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Spunes, OR #2
Left of Forever
An emotional, spicy, second-chance romance from USA Today bestselling author Tarah DeWitt.
This time, they'll get it right.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another…until they fell apart.
Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.
When Sam gets accepted into college and the pair help him move in together, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes with him to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous scenery of the California coastline, dreamy destinations, and a great deal of long-yearned-for proximity, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But the two still have to contend with their tumultuous past in order to move forward. And when spoken words fail, sometimes the written word must bridge the gap.
Will they make the most of what’s left of forever? Or will they let each other go for good?
Brimming with big feelings and packed with steam, Left of Forever is bestseller Tarah DeWitt at the top of her game.
This time, they'll get it right.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another…until they fell apart.
Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.
When Sam gets accepted into college and the pair help him move in together, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes with him to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous scenery of the California coastline, dreamy destinations, and a great deal of long-yearned-for proximity, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But the two still have to contend with their tumultuous past in order to move forward. And when spoken words fail, sometimes the written word must bridge the gap.
Will they make the most of what’s left of forever? Or will they let each other go for good?
Brimming with big feelings and packed with steam, Left of Forever is bestseller Tarah DeWitt at the top of her game.
323 pages, ebook
First published May 20, 2025
1627 people are currently reading
69977 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,282 reviews
June 22, 2025
This is Tarah DeWitt’s best book hands down. The setting is perfect, the characters were fully fleshed-out and relatable, and at times I kind of wanted to jump right into the book. I am officially in love with the big boisterous Byrd family!
The pacing here is beyond superb. While 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒕 was more of a slow burn, particularly because it has to do the heavy lifting of setting the stage for a whole series, this one dives right in - no section dragged, no scene went on for too long.
I love the descriptive language used throughout. There are throw away lines that really help us to understand the characters and situations as much as the full-on dialogue does. “I’m a Heinz57 bottle of emotion, upside down and shaken, waiting for the inevitable plop.” It is these small things that make the book feel entirely relatable even if the reader hasn’t experienced the same set of circumstances.
Wren is such a dynamic character; her fun loving, whimsical nature is perfectly juxtaposed by her deep emotional connections and desire to be a part of something bigger than herself. She is an amazing mom, sister and friend and often some aspect of these characteristics jump off the page every scene she is in. I absolutely adored her. Also, Wren Byrd makes me laugh every time I think about or say it. Poor lady.
Ellis has quite the growth arc in this. He starts out insanely lovable, but he does feel more emotionally stilted at the start. The therapy positivity, especially as it relates to men, is really special here. I loved how much it helps him to understand his own contributions to what went awry in their marriage. He was already the ideal MMC, but his emotional growth took it to a whole other level. I would also say, he more than Wren, had the most romantic lines of the book.
“𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌."
The writing itself feels very seamless as the story flows from past to present, letters to in-person conversation, and especially inner monologue to dialogue. It adds so much more
depth to the story without feeling stilted or forced in any way.
I am a big fan of scenes that include both an internal story and an external one. “Because I can practically touch both ends of this room with my arms spread…𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦…” Not only does this style allow the reader to feel more connected to the character, it also adds depth and makes them feel as though they could exist off of the page entirely. These characters both feel insanely realistic, flaws and all.
Read if you like:
▪️marriage in crisis
▪️second chance
▪️foodie romance
▪️found family
▪️small town
▪️firefighters
▪️road trip fun
I was lucky enough to beta read this one last May and have not stopped thinking about it since. A huge thank you to Tarah DeWitt for trusting me with her baby, and for SMP Romance and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.
CW: ectopic pregnancy, infertility
Check out my Bookstagram post here ♥
Update: it’s just as amazing as a reread on audio! I could not have picked better narrators for Wren and Ellis than Megan Wicks and Connor Crais. You cannot go wrong with this book regardless of the format you read it in.
The pacing here is beyond superb. While 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒕 was more of a slow burn, particularly because it has to do the heavy lifting of setting the stage for a whole series, this one dives right in - no section dragged, no scene went on for too long.
I love the descriptive language used throughout. There are throw away lines that really help us to understand the characters and situations as much as the full-on dialogue does. “I’m a Heinz57 bottle of emotion, upside down and shaken, waiting for the inevitable plop.” It is these small things that make the book feel entirely relatable even if the reader hasn’t experienced the same set of circumstances.
Wren is such a dynamic character; her fun loving, whimsical nature is perfectly juxtaposed by her deep emotional connections and desire to be a part of something bigger than herself. She is an amazing mom, sister and friend and often some aspect of these characteristics jump off the page every scene she is in. I absolutely adored her. Also, Wren Byrd makes me laugh every time I think about or say it. Poor lady.
Ellis has quite the growth arc in this. He starts out insanely lovable, but he does feel more emotionally stilted at the start. The therapy positivity, especially as it relates to men, is really special here. I loved how much it helps him to understand his own contributions to what went awry in their marriage. He was already the ideal MMC, but his emotional growth took it to a whole other level. I would also say, he more than Wren, had the most romantic lines of the book.
“𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌."
The writing itself feels very seamless as the story flows from past to present, letters to in-person conversation, and especially inner monologue to dialogue. It adds so much more
depth to the story without feeling stilted or forced in any way.
I am a big fan of scenes that include both an internal story and an external one. “Because I can practically touch both ends of this room with my arms spread…𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦…” Not only does this style allow the reader to feel more connected to the character, it also adds depth and makes them feel as though they could exist off of the page entirely. These characters both feel insanely realistic, flaws and all.
Read if you like:
▪️marriage in crisis
▪️second chance
▪️foodie romance
▪️found family
▪️small town
▪️firefighters
▪️road trip fun
I was lucky enough to beta read this one last May and have not stopped thinking about it since. A huge thank you to Tarah DeWitt for trusting me with her baby, and for SMP Romance and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.
CW: ectopic pregnancy, infertility
Check out my Bookstagram post here ♥
Update: it’s just as amazing as a reread on audio! I could not have picked better narrators for Wren and Ellis than Megan Wicks and Connor Crais. You cannot go wrong with this book regardless of the format you read it in.
September 2, 2025
3.25/5 stars
Well, I’ll start off by saying that I didn’t end up disliking this book as much as I thought I would, and honestly, that surprised me. I went into it with the lowest expectations possible because the hype around it was everywhere when it first came out, and that usually makes me hesitant. I just kept wondering what it was about this story that had everyone talking, but at the time, I wasn’t really in the mood for it, so I put it off for quite a while.
And then there’s the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of second-chance romances I only really love them if they’re done just right, and if you know, you know. But going in with that mindset actually made me appreciate it more. It wasn’t perfect, but it had this certain charm that caught me off guard, and I think that’s why I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to.
➳ ABOUT THE BOOK
This story follows two high school sweethearts who fell in love young and ended up having a baby way earlier than they were prepared for. Even though they weren’t exactly ready, they still chose to keep their child and poured all their love into raising him. Over time, they truly became wonderful parents, but as they grew older, they realized that maybe they weren’t the best fit for each other as partners. For reasons they couldn’t ignore, they decided to part ways.
Fast forward five years life kept crossing their paths, little moments here and there, and each time they saw one another, they couldn’t shake off how much they missed what they once had. When their son finally graduated, they took a celebratory trip together, hoping to figure out if there was still something left between them. And well, you can guess what happened next duh it’s a second chance romance after all! They both came to see that their love for each other never really went away, and with a little effort and willingness, all the issues that once pulled them apart could finally be mended.
➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
╰┈➤ WREN BYRD
See, I absolutely adored Wren’s character, she was like the entire powerhouse of this book, the kind of character who doesn’t just exist on paper but actually breathes, feels, and carries the whole story on her shoulders. Honestly, she was the heartbeat, the soul, the anchor of everything. This gorgeous, resilient woman felt like the reason I kept turning every single page. I wasn’t just reading for the story anymore; I was reading for her. I wanted to see her win, to have everything she deserved and more, because she just radiated that kind of raw, honest energy that makes you want to root for her endlessly.
What I loved the most was how she wasn’t painted as this impossibly perfect, untouchable heroine. Instead, Wren knew her flaws, acknowledged them, and carried them with grace rather than denial. That made her real. That made her human. And that right there is so rare in book characters these days, so many of them feel like carefully constructed figures, like “characters” in the truest sense, but Wren? She felt like someone you could meet, talk to, cry with, laugh with. She felt alive.
Her struggles, her thoughts, the misunderstandings she faced, the way she navigated love and pain every single aspect of her journey was written in such a raw, vulnerable, yet strong way. The depth of her motherly love, the way she fiercely showed up for her son, the way her connections to people mattered to her, even when life got messy… it was beautiful. And then there was her strength not the kind that’s loud or flashy, but the kind that comes from enduring, from growing, from choosing to rise no matter how heavy things felt. That kind of strength is what made me fall in love with her character.
To me, Wren wasn’t just a protagonist; she felt like home. And as a reader, that’s the magic, when a character stops being ink on paper and instead becomes someone you carry with you long after the book ends. That’s what Wren was for me, and that’s why I’ll never forget her.
╰┈➤ ELLIS BYRD
Many of you probably won’t agree with me on this, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like Ellis. Trust me, I tried. I gave it a fair shot, I tried for almost half the book to connect with him, to see what others might see in his character, but no matter how much effort I put in, I just couldn’t care. And when I say I tried, I mean I fucking tried, like genuinely sat there waiting for something in him to click with me. But every attempt failed miserably.
To me, Ellis carried the emotional maturity of a teenager. Honestly, at times, his own son felt more open, aware, and emotionally intelligent than he did. And that really threw me off. Because here you have this grown man who’s supposed to be a partner, a father, and yet he couldn’t, for the life of him, tap into his own feelings, let alone his wife’s. But then, as the story unfolded, I began to understand him a bit more. I understood why he was the way he was, the closed-off nature, the detachment, the walls he built.
Did that understanding suddenly make me love him? Nope. Not even close. But it did make me see him as a person rather than just a frustrating character on paper. It gave me context. Still, I couldn’t help but wish he had been written with even half the depth that Wren was given. Wren was layered, complex, so heartbreakingly real, and then there was Ellis, who felt flat in comparison. Like, you can’t pour all this brilliance into one character and then leave the other one trailing behind.
For a large part of the book, I found Ellis genuinely annoying. Not in the entertaining, “ugh-I-love-to-hate-you” way, but in the “why-are-you-like-this?” way. And I couldn’t even pinpoint it at first. It was only later that I realized, it was his dismissiveness. The way he brushed off Wren’s struggles, the way he couldn’t be bothered to see her pain, even when it was right there. Like, sir, you eventually managed to understand what your wife went through her journals, but why couldn’t you notice before? Why did it take written words for you to finally get that she was drowning and needed you to be her anchor? That part literally infuriated me.
But then, because I have to give credit where it’s due once the confessions happened and he actually started working on himself, there was a shift. Slowly, Ellis began showing up in ways that mattered. The little gestures, the changes, the effort, those moments softened me a little. They didn’t erase the earlier frustrations, but they made me see glimpses of the partner he could be when he finally got his head out of the sand.
