4.5 and all the love in my heart.

There's something about a man down on his luck coming to a small town to find himself that just does it for me. Make him a single guardian over a surly teen as well? I'm done for.

Fisher Lange, the man you are.

Tarah took one of my favorite tropes and RAN with it and did a phenomenal job. Fisher is a successful chef who is down on himself after a series of failures. Enter his teenage niece that he's now in charge of, he's finding it hard to pull himself out of a loop of doom.

In effort to turn himself around, Fisher is sent by his former boss to Spunes to work on a new restaurant and himself. While there he meets Sage Byrd, a local who loves her town and the animals on her farm.

I loved Sage and Fisher so much. Even though this book has insta-attraction, I couldn't. find myself to be mad at it. Watching Sage give fisher and his niece tasks to keep their mind off things and show them there's more to small town life was a JOY. Watching Fisher and Sage fall in love was even better. Also the spice in this? Fisher knew what he was doing FOR SURE. Not to mention, Tarah 100% made me cry over a goose.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so sweet in the best possible way! Fisher is a complicated character who is always trying to do his best and, after prioritizing his job over his family for many years, is making up for that by placing his orphaned niece’s needs above his own. This book advocates for therapy and normalizing men having emotions and being sensitive. And Sage is just the right amount of quirky, sweet, and fiery. I loved that she was unapologetically kind. She knew some people would see that as a weakness but she embraced it.
Fans of small-town, single dad romances are going to eat this up (no pun intended).

4⭐️ 3.5 🌶️

Savor it is overflowing with small town vibes, where everyone knows everyone in this quirky town. Sage is the town good girl with a heart of gold and also a gang of animals that had me cracking up, especially the gophers.

Sage and Fisher are both dealing with grief and loneliness and just happen to end up temporary neighbors for the summer. What was supposed to be a summer job to get Fisher and his niece somewhere quiet that they could reset turned into so much more, because well it is impossible to be near Sage and not get sucked in by her kindness and huge heart.

The desire between Sage and Fisher is palpable and let me tell you this was a slow burn but when it finally happens, there is no shortage of steam.

I laughed, swooned, had so many feels and moments of such happiness seeing the love between the characters in this small town. This is one of those books that about half way through you tell yourself that if these characters don’t end up together you will be devastated.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for the arc. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really wanted to enjoy it because I have heard wonderful things about the author's other books. But I don't think this is the book for me. I found the book very slow-paced, and not in a good way. I wasn't a fan of the characters overall either.

So while there isn't anything terribly wrong with the book and I can see why others would enjoy it. I found I was forcing myself to finish it to get the review done.

Sage has lived in Spunes, Oregon, her entire life and she has no plans of leaving. She has her animals on the farm and loves where she lives except for the fact that her boyfriend of 5 years broke up with her and quickly got engaged. During the Festival od Spunes, there is a couple competition and Sage is determined to find a partner for this years competition. Fisher was a famous chef in NYC until he lost his sister and needed to become the caretake of his teenage niece, Indy. His boss sends him to Spunes, Oregon, to supervise the building of her new restaurant and he ends up renting the house next door to Sage. They become friends and Sage helps him navigate the townspeople who are not very happy about the new restaurant and he agrees to compete in the games with her.

This story had the perfect amount of small town drama, spice, and family connections! Sage and Fisher had great chemistry and I loved watching the relationship between Fisher and his niece, Indy, grow and change.

You know those books that just really know how to describe a town and you immediately went to move there? This book did that to me. Goodbye Atlanta, hello Spunes. I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect place to land after a heavy read. I loveddddd Sage and Fisher! The perfect summer read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Savor It was a sweet romance, following the story of Sage and Fisher. One thing I really enjoyed about this story was that on top of the romance, there was a clear focus also on standing for what you need and want. There was more to this then a fluffy romance, and there were definitely moments where I cried as much as I laughed (and swooned - there was definitely quite a bit of swooning). Fisher wound up being a top tier book boyfriend. Overall, this was a 4.75 read.

Not Tarah DeWitt's strongest book. The pace was a bit slow and the ending felt rushed.
Withholding my full review for the SMP boycott.

So a few weeks ago I ended up reading my first Tara Dewitt book, Funny Feelings. I found it really enjoyable and when I went through my list of e-arcs to read I saw I somehow requested Savor It and had been approved. I dove right in and this one was not a disappointment!

I remember requesting this because one of the main characters was a chef and it reminded me of my fiancé, who is also a chef. I could connect with a lot of the things he said to the things my fiancé says or talks about.

