
Member Reviews

A small town romance with a big dose of grief relating to parental/sister loss. Parts of it were really good and parts of it felt like a typical small town romance where everyone is in your business and has an opinion on it. It was enjoyable enough but I don't know if this is the first in a series but if it is, I do hope there's a second chance romance in the offing between Sage's brother and her best friend who happens to be his ex-wife. Now, that's a story I'd be very interested in.

What to expect:
- small town romance
- Neighbors
- Fake dating
- Summer fling
- Opposites attract
This was a heartwarming story about life in a small time. And that while life may small, that doesn’t make it any less profound or important. All in all a sweet romance.
The writing was good and editing was great. The book did feel a little low stakes and slow at times but the ending was perfect for this story.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

If I could give this more stars I absolutely would. Wow. This is one of the best romance books I’ve read in so long! The ending had me sobbing and in all my feels.
I loved how well the characters communicated. They felt so real. The side characters had small roles but still somehow added so much to the story. I loved it. I loved it.
The writing style is so good and well done. The “third act breakup” felt impactful and didn’t cheapen the story at all which I loved.
Loved this read.

book review: savor it by tarah dewitt
rating: 3.75
tarah dewitt is FUNNY. this book is low-key one giant pun and im kind of… obsessed with it?
i went in totally blind but i’ll give y’all a little preview of what’s going: welcome to spunes, oregon, not be confused with forks, washington (get it?? ah, utensil humor). spunes might as well be stars hollow. it’s the hallmark perfect small-town and Sage is Spunes’ golden girl. she lives on a farm with a bunch of rescue animals. a farm that shares a meadow with a home that an outside is renting for the summer. the outsider? fisher lange aka former new york chef extraordinaire who’s been sent to spunes to consult on a new restaurant. one funny coincidence after another leads to fisher and sage partnering up for the annual Spunes town competition and maybe kissing in the library (shhhh)
swipe for the vibe that is fisher lange. in new york, his life was “the bear,” and in spunes his life is more “gilmore girls.” this man is the epitome of “this is me trying” by taylor swift. he tries so hard to be the best version of himself for everyone all the time and damn if that isn’t the most charming thing ever. he’s also the legal guardian of his niece in this book so we get the single parent trope, if you loved dewitt’s other book, funny feelings, then you’re gonna eat this up because i think fisher is even better. plus he has earrings??? idk about you but yum. speaking of yum, man has a michelin star and literally crosses the meadow at midnight to bring his girl midnight snacks. MIDNIGHT SNACKS FROM A MICHELIN STAR CHEF. how could sage not fall for him? and fall she does, but he falls first and he falls harder.
sage is a ray of sunshine. in the best way. i love how she gets wicked offended when fisher calls her too nice and stands her ground that being nice doesnt mean people can walk all over her and she’s tired of being everyone’s doormat just because they have her pegged as the bright, nice girl who’d never say a word back. go off girl. the girl next door is not a caricature — she’s a real girl with dreams and a life and feelings!! what a refreshing take on this character. i loved her. i loved that she gives “sage” advice. i love that she’s always dishing out the best puns. i love her!
the only qualm i have with this book is that the whole town competition thing that “brings them together,” really was not the thing that brings them together at all and was oddly kind of pushed off to the side and low-key forgotten about. that’s literally all. what a cute romp.

While I would follow this author to ends of the earth I need you to hear me when I say this book is so good. It's a small town summer fling that gives you the perfect satisfied ending. When Indy lost it because she found out geese mate for life?! I was already crying along with her and that made me moronically laugh through my tears. The side characters are as much as part of the story as the main characters because that's just how small towns function. There is spice but it's not lude, there's no other way to describe then just saying it's beautiful in the way it was written. I love how chaotic yet sincere the fmc Saige is. I truly had such a fun time with this book and I can not wait to recommend anyone to this book. If you didn't know this author also wrote funny feeling and that is in my top 5 so go check it out!