So, yes, I still have mixed feelings about him. On one hand, he was flawed, raw, very human, but also, let’s be real, kind of boring at times. On the other, when he finally cracked Wren’s love language and learned how to give her the affection and reassurance she deserved, he didn’t miss a beat. He was romantic at heart, but it took him forever to figure out how to love properly. And by then, I had already decided I’d never fully love him the way I loved Wren.
➳ FINAL THOUGHTS
Let me sum it all up by saying this: I really wanted to love this book. Truly. So many people I know have adored it, cherished it, cried over it, and basically held it so close to their hearts. And while I did end up liking it actually loving parts of it, especially certain characters it just wasn’t the all-consuming, heart-shattering experience I thought it would be.
To be fair to the book, a huge part of this could be me. I stopped reading it for a good 15–20 days in the middle of it because, well, life happens. Between university exams, being sick, and moving into a new apartment, I simply didn’t have the energy to pick up a book. And honestly, when you leave a story hanging for that long and then come back, sometimes the emotional connection just doesn’t click the same way. I think that’s what happened here. I felt a little cut off from the flow of the story, like I had lost my rhythm with it. So when I came back, I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the emotions again.
That said, there were still things I really loved. Wren, for example. She was the only character I felt truly attached to, and I genuinely adored her. I found myself looking forward to her chapters, her voice, her growth. She felt layered, flawed, and beautifully human. But outside of her, I honestly struggled to understand why this book holds such a special place in so many readers’ hearts. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the fact that I took such a long break mid-read, but I couldn’t grab onto that same magic others did.
And here’s where my biggest issue lies: the reconciliation phase. For a second chance romance which is already tricky because it hinges on the balance of angst, heartbreak, and healing, that part is everything. It’s what the whole book builds toward. And to me, it just fell short. It felt so brief, almost rushed, like the author skipped over the very thing I was dying to read. Where was the yearning? Where was the drawn-out tension that makes your chest ache? Where were the tears, the vulnerability, the late-night conversations where they actually break everything open and work through it? Don’t get me wrong, the angry love confession i LOVED that part. It had so much fire and rawness. But then suddenly, instead of diving deeper into their pain and growth, we got a montage of roaming around, having sex, reading journals, laughing together, and then… poof. The problems just didn’t seem to matter anymore.
Would I have loved it more if it had slowed down? Absolutely. I wanted those hard conversations, the ones where you sit down and spill everything you’ve been holding in for years, the ones that make you believe in their second chance. Instead, it all felt a little too easy, a little too neat. And that, for me, is the difference between a second chance romance that feels unforgettable and one that just leaves me wishing it had gone deeper.
➳ "Overall, if you’re a big fan of second chance romances, and especially if you love characters that feel like real humans with real, messy, complicated emotions, then this might end up being perfect for you." 💌
— "Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review."
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
୨ৎ pre-read:
⤿ started - July 21, 2025
about to dive into another BookTok fave, not sure how it’ll go, but fingers crossed🤞🏼💕
“If you’re lost, I’ll find you. I’ll give you my body, my heart, and my soul. I’ll cherish every bit of yours in return. I’ll fight with you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get."
Well, I’ll start off by saying that I didn’t end up disliking this book as much as I thought I would, and honestly, that surprised me. I went into it with the lowest expectations possible because the hype around it was everywhere when it first came out, and that usually makes me hesitant. I just kept wondering what it was about this story that had everyone talking, but at the time, I wasn’t really in the mood for it, so I put it off for quite a while.
And then there’s the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of second-chance romances I only really love them if they’re done just right, and if you know, you know. But going in with that mindset actually made me appreciate it more. It wasn’t perfect, but it had this certain charm that caught me off guard, and I think that’s why I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to.
➳ ABOUT THE BOOK
“Because you make up half of my soul. Because as desperate as I am to be near you, to be inside you, I’m terrified that having you this close again will also remind you of all the parts of me you wanted to leave."
This story follows two high school sweethearts who fell in love young and ended up having a baby way earlier than they were prepared for. Even though they weren’t exactly ready, they still chose to keep their child and poured all their love into raising him. Over time, they truly became wonderful parents, but as they grew older, they realized that maybe they weren’t the best fit for each other as partners. For reasons they couldn’t ignore, they decided to part ways.
Fast forward five years life kept crossing their paths, little moments here and there, and each time they saw one another, they couldn’t shake off how much they missed what they once had. When their son finally graduated, they took a celebratory trip together, hoping to figure out if there was still something left between them. And well, you can guess what happened next duh it’s a second chance romance after all! They both came to see that their love for each other never really went away, and with a little effort and willingness, all the issues that once pulled them apart could finally be mended.
“I hated going to work. I hated that I couldn’t hate you. When I said I wanted out and you didn’t fight me at all, I thought I might, but the closest I ever got was hating myself. I couldn’t hate you, couldn’t even stay angry with you, Because I know you. I know what kind of man you are. I. Love. You. I would choose you. Over everything! Over everyone. I still would. I still love you. Whatever you want from me, Ellis. It’s all yours. It’s always been yours.”
➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
╰┈➤ WREN BYRD
“If you’re lost, I’ll find you. I’ll give you my body, my heart, and my soul. I’ll cherish every bit of yours in return. I’ll fight with you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get."
See, I absolutely adored Wren’s character, she was like the entire powerhouse of this book, the kind of character who doesn’t just exist on paper but actually breathes, feels, and carries the whole story on her shoulders. Honestly, she was the heartbeat, the soul, the anchor of everything. This gorgeous, resilient woman felt like the reason I kept turning every single page. I wasn’t just reading for the story anymore; I was reading for her. I wanted to see her win, to have everything she deserved and more, because she just radiated that kind of raw, honest energy that makes you want to root for her endlessly.
What I loved the most was how she wasn’t painted as this impossibly perfect, untouchable heroine. Instead, Wren knew her flaws, acknowledged them, and carried them with grace rather than denial. That made her real. That made her human. And that right there is so rare in book characters these days, so many of them feel like carefully constructed figures, like “characters” in the truest sense, but Wren? She felt like someone you could meet, talk to, cry with, laugh with. She felt alive.
Her struggles, her thoughts, the misunderstandings she faced, the way she navigated love and pain every single aspect of her journey was written in such a raw, vulnerable, yet strong way. The depth of her motherly love, the way she fiercely showed up for her son, the way her connections to people mattered to her, even when life got messy… it was beautiful. And then there was her strength not the kind that’s loud or flashy, but the kind that comes from enduring, from growing, from choosing to rise no matter how heavy things felt. That kind of strength is what made me fall in love with her character.
To me, Wren wasn’t just a protagonist; she felt like home. And as a reader, that’s the magic, when a character stops being ink on paper and instead becomes someone you carry with you long after the book ends. That’s what Wren was for me, and that’s why I’ll never forget her.
╰┈➤ ELLIS BYRD
“it terrifies me to think that I might’ve let this life go by without finding my way back to you. Never again, Wren. I promise. Never again. I’m not letting you go. And if you’re mad at me about this and if you think I kept this from you to manipulate you or something, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you that I didn’t, if you’ll let me. If you won’t have me back anymore, then I’ll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself."
Many of you probably won’t agree with me on this, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like Ellis. Trust me, I tried. I gave it a fair shot, I tried for almost half the book to connect with him, to see what others might see in his character, but no matter how much effort I put in, I just couldn’t care. And when I say I tried, I mean I fucking tried, like genuinely sat there waiting for something in him to click with me. But every attempt failed miserably.
To me, Ellis carried the emotional maturity of a teenager. Honestly, at times, his own son felt more open, aware, and emotionally intelligent than he did. And that really threw me off. Because here you have this grown man who’s supposed to be a partner, a father, and yet he couldn’t, for the life of him, tap into his own feelings, let alone his wife’s. But then, as the story unfolded, I began to understand him a bit more. I understood why he was the way he was, the closed-off nature, the detachment, the walls he built.
Did that understanding suddenly make me love him? Nope. Not even close. But it did make me see him as a person rather than just a frustrating character on paper. It gave me context. Still, I couldn’t help but wish he had been written with even half the depth that Wren was given. Wren was layered, complex, so heartbreakingly real, and then there was Ellis, who felt flat in comparison. Like, you can’t pour all this brilliance into one character and then leave the other one trailing behind.
For a large part of the book, I found Ellis genuinely annoying. Not in the entertaining, “ugh-I-love-to-hate-you” way, but in the “why-are-you-like-this?” way. And I couldn’t even pinpoint it at first. It was only later that I realized, it was his dismissiveness. The way he brushed off Wren’s struggles, the way he couldn’t be bothered to see her pain, even when it was right there. Like, sir, you eventually managed to understand what your wife went through her journals, but why couldn’t you notice before? Why did it take written words for you to finally get that she was drowning and needed you to be her anchor? That part literally infuriated me.
But then, because I have to give credit where it’s due once the confessions happened and he actually started working on himself, there was a shift. Slowly, Ellis began showing up in ways that mattered. The little gestures, the changes, the effort, those moments softened me a little. They didn’t erase the earlier frustrations, but they made me see glimpses of the partner he could be when he finally got his head out of the sand.
So, yes, I still have mixed feelings about him. On one hand, he was flawed, raw, very human, but also, let’s be real, kind of boring at times. On the other, when he finally cracked Wren’s love language and learned how to give her the affection and reassurance she deserved, he didn’t miss a beat. He was romantic at heart, but it took him forever to figure out how to love properly. And by then, I had already decided I’d never fully love him the way I loved Wren.
➳ FINAL THOUGHTS
Let me sum it all up by saying this: I really wanted to love this book. Truly. So many people I know have adored it, cherished it, cried over it, and basically held it so close to their hearts. And while I did end up liking it actually loving parts of it, especially certain characters it just wasn’t the all-consuming, heart-shattering experience I thought it would be.
To be fair to the book, a huge part of this could be me. I stopped reading it for a good 15–20 days in the middle of it because, well, life happens. Between university exams, being sick, and moving into a new apartment, I simply didn’t have the energy to pick up a book. And honestly, when you leave a story hanging for that long and then come back, sometimes the emotional connection just doesn’t click the same way. I think that’s what happened here. I felt a little cut off from the flow of the story, like I had lost my rhythm with it. So when I came back, I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the emotions again.
That said, there were still things I really loved. Wren, for example. She was the only character I felt truly attached to, and I genuinely adored her. I found myself looking forward to her chapters, her voice, her growth. She felt layered, flawed, and beautifully human. But outside of her, I honestly struggled to understand why this book holds such a special place in so many readers’ hearts. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the fact that I took such a long break mid-read, but I couldn’t grab onto that same magic others did.
And here’s where my biggest issue lies: the reconciliation phase. For a second chance romance which is already tricky because it hinges on the balance of angst, heartbreak, and healing, that part is everything. It’s what the whole book builds toward. And to me, it just fell short. It felt so brief, almost rushed, like the author skipped over the very thing I was dying to read. Where was the yearning? Where was the drawn-out tension that makes your chest ache? Where were the tears, the vulnerability, the late-night conversations where they actually break everything open and work through it? Don’t get me wrong, the angry love confession i LOVED that part. It had so much fire and rawness. But then suddenly, instead of diving deeper into their pain and growth, we got a montage of roaming around, having sex, reading journals, laughing together, and then… poof. The problems just didn’t seem to matter anymore.