Fisher and Sage’s love story though was far different than ours , though. I liked this book a LOT more than Funny Feelings.

Some parts felt a little choppy and weird (like the whole festival plot line probably could have been removed since I didn’t feel like it really added anything to the story, especially since they end up missing most of it anyway and the whole race was too insignificant/underwhelming).

I also think this book could have done without the epilogue. The epilogue left things more unfinished to me than the end of the book itself. The epilogue felt like a tell not show how Sage and Fisher had grown in their relationship.

Overall though I emotionally connected with this story more than the authors other work and I look forward to more books from her in the future!

Thank you SMP Romance and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

This was an absolutely delightful read. Karissa Vacker and Zachary Webber absolutely knocked the narration out of the park.

Savor It had me constantly smiling and laughing out loud. The vacuum scene and many more were hilarious. There were also so many sweet moments. Fisher is in Spunes trying to help start up the new restaurant. Sage was such a sweet wonderful character. I adored her and how she went through life. Fisher was so strong as he tried to parent Indy and make his way in a small town. Sounds bad so many hilarious characters. I loved the connection and chemistry between Sage and Fisher.

This is one that will stay with me for some time. I can’t wait for more books from Tarah DeWitt!

Word of advice for when reading this book: Savor It 🙃

But in all seriousness, I did not want it to end and I’m still thinking about it long after the last chapter has been read.

Sage and Fisher are dare I say, my favorite small town bookish couple to date. Their story may be a romance to its core, but I also loved the real life, everyday struggles that are touched on as well. Following them as they navigate through love and loss, Tarah did an amazing job of wrapping up this sweet and swoony story in the biggest HEA bow and I LOVED every bit of it.

Speaking of Tarah, this was my first book from her and she is now an instant buy for me. Her writing, imagery and overall storytelling abilities had me hooked from the very start.

So please do yourself a favor and grab this book and also a box of tissues. Trust me when I say you’ll need it for those sad and happy moments that are sure to cause a few tears to spill.

And don’t forget! Savor every moment 🥰

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

Savor It is a sweet slow burn small-town romance featuring two characters experiencing burnout and then finding their peace in each other.

I personally felt like the story had a lot of potential, but it never quite gelled for me. I think others will enjoy it immensely!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love literally everything about this storyline - opposites attract, the emotions, big city transplants, small town rife with meddling townspeople, an angsty teen, rescue animals, funny and overprotective brothers…. But, for
some reason I really struggled to get in the first half of this book. I wanted a bit more from the character development and relationship tension.

NOW, the second half picked up and I LOVED the last 1/4 of the book. Like LOVED. CRIED an excessive amount. Which made almost everything better. I would definitely give this one a chance - push through for such an amazing ending!

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I had a hard time reading this book because there were a lot of big words and it felt unnecessary. I also didn’t really like any characters or the plot.

I haven’t been clicking with romance lastly so that might be why this one didn’t work for me.

I hope others love this one.

Tarah Dewitt is truly a treasure. I don't know what she puts in her books but I'm always blown away. Sage and Fischer were *chef's kiss*. I ADORE characters that are imperfect and Fischer being imperfect and being self aware of his imperfections was everything to me. Sage was so incredibly crafted. I cried multiple times throughout this book. The message that you can find happiness in a small town even when you thought you had to live this big life was exactly what I needed.

Savor It - ARC Review
⭐⭐⭐/5
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WHAT I LIKED:
-Fisher’s career journey: Fisher’s whole relationship with cooking, fame, losing what he thought he wanted, realizing what he wanted has changed, and rediscovering his love of cooking were my favorite parts of this book.
-Fisher’s relationship with Indy: Fisher regularly messing up and admitting regularly he had no clue what he was doing, but still showing up for Indy over and over was beautiful
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WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
-Too Many Names: Between a lot of side characters and a lot of animals (referred to only by name) it took me almost half of this book to keep everyone straight.
-Sage’s Character: While Sage was like-able, I am still very unsure about “who” she is. She had so many hobbies and interests, and she was very clear that she was not “too nice”, but other than that, I am not sure we got to see much of who she was beyond her hobbies and bits of wisdom
-Town Contest: This could have been something, but it wasn’t fleshed out quite enough. The “why” behind Sage wanting to compete didn’t seem very strong or compelling. The training scenes almost didn’t fit or took me out of the rest of the story.
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Notes: Honestly, this review hurts a little. I am a HUGE fan of Tarah Dewitt and her books are usually a unique kind of magic. This one felt a bit more scattered - filled with too many ideas, too many characters, and too many directions. I wish there had been a bit more focus on the overall narrative as well as the lead FMC.
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Thank you @netgalley for my eARC copy. I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Savor it is a delightfully quirky love story with a bit of spice. A chef suffering from loss and burnout is on a journey for self-discovery while learning to raise his teenage niece after his sisters sudden death. Together, Fisher and Indy find themselves settled in a small town, living next to the local teacher and her menagerie of rescued animals. Fisher was purposely relocated to the town to help in the opening of a new restaurant, only the town thwart his every action. In order to get in the good graces of the townspeople, he schemes with Sage to win over the community.

