[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Savor It releases May 21, 2024

Disappointing to say the least.

As a chef, I love seeking out romances with main characters who are chefs or bakers, but I did not get an ounce of the culinary passion or imagery I was yearning for.

This story is filled with so many unnecessary details that have no relevance to the plot, and I’d say the Spunes annual festival and Fisher’s restaurant consulting amounted to 5% of the book, at best.

DeWitt introduces so many characters residing in this small town, yet the writing results in an overwhelming inability to care about a single person.

The guardian trope was lackluster, and character descriptions were horrendous. Instead of using a given name, Fisher describes a teenaged boy as a <I>“sentient penis with a car […] looks like he’s been through a pasta maker […] Lanky, thin, skinny wrists and sharp elbows—probably in some state of nicotine addiction.”</I>
What’s with the body shaming?

This was a cute read about finding love and finding home, all whilst dealing with tragedy and grief. While I enjoyed this book, at times it felt a bit slow, but then the second half of the book kind of got me in my feels. Sage and her menagerie of rescue animals were so heartwarming, and honestly, Indy and Gary made me laugh so much. Indy’s conversation with her uncle about Gary was just perfect. I enjoyed the small town hijinks and the relationships built along the way.

(Rounded up from 3.5 stars)

Cute romance with loads of animals and a wonderful setting. The side characters really fleshed out the story and the traumas of the characters were believable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I greatly enjoyed this book. I related to the fmc so much as I have a funny farm too. And I loved the cooking content. I cried at the end. Don’t miss this one!

Savor It is a great contemporary palette cleanser after all the fantasy I read. It's classic grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, big city guy, quirky small town gal with a million pets, with grief & burnout healing thrown in the mix. The spice is solid and the chemistry of the two leads was on point. Writing and pacing were great and I appreciated the author didn't take too many detours into restaurant specifics. The side characters were also decently fleshed out and though I'm not usually one for books with kids, I actually found that I enjoyed the ML's teenage niece. There's also some great humor in the book and I also recommend the audiobook, the narrators were great!

This is the first book I have read by Tarah DeWitt. I love the characters and was rooting for them to find themselves in their journey of self discovery. Fisher Lange is a Michelin star New York chef, who has been struggling with not only his career but his life, especially after the death of his sister two years prior. He was given custody of his teenage Indy and neither one is copying well, to the point that he had a run in with a critic and was fired. But his boss is friends with his mother and sends him and Indy to a small town in Oregan to oversee the renovation and opening of a new restaurant. There they meet the delightful Sage Byrd, who charms them into her life. Sage has had her own issues and doubts and as they form friendships, they become stronger and closer, knowing that Fisher and Indy are heading back to NY at the end of the summer. It looked like a bitter sweet romance, until the authors pulls the HEA out of her hat at the end. Lovingly developed characters with lots of lively banter made this a delightful read. Bonus is how to make the perfect omelet.


I read a gifted Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.com. This is my voluntary, honest and unbiased review.

I will always read a book by Tarah DeWitt. She is one of my favorite authors and I thoroughly enjoyed the book Savor It. It was a wonderful small town romance and I loved the main characters Sage and Fisher. They were both so likable and meant for each other. I loved the scenes in the library and when they were caught up under the canoe. Will recommend to my romance reading friends.

3.5 STARS

Funny, heartfelt, comforting, and sweet. Savor It was such a pick-me-up book that was the perfect blend of lighthearted and emotional. I loved the small-town, grumpy/sunshine vibes and the quirky supporting characters. The communication between the two MCs is so healthy and was honestly refreshing to read. Ultimately, I did find it a little slow for my liking, but if you’re looking for a light palate cleanser, Savor It will definitely deliver.

Tarah does it again!! I've loved every book she's written and this is no exemption. Loveable characters with nuance and substance. Overall just a lovely love story.

This book is like a warm hug! It encapsulates everything I love about small town romances so beautifully and I just never wanted it to end🥹 Fisher and Sage are just such raw, real, and relatable characters and they compliment each other so well. Tarah’s writing always resonates with me and this book with no different, this will definitely be on my top reads of the year!

I really wanted to love this but had to DNF. Though I’ve heard amazing things from this author so I hope to read her other books and love them

Savor It has a sweet small town girl vibe with a guardian-of-a-teenager uncle spending the summer in said small town. Spoons, Oregon not to be confused with Forks, Washington. See what they did there? 😉 This one was a quick read and very 🥵🥵🥵.

i absolutely adored everything about this book. the chemistry between Sage and Fisher was there from the very beginning and i loved seeing it blossom into what it ended up as. there was fake dating, and it was done so tastefully. this book had minimal spice with is so refreshing for a romance because you could basically FEEL the tension between them and then the eventual love even without the spicy scenes. Indy and the goose had me cackling. the end when Fisher and Indy decided it was time for a change was so heartwarming and i’m so glad that Indy enjoyed being with Sage as well. all in all, i love this book!

Tarah DeWitt is a genius at evoking emotion that feels true to life whether the characters are bantering or banging. She’s got a gift for quotable lines, too. SAVOR IT is just really, really good stuff.

4.25🌟 - I enjoyed it!

I loved this little small town! Sage and Fisher were so sweet. This book was full of emotion and funny moments.

Savor It is a small town romance we all need! Sage lives in a small town in Oregon and Fisher lives in New York City. Fisher recently lost his sister, is taking care of his teenage niece, and cannot handle the heat as a head chef in a Michelin Star restaurant. He makes a deal with the owner and moves to Oregon to help set up a new restaurant.

Tarah did a great job writing about grief, loss of loved ones, burn out, and rescued animals. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and can't wait to read more by Tarah DeWitt.

Thank you Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a nice cozy small town read! Perfect to get you into that summer transitioning into fall mood.

I loved how sweet the slow burn was. The town , the characters, and banter entertained me so much.

I’m so glad I kept on with this book even though the beginning felt a little off with the pacing of it.

I was so excited for this book, as I have loved all of Tarah Dewitt’s books. I didn’t connect to this book as much I have to her other ones. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between the two characters and felt the relationship was somewhat rushed. I still enjoyed portions of the book. It was a cute romcom, I was just left needing more!

This was such a cute and cozy read, I thought it was a beautiful, small-town romance! It was heartfelt and full of genuine characters. The beginning was a bit slow for me, but towards the middle it really picked up and I could not put the book down. I really liked how Fisher's relationship developed with his niece, especially with Sage's help and her animals (that was so cute!) I loved the summer romance aspect and thought it was just a cute story!

Thank you to SMP Romance for the review copies!

I loved every minute of Savor It, and I truly don’t know why it took me so long to get to it. (Ok, I do, once the pub day passes, all urgency leaves me and I just become overwhelmed by my backlist.)

I don’t know how to describe how vibrant these characters were or how much I loved them. Maybe if I tell you I ended up crying over a goose? Like the goose was not physically harmed, I just really cared about the characters so much that even their rescue goose was something I cared about.

Savor It has everything I look for in a small town romance - quirky characters and town events, the town’s sweetheart who has to learn how to take care of herself instead of everyone else, and a city boy who’s only supposed to be there for the summer.