A Taste of Sage follows Lumi, a 30 something year old chef who has to close down her restaurant due to low clientele. She lands a job working for a 3 star restaurant as the sous chef for Julien Dax. Lumi and Julien had a disastrous run in before Lumi unknowingly applies to work in his restaurant. They start to interact on the daily basis but Lumi has a secret. Since she was a little girl, she can taste what the person is feeling when she tries their food. One day, Lumi tastes Julien's dish and things get complicated.

I am so sad that I ended up not really liking this book. The beginning was great but somewhere in the middle, it lost me and the end made me sad. I love that Lumi is Dominican and it shows. I went full feral when the story kept mentioning her curls because same. I love the emphasis on food and how it brings people together because food is such a big part of Latinx culture. There was sprinkling of Spanish words that did not make me angry since it is how many US based Latinx individuals (including myself) speak. It didn't feel forced or weird. I cracked up when it was revealed that Lumi is short for Iluminada (Illuminated in English) and if that's not peak Latinx, I don't know what is.

My main issue with the book is the relationship between Lumi and Julien. I am not opposed to instalove (love at first sight by any other name would smell as sweet) so that wasn't an issue for me, it was the rest. Lumi and Julien start as rivals, enemies, adversaries, whatever but Lumi quickly starts to work under Julien. I knew this was coming so it didn't bother me as much. Julien does have a POV in the book and they felt weird since imo it doesn't add anything to the story aside from Julien not really being the jerk everyone thinks he is. IDK maybe just don't be a jerk?? Lumi and Julien have very limited interactions until Julien makes the first move and this is only after they both act as complete weirdos (only looking at each other from a distance). The romance between the two wasn't there for me and it felt forced. It really started to bother me when Lumi suffers an accident and Julien takes care of her. The injury forces Lumi to wear bandages over her mouth meaning that she cannot speak up anymore. It effectively forces Lumi to give up her voice and that didn't sit well with me. Julien taking care of Lumi is supposed but there was one part when (view spoiler). Absolutely gross and no thank you. Then Julien starts to force his way to Lumi's life after she told him that it was over.

The end has this ongoing issue with the relationship status between Lumi and Julien. It felt very juvenile when these two are supposed to be in their 30's. Just TALK for the love of everything good. I wish that the book had focused a little more on Lumi's synesthesia and not just as a plot twist since it's pretty cool.

Shout out to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020. I loved it! I finished it in just a few short hours. The writing is enticing and the romance is perfect. The only thing that kept it from being a 5 star for me was that the pacing felt a bit too fast. The relationship was quick to start, but other than that I really have no complaints! It was an intriguing and fun read! I am a sucker for books with different mediums and the added recipes definitely elevated the story! Overall...fantastic read! One of the best of the year I am sure.

I've been meaning to read a romance recently since I haven't picked up one lately. A Taste of Sage filled that void in a lot of ways but there were a couple problems that I had while reading.

Let's start with what I liked. I did enjoy the main characters,  Lumi and Julien. They each have their own point-of-view and I enjoyed reading both perspectives. Lumi is very headstrong and Julien is a grump in the kitchen but a soft teddy when he isn't at work. They do a bit of bickering and honestly, I was here for it. Sometimes you just fall in love with the person you least expect.

I also liked how the author included recipes after chapters. It really adds to foodie atmosphere she created. They also played off the the main characters and what they were actually serving.

My biggest complaint about this book was how quickly it was for Julien to feel something for her. He didn't want to settle down with his last girlfriend but was quickly infatuated by Lumi? It was hard to buy. People can change when they meet the right person but the timeline was just off for my personal taste.

Overall, this was a good read. The cover is great and I think it matched quite nicely with the premise. If you love food or relationships that don't start off on the right foot, this would be for you!

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately the writing was really quite horrible. I felt it was really immature prose, and there was a lot of telling, not showing. DNF at 20% with a lot of sorrow because it was not even close to the latinx foodie book I dreamed of.

DNF

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for providing a free copy for me to review.

I made it about 8 chapters in before giving up on this one. The premise was so promising, but the execution fell short. The food descriptions = lovely. The endless descriptions of characters' hair color and height, etc? Tiresome. The chemistry between the two protagonists didn't sizzle on the page early enough for me to continue reading. The dialogue didn't hook me, either. This should have gone straight to script for Hallmark or Netflix and would make for a cute screenplay, and perhaps other readers will enjoy it as a light, summer read.

I really enjoyed this romance book featuring a bit of magic and a lot of cooking.

The book tells the story of Lumi, who has the magical power of tasting the emotions of a chef, and is a chef and restaurant owner herself.

When her restaurant closes, she is forced to work for Julien Dax, and things heat up in the kitchen.

While I really enjoyed Lumi, this book focuses too much on her being a damsel in distress and Julien is kind of a knight character. I would have much more enjoyed seeing Lumi pick herself up and succeed.

Overall, this book was a lot of fun, and I look forward to more books from this author.

I absolutely adored this book! I loved watching the relationship between Lumi and Julien change over the course of the book. There were some particularly well-written poignant scenes (aloe vera) that really had the me welling up with tears.

There was a bit of magic involved - but not overdone and so sweet. I loved the supporting characters and the recipes throughout were just a darling addition.

Well done.

Thank you for my ARC for this book! I usually really love HarperCollins Romance novels but this one was good but it wasn’t my favorite. I liked it but didn’t love it. I thought I would enjoy it more because I love the cooking dynamic of the story but it just fell a little short for me. But still was enjoyable to read

I enjoyed reading this. The synesthesia thing seems underdeveloped, given its importance to the plot. The antagonist’s motives and the story resolution were over the top and too convenient, respectively. Nothing came of the rivalry between the chef the male lead in this book punched. Aside from that, the romance was sweet and Lumi’s tenacity and ambitious were refreshing.

Lumi's beginnings in this book just broke my heart, but then Julian started putting it back together again! This book was unique, smart, romantic, and sexy too! I loved the recipes mixed in with the story, but I especially loved how these two were just what each other needed! I can't wait to read more from this author!

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.