This fake-dating, grumpy x sunshine, romance is told through two perspectives, Sage and Fisher. Savor It is funny, swoon-worthy and charming.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin

Thank you NetGalley for granting me early access to this ARC. 3.75 stars. My first thoughts were that it plays out like the plot of a Hallmark movie - big city fancy chef moves to small town, plans to only stay for the summer but falls in love with his gardener neighbour. I liked the ending, a good amount of spice, realistic. I found some of the puns a little corny though.

Fisher has custody of his niece and takes her to Oregon where he’s going to try to launch a restaurant for a friend. He’s a frequent flier on the struggle bus and nothing is going great for him. He temporarily moves to this small town and everybody is immediately up in his business. Luckily, the neighbor is pretty great.

Things I liked:
There’s a make-out in the stacks at the library scene which always hits.
She has a collection of robes and despite whatever they were described as I dubbed them rich widow chic.
The goose loving Indy.

I really loved watching Fisher and Indy get closer and seeing her fight for where she wanted to live. Sade and Fisher were cute together once they got out of their own way.

The narrators Karissa Vacker and Zachary Webber knocked this out of the park. Their voices fit the characters so well and really added to the experience of reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for copies in advance.

This is truly a book to savor in 2024! One of the year’s best that will have you weeping and swooning and giving all the feels!

I just love it when I read a book from an author I’ve never read before and it absolutely blows me away. Savor It was one of my most anticipated romance books of 2024 and it surpassed my expectations.

Tarah is now going to be an auto-buy author to me because I absolutely loved this book. Pick it up because it is truly one of the best of 2024 and I savored every moment reading it.

The Best Characters to Fall Hard For

I totally felt for Sage and her struggles in life. Her need for just a small victory and for someone to see her more than just the nice girl about town. She needed to feel like she’s worth something and to feel like she had a win in life and I was rooting for her the entire time.

Fisher’s grief and struggles were so palpable and yet he was a man trying - trying to find his way back to his passion in the kitchen, trying to find his way to being the best guardian for his niece, trying to emerge from the grief of loss, and trying to find his worth again.

I adored how Sage didn’t let him hide but slowly coaxed him out of his shell. The scene where he runs his latest cooking creations to Sage early in the morning was so incredible. I felt so much joy for this character on the page and my mouth was watering at the dish descriptions. Holy moly were they amazing.

Sage was incredible because she had the best outlook on life and maybe that was attributed to the journal she kept reading (I so loved this extra). I love how she focused on the small stuff and made them big moments and how she decided that everything mattered in her life not just the big or small things.

The two of them flirting was so hot and came at these perfect moments that just hit you in all the feels. It was like the perfect slow burn that would just catch fire at the best times and I could not put the book down because I only wanted more.

The writing, story pacing, and character development were just perfection. I absolutely loved the dialogue between these characters that let them drop their walls and show their true selves, hurts, flaws and all, and it only made me (and their fellow character) love them more.

Fisher and Sage were so good together and it’s their relationship that totally drives this book. That sounds silly to say because of course the relationship drives a romance book, but I actually anticipated more scenes about Fisher working on the new restaurant or them really hamming it up with fake relationship for the sake of others in the town or even more focus on Fisher’s relationship with his niece but those side stories all took a backseat as it was really Fisher and Sage’s story. You get just enough of the other elements to help propel the story but it’s truly just them that captivates about this story.

This book also totally made me ugly cry. There were so many moments that made me tear up but then by the end I was full on sobbing. Gosh I love books that can evoke such strong feelings and this one did that throughout.

I now absolutely need Ellis and Wren’s story ASAP. I’m so hooked on this couple from just their short appearances and cannot live without their happily ever after love story.

This is truly a book to savor in 2024. I can’t recommend it enough.
*I received an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.