One of the popular authors amongst the bookblog crowd is Tarah DeWitt. This author published multiple romance novels already since 2020 and estabished a name for herself since then. However, I never read any of her books yet, so it was about time. I choose her newest novel Savour It for my introduction.

About the book

Savor It Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on May 1, 2024
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9781250329424
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, General fiction, Romance

Summer won’t last forever.

Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win―something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.

Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.

A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…

Filled with spicy summer fun, small-town charm, and Big Feelings, this highly anticipated romcom is Tarah DeWitt’s best yet.

My review

As there was a lot of buzz surrounding this author and her books make it to multiple Top Ten Tuesday lists, I was so excited to finally try on off these. I’m still in my romance era and summer finally has shown its face here. Apparenttly, it was hot when I picked up Savour It. I was expecting a delightful summer read with interesting characters, a bit of spice and good chemistry. I’m sad to report that I have been left very disappointed.

As for the characters, I’ve spent days with them and still have no clue who they are at all. Yes, their names are Sage and Fisher (who is named Fisher actually? It’s more like a sirname instead of a first name?) and they live in Spunes, a small town in Oregon. Sage is part of a festival or something and Fisher needs to open a restaurant. Well, I can’t even remember this exactly already even though I finished this book yesterday. They struck a deal, I still know that. This is the problem with the entire book actually, I can’t remember anything. The characters didn’t leave much of an impression or me, they are just ordinary, shallow people who could have fit in literally any other story. As side characters. They apparently have some emotional baggage, but it’s barely shown. The story touches upon this briefly from time to time, but I want all the deep emotions and layers. These are absent. Therefore, I don’t feel any connection to them, nor to the romance. There’s no chemistry.

The writing is okay, but nothing more than that. In fact, it’s actually pretty confusing. POV are switched multiple times and the novel was quite short. I therefore miss depth. It’s more of a “tell” instead of “show” situation. Random characters are thrown into the mix with no proper introduction and I just don’t like that really. I want to get to know everything ad everyone and that’s not what this romance is delivering. I wasn’t intrigued much, I even started (and finished) books in between.

There’s not much of a plot. This novel is supposed to be character driven, but falls very flat. I’m gutted to say that it does the same for the plot. I zoned out constantly and can’t remember anything. I just am not invested in this small town and it’s whereabouts. It’s okay, but not good enough for me. It took me too long to finish this romance and that’s definitely not a good sign.

Savoor It was not the best book to get introduced to Tarah DeWitt probably. It falls flat on nearly every aspect, I wasn’t intrigued at all and didn’t care for anybody and anything. It took me ages (for me) to finish this book and it’s not even that long. Maybe I need to try another book by this author, or simply accept the fact that DeWitt’s books are not for me.