Would I have loved it more if it had slowed down? Absolutely. I wanted those hard conversations, the ones where you sit down and spill everything you’ve been holding in for years, the ones that make you believe in their second chance. Instead, it all felt a little too easy, a little too neat. And that, for me, is the difference between a second chance romance that feels unforgettable and one that just leaves me wishing it had gone deeper.
“We have whatever’s left of forever, you and me.”
➳ "Overall, if you’re a big fan of second chance romances, and especially if you love characters that feel like real humans with real, messy, complicated emotions, then this might end up being perfect for you." 💌
— "Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review."
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
୨ৎ pre-read:
⤿ started - July 21, 2025
about to dive into another BookTok fave, not sure how it’ll go, but fingers crossed🤞🏼💕
May 13, 2025
જ⁀➴ 4 ✰
Left of forever follows Wren and Ellis Byrd, two former high school sweethearts who fell in love young, had a son as teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. Now in their 30s and divorced, Wren runs a local bakery while Ellis works as a firefighter. Though they’ve gone their separate ways, their connection never fully faded. When their son Sam leaves for college, Ellis convinces Wren to take a scenic road trip back home with him along the California coast. As they revisit old memories and spend time together in close quarters, old feelings resurface, and they begin to wonder if they might still have a future. But before they can start over, they’ll have to face the pain, mistakes, and unresolved issues that led to their breakup in the first place.
➳ my thoughts:
GUYS, this book was amazing!! 🤩 I honestly don’t know what it is, but the second chance and marriage-in-crisis tropes always hit me right in the heart—and this one was no exception. There’s just something so powerful and deeply emotional about watching two people who once loved each other try to piece things back together. It’s not just about falling in love again—it’s about remembering the love that was always there, even beneath all the hurt and distance. Watching a couple slowly peel back the layers of what went wrong, all while you know they still love each other fiercely? It’s the kind of ache that’s absolutely worth it. This trope becomes even more special when it’s centered around a divorced couple or a marriage on the brink. There’s so much raw vulnerability, history, and hope tangled up in that kind of story. If second chance romance is your thing, you need to add this to your TBR immediately.
I won’t lie—I went into this with hesitation. My last experience with a Tarah book really let me down, and I was nervous this one would follow the same path. But I’m so glad I gave it a chance. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. I devoured this book, completely swept up in their journey. I felt every flicker of hope, and found myself desperately rooting for them to find their way back to each other. It was emotional, romantic, and beautifully written.
I haven’t been married, and obviously that means I’ve never experienced a divorce either. So normally, you’d think it might be hard to fully connect with characters going through something so specific and personal. But that wasn’t the case at all. I felt everything—their heartbreak, their longing, their hope—as if it were my own. That, to me, is the mark of a good storytelling. The way the author captured the rawness of their emotions, the weight of their history, and the quiet ache of what could still be… it was amazing. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t lived through what the characters had—because the writing made me feel like I had. On top of that, the pacing of the story was really nice. It gave the characters space to grow, reflect, and heal.
Normally, when I pick up a second chance romance, I crave flashback chapters. I always feel like they help me connect more deeply with the characters—like they fill in those emotional gaps and show me exactly what went wrong and why it matters. So I was a little surprised that this book didn’t rely on traditional flashbacks. But honestly? It didn’t need them. The way the story unfolds gives you everything you need to understand their past, and why their love still lingers beneath all the cracks.
So yes, as a proud, self-declared second chance romance lover, I can say with full confidence: this is one is a second chance book well made!!
I just feel like something was missing for me to give this 5 stars, can’t put my finger on it, might be some of the sex scenes because they were really cringe. I think it’s important to say that this book rely more on the low stakes and low angst imo. Also I dnf’ed savor it last year and I kind of regretted it while reading this because I feel like there’s so much vague context of things that happened in that book and when they mentioned here I felt left out lol. But it still didn’t ruined my enjoyment of this book!
➳ characters:
ೃ࿐ Wren Salem Byrd
I love her so much—she’s such an incredibly strong and inspiring character. A devoted friend, a loving daughter, and a caring mother. After having a baby at just 17, she poured every ounce of herself into the responsibilities that came with motherhood. Somewhere along the way, she stopped dreaming for herself. She gave so much to everyone else that she forgot she was allowed to want things, to hope, to imagine a future that was hers alone.
What I adored most was watching her journey back to herself. The quiet, determined way she began to rediscover who she was beyond being a mom. Her story is such a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to dream again. It’s never too late to choose you. Her growth felt so authentic, and it truly moved me.
ೃ࿐ Elis Byrd
Did someone say hot firefighter? 😏 Because yes please—sign me up! He’s easily one of my favorite lover boys ever. The way he’s absolutely gone for Wren? Obsessed. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a whipped man who would do anything to win his girl back?
What made him stand out, though, wasn’t just the swoony moments (though there were plenty). It was the way he took real initiative to rebuild what he and Wren had lost. He didn’t sit back or wait for fate to work things out—he fought for her. He was ready to do whatever it took, no hesitation, because that’s how much she meant to him.
And then there’s his character arc—so, so well done. At the beginning, he was emotionally closed off, guarded in a way that made you ache for him. But watching him gradually open up, allowing himself to be vulnerable and grow into a better, more emotionally available version of himself? It was everything.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚✿ °. Elis & Wren:
⤷ The Byrdsㅤ♡
They are the definition of soulmates—two people who were always meant to find their way back to each other. The yearning between them was absolutely exquisite. And the vulnerability they shared? It was everything I love to see in a couple. They loved each other so deeply, so completely, and even after all the years and heartbreak, that love never faded—it just waited.🥹
What made their story hit even harder was the weight they carried. Both of them had to take on so much responsibility at such a young age—becoming caretakers long before they were ready. And sadly, that burden came between them. It was heartbreaking to witness how much they still longed for each other, how fiercely they still wanted to be together, but simply didn’t know how to bridge the distance. That quiet ache of “I still love you, but I don’t know how to reach you” was so raw, so real, and so beautifully portrayed.
And through it all, they remained incredible parents. Even after their marriage ended, they never let their pain get in the way of raising their son. They co-parented with love, with mutual respect, and built a home where their child could thrive. Honestly, that’s one of the most powerful things they could have done—and it spoke volumes about the kind of people they are. They may have lost each other for a time, but they never lost sight of what mattered most. And now that they’ve found their way back? It feels like the universe finally got it right.
💌 tropes:
ꨄ︎ second chance
ꨄ︎ dual pov
ꨄ︎ childhood friends to lovers to divorced couple to lovers
ꨄ︎ found family
ꨄ︎ road trip
-‘๑’- my favorite quotes & scenes
possible spoilers mentioned
・❥・ “Because you make up half of my soul.”
・❥・ “And I think … I think if Wren goes before I do, my body would probably give out. I can’t imagine I’d be long for this life.”
・❥・“I. Love. You. I would choose you. Over everything! Over everyone.” He’s a statue other than a rogue tear tracking down his cheek. “I still would. I still love you.” I put both hands over my breastbone like I can hold my heart in place there, the cage of my ribs not enough to keep me together. “Whatever you want from me, Ellis. It’s all yours. It’s always been yours.”
・❥・ “If you won’t have me back anymore, then I’ll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself. The way I have felt about you has been the only thing that’s felt like … like it can’t be contained in one body or lifetime.”
・❥・ “I kiss her because she’s kind and clever and so pretty it takes my breath away. She’s mine and I’m hers, and all my life’s greatest happiness can be traced back to her, so I kiss her because I want to, and forget the rest.
・❥・ “She’s kissing me. Her lips are on mine after five long years. Five hundred years. She’s kissing me. I’m home.”
・❥・ “I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”
・❥・“I’m just saying. My DNA mixed with yours, and it altered your very bones, Byrd.”
・❥・ “I still want you in my life … more. More than whatever this has been.”
・❥・“You are … you’re more beautiful than ever, Wren.”
・❥・ “He’s worked so hard. He’s trying and he’s earnest, and I somehow forgot just how disarming and sweet. I don’t know how I could have ever forgotten all these parts of him.”
thank you so much st. Martin’s Griffin for the arc
ᝰ.ᐟ pre-read: ᯓᡣ𐭩୭˚.
My expectations with Tarah’s book are really low after all the books by her I read lately have been a disappointment BUT this one is second chance and marriage in crisis😭 2 of my most soul wrenching tropes so I hope this delivers🤞🏻
_________
I got the arc!!! but I don’t even remember requesting this
⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ “I’ll cherish every bit of yours in return. I’ll fight with you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.” ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹
Left of forever follows Wren and Ellis Byrd, two former high school sweethearts who fell in love young, had a son as teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. Now in their 30s and divorced, Wren runs a local bakery while Ellis works as a firefighter. Though they’ve gone their separate ways, their connection never fully faded. When their son Sam leaves for college, Ellis convinces Wren to take a scenic road trip back home with him along the California coast. As they revisit old memories and spend time together in close quarters, old feelings resurface, and they begin to wonder if they might still have a future. But before they can start over, they’ll have to face the pain, mistakes, and unresolved issues that led to their breakup in the first place.
➳ my thoughts:
GUYS, this book was amazing!! 🤩 I honestly don’t know what it is, but the second chance and marriage-in-crisis tropes always hit me right in the heart—and this one was no exception. There’s just something so powerful and deeply emotional about watching two people who once loved each other try to piece things back together. It’s not just about falling in love again—it’s about remembering the love that was always there, even beneath all the hurt and distance. Watching a couple slowly peel back the layers of what went wrong, all while you know they still love each other fiercely? It’s the kind of ache that’s absolutely worth it. This trope becomes even more special when it’s centered around a divorced couple or a marriage on the brink. There’s so much raw vulnerability, history, and hope tangled up in that kind of story. If second chance romance is your thing, you need to add this to your TBR immediately.
I won’t lie—I went into this with hesitation. My last experience with a Tarah book really let me down, and I was nervous this one would follow the same path. But I’m so glad I gave it a chance. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. I devoured this book, completely swept up in their journey. I felt every flicker of hope, and found myself desperately rooting for them to find their way back to each other. It was emotional, romantic, and beautifully written.
I haven’t been married, and obviously that means I’ve never experienced a divorce either. So normally, you’d think it might be hard to fully connect with characters going through something so specific and personal. But that wasn’t the case at all. I felt everything—their heartbreak, their longing, their hope—as if it were my own. That, to me, is the mark of a good storytelling. The way the author captured the rawness of their emotions, the weight of their history, and the quiet ache of what could still be… it was amazing. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t lived through what the characters had—because the writing made me feel like I had. On top of that, the pacing of the story was really nice. It gave the characters space to grow, reflect, and heal.
⋆˚⊹“My chest is an empty, barren cavern without her. My heart took shape around hers, too, and it will never go back.”⋆˚⊹
Normally, when I pick up a second chance romance, I crave flashback chapters. I always feel like they help me connect more deeply with the characters—like they fill in those emotional gaps and show me exactly what went wrong and why it matters. So I was a little surprised that this book didn’t rely on traditional flashbacks. But honestly? It didn’t need them. The way the story unfolds gives you everything you need to understand their past, and why their love still lingers beneath all the cracks.
