Sage Byrd has been a lifelong resident of Spunes, Oregon. She loves her small town, her animals and the life she has built for herself. However, after she gets dumped by her boyfriend of 5 years, Ian - the town's golden boy, who then announces his engagement to someone else shortly after, on top of being an orphan after losing her parents, Sage is tired of being the town tragedy and badly needs a win for once.

Fisher Lange is a former chef from New York who is struggling with grief after the loss of his sister while also taking over the responsibility of his niece, Indy. He has lost the spark and excitement he once had for his job and seems to be suffering from a burnout that he doesn't know how to get out of, which leads to him losing his job and a Michelin Star.

Having hit a dead end and no clue what his next step will be since he can't seem to cook to save his life, his boss sends him on a sabbatical to Spunes to work on a menu for a new restaurant being set up there. The town people aren't too happy about this change though and in his way of getting the place ready. Needing an in with the people of Spunes to finish up his work without any other further hurdles, he decides to ask Sage for help with dealing with them and in return agrees to partner up with her to participate in their town's annual event.

As they start spending more time together preparing for the event and working their way through convincing the town to give him a chance with the restaurant, Sage and Fisher can't help the growing feelings towards each other. They eventually give in to their attraction knowing all they can have is this summer.

This book dealt with heavy topics like loss of a loved one and grief. It also talks about what it is like to experience a career burnout.

Fisher and Sage got along really well. I like how they got into this easy friendship and as they got to know each other more and spent more time together, their attraction grew as well. As someone who lost her parents and still deals with the grief, Sage's perspective of life helps Fisher reflect on his own and how he dealt with his loss. Which also helps him deal with Indy better.

Sage lives by the idea that every small thing in life counts and must be celebrated and enjoyed cuz you never know when it might all end. She finds the joy and positivity in everything she sees. And though she has a cheery personality, she also longs for a companion. Someone who doesn't belittle her for the way she sees life, but loves her more for it.

Fisher hates small towns because of his own past and what his family had to go through in his old town. But as he spends his summer in Spunes, getting to know the people in it, he can't help but feel a sense of belonging with them.

I loved how both Fisher and Indy kept getting annoyed by the small town clichés but eventually grew to love them. The side characters were fun and I liked them. Again, I always love the small town vibes and Spunes definitely had that.

This was a slow burn and the spice didn't overpower the plot which was good as it gave us time to see the characters deal with their issues and grief and learn how to deal with it to move forward.

I do wish we had more of a bonding between Fisher and Indy rather than her disappearing for long periods of time in the book. I wish they had talked more or opened up more gradually as the story progressed rather than it being abrupt towards the end.

The whole situation with Sage's ex fizzled out and didn't give me the satisfying result I was looking forward to given how she was with him for 5 years and then also made out with Fisher to make him jealous which was never gotten into after that.