3.5/5.

A charming debut strengthened by the vivid prose about the scenery and the food, (Thank you for the brilliant idea of including the recipes in each chapter!). While the romantic arc could have been stronger by having more scenes of Lumi and Julien bonding in their mutual pining of each other - the part with the escape lobster is easily the best - their attraction to each other is undeniable.

An ARC has been provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

2.5
I wanted to love this....and I did for the first 40%. A lot of good food descriptions, fun setting, strong MC (Lumi),.....and even though Julien was an a-hole, there was promise for his character development. A lot of hate-to-loves kind typical portray one of the MCs as arrogant anyway. I thought the romance part was building at a nice pace.
However, after around the 40% mark, it felt like I was reading a completely different story. Not only did the story seem to change, the characters did? I don't have an issue with instalove but it was not executed in a way that was believable. Not to mention their personalities did a total 180 overnight. Their relationship seemed so forced..their chemistry in the beginning was great then it just started seeming shallow.
From the synopsis, you gather Lumi has a"gift" ...this doesn't even really come up until 70% of the way in? I feel like that whole aspect of the story could've been omitted and the focus should've just been consistent with the beginning.
Also, we are introduced to several supporting characters...but we hardly saw them in the end! Kitchen staff, Lumi's family/friend, Julien's dad/friend, the secretary....basically in there for 5% of the story...I didn't think there was a chance to really get to know any of them.

Anyway, the beginning would've been a 5 star for me, but the way it came together didn't do it for me.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I’ve just hit a bad run, guys. I can’t seem to pick the right galleys lately. A Taste of Sage was truly disappointing with very few redeeming qualities.

Chef Lumi’s restaurant Caraluna goes under and she is forced to take a job with chef Julien Dax at his French-style restaurant. She dislikes Julien, for his harsh words and for running a tight ship. And because of this, she refuses to taste his food: Lumi has a special gift making her capable of knowing someone’s feelings when they cooked the food she eats. Resentment and tiredness can ruin a dish, just as happiness and love can improve one. Unable to resist, she tries one of Dax’s meals once…and it’s a taste she just can’t get out of her mouth.

I can’t emphasize enough that this whimsical twist was the only redeeming part of this story. I got absolutely lost in Santos’ writing style: her description of food, of cooking is absolutely beautiful and incredibly fun to read. I think there’s a lot of potential to create something great from that talent alone.

HOWEVER, everything else was just bad. The romance? Unbelievable. The characters? Flat. The story line? Rushed and hard to follow. I felt like I was sprinting through this book just by reading it at a normal pace. I couldn’t keep up with unbelievable turns in their “relationship”. And truly, Julien and Lumi’s romance felt like an afterthought compared to the food. Honestly, I’m also just here for the food at this point.

Character development was seriously lacking. I could feel what Santos’ intended for the characters, and I truly did want to like them, but their lack of well-rounded-ness absolutely ruined this book. Trashed it. It wasn’t heartfelt or anything I felt myself consumed by. I didn’t even know these people, you know? You can’t just give a character like two quirks and call it character development. Just no.

Pass on this one, friends. No need to bother. Hopefully the remaining stack of galleys I’ve got left turns out a bit better!

Lumi is a proud chef who sadly had to close the doors of her restaurant when business got too slow. She ends up being hired as a sous chef for Julien Dax, owner of a renowned French restaurant. Their first encounter was a nightmare, and now Lumi has no idea how she will survive working for Julien. As Lumi and Julien spend more time with each other in the kitchen, they may just learn that these enemies can develop a new type of relationship.

**Spoilers**

I'm sorry to say I DNF this book at 50%. The premise was intriguing, and I was excited for a contemporary romance that featured a Dominican protagonist. Unfortunately, I couldn't get myself hooked onto this book. The passages felt really disjointed and the backstory was lacking. Julien is arrogant and mean. Lumi has a kind heart and ends up working in his kitchen. Suddenly the two go from enemies to lovers with almost zero character development. The chapters are primarily their interactions in the kitchen and Lumi's refusal to eat his food out of spite, but stealing bites when he isn't looking only to admit his cooking is impeccable.

Based on the book summary, more conflict was coming but I could not get that far. I read enough to see something weird was going on with Esme, but she has made very limited appearances and seems more of a another random character that will throw in some conflict. This story could be really good, but what I read just feels like random stories in a kitchen that somehow end up with two chefs going from intense enemies to being interested in each other. The story would make much more sense with more character development and interactions that sparked their relationship.

