Not surprised because I have loved everything I’ve read from Tarah Dewitt but this was another lovely read. The characters in Spunes are quirky and lovable and reminded me a little of Stars Hallow. Fisher and Sage have such tragic pasts but I loved the way that Sage embraced her life and how Fisher really accepted her world. It was an easy read and easy to fall in love with the cast. My only request would be to get a little bit more of Wren’s story but maybe that’s coming in the future? (One can hope) That was the only part of the book that seemed a little unfinished to me. Also loved that Farley was ever so briefly mentioned as that’s the book that made me love this author.

3.5 ⭐️ This was a cute story about a small town romance. I'm only giving it 3.5 because the book didn't draw me in and make me want to keep reading. I didn't fall in love with any of the characters, and it seemed to take forever to get to the plot. The book did pick up about 50% way through and I really enjoyed the last few chapters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Characters 8/10
Atmosphere 9.5/10
Writing 8.5/10
Plot 9/10
Intrigue 10/10
Logic 9.5/10
Enjoyment 9.5/10

I enjoyed Sage and Fisher’s story. It was a feel good small town love story. I especially loved how Sage helped Fisher to build his relationship with Indy while still giving them space to figure most of it out on their own.

Within the last year was when I first found Tarah. When I say I love her I absolutely mean I LOVE her!!! Her characters are always so swoon worthy and lovable. Tarah is the reason I have become obsessed with romance and this book is no different. Tarah writes with her heart and you can tell how much she loves her characters. If I could give this more than 5 stars I absolutely would!!

Calling all Gilmore Girls lovers!!! If Stars Hallow were on the west coast instead of the east, I imagine it’d be a lot like Spunes, Oregon.

Savor It follows the story of Sage Byrd, the heart of her glorious small town of Spunes, Oregon, and Fisher Lange, a Michelin starred chef who recently became the guardian of his niece, Indy.

When Sage’s ex of five years suddenly gets engaged to an old friend, she decides she needs something, anything to show the town that she’s doing fine, and what better way than winning the Festival of Spune’s annual competition.

Meanwhile, Fisher has recently experienced some negatives in his career and is sent to Spunes to salvage what’s left, but when the project he’s assigned to goes sideways when the townspeople interfere with the project deadlines, he strikes up a deal with his new neighbor, Sage: if she can get the town council to stop interfering with the project, he’ll help her win the competition.

Every time the perspective shifted from Sage to Fisher and back, I could hear that Gilmore Girls cut scene music playing in my head ( I know you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about).

Savor It was a journey of love that reminded me of all the reasons why romance is my favorite genre. Seeing a kinship develop between Sage and Fisher that turned into love was an amazing thing to witness. Tarah DeWitt did an amazing job with this slow burn. Her writing was absolutely a joy to experience. I absolutely recommend reading!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/🌶️🌶️

absolutely obsessed with Savor It by Tara Dewitt. This book grew on me page by page and by the end I was crying at how beautiful their story was. I’ll be thinking of Fisher and Sage for a good bit.

Savor It touches upon grief, depression, and anxiety. It was nice to read about characters who are going through similar feelings I’ve experienced.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It comes out May 21st, 2024 and y’all better be pre-ordering it 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

I really enjoy Tarah DeWitt’s writing style after reading Funny Feelings, so I was excited for the chance to read Savor It.

I connected with Sage on a lot of the ways she thought about herself and it was really lovely to see how Fisher helped her reframe her way of thinking while also being transformed by her himself.

It did take me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I flew through it and was so invested in all of the characters living in Spunes.

If you love a small-town romance, add this one to your list!

Thank you for the advanced copy, NetGalley!

This book is in my top 5 books of this year, and I can't believe it won't be out for another 6 months! It was ridiculously good, and I feel so connected to the characters! The author pulled me in with The Co-Op, and again with this one, and there aren't enough words to describe the joy I had when reading this.