4.25 stars
The connection and sweetness just flows between these two, and who doesn't love a good Twilight or Lifetime Movie pun! Indy was a great addition to Fisher's story. It did seem a little repetitive in the middle so it lost me a tad bit there but it brings it all back around fairly quickly and I wanted to keep reading as fast as I could. Don't let the cover fool you there is definitely a bit of spice.
Thank you St. Martin's Press, Tarah Dewitt and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up DNFing this rather quickly into the book as it was pretty boring. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨ARC Review ✨
Thanks to Tarah Dewitt, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Savor It in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on May 21st and I cannot wait for people to read it! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
cute cute CUTE! This was such a feel good, small town romance that can be read in one sitting. I, however, did not finish it in one day, but I could have! (that’s all that matters).
Sage Byrd, born and raised in Spunes, Oregon, has always loved her small town. Raised by her 3 older brothers after her parents died, Sage didn’t ever feel lonely, even when she was alone. Fisher Lange is a Michelin star chef, recently fired for an outburst, and now taking care of his 15 year old niece, Indy, after her mom dies suddenly. Fisher ends up in Spunes to work on a new restaurant, and happens to be staying at the house right next door to Sage. The two quickly bond over Sage’s many strange animals and training for the annual canoe competition. I loved the vulnerability that Sage and Fisher had with each other, and I felt they were never afraid to say what they were really feeling (which is something that bothers me with other romance books). Fisher is a mental health king and even consults his THERAPIST when he’s at a fork in the road- stay in Spunes and live the small town life, or go back to New York to continue his career as an accomplished chef.

Tarah DeWitt can do no wrong. This book was (excuse the joke) utterly delicious. The warmth this book exudes was so nice and I loved the slow development and love throughout the book

I wanted to love this one, but I just didn’t. I really liked both main characters, but I felt like they were lacking chemistry. I wanted more dialogue and interactions between them. More tension and angst. It felt like we learned most about each character through their own inner dialogue vs interactions. There was a lot of filler that I didn’t care about, and the ending had a lot crammed into it, which made the pacing feel off.

This book is such a perfect soft, summer read. The author’s character work reminds me a little of Kate Clayborn in that there’s such attention to small, emotional details that make you feel connected to the people on the page. I do wish we could have had that same attention paid to our main characters’ other relationships. I wanted to hear and feel a little more about these close ties in a small town rather than just scratching the surface, but that would have taken too much time away from Sage and Fisher’s story. This book is a soft blend of humor, romance, and emotional angst, which is just what I love in a romance novel.. It’s the perfect read for a summer evening on your porch swing, or in a nod to Sage, maybe a great book to curl up with in your sun room.
Thanks to NetGalley and St, Martin’s Press for letting me get a jump start on what will likely be one of my favorite books of the summer with this ARC. I look forward to reading more of DeWitt’s work.

