I'm so sad I finished this book. It was such a feel good romance. And so perfect after watching the bear, yes chef.

-neighbors to lovers
-single "dad"
-loss of a close family member
-found family
-farm animals

Sage is a high school teacher trying to enjoy the summer and make the town hers again after her and the town "golden boy" break up. She is tired of the towns pity. In walks Fischer, an out of towner in for just the summer. Fischer and Sage both help each other grow and navigate this new stage of life

Thank you the NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

🤞🏼Ellis and Wren get the next book. Or even Indy and Sam 🤍🤍

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity

This one hit on grief and healing.. and that hit home for me. All though I didn't feel as warm and fuzzy about the whole book. Overall I did enjoy it and the characters...

3.5 STARS

Living in a small seaside town of Spunes, Oregon, Sage Byrd knows everyone is in her business as she is in theirs. Since her boyfriend of five years ditched Sage and got engaged to someone else, Sage needs to find some new self-esteem and show she is doing great. The town has only one major event, a festival with competitions, that everyone participates in and draws in their paltry share of tourism in August. Sage needs a partner to compete so when her new next door neighbor shows up, it looks as if they can help each other out using a fake relationship to meet their individual goals.

That neighbor, disgraced and disgruntled New York Michelin starred chef, Fisher Lange, needs a lot of help. Fisher got fired after a major meltdown at his job; the owners of the restaurant are giving him a second chance by letting Fisher help with the construction and menu of a new restaurant they are opening in Spunes. Not everyone is happy about that so Fisher is finding a lot of roadblocks which Sage can help with that as well as his surly, uncooperative teenage niece whose late mother made him guardian.

Sage’s rural home is a refuge for lost souls including a motley assortment of animals like the island of lost toys. Either unwanted or abandoned, Sage tends them all even the human variety such as Fisher and Indy, his niece. Fisher has lost his way in the pressure filled world as a top chef while Sage has some serious self-confidence problems, seeing her ex around town with his new love only makes them worse.

Fisher has a big learning curve when it comes to living and working under the sharp eyes of quirky small-town inhabitants. With Sage’s help, he and Indy begin to unwind and even flourish, and although Sage knows any kind of relationship with Fisher has an end by date, she takes the chance for something knew and life-changing. This women’s fiction romance tale has a mix of humor, conflicted relationships as well as family, and a fair amount of angst. Both Sage and Fisher have family issues, past and present as well as the fact that Fisher plans to leave at the end of the summer. This story will certainly take readers for an emotional ride; told in dual perspectives, it was sometimes hard to tell them apart as Sage and Fisher’s voices do not seem that distinct.

So if you scroll through the reviews on this one, it seems to either be a hit or miss with readers. Unfortunately this was a bit of a miss. Rootbound was actually a DNF for me, so I'm starting to wonder if this author is just not for me. I know others love her, and I think that's great! We all have our own tastes :)

Make no mistake, the writing is very soft and dream-like so I see the appeal there. And that cover? Gorgeous. But Savor It has a lot of plot points going on and many of these felt underdeveloped by the end. In that vein, something would get mentioned, like hoping to win the town competition, but then not come up again until several chapters later. In the end, I just needed more. More connection, tension. development, etc.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and SMP for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Tarah Dewitt can't write anything bad. Seriously, this book is perfect.

I'm in a personal dilemma and can't say which one is my favorite right now, this one or Funny Feelings.

Fischer and Sage are two amazing characters, and I loved how their story unfolded. I lost track of time while reading, and before I knew it, it was over.

Honestly anything Tarah writes is incredible and this is no different!

Fisher and Sage were the comfort couple I didn’t know I needed in my life. Sweet, comforting and so so so good. Honestly I’m already itching to reread because it’s THAT good. Literally anything Tarah writes is incredible but this one just checks every box 😍

9/10 ⭐️

When Fisher loses the Michelin star for the restaurant he works for, he is sent to the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. In Sprunes, he is to help plan open a restuarant in hopes of getting his "spark" back.

4 stars!

Sage was sooo endearing. I love when a character is quirky and always speaks her mind. I found Sage so refreshing and funny and really loved her story. I liked watching her learn to step out of the box that the town had created for her and doing things that she wanted.

Ms Tarah loves a tall man and guess what? So do I! I really felt like i saw Fisher coming back to life as he spent more time with Sage. I think Fisher may be my favourite man ever written by Tarah! This man had my jaw on the ground. Healing with his niece and learning how to communicate was also such a special aspect of the book I enjoyed immensely.

I loved watching both of these characters genuinely care for each other. Wanting to make each other feel better and just knowing they were on the same team. I love how we can watch two people find each other at the right moments in their lives and it just makes SENSE!

My past experiences with Tarah DeWitt hadn't been the best, but the premise of this was interesting so I thought I'd give it a try. Sadly, this one didn't land for me as well.

This book was incredible! It does such an amazing job at touching on the tougher subjects such as grief and healing while also keeping it fun and lighthearted. If you don't already have this book on your TBR, add it immediately - you won't be disappointed!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I felt like the story started slow and I never really connected with the main characters--probably because I didn't really understand what Sage wanted. She briefly mentions wanting to win the town competition in the first chapter, but doesn't mention it again until over 100 pages later, a third of the way into the book. During those 100 pages, Sage sort of drifts pleasantly in and out of Fisher's life, seemingly without any goals or agenda. There was so little tension and outside plot, I struggled to keep reading.