⋆˚⊹“I’m begging you to fight with me, do anything with me. Just be with me.”⋆˚⊹
So yes, as a proud, self-declared second chance romance lover, I can say with full confidence: this is one is a second chance book well made!!
I just feel like something was missing for me to give this 5 stars, can’t put my finger on it, might be some of the sex scenes because they were really cringe. I think it’s important to say that this book rely more on the low stakes and low angst imo. Also I dnf’ed savor it last year and I kind of regretted it while reading this because I feel like there’s so much vague context of things that happened in that book and when they mentioned here I felt left out lol. But it still didn’t ruined my enjoyment of this book!
➳ characters:
ೃ࿐ Wren Salem Byrd
⭑.ᐟ ”I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”
I love her so much—she’s such an incredibly strong and inspiring character. A devoted friend, a loving daughter, and a caring mother. After having a baby at just 17, she poured every ounce of herself into the responsibilities that came with motherhood. Somewhere along the way, she stopped dreaming for herself. She gave so much to everyone else that she forgot she was allowed to want things, to hope, to imagine a future that was hers alone.
What I adored most was watching her journey back to herself. The quiet, determined way she began to rediscover who she was beyond being a mom. Her story is such a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to dream again. It’s never too late to choose you. Her growth felt so authentic, and it truly moved me.
ೃ࿐ Elis Byrd
⭑.ᐟ “He’s spent so much of his life spread thin between roles: brother, father, husband, (reluctant) leader.”
Did someone say hot firefighter? 😏 Because yes please—sign me up! He’s easily one of my favorite lover boys ever. The way he’s absolutely gone for Wren? Obsessed. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a whipped man who would do anything to win his girl back?
What made him stand out, though, wasn’t just the swoony moments (though there were plenty). It was the way he took real initiative to rebuild what he and Wren had lost. He didn’t sit back or wait for fate to work things out—he fought for her. He was ready to do whatever it took, no hesitation, because that’s how much she meant to him.
And then there’s his character arc—so, so well done. At the beginning, he was emotionally closed off, guarded in a way that made you ache for him. But watching him gradually open up, allowing himself to be vulnerable and grow into a better, more emotionally available version of himself? It was everything.
⋆˚⊹“This man is studying. He’s … he’s taking it so seriously. Not just trying to do what I want him to in order to get us back but learning from before.”⋆˚⊹
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚✿ °. Elis & Wren:
⤷ The Byrdsㅤ♡
They are the definition of soulmates—two people who were always meant to find their way back to each other. The yearning between them was absolutely exquisite. And the vulnerability they shared? It was everything I love to see in a couple. They loved each other so deeply, so completely, and even after all the years and heartbreak, that love never faded—it just waited.🥹
What made their story hit even harder was the weight they carried. Both of them had to take on so much responsibility at such a young age—becoming caretakers long before they were ready. And sadly, that burden came between them. It was heartbreaking to witness how much they still longed for each other, how fiercely they still wanted to be together, but simply didn’t know how to bridge the distance. That quiet ache of “I still love you, but I don’t know how to reach you” was so raw, so real, and so beautifully portrayed.
⋆˚⊹“We belong to each other in ways no one else ever will.”⋆˚⊹
And through it all, they remained incredible parents. Even after their marriage ended, they never let their pain get in the way of raising their son. They co-parented with love, with mutual respect, and built a home where their child could thrive. Honestly, that’s one of the most powerful things they could have done—and it spoke volumes about the kind of people they are. They may have lost each other for a time, but they never lost sight of what mattered most. And now that they’ve found their way back? It feels like the universe finally got it right.
⋆˚⊹“I promise I’ll fight with you more,” I say. I’ll fight for you more, too. “Even if things don’t . .” I don’t want to finish that sentence.
“I’ll fight with you, too,” he says, grinning genuinely now. “Even if things don’t.”⋆˚⊹
💌 tropes:
ꨄ︎ second chance
ꨄ︎ dual pov
ꨄ︎ childhood friends to lovers to divorced couple to lovers
ꨄ︎ found family
ꨄ︎ road trip
-‘๑’- my favorite quotes & scenes
possible spoilers mentioned
・❥・ “Because you make up half of my soul.”
・❥・ “And I think … I think if Wren goes before I do, my body would probably give out. I can’t imagine I’d be long for this life.”
・❥・“I. Love. You. I would choose you. Over everything! Over everyone.” He’s a statue other than a rogue tear tracking down his cheek. “I still would. I still love you.” I put both hands over my breastbone like I can hold my heart in place there, the cage of my ribs not enough to keep me together. “Whatever you want from me, Ellis. It’s all yours. It’s always been yours.”
・❥・ “If you won’t have me back anymore, then I’ll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself. The way I have felt about you has been the only thing that’s felt like … like it can’t be contained in one body or lifetime.”
・❥・ “I kiss her because she’s kind and clever and so pretty it takes my breath away. She’s mine and I’m hers, and all my life’s greatest happiness can be traced back to her, so I kiss her because I want to, and forget the rest.
・❥・ “She’s kissing me. Her lips are on mine after five long years. Five hundred years. She’s kissing me. I’m home.”
・❥・ “I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”
・❥・“I’m just saying. My DNA mixed with yours, and it altered your very bones, Byrd.”
・❥・ “I still want you in my life … more. More than whatever this has been.”
・❥・“You are … you’re more beautiful than ever, Wren.”
・❥・ “He’s worked so hard. He’s trying and he’s earnest, and I somehow forgot just how disarming and sweet. I don’t know how I could have ever forgotten all these parts of him.”
thank you so much st. Martin’s Griffin for the arc
ᝰ.ᐟ pre-read: ᯓᡣ𐭩୭˚.
My expectations with Tarah’s book are really low after all the books by her I read lately have been a disappointment BUT this one is second chance and marriage in crisis😭 2 of my most soul wrenching tropes so I hope this delivers🤞🏻
_________
I got the arc!!! but I don’t even remember requesting this
July 27, 2024
this was a BANGER, i fear
June 21, 2025
marriage counselors hate this one trick (get pepper dick to impress your ex-wife)
June 22, 2025
✩ 5 stars ✩
What to Expect:
➼ Second Chance
➼ Small Town
➼ Slow Burn
➼ Forced Proximity
➼ Only One Bed
➼ Mutual Pining
➼ Road Trip
➼ Baker x Firefighter
➼ Childhood Friends-to-Lovers
➼ Divorced Co-parents
➼ Duet Narration
➼ Dual First Person POV
“We have whatever's left of forever, you and me.”
As a self proclaimed second chance romance hater, believe me when I say that this was so good! Savor It and now this?! Tarah DeWitt has really hit her stride. 🙌🏻 Such a phenomenal read!
I am completely obsessed with Wren and Ellis Byrd. 😍 I absolutely loved their story. The letters, the road trip, the yearning, all the amazing quotes… just perfection. 🤌🏻 They were so clearly meant to be together, but the idea that they might grow apart after infertility issues and other family hardships seemed very plausible especially considering they were only teenagers when their son was born.
Ellis tried to plan the perfect road trip to give them the best shot at reconciliation, but I was glad that many things didn’t go according to plan. Life isn’t perfect and there will inevitably be lots of bumps along the way. Their trip felt like a trial run to see if they could truly lean on each other and function as a healthy team. They had both put in the work to better themselves as individuals and this trip was the first step in working towards being better partners for each other. This was really such a sweet read and such an aesthetically pleasing book! 😍 Duet narration is always my fave so I’d definitely recommend listening to this one if you can!
Here are a few of my favorite quotes…
“I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”
“I kiss her because she’s kind and clever and so pretty it takes my breath away. She’s mine and I’m hers, and all of my life’s greatest happiness can be traced back to her, so I kiss her because I want to, and forget the rest.”
“All I know is that if I found out heaven was real and got there first? I’d hang back in the waiting room and save you a seat.”
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Pre-read: There are only like 3 second chance romances that I’ve truly loved, but I have high hopes that this will be the 4th!
Fingers crossed for 5 stars! 🤞🏻✨
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Happy release day to this beautiful book! I’m dying to read this!! 😍😍😍
Cover reveal! Ahhh!! It’s so pretty!
I loved Savor It so much and have such high hopes for this one! 🥹💖
Need this now!
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
Connect with me on Instagram
What to Expect:
➼ Second Chance
➼ Small Town
➼ Slow Burn
➼ Forced Proximity
➼ Only One Bed
➼ Mutual Pining
➼ Road Trip
➼ Baker x Firefighter
➼ Childhood Friends-to-Lovers
➼ Divorced Co-parents
➼ Duet Narration
➼ Dual First Person POV
“We have whatever's left of forever, you and me.”
As a self proclaimed second chance romance hater, believe me when I say that this was so good! Savor It and now this?! Tarah DeWitt has really hit her stride. 🙌🏻 Such a phenomenal read!
I am completely obsessed with Wren and Ellis Byrd. 😍 I absolutely loved their story. The letters, the road trip, the yearning, all the amazing quotes… just perfection. 🤌🏻 They were so clearly meant to be together, but the idea that they might grow apart after infertility issues and other family hardships seemed very plausible especially considering they were only teenagers when their son was born.
Ellis tried to plan the perfect road trip to give them the best shot at reconciliation, but I was glad that many things didn’t go according to plan. Life isn’t perfect and there will inevitably be lots of bumps along the way. Their trip felt like a trial run to see if they could truly lean on each other and function as a healthy team. They had both put in the work to better themselves as individuals and this trip was the first step in working towards being better partners for each other. This was really such a sweet read and such an aesthetically pleasing book! 😍 Duet narration is always my fave so I’d definitely recommend listening to this one if you can!
Here are a few of my favorite quotes…
“I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”
“I kiss her because she’s kind and clever and so pretty it takes my breath away. She’s mine and I’m hers, and all of my life’s greatest happiness can be traced back to her, so I kiss her because I want to, and forget the rest.”
“All I know is that if I found out heaven was real and got there first? I’d hang back in the waiting room and save you a seat.”
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Pre-read: There are only like 3 second chance romances that I’ve truly loved, but I have high hopes that this will be the 4th!
Fingers crossed for 5 stars! 🤞🏻✨
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Happy release day to this beautiful book! I’m dying to read this!! 😍😍😍
Cover reveal! Ahhh!! It’s so pretty!
I loved Savor It so much and have such high hopes for this one! 🥹💖
Need this now!
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
Connect with me on Instagram
June 8, 2025
જ⁀➴ 3.75 stars (rounded up to 4)
Thank you to NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt, and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Left of Forever is available now!
Update (6/8/2025): I forgot to update this last week because I was busy, but the Aardvark Books subscription box in the US and Canada is offering SIGNED EDITIONS of Left of Forever as one of their June 2025 selections! Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone was thinking about getting a copy :)
⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚ ⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚ ⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚ ⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚ ⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡° ✮˖ ࣪ ⊹⋆.˚ ⋆˚☆˖°⋆｡°
Okay, now that I'm done reading this--life got in the way the last couple of days--I can officially say I was right. This is a second-chance romance done right and probably the best second-chance romance I've read in a long while. I wasn't too sure how this was going to go because I wasn't the biggest fan of Savor It, but I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed reading this! In the midst of all of the two and three-star reads I've had this month, this was a diamond in the rough, and I never wanted the story to end.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love when they were kids. After Wren gets pregnant with their son, Sam, at the age of seventeen, they get married, move into a house, and raise him while they also care for Ellis's family with his younger siblings in tow. Fast forward to now, and they've been divorced for five years and have moved on with their lives, but Sam is the glue that's keeping things amicable...and the fact that they still have unspoken feelings for each other. When Sam announces that he's moving out for college, Ellis makes a proposition to Wren: after they drop Sam off, they spend one week together traveling to see if they can reconcile and make things right and perhaps, get back together and start anew.