I will start this review by saying that Savor It has aggressively taken over the proverbial bookshelf in my heart as one of my all time favorite books. This was a no notes, chef’s kiss, altered my brain chemistry, 5 stars aren’t enough kind of read for me.
The book starts with Sage Byrd—who is a national treasure that must be protected at all costs—living on a hobby farm in Spunes, Oregon, with a pony sized Wolfhound named Sable, a Clydesdale named Bud, the three legged elderly gray cat named Legolas, Gary and Gronk the geese, and like, a dozen hens. She is sunshine personified and is described by the MMC in this story as someone who had to learn not to overwater her plants because all she does is give. Her ex, the town golden boy is engaged a year after he ended their 5 year relationship. It’s a small town, everyone knows and she can feel their pity. She wants people to stop feeling sorry for her and to win the town’s annual summer competition, the Festival of Spunes but she needs a partner. Then Fisher Lange, a hot man who goes to therapy (!!!), and his teenage niece Indy move next door from NYC for the summer. Fisher’s boss sent him to Spunes to consult on a restaurant opening there after he lost his Michelin star and joy for cooking. The townspeople hate the restaurant and try to thwart its opening. Fisher needs Sage’s help to win people over. Sage needs Fisher’s help to compete in the competition and to get people to stop pitying her. What could possibly go wrong? What feelings could possibly be caught?
This was so utterly silly but also incredibly heartfelt? And hot! And just overall, so, so great. Here’s to hoping that Spunes is revisited in later books that maybe center on say, another Byrd family member?
There is commentary in this on the phenomenon where you enjoy something so much you want to push it away and hit pause to avoid it ending. That’s how I felt about this book. I both wanted to finish it so I got the whole story but mourned it being over even before it was. I love books with small towns or quirky settings that feel like characters in their own right. I love love stories where the main characters are open about their feelings and maturely communicate. That was definitely Savor It. I laughed, I cried. It’s everything I want in a romance book. I know this will be a comfort read that I will be rereading again and again.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Savor It by Tarah Dewitt is a sweet, quirky, small town romance novel and overall I'd give it 4 stars.
When I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it because I loved Funny Feelings, by Tara Dewitt, and while this book had a completely different vibe I enjoyed reading Fisher and Sage's story.
Fisher is a Michelin Star chef in New York City who is burnt out... and raising his teenage niece. When he gets a new opportunity in Spunes, Oregon, his niece is less than pleased to be moving from the big city to the much smaller Pacific Northwest town. Sage is a quirky teacher, born and raised in the small town of Spunes, and unlike most people from small towns, she loves it there. When Fisher faces dissenting opinions on the restaurant he's supposed to be opening, Sage offers to help him out with the locals.
Not only is Fisher confused about what to do with his professional life, he's also dealing with the grief of losing his sister and becoming the guardian to a teenager, who is also grieving. Sage immediately hits it off with both Fisher and his niece, Indy, almost adopting them like she does with her plethora of animals. <spoiler>Most of the conflicts in the book were from external conflicts and I felt like were dealt with a little too easily... For example, Indy's attitude changed super quickly.</spoiler>
I think this book had a very sweet cast of characters, and I loved Sage, who had many relatable moments throughout the book. I think it could be a little cheesy in moments, but I also think that's what adds to the charm of the book, and to small towns. I really enjoyed the town's dynamic and at times reminded me of Stars Hollow.
Overall, I think it's a super well written, easy read. I think fans of Tarah Dewitt's other books will also be a fan of this one!
I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Savor it is the perfect summer romance. The small town, the relationships, the angst, the sizzling chemistry between the main characters. It has everything you need and wants in a romance book. This was my first Tarah DeWitt book, but it will certainly not be the last.
I adored both Fisher and Sage. They were such beautiful characters. Indy and the geese had me in my feels (I cried for a geese). All the animals <3
THE ONE RAIN SCENE. HOT DAMN. Chapters 37 and 38 mean so much to me!!! Highly recommended.
Thank you, St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the e-arc!

4.25 ⭐️ this was such a great setting. Loved th3 small town vibes that were just quirky enough without being overly cutesy. I loved the banter between the MCs and absolutely loved Fisher (I highlighted multiple things he said because they were just... amazing).

I F*CKING LOVE THIS BOOK. Sweet and heartwarming with characters you just understand and want to root hard core for. Give me a slow burn with open and honest communication and I’m yours. I really enjoyed the relationship growth and healing between Fisher and his niece. Sage is such a caring wonderful yet quirky person and I love it. Seeing her find herself and her worth is beautiful. There is so much depth to the story and characters it makes you feel like you can relate to them and their struggles. The banter is fun and the side characters are also entertaining. I need more Spunes, Oregon in my life and I hope we get to see more of this small town and these fun characters.