Eventually, the town competition does become more of a feature, although I still didn't connect with Sage's need to win it. I felt like the competition aspect needed to be much more prevalent from the beginning, or else pushed farther into the background. Instead, it was left in this weird middle ground where it sort of mattered but sort of didn't. That made it hard to care about the outcome. The same with Sage's inner wounds. They don't really show up on the page until she sort of tells Fisher in the last third of the book or so; we're never shown why she feels the way she does. The stakes stay very low throughout.

Honestly, I would normally have DNF'ed this book. The only reason I pushed through was because it was a Netgalley book. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the ending. The last few chapters sort of made up for the rest of the book. I actually teared up in a few spots and finally felt the chemistry between the characters and the stakes that had been missing all along.

Ultimately, the book wasn't right for me, but I think that people looking for a soft, low-tension romantic comedy that still has some spice might enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for a honest review :)

Truly a perfect small-town romance. Fisher & Sage are ENDGAME. God I love them so much. And the fact that her name is SAGE and he’s a chef?! Brilliant.

Yes, there was a third act breakup, but you saw it coming so it wasn’t a surprise.

I may have found my new comfort book

This is my first book by Tarah Dewitt and the EMOTIONS.

"𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 - 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 - 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞."

Sage is a small town girl that enjoys her simple life. Her little hobby farm, her garden, her students, and her friends and family. But she's no stranger to grief, and no stranger to the pitying looks of the other people in this small town because life didn't go her way. She's such an endearing and kind character and I instantly loved her.

When down on his luck chef Fisher comes to the town Spunes for the summer to stand up a restaurant and hopefully get his life on track, he doesn't expect to fall for his sweet and charming and quirky neighbor. He's raising his niece, and dealing with his own grief from the loss of his sister, and the grief of said niece, and trying to get back to a life he recognizes. Extra props for a man in THERAPY.

I loved that the town has it's own little personality. I loved the side characters, the best friend, the over protective brothers, the goose that falls in love with a girl from the city that doesn't want to fall in love with a small town.

Fisher and Sage live next door and he decides to help her win a town race, and she helps him get in with the locals so they'll accept the new restaurant.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 before Fisher leaves and goes back to NYC, and they can't hold back this attraction for each other so they enter into a summer only, friends with benefits situation.

Obviously, feelings get caught. And boy, do they ever ignite in the most beautiful and spicy and delicious and heart wrenching way.

Guys, this book is swoony and sweet but I was not prepared for my heart to be RIPPED OUT by the end. I was bawling. With no spoilers, let's just say there is a happy ending and it's hard won, but my heart may never recover. This is what a love story should feel like. And I absolutely loved it.

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫." 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬. "𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐬."

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I may never recover!

Pub Date for this book is May 21st.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was SUCH a breath of fresh air. I am not normally a huge fan of the small-town romance, but Dewitt managed to capture the beauty and comfort of a small town alongside the big dreams and major life changes of two absolutely lovable characters. The book dealt with real life stress with honesty and charm - while love helped salve the difficult times, the main characters themselves grew immensely (especially the MMC) in a way that made them more relatable. The romance itself was sweet, with lovey, enjoyable moments of spice. This makes me want to read the rest of Dewitt's books!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a sweet read! It had substance without being so heavy i had to take breaks.

GOING TO HAVE TO REREAD HER IN THE SUMMER ARE YOU KIDDDING!!!!???!?!??! It literally feels like you're in Oregon in their small town with Sage and Fisher. Also? Thank god for the not "normal" rom-com names, unique and made me want to read it. The connections 5/5, the small spicy amount 5/5. Thank you thank you for letting me read this early <333

Things I loved about the book were before the story even started. I loved that trigger warnings are given before the story starts (I’m not a fan of when they’re at the end like what’s the point of that??) And I loved the playlist at the beginning too (mostly because it features Bleachers).
At first I was happy I picked up this book. It’s my first by the author. It was cute, seemingly nicely paced and atmospheric. However, that happiness was lost within the first maybe 30% of the book. If I hadn’t received an ARC of this, I would have DNFed it. The pacing ended up being terrible. First 50% of the book for 2 weeks then 2 months pass within 20 pages?
Then I don’t know if it was just me but Sage’s and Fischer’s perspectives were so similar it was hard to remember who’s turn it was.
Sage’s character did not make sense. SO she is a social studies teacher but showed no interest in history outside of the town’s? Pretty sure the author made her a teacher to have an excuse for Sage being free 24/7.
Overall, the biggest thing that absolutely bothered me was the author trying to fit 5 different conflicts in one book yet none being fully developed. Between jealousy of the ex, the town trying to stop the construction of the restaurant, training for the canoe race, her migraine, the brother’s accident, and the character’s insecurities. All these conflicts and yet not even one was fully explained or developed. NOTHING made sense. This book needs a better editor or just an editor to begin with.

*I received a free ARC from Netgalley. In no way does this shape my opinion of the book.