Absolutely loved everything about this book! Captivated start to finish and the execution of plot and development of characters was beautifully written

tarah has done it again, i absolutely loved this one just like co-op and funny feelings! it took me a little bit to get into (i think that was a me thing though) and i kept having to highlight and read the definition for words that are simply just not in my vocabulary lol and that was making it even harder to get into. BUT ONCE I DID!! i loved everything about them; sage is so funny she had me cracking up! when she said she handed indy the goose to distract her 🤣 the little things fisher does might actually be the death of me. he’s perfect 🫠 his hum? bye. indy was also a great character; wise but also obviously going through stuff and i loved reading scenes with her. all the other side characters were enjoyable too, her brothers, wren, walter, even ms. o’doyle and i fell in love with the town of spunes, oregon (not to be confused with forks, washington) 🛶🤎 the last 20% broke me but put me back in the best way. ughh i love this family and all their quirky pets so muchhhh

what i love most about tarah’s writing and books is that she’s always teaching me a type of life lesson! the amount of highlights i have on just the best life advice 🥰 funny feelings taught us about puddle people and savor it will have me working out my courage muscle 💪🏽

all i want is more!! please tellg me we’re going back to spunes for wren and ellis’ book 😭 i beg 🧎🏻‍♀️

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I’ve willingly read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been desperate to read SAVOR IT ever since it was announced and the excitement I experienced when I found out it was a Read Now title on Netgalley is a little *too* embarrassing to detail.

The book follows Sage, high school teacher, lover of animals, and someone who goes out of her way to do for others, and Fisher, a successful chef who recently blew up on a food critic which led him to losing his job and one of his Michelin stars. Fisher moves to the small town of Spunes, Oregon with the niece he recently took guardianship of in order to get his boss’s new restaurant up and running. On Fisher and Indy’s first night in town, they’re woken up by what they believe to be someone breaking into their rental and from there, their lives completely transform.

I absolutely loved these characters. I saw so much of myself in Sage, getting burned and burned out by being too nice, love of puns, and related with her must-rescue-all-the-needy-animals mindset. And Fisher. Fisher is another amazing book boyfriend who actually COMMUNICATES. The conversations and realizations between these two had me highlighting so many quotes that I know I’ll be going back to.

SAVOR IT, refreshingly, isn’t a book with explosive conflict. Like I said, the characters communicate and communicate well. But that animosity was definitely not missed. Instead, readers will get to see these two characters have a beautiful summer romance filled with respect and appreciation and love.

I can’t wait to receive a physical copy of this book and I’m hopeful this is just book one in a Spunes, Oregon series!

I feel in love with the characters and the story. The romance was very enjoyable and the banter was so cute. I would highly recommend this book!

I fell in love with the way DeWitt created the atmosphere, the vibe, the electrifying chemistry. Everything about this book was cohesive, the plot interesting, and the characters well developed.

I happen to like this quite a bit and think it is lovely, and I would love to live there in Spunes, Oregon.

Savor It - Tarah Dewitt
⭐⭐⭐⭐

"𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒔...𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔, 𝑺𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉...𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆."

This was my second Tarah Dewitt book and it will not be my last. She just write such swoony love stories! Sage lives in a small town where Fisher is forced to reside for the summer as her neighbor with his niece that he has custody of. Super cute, witty with a side of spice.

"𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

I adored this story and the characters very much, but I will say it was SO heavy on the small town stuff and super descriptive where it didn't need to be. With that being said the love story sold me and I am so happy I got the opportunity to read this.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔....𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓."