First off, I want to preface this but saying that you do NOT have to read Savor It before reading Left of Forever. Tarah DeWitt also makes this disclaimer at the beginning of the book, but do be advised that there are minor spoilers for Sage and Fisher's story at the beginning. Left of Forever is divided up into 3 parts, with the first part being a flashback that overlaps with the events at the ending of Savor It if you're looking for a specific timeline. You don't need to read Sage and Fisher's overall story to understand what's going on with Wren and Ellis, but if you want the full, immersive reading experience with the small-town feels and vibes and a better understanding of the characters in Spunes, I'd definitely read Savor It first.
To me, this was the best second-chance romance I've read since Final Offer by Lauren Asher. I had SUCH a hard time getting into Savor It, but I started reading Left of Forever and I couldn't stop. Life got busy for a few days, and the only thing I was thinking about was wanting to read this book. I think that's one of those feelings that pushes a book from a 3-star read to a four or five-star read for me- when the book is so good you're UPSET when you can't read it or don't have the time to. I loved the pining, the unresolved feelings, and the tension between Wren and Ellis. You could tell that the feelings were still most definitely there and they still care for each other, because you would for someone who's been your high school sweetheart and has been in each other's lives for literal DECADES at this point. Sure, Sam was the glue that kept them together and kept things amicable between the two after the divorce, but they did an amazing job raising him and making sure that their divorce and their issues never got in the way of parenting Sam.
However, in retrospect, this also made me somewhat confused. I can tell that Wren and Ellis still care about each other to the point where I could practically feel the tension and the love just pouring out of the page and jumping out at me screaming, "THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, CAN'T YOU TELL?!" but at the same time, if they really still did love and care for each other, I have an extremely hard time believing that they couldn't try to work things out given the circumstances that led up to their divorce. In Wren's words to Ellis, "You robbed me of you!"
Now, I've never been married, which means logically, I've never been divorced, but I also know that there's a lot more stuff that goes into why people divorce, and it's not always necessarily a black and white situation. However, given the (little) information that we know about the beginning of the end for Wren and Ellis leading up to it all, I'm somewhat shocked that they didn't attempt to fix things--moreso Ellis than Wren--if they truly loved and cared for each other THAT much. I think the story could've expanded a little more on everything leading up to the divorce in the first place.
The one thing this story was lacking, in my opinion, was the flashbacks that we so commonly see in other second-chance romances. I think that would've helped tremendously with building Ellis and Wren's backstory and everything leading up to their divorce. We get little hints of past (mostly petty) arguments and issues here and there, but never to the point where we get a full, detailed backstory. If I could compare this to another popular second chance romance that a ton of people have read, I'd say that it was sort of along the same lines as Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher where we get brief flashbacks of Dahlia and Julian but never a full backstory, and that's another couple who were childhood friends as well so they'd have DECADES of backstory.
With all of that being said, I feel like as much tension and pining and angst as there was, this felt very low stakes for a second-chance romance where the HEA is practically guaranteed from the start. It almost felt insta-lovey at times, and I know it sounds stupid to say because this is a second-chance romance and they already had lingering feelings from before because they obviously still love each other, but aside from a third-act conflict that probably lasted like, 2-3 pages AT MOST, I feel like there could’ve been more done with it. I would've loved to see more of Ellis and Wren talking through their issues rather than ah....physically, if you're picking up what I'm putting down.
(Also, just as a side note: how do they not recognize each other's handwriting? How have you guys been together for literal decades and not know what each other's handwriting looks like? If you know, you know.)
Onto the main characters:
⋆˙⟡♡ Wren: I just want to give her a giant hug for everything that she's been through. She's a loving mother, daughter, and friend, and I loved that she was able to let go and rediscover herself on the road trip back from moving Sam into his apartment.
⋆˙⟡♡ Ellis: Well...I also kinda wanna give him a hug for everything he's been through. I understand why he had to do what he needed to do at the time given the cards that life has dealt him, but I also see the alternate scenario where none of this would've happened if he put in more effort from the beginning in learning Wren's feelings on a deeper level and learning how to express his feelings better. I know he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders at such a young age, and I can relate to the idea of everyone needing something from you to the point where you have no pieces left to give and you're just...exhausted. However, he was so determined to get Wren back throughout the entire story, and I loved that. I love it when a man grovels lol.
Overall, what a great second-chance romance story! If you're looking for a summer beach read or just a summer read in general, I'd definitely recommend this book! Bonus points if you read this while camping or going on a road trip for the full experience that Wren and Ellis go through lol. I was nervous going into reading this, but I'm so glad I read it and finished it. I can't wait to see what Tarah DeWitt has in store for Spunes, OR next! (I want a story about Silas...or maybe Micah and Kirby??? We shall see.)
P.S. I'm never going to be able to look at ice cream the same way ever again, and I'm not just saying that because I'm lactose intolerant.💀
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Trigger/content warnings (these were all provided by Tarah DeWitt at the beginning of the book!): off-page ectopic pregnancy, conversations referencing infertility in the past, explicit language, sexual content, death of an unknown character that occurs off page, caused by a fire
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⋆˙⟡ 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓊𝓅𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒 (5/19/2025, 8:10 AM EST): Just wanted to document this here somewhere that wasn't a regular status update so I can go back to this and see if I still feel the same way when I'm done reading: guys...I think this might be my new favorite second-chance romance book since I read Final Offer by Lauren Asher. This is second-chance romance done RIGHT. 💖
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: I finally made it- this is the eighth and last ARC I need to read for May! I can't believe I did it, but I did, and here we are! I JUST finished Savor It literally not even an hour ago at the time of writing this, and I immediately downloaded my eARC for Left of Forever!
I realized that this is about THE Wren and Ellis, and I swear a lightbulb went off in my head. I could sense the tension between them during Savor It, and now we get a whole book about them?! Sign me up. I don't know why I've read so many second-chance romances this month; I swear they're finding me and not the other way around😂 I didn't like Savor It as much as I thought I would, so I'm hoping this second-chance romance delivers!🤞🏼🍀 And as always, whoever the cover artist is for all of Tarah DeWitt's books DID NOT MISS!🧡💚🖤✨🌅🌳
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Read my review for Savor It here!💜🩷
Thank you to NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt, and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Left of Forever is available now!
Update (6/8/2025): I forgot to update this last week because I was busy, but the Aardvark Books subscription box in the US and Canada is offering SIGNED EDITIONS of Left of Forever as one of their June 2025 selections! Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone was thinking about getting a copy :)
"We earned the scars and those tender spots in our stories. They're not things we have to hide or feel embarrassed or awkward about. We deserve to talk about them, no matter how we do that or how we get there."
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Okay, now that I'm done reading this--life got in the way the last couple of days--I can officially say I was right. This is a second-chance romance done right and probably the best second-chance romance I've read in a long while. I wasn't too sure how this was going to go because I wasn't the biggest fan of Savor It, but I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed reading this! In the midst of all of the two and three-star reads I've had this month, this was a diamond in the rough, and I never wanted the story to end.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love when they were kids. After Wren gets pregnant with their son, Sam, at the age of seventeen, they get married, move into a house, and raise him while they also care for Ellis's family with his younger siblings in tow. Fast forward to now, and they've been divorced for five years and have moved on with their lives, but Sam is the glue that's keeping things amicable...and the fact that they still have unspoken feelings for each other. When Sam announces that he's moving out for college, Ellis makes a proposition to Wren: after they drop Sam off, they spend one week together traveling to see if they can reconcile and make things right and perhaps, get back together and start anew.
First off, I want to preface this but saying that you do NOT have to read Savor It before reading Left of Forever. Tarah DeWitt also makes this disclaimer at the beginning of the book, but do be advised that there are minor spoilers for Sage and Fisher's story at the beginning. Left of Forever is divided up into 3 parts, with the first part being a flashback that overlaps with the events at the ending of Savor It if you're looking for a specific timeline. You don't need to read Sage and Fisher's overall story to understand what's going on with Wren and Ellis, but if you want the full, immersive reading experience with the small-town feels and vibes and a better understanding of the characters in Spunes, I'd definitely read Savor It first.
To me, this was the best second-chance romance I've read since Final Offer by Lauren Asher. I had SUCH a hard time getting into Savor It, but I started reading Left of Forever and I couldn't stop. Life got busy for a few days, and the only thing I was thinking about was wanting to read this book. I think that's one of those feelings that pushes a book from a 3-star read to a four or five-star read for me- when the book is so good you're UPSET when you can't read it or don't have the time to. I loved the pining, the unresolved feelings, and the tension between Wren and Ellis. You could tell that the feelings were still most definitely there and they still care for each other, because you would for someone who's been your high school sweetheart and has been in each other's lives for literal DECADES at this point. Sure, Sam was the glue that kept them together and kept things amicable between the two after the divorce, but they did an amazing job raising him and making sure that their divorce and their issues never got in the way of parenting Sam.
However, in retrospect, this also made me somewhat confused. I can tell that Wren and Ellis still care about each other to the point where I could practically feel the tension and the love just pouring out of the page and jumping out at me screaming, "THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, CAN'T YOU TELL?!" but at the same time, if they really still did love and care for each other, I have an extremely hard time believing that they couldn't try to work things out given the circumstances that led up to their divorce. In Wren's words to Ellis, "You robbed me of you!"
Now, I've never been married, which means logically, I've never been divorced, but I also know that there's a lot more stuff that goes into why people divorce, and it's not always necessarily a black and white situation. However, given the (little) information that we know about the beginning of the end for Wren and Ellis leading up to it all, I'm somewhat shocked that they didn't attempt to fix things--moreso Ellis than Wren--if they truly loved and cared for each other THAT much. I think the story could've expanded a little more on everything leading up to the divorce in the first place.
The one thing this story was lacking, in my opinion, was the flashbacks that we so commonly see in other second-chance romances. I think that would've helped tremendously with building Ellis and Wren's backstory and everything leading up to their divorce. We get little hints of past (mostly petty) arguments and issues here and there, but never to the point where we get a full, detailed backstory. If I could compare this to another popular second chance romance that a ton of people have read, I'd say that it was sort of along the same lines as Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher where we get brief flashbacks of Dahlia and Julian but never a full backstory, and that's another couple who were childhood friends as well so they'd have DECADES of backstory.
With all of that being said, I feel like as much tension and pining and angst as there was, this felt very low stakes for a second-chance romance where the HEA is practically guaranteed from the start. It almost felt insta-lovey at times, and I know it sounds stupid to say because this is a second-chance romance and they already had lingering feelings from before because they obviously still love each other, but aside from a third-act conflict that probably lasted like, 2-3 pages AT MOST, I feel like there could’ve been more done with it. I would've loved to see more of Ellis and Wren talking through their issues rather than ah....physically, if you're picking up what I'm putting down.
