This book just wasn't for me. I was hooked on the concept of synesthesia and magical realism, with a promise of a quirky romance and exploring cultural differences and cooking traditions. Instead I got an oddly paced sorta-romance where the "hero" is just plain creepy. He made up his mind initially that despite knowing nothing about the heroine that he wanted to be with her and started treating her differently and "knowing" she'd eventually "be his." I don't normally write in quotations but that just speaks to how much side-eye I'm giving this guy. There were also a ton of recipes, which if you're looking for those is rad, but if you're struggling to find the thread and connect with the characters like I was it was very jarring to suddenly be faced with a recipe or two before you could get to the next chapter. As much as this book fizzled for me, I am interested in reading more from this author in the future. And hopefully the recipes can be included in an appendix after the story instead of breaking it up in a way that might put some readers off.

I liked wanted to like this more than I did. I guess I did like it, bit it left me a little wanting. It isn't perfect, but I liked the setting of the restaurant world in NYC and the conceit of a chef who can taste/feel the emotions of whomever cooked the food she's eating. I just wish both were much more present in this story. Same goes for the dual protaginists--it wasn't quite there for me. Lumi and Julien had about equal FP narration, but I found Lumi more fully fleshed out and relatable than Julien. He's basically a rich genius hardass chef who is secretly nice? ¯\(°_o)/¯.

I received a free E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of this book. It was a fresh and unique concept.The story line was well developed and fully flushed out. I liked the characters of the book as well as the passion they both had for their profession. What set this book apart was the inclusion of the recipes throughout the chapters of the different dishes made in the story. The author used great detailed descriptions of the tastes and flavors of the spices and foods. This really made me hungry throughout the book. I found the ending of the book to be a little rushed and clique as often found with romance tropes, but was content with the way the author wrapped up the story line. Lumi was a great female character, who was strong and complex. I found her struggle with commitment to be believable but frustrating! Julien made me laugh with his domineering personality in the kitchen. I found his feelings for Lumi to be heartfelt and sincere. Their chemistry felt a little one sided leaning more towards Julien having deeper feelings for Lumi than Lumi had for him. All in all, this was a very quick and enjoyable read for me. I would have liked to see a little more drawn out angst between the characters especially coming from Lumi toward Julien. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook or loves a good comfy weekend romance. I will be looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

A Taste of Sage is a romance centered around food and cooking and its hero and heroine, Julien and Lumi, are chefs. After she is forced to close her restaurant, Lumi is hired to be Julien's sous chef at his French restaurant. For a long stretch in the story, the love element seems to be one-sided with Julien secretly crushing on Lumi. But after some quick pacing within the story, Lumi soon finds her feelings for Julien amid her complex emotional history. There is some potential for more story development in the book as well as the opportunity to further explore the origin of Lumi's ability to read someone's feelings through the food that they make. Also, at times, the romance between the two characters seems very forced. Julien is not a likable hero nor is his character well developed. Overall, this story was just ok.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting going into this book. I was thinking rival chefs turned lovers after having to work together and I suppose I got a version of that... but an unfortunately lack luster one. I didn't really enjoy the writing style I found it overly descriptive and first draft-y. Also the way time passed made it difficult to follow and sort of glossed over time where the characters could have really been getting to know each other. Or rather we could have been shown that . I found no clear distinction between POVs and character voices. Lumi and Julien just fell flat for me. There is supposed to be all of this "fire" and "passion" between them but I never really felt it. They were given some quirks but we never get a look into why they do certain things that would, once again, give them a bit of depth. And then when the "conflict" arises, Lumi's reaction seems to come all the way from left field and they never really talk about it or why she reacts to certain things the way that she does. This book had a lot of potential but it just didn't do it for me.