🧑🏼‍🍳Small Town Romance
🧑🏼‍🍳Chef
🧑🏼‍🍳Grumpy/Sunshine
🧑🏼‍🍳Neighbors

tarah dewitt, i want to kiss your brain.

another this is me trying bf x mirrorball gf for my collection of perfect ships.

tarah has such a gifted way of writing these perfectly personal and vulnerable characters. they're all imperfect and she even makes it a point to let you know that even by the end, most of these characters aren't healed or fixed 100% through, because who among us ever is?, but they're satisfied in life. you don't need to figure everything out in life to feel or be whole. and her character's sort of root themselves into your core and you sort of feel like you can't breathe until they've gotten their happily ever after. you feel everything they feel and it's like they've entangled you in their (fictional) lives.

it's a little disturbing how every time i read one of tarah's books it feels like she's sort of surgically carved out part of my brain to study and then splattered parts of it into all of her books. too visual? anyway! sage being the representation of being the "too-nice translates to too-boring and unmotivated but also kindness is just who i am and i sort of need to be kind to my core because it provides a sense a necessity about me that people seek" REALLY HURTS. JUST SAYING. after that first internal monologue about feeling overlooked for being "too soft" i felt myself aching for her to realize that she's worth more than what she provides other people. that she's worthy of just being enough for herself and that she can be selfish but still be kind and and she can be tough and direct and confident but still be soft. and that brings me around to another thing tarah does so well: giving so much dimension to her characters. it's why it's so easy to find yourself in so many of them (or in my case all of them).

and, god damn. fisher. listen, it's gonna take A LOT to dethrone meyer as my #1 tarah dewitt book boyfriend, but man does fisher come in close. sage says something along the lines of how arousing it is to watch fisher just try to be good and reliable to indy and you know what, girl? I GET IT. reading about men learning to be vulnerable and accept help and go to therapy and just be human is literally one of my biggest kinks wow i wish men were real! fisher learning that his value isn't dependent on how well-liked he is, is extremely humbling and great, sage (ha!) advice for anything. i think i need this constant reminded tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. again, tarah's openness to vulnerability with her characters is so refreshing.

as i sit longer (and, fine, re-read) i will come back with more words because this book already means so much to me and i only just finished it an hour ago. okay. peace and love!!!!!!!!!!

thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. i MUST return thinking about indy's big (and loud) rant to fisher and cry-sobbing about it ( i had to shut my bedroom door because my brother asked if i was okay and i said i thought i was coming down with something and didn't want to alarm him with how violently i was crying. alright. goodbye.)

5⭐️ This book made me so happy it was so cute!!! This book follows Fisher and Sage who end up becoming neighbors for the summer when Fisher has to help create a menu for a new restaurant in the small town that Sage lives in. Fisher has a lot going on in his life while also having to take care of his niece. Sage is the sunshine small town girl who wants to help Fisher and so they strike up a deal. I loved the small town vibes in this book and literally I love this town. I won’t say much else about this book except it was such a cute read and I was smiling throughout the whole book. I need books that follow some of the other characters that are in this book so badly!

Oh my gosh. My heart.

This was a SLOOOOOOW burn. 20-30% in I was convinced I wasn’t going to end up loving this because of how slow it was. But holy heck did it end up sucking me in and giving me ALL OF THE FEELINGS.

This was like, Nicolas Sparks level feelings with charming small town done RIGHT.

The ending. I think we got more Fisher chapters than Sage chapters and that honestly made me love it more because seeing is love bloom was so precious.

I was laying in bed crying like the little cancer I am because of how cute and precious it was. I hope we get more books about the side characters finding love because I NEED Ellis and Wren’s story.

THIS BOOK! I have been in a bit of a reading slump, just not being able to get into any books. I had read a different chef romance earlier this year and loved it, so when I saw this I immediately requested it and I love this book too!

Chef romance, small town romance, he has ear piercings, fake dating, getting his inspiration back, there’s a goose, uncle raising niece, free spirited, third act breakup, they get back together, slight spice, he’s obsessed, calls the cops on a vacuum

Spoilery section

I have no real qualms with this book. I love books that just hit the ground running and you get the plot/background explanations as you go and are not bombarded with it in the beginning. My favorite character is probably Indy, her and her goose are otp.