(Also, just as a side note: how do they not recognize each other's handwriting? How have you guys been together for literal decades and not know what each other's handwriting looks like? If you know, you know.)
Onto the main characters:
⋆˙⟡♡ Wren: I just want to give her a giant hug for everything that she's been through. She's a loving mother, daughter, and friend, and I loved that she was able to let go and rediscover herself on the road trip back from moving Sam into his apartment.
⋆˙⟡♡ Ellis: Well...I also kinda wanna give him a hug for everything he's been through. I understand why he had to do what he needed to do at the time given the cards that life has dealt him, but I also see the alternate scenario where none of this would've happened if he put in more effort from the beginning in learning Wren's feelings on a deeper level and learning how to express his feelings better. I know he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders at such a young age, and I can relate to the idea of everyone needing something from you to the point where you have no pieces left to give and you're just...exhausted. However, he was so determined to get Wren back throughout the entire story, and I loved that. I love it when a man grovels lol.
Overall, what a great second-chance romance story! If you're looking for a summer beach read or just a summer read in general, I'd definitely recommend this book! Bonus points if you read this while camping or going on a road trip for the full experience that Wren and Ellis go through lol. I was nervous going into reading this, but I'm so glad I read it and finished it. I can't wait to see what Tarah DeWitt has in store for Spunes, OR next! (I want a story about Silas...or maybe Micah and Kirby??? We shall see.)
P.S. I'm never going to be able to look at ice cream the same way ever again, and I'm not just saying that because I'm lactose intolerant.💀
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Trigger/content warnings (these were all provided by Tarah DeWitt at the beginning of the book!): off-page ectopic pregnancy, conversations referencing infertility in the past, explicit language, sexual content, death of an unknown character that occurs off page, caused by a fire
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⋆˙⟡ 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓊𝓅𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒 (5/19/2025, 8:10 AM EST): Just wanted to document this here somewhere that wasn't a regular status update so I can go back to this and see if I still feel the same way when I'm done reading: guys...I think this might be my new favorite second-chance romance book since I read Final Offer by Lauren Asher. This is second-chance romance done RIGHT. 💖
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: I finally made it- this is the eighth and last ARC I need to read for May! I can't believe I did it, but I did, and here we are! I JUST finished Savor It literally not even an hour ago at the time of writing this, and I immediately downloaded my eARC for Left of Forever!
I realized that this is about THE Wren and Ellis, and I swear a lightbulb went off in my head. I could sense the tension between them during Savor It, and now we get a whole book about them?! Sign me up. I don't know why I've read so many second-chance romances this month; I swear they're finding me and not the other way around😂 I didn't like Savor It as much as I thought I would, so I'm hoping this second-chance romance delivers!🤞🏼🍀 And as always, whoever the cover artist is for all of Tarah DeWitt's books DID NOT MISS!🧡💚🖤✨🌅🌳
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Read my review for Savor It here!💜🩷
February 25, 2025
i can't buy a single one of those five-star ratings for this book.
⊹ wren and ellis are like two toddlers trapped in grown-up bodies, and their communication skills are leveled to zero.
⊹ they couldn't even figure out each other's handwriting after swapping letters.
⊹ it just only took a couple of dialogues for them to realize they were head over heels for each other.
⊹ they managed to get a divorce without even having a decent conversation.
thank you st. martin's press and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!
⤿ childhood friends to lovers
⤿ second chance
⤿ marriage in crisis
⤿ road trip
⤿ small town
౨ৎ ⋮ more by tarah dewitt
─ savor it
─ co-op
─ rootbound
⊹ wren and ellis are like two toddlers trapped in grown-up bodies, and their communication skills are leveled to zero.
⊹ they couldn't even figure out each other's handwriting after swapping letters.
⊹ it just only took a couple of dialogues for them to realize they were head over heels for each other.
⊹ they managed to get a divorce without even having a decent conversation.
thank you st. martin's press and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!
⤿ childhood friends to lovers
⤿ second chance
⤿ marriage in crisis
⤿ road trip
⤿ small town
౨ৎ ⋮ more by tarah dewitt
─ savor it
─ co-op
─ rootbound
February 15, 2025
➸ 4.5 stars
𓍢⊹ ࣪ thank you to netgalley, the publishers, and tarah dewitt for the advanced readers copy!!
oh gosh i don’t even know where to start!! i loved this book so so much! savor it was one of my first ever arcs, and i love that book so so so much! from first meeting wren and ellis, i immediately wanted a book about them and their story, now here it is and i got the opportunity to read an early copy of it! i cannot tell you how excited i was for this and i can’t believe i actually read this and just thinking about this book again is making me emotional!!
from first opening the ebook i was hit with an AMAZING playlist with so many of my favorite songs that absolutely WRECK me!! i blank stared at the wall for like five minutes just KNOWING this book was going to hurt (and oh did it hurt) tarah dewitt knows how to make book playlists fr!!!
this story immediately gripped me from the very beginning. it was so emotionally beautiful in a way i can’t even describe. this is one of the best second chance romance i’ve ever read. ellis and wren will forever have a place in my heart. i love angst and yearning in a book, and this one DELIVERED. the amount of pining and yearning oh god it was too good! the emotion paired with amazing humor and a beautiful atmospheric setting made me feel like i was transported into this story! the romance between wren and ellis was so utterly beautiful and oh was the tension hot and through the freaking roof!! every time ellis said “baby” i literally freaked out, screamed, giggled and kicked my feet… screamed some more… (!!!!!!)
i love these characters soso much (have i said that already? probably! but i can’t say it enough!) I LOVE THE BYRDS!!!!! <3
i wish i could include all my favorite quotes, but then i’d practically be copy and pasting the entire book onto this review (im not kidding, i have hundreds of kindle highlights…)
i loved being back in this world again, especially having lots of sage and fisher scenes (the ending… iykyk!!!! i was crying happy tears!!!!) and indy and her goose? OH I LOVED i was literally cheesing every time they appeared!!!
is it selfish of me to want two more books in this world with silas and micah? i need more of these lovely brothers!!!! i can’t get enough of this world and i would read about this characters forever!
anyways!!! i loved this book. i love these characters. i love this world. tarah dewitt is easily one of my favorite romance authors and i can’t wait for everyone to read this book!!!! :)
“I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.”
𓍢⊹ ࣪ thank you to netgalley, the publishers, and tarah dewitt for the advanced readers copy!!
oh gosh i don’t even know where to start!! i loved this book so so much! savor it was one of my first ever arcs, and i love that book so so so much! from first meeting wren and ellis, i immediately wanted a book about them and their story, now here it is and i got the opportunity to read an early copy of it! i cannot tell you how excited i was for this and i can’t believe i actually read this and just thinking about this book again is making me emotional!!
from first opening the ebook i was hit with an AMAZING playlist with so many of my favorite songs that absolutely WRECK me!! i blank stared at the wall for like five minutes just KNOWING this book was going to hurt (and oh did it hurt) tarah dewitt knows how to make book playlists fr!!!
this story immediately gripped me from the very beginning. it was so emotionally beautiful in a way i can’t even describe. this is one of the best second chance romance i’ve ever read. ellis and wren will forever have a place in my heart. i love angst and yearning in a book, and this one DELIVERED. the amount of pining and yearning oh god it was too good! the emotion paired with amazing humor and a beautiful atmospheric setting made me feel like i was transported into this story! the romance between wren and ellis was so utterly beautiful and oh was the tension hot and through the freaking roof!! every time ellis said “baby” i literally freaked out, screamed, giggled and kicked my feet… screamed some more… (!!!!!!)
i love these characters soso much (have i said that already? probably! but i can’t say it enough!) I LOVE THE BYRDS!!!!! <3
i wish i could include all my favorite quotes, but then i’d practically be copy and pasting the entire book onto this review (im not kidding, i have hundreds of kindle highlights…)
i loved being back in this world again, especially having lots of sage and fisher scenes (the ending… iykyk!!!! i was crying happy tears!!!!) and indy and her goose? OH I LOVED i was literally cheesing every time they appeared!!!
is it selfish of me to want two more books in this world with silas and micah? i need more of these lovely brothers!!!! i can’t get enough of this world and i would read about this characters forever!
anyways!!! i loved this book. i love these characters. i love this world. tarah dewitt is easily one of my favorite romance authors and i can’t wait for everyone to read this book!!!! :)
February 25, 2025
when a book has you crying tears of happiness, you know it’s a 6/5 ⭐️
THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING.
—second chance romance
—def one of Tarah’s spiciest books yet
—road trip
—slow burn
Literally obsessed with Wren and Ellis. They are magic weaved within each others DNA, and absolutely unputdownable. They are now engraved into my brain chemistry. Their tension, banter, heartbreaking moments, truth, rawness, and relationship development is everything and more.
If you’re a lover of beautiful writing with heart felt romance that will break your heart but put it back together again, Left of Forever is a MUST read. I’m begging you to read this book. On my knees because it’s really THAT good. You will cry, laugh, swoon, blush, melt, and everything in between when you read this book.
Tarah, you’ve done it again. You’ve made me fall in love and I am forever grateful.
thank you Tarah for spoiling me with an early copy of this book.
THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING.
—second chance romance
—def one of Tarah’s spiciest books yet
—road trip
—slow burn
Literally obsessed with Wren and Ellis. They are magic weaved within each others DNA, and absolutely unputdownable. They are now engraved into my brain chemistry. Their tension, banter, heartbreaking moments, truth, rawness, and relationship development is everything and more.
If you’re a lover of beautiful writing with heart felt romance that will break your heart but put it back together again, Left of Forever is a MUST read. I’m begging you to read this book. On my knees because it’s really THAT good. You will cry, laugh, swoon, blush, melt, and everything in between when you read this book.
Tarah, you’ve done it again. You’ve made me fall in love and I am forever grateful.
thank you Tarah for spoiling me with an early copy of this book.
