Tarah DeWitt has crafted something truly special with Savor It, the first installment in her Spunes, OR series, which promises to continue with the upcoming Left of Forever. This contemporary romance serves up a perfect blend of emotional depth, steamy chemistry, and small-town charm that feels both familiar and refreshingly authentic. Following her previous successes with Funny Feelings, The Co-op, and Rootbound, DeWitt demonstrates her growing mastery of the genre while exploring themes of grief, belonging, and the courage to start over.
Set in the fictional coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (cleverly distinguished from Forks, Washington), the novel follows Sage Byrd, a high school teacher whose five-year relationship has ended just as her ex-boyfriend gets engaged to someone else. Enter Fisher Lange, a former Michelin-starred chef dealing with his own losses—both professional and personal—who arrives in Spunes with his teenage niece Indy for a summer consulting job. What begins as a strategic alliance for the town’s annual Festival of Spunes quickly evolves into something much deeper and more complicated.
Character Development That Feels Genuinely Human
Sage Byrd: The Heart of Small-Town Resilience
DeWitt’s portrayal of Sage is perhaps the novel’s greatest strength. Rather than presenting her as the typical small-town heroine desperate to escape, Sage is someone who has consciously chosen her life in Spunes. She runs a hobby farm filled with rescue animals, tends an elaborate flower garden, and genuinely loves her community—even when it sometimes feels like they see her as the town’s charity case after her breakup.
The author skillfully reveals Sage’s complexity through her internal monologues and interactions with others. Her tendency to say “yes” too easily stems not from weakness but from a deep-seated fear of abandonment that traces back to losing her parents at twelve. This psychological depth prevents Sage from becoming a one-dimensional character and makes her growth throughout the novel feel earned rather than convenient.
Fisher Lange: A Chef Searching for His Way Back to Joy
Fisher’s character arc is equally compelling, though perhaps more predictable in its execution. DeWitt captures the specific type of burnout that comes from achieving everything you thought you wanted only to find it hollow. His loss of his Michelin star serves as both plot device and metaphor for his larger struggle with identity and purpose following his sister’s death.
The relationship between Fisher and his niece Indy adds layers to his character that elevate him beyond the typical “broken hero” archetype. Their dynamic feels authentic, capturing the awkwardness and genuine love of two people trying to figure out how to be a family under impossible circumstances.
The Magic and Limitations of Small-Town Setting
Spunes, Oregon: A Character in Its Own Right
Tarah DeWitt’s world-building in Savor It deserves particular praise for avoiding many of the pitfalls common to small-town romance. Spunes isn’t presented as either a perfect haven or a place people desperately need to escape. Instead, it’s portrayed as a real community with its own quirks, politics, and complicated history. The annual Festival of Spunes, with its canoe race and cooking competition, provides an excellent framework for the romance while also showcasing the town’s character.
The supporting cast—from Martha O’Doyle, the self-appointed town preservationist, to Walter and his chinchilla Pegasus—brings Spunes to life without falling into caricature. Each character serves a purpose in the larger narrative while maintaining their own distinct personality and motivations.
Where the Setting Occasionally Stumbles
While the small-town atmosphere is generally well-crafted, there are moments where the quirks feel a bit forced, particularly in some of the secondary character interactions. The vacuum cleaner incident that introduces Fisher to the local first responders, while amusing, stretches credibility in a way that temporarily pulls readers out of the story’s emotional reality.
Romance That Sizzles Without Losing Its Soul
Chemistry That Builds Naturally
The romantic development between Sage and Fisher is one of the novel’s strongest elements. DeWitt takes time to build their connection through shared experiences—working together in Sage’s garden, training for the canoe race, exploring the library together. Their attraction feels organic rather than manufactured, growing from genuine compatibility and mutual respect.
The author handles their physical relationship with skill, writing intimate scenes that are both steamy and emotionally resonant. The sunroom scenes, in particular, showcase DeWitt’s ability to blend sensuality with character development, using physical intimacy to reveal emotional truths about both characters.
Navigating the Temporary Romance Dilemma
One of the novel’s most effective elements is how it handles the inherent tension of a summer romance with an expiration date. Both characters are aware from the beginning that Fisher will return to New York at the end of August, which adds genuine stakes to their relationship. The way they navigate this knowledge—sometimes avoiding it, sometimes confronting it head-on—feels psychologically authentic.
Thematic Depth Beyond the Romance
Grief and Healing
DeWitt weaves themes of grief throughout the narrative with surprising sophistication. Both main characters are dealing with loss—Fisher with his sister’s death and career setback, Sage with her parents’ deaths and recent breakup—but the author avoids treating these experiences as identical or easily resolved. The healing that occurs isn’t a magical cure but rather a gradual process of learning to live with loss while remaining open to new joy.
The Value of Community and Chosen Family
Savor It by Tarah DeWitt makes a compelling case for the importance of community connections without romanticizing small-town life. Sage’s relationships with her brothers, her best friend Wren, and even her collection of rescue animals illustrate different forms of chosen family. Fisher and Indy’s relationship evolves throughout the story as they learn to be family to each other in ways that honor Freya’s memory while building something new.
Writing Style and Craft
Voice and Narrative Technique
DeWitt employs dual POV effectively, giving both Sage and Fisher distinct voices that never feel interchangeable. Sage’s narration tends toward optimism tempered by realism, while Fisher’s is more introspective and occasionally darker. The author’s background in contemporary romance shows in her confident handling of pacing and emotional beats.
The writing style is accessible and engaging, with moments of genuine humor that feel natural rather than forced. DeWitt has a particular talent for creating emotional moments that don’t feel manipulative—the scenes between Fisher and Indy, in particular, strike an authentic balance between heartbreak and hope.
Areas for Improvement
While the overall writing is strong, there are occasional instances where the dialogue feels slightly stilted, particularly in some of the secondary character interactions. Additionally, some of the small-town quirks—while charming—occasionally feel like they’re being performed for the reader rather than arising naturally from the characters and situation.
How Savor It Fits in DeWitt’s Growing Body of Work
Compared to Tarah DeWitt’s previous novels like Funny Feelings and The Co-op, Savor It represents a noticeable evolution in the author’s craft. While maintaining the emotional honesty that characterizes her work, this novel shows increased confidence in handling complex themes and a more sophisticated approach to character development. The small-town setting allows DeWitt to explore community dynamics in ways that her previous works, with their more urban or isolated settings, couldn’t quite achieve.
Final Verdict: A Romance Worth Savoring
Savor It by Tarah DeWitt succeeds as both a satisfying romance and a thoughtful exploration of what it means to build a life after loss. While it occasionally stumbles with some overly cute small-town moments and predictable plot beats, the emotional authenticity of the central relationship and the genuine charm of the setting make this a worthwhile read for contemporary romance fans.
The novel’s greatest achievement is its treatment of temporary vs. permanent happiness—the idea that something can be meaningful and transformative even if it doesn’t last forever. This theme resonates throughout the story and gives weight to the central romance that extends beyond the immediate gratification of watching two attractive people fall in love.
For readers who enjoyed similar small-town romances like Beach Read by Emily Henry or The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Savor It by Tarah DeWitt offers comparable emotional satisfaction with its own unique flavor. The promise of more stories set in Spunes with Left of Forever suggests that DeWitt has found a setting worth returning to, and readers will likely be eager to see what other stories this charming coastal town has to tell.