I liked(ish) but didn't love this book. While technically it is a romance the main characters were definitely more in love with food than one another. They were written kind of strangely, with minimal interactions other than cooking alongside one another, which made their sudden switch from loathe to lust & boss/employee to romantically entangled feel a little bit forced. Maybe this is a metaphor for their food speaking for them and I just didn't get it at the time, which given Lumi's unique abilities is entirely possible. Her instant switch from doting to distrusting gave me a bit of whiplash and at that point I was kind of over this book. It went from 0 to all the tropes in a paragraph, and the whole rest of the book was a bit formulaic and finished fast. Maybe the author was over it by then too? Another thing that bothered me was how quickly her burns seemed to heal, as well as the way that Julian kind of urged Lumi to have sex before her doctors okayed it. I don't think someone who recently had a large portion of their body severely burned would be overly concerned about that sort of thing in a matter of a couple weeks. All this being said there were a few redeeming qualities about this book. One, I loved that Lumi was a driven, creative, independent entrepreneur as well as a Latina and that Julian was a ginger who basically threw away a trust fund to follow his passions. I loved the uniqueness of Lumi's ability (although by the time it really came into play in the story I had nearly forgotten about it). I really enjoyed her strong support system as well, I also liked the addition of the recipes mentioned at the end of each chapter. All of these things were really promising and exciting to me, but were not enough to overcome the abundant aforementioned shortcomings.

DNF at 34%

It's amazing how disliking one MC can destroy all interest in a book. The premise is right up my alley and I liked the heroine. Unfortunately, I just can't with the hero. He's the kind of pretentious asshole who punches food critics in the face and tells customers to "educate their taste buds" when they ask for ketchup. Zero chemistry between him and the heroine so far (they're lusting after each other, but I don't feel genuine interest or respect between the two). I can't think of a single redeeming quality for the hero and that's a problem after 34%. I follow news in the culinary/fine dining world; the industry is rife with abusive and unhealthy practices, and it's difficult not to project my disgusted feelings onto Julien. I don't think that type of asshole presence in the kitchen is endearing.

You may read the book and think that I'm over-exaggerating here (that's fair! People respond to books differently). It's just that Julien really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe he improves and the book gets better, but I'm not waiting to find out. DNF.

Mentioned in SBTB's biweekly Whatcha Reading post: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2020/01/whatcha-reading-january-2020-edition-part-one/

So many great ideas in this book. Wonderful food, romance, latin culture, it had all the elements for a great book, but the writing didn't come through. While I love a descriptive book, many times the descriptions in A Taste of Sage felt like tangents that disrupted the flow of the story. As a set of excerpts, the individual segments were fine, even good at times, describing food, restaurant ambiance, latin culture, and even entire recipes, but they didn't come together in a smooth read to form a cohesive, well-paced book. Then, there were the dialogues, which felt like a repetitive cycle of: "Lumi said," "Simon said," "he asked," "Julien asked," on and on with some variations interspersed. This book feels like a lot of hard word work went into it, with extensive research behind its details and descriptions, but in the end the whole didn't feel effortless and I wasn't able to immerse myself in the story itself.

I had a similar opinion to some of the other reviewers who have already contributed their thoughts on this book. I could not finish it since the writing just did not grip me. Now, I understand that a romance novel will never "grip" you in the same way as a thriller. But, the endless descriptions of the physical characteristics of some of the main characters and the slow moving plot just could not hold my interest. I love food writing and I love a good romance, but this was just an odd combination of both that did not really work for me as a reader.

I really liked the two MCs in this one. I also really just enjoyed cruising through this book more than I expected (based on earlier reviews I thought it might be slow). It’s cute and if you like food, the recipes included and food descriptions are a treat.

There is the tiniest dash of magical realism vibes in here and I found that choice to be quirky and fun. I also want to note than an entirely lavender kitchen was such a great image to picture! Maybe I need to go buy some new paint / pots...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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 really enjoyed this book. I love books that revolve around cooking, chefs, and restaurants. There's just something so intense about the cooking atmosphere that I can't get enough of. This book was that. I loved the intense way the characters were written and developed and I loved the way that the author took her time in not only developing the characters but the story as well. This book also comes with amazing recipes that I definitely will be trying out! I also loved that touch as well. It makes being able to relate to the story even further.
Overall, an amazingly fresh and fun story that I would definitely recommend.

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!