May 5, 2025
THE AUDIO WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I EXPECTED IT TO BE 😭 i had SOOOOO much fun binge listening to this one while traveling/driving this weekend!!! i absolutely love this book so much and even though this is now my second time reading it in the last few months im already excited for the next time i crack this baby open 🤭
~~~
last year i was lucky enough to receive the arc for savor it and i am not exaggerating when i say i have been AGONIZING over wanting and needing wren and ellis’ book. i was immediately obsessed with them and their story, in a letter from tarah before the start of this book she says “wren and ellis jumped out at me so viscerally” and that is exactly how i felt about them during my time reading sage and fishers story, while i was obsessed with them and had the best time reading their book i was yearning for these Byrds.
i am to my core a massive slut for second chance romances ESPECIALLY when they are already divorced or its a marriage in crisis, so i think it was pretty safe to assume i was going to devour this (which i did). this book will without a doubt be a top 3 read for me this year (it would solidly be #1 right this moment if i hadn’t read ATYD a few weeks ago… so #2 by just a smidge it is).
this book had me in a chokehold from start to finish, the way you could just feel the yearning and how much the wanted/needed each other like no other it felt so ridiculously palpable to me 😩
there is quite literally so much i want to squeal and yap about but i am going to force myself to shut up right now because everyone deserves to read this with the experience of not knowing what youre gonna get. its hot, its passionate, its emotionally painful, its P E R F E C T
~~~
last year i was lucky enough to receive the arc for savor it and i am not exaggerating when i say i have been AGONIZING over wanting and needing wren and ellis’ book. i was immediately obsessed with them and their story, in a letter from tarah before the start of this book she says “wren and ellis jumped out at me so viscerally” and that is exactly how i felt about them during my time reading sage and fishers story, while i was obsessed with them and had the best time reading their book i was yearning for these Byrds.
i am to my core a massive slut for second chance romances ESPECIALLY when they are already divorced or its a marriage in crisis, so i think it was pretty safe to assume i was going to devour this (which i did). this book will without a doubt be a top 3 read for me this year (it would solidly be #1 right this moment if i hadn’t read ATYD a few weeks ago… so #2 by just a smidge it is).
this book had me in a chokehold from start to finish, the way you could just feel the yearning and how much the wanted/needed each other like no other it felt so ridiculously palpable to me 😩
there is quite literally so much i want to squeal and yap about but i am going to force myself to shut up right now because everyone deserves to read this with the experience of not knowing what youre gonna get. its hot, its passionate, its emotionally painful, its P E R F E C T
May 20, 2025
𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆. 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑭𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.
Excuse me while I recover from this masterpiece. THIS. IS. WHAT. SECOND. CHANCE. ROMANCE. TRULY. IS!!!!! 😭💔💞
They were married. Got divorced. Five years passed. And Ellis Byrd? He decides he wants his wife back. AGHHH ‼️‼️
This book made me feel everything! Starting with watching two people navigate the heartbreak of what they once were, to trying to be “friends” (well, let's be real who were they kidding), to slowly giving themselves permission to ask… what if? 😮💨
“𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,” 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚. 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒐. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 . .” 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
BOTH CHARACTERS? ❤️🔥 Absolute perfection. They are beautifully written with real demons they needed to face during those five years apart. That we find out that slowly, they did. So when 'fate' 🐴brings them together again, you feel every beat of what they could be. Every interaction is loaded with tension, pain, history, and undeniable love. And when Ellis finally says, “No more. I want her,” and Wren starts seeing the little things that made her fall in love with him again… My HEART 💘
It’s not easy for Wren. She’s scared and rightfully so! But the way their reconnection is paced slow, vulnerable, layered AHHHH it makes the entire journey feel so real. Like a rollercoaster you want to ride, even knowing it might scare you.
𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 … 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔.
You get it ALL here!!!! Ellis and Wren go through the good, the bad, and the ugly to decide if love is worth the risk a second time. Spoiler: it is. I cried 😭😭😭 More than once. Even knowing it was a HEA, how they got there destroyed me in the best way. Because when you know… you know. Even if five years have passed 🥹
Why 5 stars?
Easy. I cried, which makes it automatic 5 stars.
But seriously!!! Ellis and Wren’s healing journey, both individually and together, is so raw, so authentic, that even after the epilogue, you just know they’ll make it. They will be together, for what’s left of forever 😭💫
If you love second chance romance, vulnerability, small town vibes, and that slow, aching rekindling after so long apart… READ. THIS. BOOK. You’ll eat it up. Promise!!!!!!
tropes
🧡 second chance romance
🧡 small town
🧡 road trip
🧡 forced proximity
🧡 he pines for her
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
➳ 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ I am so freaking excited for this second chance romance specially since we met them in Savor It AHHH, Thank you St.Martin Press and Netgalley for my eARC
Excuse me while I recover from this masterpiece. THIS. IS. WHAT. SECOND. CHANCE. ROMANCE. TRULY. IS!!!!! 😭💔💞
They were married. Got divorced. Five years passed. And Ellis Byrd? He decides he wants his wife back. AGHHH ‼️‼️
This book made me feel everything! Starting with watching two people navigate the heartbreak of what they once were, to trying to be “friends” (well, let's be real who were they kidding), to slowly giving themselves permission to ask… what if? 😮💨
“𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,” 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚. 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒐. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 . .” 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
BOTH CHARACTERS? ❤️🔥 Absolute perfection. They are beautifully written with real demons they needed to face during those five years apart. That we find out that slowly, they did. So when 'fate' 🐴brings them together again, you feel every beat of what they could be. Every interaction is loaded with tension, pain, history, and undeniable love. And when Ellis finally says, “No more. I want her,” and Wren starts seeing the little things that made her fall in love with him again… My HEART 💘
It’s not easy for Wren. She’s scared and rightfully so! But the way their reconnection is paced slow, vulnerable, layered AHHHH it makes the entire journey feel so real. Like a rollercoaster you want to ride, even knowing it might scare you.
𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 … 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔.
You get it ALL here!!!! Ellis and Wren go through the good, the bad, and the ugly to decide if love is worth the risk a second time. Spoiler: it is. I cried 😭😭😭 More than once. Even knowing it was a HEA, how they got there destroyed me in the best way. Because when you know… you know. Even if five years have passed 🥹
Why 5 stars?
Easy. I cried, which makes it automatic 5 stars.
But seriously!!! Ellis and Wren’s healing journey, both individually and together, is so raw, so authentic, that even after the epilogue, you just know they’ll make it. They will be together, for what’s left of forever 😭💫
If you love second chance romance, vulnerability, small town vibes, and that slow, aching rekindling after so long apart… READ. THIS. BOOK. You’ll eat it up. Promise!!!!!!
tropes
🧡 second chance romance
🧡 small town
🧡 road trip
🧡 forced proximity
🧡 he pines for her
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
➳ 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ I am so freaking excited for this second chance romance specially since we met them in Savor It AHHH, Thank you St.Martin Press and Netgalley for my eARC
October 16, 2025
I loved this. Dare I say this is Tarah’s best work? Super sweet.
May 8, 2025
so so so perfect in every way possible 😭❤️🩹 rtc
love me a good second chance romance so let's go 🤸🏽♀️ also the cover 🤌🏻😩
love me a good second chance romance so let's go 🤸🏽♀️ also the cover 🤌🏻😩
April 18, 2025
Gripping, steamy, sexy, evoking emotion, charming, thrilling and hard to put down! Left of Forever had me falling in love with Tarah DeWitt's writing all over again! Tarah DeWitt first came on my radar when I read and loved, Savor It. If you have read that book, you may recognize some of the characters in this book! If you love second chance romances, this is the book for you! I adored both Wren and Ellis Byrd. They fell in love as teenagers, got pregnant, got married, then got divorced. Both are likeable and enjoyable characters who had me rooting for them the entire book. They are both relatable, likeable, vulnerable, and warm. They grew up together, grew apart, yet always longed for the other. Sigh.
I was instantly invested in this book from the very beginning. I loved the sense of community, friendship, and family. I also loved how readers get both Ellis and Wren's POV's. This was a very nice touch and plays out wonderfully in the audiobook! As I mentioned, I felt for both characters and the journey they both went on individually and together. Their journey is not just an emotional one, they go on a physical one after they drop their son, Sam off at college.
Several of the pluses for me in this book, besides the characters, are the emphasis on communication, being open and honest, being vulnerable, listening, and working on oneself. There is also talk of therapy and growth. There are also fun moments, great banter, longing, heartfelt moments, steam, and adventure. The supporting characters are awesome as well.
Wonderfully written, well thought out and perfectly paced. My biggest beef in romance books is rushed endings. Nothing felt rushed or dragged out in this book. Everything evolved at a steady and realistic pace.
I was lucky enough to have both the book and audiobook version of this book! The narrators of this book, Connor Crais and Megan Wicks, did an amazing job of bringing this book to life. If you have not read a book by Tarah DeWitt, what are you waiting for???? I have loved the two books that I have read by this author and will be reading more as soon as possible.
Charming, heartwarming, sexy, streamy, emotional and brimming with love. I highly recommend Left of Forever!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
I was instantly invested in this book from the very beginning. I loved the sense of community, friendship, and family. I also loved how readers get both Ellis and Wren's POV's. This was a very nice touch and plays out wonderfully in the audiobook! As I mentioned, I felt for both characters and the journey they both went on individually and together. Their journey is not just an emotional one, they go on a physical one after they drop their son, Sam off at college.
Several of the pluses for me in this book, besides the characters, are the emphasis on communication, being open and honest, being vulnerable, listening, and working on oneself. There is also talk of therapy and growth. There are also fun moments, great banter, longing, heartfelt moments, steam, and adventure. The supporting characters are awesome as well.
Wonderfully written, well thought out and perfectly paced. My biggest beef in romance books is rushed endings. Nothing felt rushed or dragged out in this book. Everything evolved at a steady and realistic pace.
I was lucky enough to have both the book and audiobook version of this book! The narrators of this book, Connor Crais and Megan Wicks, did an amazing job of bringing this book to life. If you have not read a book by Tarah DeWitt, what are you waiting for???? I have loved the two books that I have read by this author and will be reading more as soon as possible.
Charming, heartwarming, sexy, streamy, emotional and brimming with love. I highly recommend Left of Forever!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
July 21, 2025
4.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
This, my friends, is how you write a slow burn, second chance romance.
This book is a unicorn in the romance genre, featuring two main characters who actually communicate like adults, which is rare since most books in this genre rely on miscommunication and third-act conflicts to move the story forward.
I didn’t realize this was the second book in a series when I started it. I was able to follow the story just fine, but I definitely would’ve had a better grasp of the characters’ history and the supporting cast if I’d read the first book. That one’s on me for not checking first.
I loved Wren and Ellis. Their story and situation were so relatable, and I was rooting for them the whole time. This wasn’t the light and fluffy read I was hoping for after my last two books, with some heavier topics addressed, but I still really enjoyed it.
This, my friends, is how you write a slow burn, second chance romance.
This book is a unicorn in the romance genre, featuring two main characters who actually communicate like adults, which is rare since most books in this genre rely on miscommunication and third-act conflicts to move the story forward.
I didn’t realize this was the second book in a series when I started it. I was able to follow the story just fine, but I definitely would’ve had a better grasp of the characters’ history and the supporting cast if I’d read the first book. That one’s on me for not checking first.
I loved Wren and Ellis. Their story and situation were so relatable, and I was rooting for them the whole time. This wasn’t the light and fluffy read I was hoping for after my last two books, with some heavier topics addressed, but I still really enjoyed it.
September 9, 2025
Holy shit dude I actually sobbed reading this. Wren and Ellis have my heart.
February 16, 2025
I am pretty sure this book changed my life. I am a mess 😭
I am a sucker for a marriage in crisis (or in this case divorced couple) book. It's so real and raw and had me so unbelievably emotional. The way Ellis was yearning for Wren had me in my feels!! And the character growth, ughhh.. spectacular!
This was so incredibly beautiful from start to finish. The little moments during the road trip were legit everything & I will forever be thinking about this heartwarming second chance between Wren & Ellis.
Marriages are never perfect and sometimes the struggles can be heavy at times. This book just hit specifically hard for me as a married woman. It truly made me reflect and had me so emotional thinking about the love my husband and I share for one another. It is truly a beautiful story and I highly recommend it!! (read Savor It first if you can)
Quotes:
"She's kissing me. I'm home."