This is an emotional book that brings you right into the world of Spunes, Oregon. Sage Byrd has always lived in Spunes, she loves her world with a menagerie of misfit animals and friendships with everyone in the town. Her relationship with the town good boy has recently ended and he became engaged soon after. She is feeling a little lost. In comes Fisher Lange, a chef from New York. He is renting the house next door for the summer on a sabbatical with his niece, Indy, while he tries to find his mojo back while grieving his sister and helping his niece through the grief. Sage and Fisher form an unlikely alliance, where she helps the town accept him and a new restaurant he is trying to set up, and he helps her with the summer festival competition she has poured herself into since her breakup. Both Fisher and Sage start to realize that their friendship may be more and his leaving at the end of summer will be sure to end in heartbreak.
This was a sweet story that captures the feelings of grief, loss and belonging while adding humour at the same time. Fisher was such a swoony guy, who made Sage feel that she wasn’t too much, and was perfect the way she was. Their banter was top notch and Sage’s quirkiness was just right. I loved not only the connection Sage and Fisher had but also Sage’s relationship with Indy. Both had experienced a similar loss and Sage’s outlook on it helped Indy cope with it.
I thought the author did a great job normalizing therapy in this book and having a guy talk about his feelings. Fisher, though coping with loss, is open with his grief and feelings and talks openly about therapy. This is also a story about 30-something-year-olds and I found there was such great communication between them. Tarah created such a great small town in Spunes and I felt I was transported there getting to know everyone. I missed them when the book was over and hope for more stories in this world.
If you want a small town romance, full of heart and humour, this is the perfect book for you! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

📣 recommended for fans of Chloe Liese
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.
📖 what’s one thing you plan on savoring today? For me, it’s going to be my audiobook on the drive to pick up my daughter after work.
If you’re a fan of Chloe Liese’s books, try Tarah DeWitt’s Savor It, which feels very similar—minus a bit of the overt earnestness that sometimes come across for me in CL’s dialogue.
An emotional, character-driven contemporary, Savor It is about a picking up the pieces & turning it up into Thrive Time when life doesn’t go totally to plan.
Sage Byrd lives in small-town Oregon where semi-disgraced chef Fisher moves with the orphaned niece he’s guardian of. Neighbors & soon friends, Sage & Fisher are the grumpy & sunshine pair you might be looking for.
This book pulls on so many feelings, offering a romance that deals with weighty things—grief, a bad break-up, career success—& also captures the sweetness & thrill of falling in love with someone unexpected.
It’s often adorable & on the whole, heartwarming.
4.5 ⭐️. Out 05/21.
Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a brick wall painted purple, pink, & yellow.]

Well this was just plain adorable. 🛶🌌
Sage has lived in small town Spunes, Oregon her whole life, surrounded by her brothers, animals, and a town that is like a family to her.
Fisher is an NYC chef down on his luck and lacking direction, all while trying to raise his niece, Indy. After being fired from his job, he ends up in Spunes to take some time to regroup and to help open a new restaurant that seems to struggle through the town’s “red tape”.
I absolutely loved the romance between Sage and Fisher, and Sage might just be one of my favorite characters I’ve read so far this year. I just found her so to be so endearingly honest and true to herself.
A few weird timing issues with the plot in my opinion, some things felt rushed, others dragged on. But overall, I really enjoyed this one!
Read this if you’re a fan of:
🪿adorable animal side characters
🪿 small town romance
🪿neighbors to lovers (he literally hides from her at the beginning 🤣)
🪿found family
🪿summer romance
🪿witty banter
🪿slow burn
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for arc!

I have read DeWitt’s three previous books, and FUNNY FEELINGS was one of my 2023 favorites. So, I went into SAVOR IT with a lot of enthusiasm. Sadly, I wasn’t able to finish it. And it pains me to say that because I wanted to love this one! But I just found the writing so awkward and choppy. The biggest reason was the random page breaks and odd transitions. There would be a *** to signal a shift, but nothing was really changing in the scene to necessitate a break. It broke up the flow and took me out of the story every single time! Additionally, I felt like there were so many filler/fluff paragraphs. I don’t want to get details about the town and its inhabitants at the expense of actually developing the main characters! In the first chapter alone, I already felt like I was reading a string of random, disconnected thoughts — and it didn’t improve from there. I’ve seen other readers responding well to this one, however, so it may just have not been the right book for me.