"The alchemy of our bodies and the way my skin still remembers his is a part of that. He said it himself before: he's altered my very DNA."
What to expect:
-Divorced Couple
-Childhood Lovers
-Small Town
-Second Chance
-Road Trip
-Child (off to college)
I am a sucker for a marriage in crisis (or in this case divorced couple) book. It's so real and raw and had me so unbelievably emotional. The way Ellis was yearning for Wren had me in my feels!! And the character growth, ughhh.. spectacular!
This was so incredibly beautiful from start to finish. The little moments during the road trip were legit everything & I will forever be thinking about this heartwarming second chance between Wren & Ellis.
Marriages are never perfect and sometimes the struggles can be heavy at times. This book just hit specifically hard for me as a married woman. It truly made me reflect and had me so emotional thinking about the love my husband and I share for one another. It is truly a beautiful story and I highly recommend it!! (read Savor It first if you can)
Quotes:
"She's kissing me. I'm home."
"The alchemy of our bodies and the way my skin still remembers his is a part of that. He said it himself before: he's altered my very DNA."
What to expect:
-Divorced Couple
-Childhood Lovers
-Small Town
-Second Chance
-Road Trip
-Child (off to college)
November 17, 2025
For fans of spicy, emotional, character-driven books.
I'm completely obsessed with these characters and love how in depth, real and flawed they feel. Ellis is a hell of a caretaker and I loved that he knew what he wanted and took steps to make it happen. Wren deserves to be treated with care and love. I was eager to to see her happy and worshipped. The side characters are well fleshed out and their inclusion leaves us wanting more. I cannot wait to read the rest of the family's stories.
Where I think this book fell a bit short was the overall pacing and the major lack of angst. We didn't get to see them struggle at all, and only got snippets of their past issues via the MCs "little confessions" to each other during the road trip. We saw none of their "tumultuous past" play out, and it made their HEA seem entirely too easy. I also would have loved to see Ellis's journey to becoming "worthy" via therapy and reflection on their past, rather than just be told it happened. I really wanted more tension in regards to the spice. I expected an achingly painful build-up before we finally got to the banging.
This felt more like a character study with spice. Certainly a good book, but it lacked the balance of plot/character/spice that would have made this a phenomenal book for me.
Whats to love...
- Emotional
- well-developed characters
- family forward
- spicy
- second-chance romance
- 30+ MCs
- Mustached MMC
What not to love...
- Pacing was my biggest issue with this one. The first 30% made me want to DNF, then we did pretty good for a while, until it got spicy way too quick (imho) and then rounded out with the worlds quickest 3rd act conflict (a few paragraphs maybe?) and then a chapter that felt like it should have been an epilogue and then the actual epilogue.
- low stakes, low angst, but plenty of lusting and sexual attraction. Personally I wanted the stakes to be higher, the angst to be leveled up 10 notches, and the burn to be much slower for a marriage reconciliation book.
🌶️- The spice starts in Ch 23 and continues pretty frequently for the rest of the book. This would be a great one for when you're ovulating. It'll make you cry and also set your panties on 🔥
Audio Narration: 5/5 I LOVED the narration. These two did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life and I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not listened to the audiobook.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press (eARC) and Macmillian Audio (ALC) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
4.25⭐️| IG | TikTok |
I'm completely obsessed with these characters and love how in depth, real and flawed they feel. Ellis is a hell of a caretaker and I loved that he knew what he wanted and took steps to make it happen. Wren deserves to be treated with care and love. I was eager to to see her happy and worshipped. The side characters are well fleshed out and their inclusion leaves us wanting more. I cannot wait to read the rest of the family's stories.
Where I think this book fell a bit short was the overall pacing and the major lack of angst. We didn't get to see them struggle at all, and only got snippets of their past issues via the MCs "little confessions" to each other during the road trip. We saw none of their "tumultuous past" play out, and it made their HEA seem entirely too easy. I also would have loved to see Ellis's journey to becoming "worthy" via therapy and reflection on their past, rather than just be told it happened. I really wanted more tension in regards to the spice. I expected an achingly painful build-up before we finally got to the banging.
This felt more like a character study with spice. Certainly a good book, but it lacked the balance of plot/character/spice that would have made this a phenomenal book for me.
Whats to love...
- Emotional
- well-developed characters
- family forward
- spicy
- second-chance romance
- 30+ MCs
- Mustached MMC
What not to love...
- Pacing was my biggest issue with this one. The first 30% made me want to DNF, then we did pretty good for a while, until it got spicy way too quick (imho) and then rounded out with the worlds quickest 3rd act conflict (a few paragraphs maybe?) and then a chapter that felt like it should have been an epilogue and then the actual epilogue.
- low stakes, low angst, but plenty of lusting and sexual attraction. Personally I wanted the stakes to be higher, the angst to be leveled up 10 notches, and the burn to be much slower for a marriage reconciliation book.
🌶️- The spice starts in Ch 23 and continues pretty frequently for the rest of the book. This would be a great one for when you're ovulating. It'll make you cry and also set your panties on 🔥
Audio Narration: 5/5 I LOVED the narration. These two did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life and I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not listened to the audiobook.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press (eARC) and Macmillian Audio (ALC) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
4.25⭐️| IG | TikTok |
June 11, 2025
I didn’t read it. I survived it.
What makes this worse is that I was so excited for this book. I even put myself through reading the first one just so I could get to this because the cover and book blurb EATS but my excitement was crushed a couple chapters in.
This book had me fighting for my life in every chapter. Two divorced parents somehow manage to co-parent like functioning adults but can’t communicate for anything? MAKE! IT! MAKE! SENSE!
I couldn’t connect with these characters if I tried. They annoyed me every time they spoke and don’t get me started on the inner monologue. It was 90% yapping, 10% plot (i’m being generous with this 10%) and 100% me asking myself when will it get better.
And THEN they both magically realize they’re still in love five years later? Okay. Sure. That’s not chemistry, that’s called DELULU
Thank you netgalley for the arc.
What makes this worse is that I was so excited for this book. I even put myself through reading the first one just so I could get to this because the cover and book blurb EATS but my excitement was crushed a couple chapters in.
This book had me fighting for my life in every chapter. Two divorced parents somehow manage to co-parent like functioning adults but can’t communicate for anything? MAKE! IT! MAKE! SENSE!
I couldn’t connect with these characters if I tried. They annoyed me every time they spoke and don’t get me started on the inner monologue. It was 90% yapping, 10% plot (i’m being generous with this 10%) and 100% me asking myself when will it get better.
And THEN they both magically realize they’re still in love five years later? Okay. Sure. That’s not chemistry, that’s called DELULU
Thank you netgalley for the arc.
October 11, 2025
4.5 stars
Hoooooooooly shit. This book was a love letter to communication and I'm so here for it.
A lot of my complaints for romance reads in recent months/years has been communication. For awhile, miscommunication was a popular trope, but I think we've graduated to wanting to see some healthy communication and relationship navigation. And so this book just takes all of those complaints and sets them on fire.
Everything about this book was so heartwarming, deeply emotional, and oh so hopeful. Tarah DeWitt is fastly becoming a force of nature and is already an auto buy for me.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
Hoooooooooly shit. This book was a love letter to communication and I'm so here for it.
A lot of my complaints for romance reads in recent months/years has been communication. For awhile, miscommunication was a popular trope, but I think we've graduated to wanting to see some healthy communication and relationship navigation. And so this book just takes all of those complaints and sets them on fire.
Everything about this book was so heartwarming, deeply emotional, and oh so hopeful. Tarah DeWitt is fastly becoming a force of nature and is already an auto buy for me.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
May 12, 2025
the setup for the ice cream scene was genuinely the most insane thing ever but i’ll take it
we love when a man is a crying mess !!
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc in exchange for review
full blurb to come
Bookstagram | Blog
we love when a man is a crying mess !!
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc in exchange for review
full blurb to come
Bookstagram | Blog
October 30, 2024
This is one of the best books I have read of the year, Tarah Dewitt has done it again. I am so happy and honored that I was able to read this book at this time. I feel like it was perfect. It’s absolutely everything I needed it to be and I will have a more detailed review coming.
May 18, 2025
4.5 On His Knees Begging ✨'s
Left of Forever is a gritty and raw second chance romance full of emotion, love, and so much yearning. The journey of Ellis and Wren coming back to themselves and realizing they want to try and mend their relationship after five years of separation was breathtakingly gentle and captivating. I loved that the two never strayed from the hard conversations and knew they had to address their issues before moving on. Their love story was just beautiful, and I appreciated that it spanned throughout the years, and we got to experience them at their best and worst. Ellis, in particular, had so much character growth and redemption; he reflected and grew into the man he knew Wren deserved, and it was so amazing how open and honest he was. Not to mention, their reconnection was completely satisfying and flowed so well with the road trip and cute little excursions they went on. I loved getting to explore every facet of their relationship and digging into their unyielding love for each other. If you're a fan of romances that are just as likely to make you cry as they are to make you laugh and swoon, I cannot recommend this book enough.
~Mant thanks to Berkley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
Left of Forever is a gritty and raw second chance romance full of emotion, love, and so much yearning. The journey of Ellis and Wren coming back to themselves and realizing they want to try and mend their relationship after five years of separation was breathtakingly gentle and captivating. I loved that the two never strayed from the hard conversations and knew they had to address their issues before moving on. Their love story was just beautiful, and I appreciated that it spanned throughout the years, and we got to experience them at their best and worst. Ellis, in particular, had so much character growth and redemption; he reflected and grew into the man he knew Wren deserved, and it was so amazing how open and honest he was. Not to mention, their reconnection was completely satisfying and flowed so well with the road trip and cute little excursions they went on. I loved getting to explore every facet of their relationship and digging into their unyielding love for each other. If you're a fan of romances that are just as likely to make you cry as they are to make you laugh and swoon, I cannot recommend this book enough.
~Mant thanks to Berkley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
March 7, 2025
6 🌟 this book actually means everything to me 🥹🫶🏼
I don’t think I have ever read a book that felt so real and raw. As a young mom who married my high school sweet heart who I met at 16, there was so much truth to so much that Ellis and Wren said and went through.
knowing a person so deeply for so long and not only growing from kids to adults together but becoming parents together at a young age. It’s such a unique experience to get to love and witness so many multiple versions of someone, it’s amazing but also so hard and the truth of that was reflected so beautifully in this book. But even with that, the balance of deep conversation and connections to humor and romance and spice was just so perfect.
I will be re-reading this book and recommending it for what’s ‘left of forever’ 🥹😭🫶🏼✨
I don’t think I have ever read a book that felt so real and raw. As a young mom who married my high school sweet heart who I met at 16, there was so much truth to so much that Ellis and Wren said and went through.
knowing a person so deeply for so long and not only growing from kids to adults together but becoming parents together at a young age. It’s such a unique experience to get to love and witness so many multiple versions of someone, it’s amazing but also so hard and the truth of that was reflected so beautifully in this book. But even with that, the balance of deep conversation and connections to humor and romance and spice was just so perfect.
I will be re-reading this book and recommending it for what’s ‘left of forever’ 🥹😭🫶🏼✨
November 20, 2025
i just can’t bring myself to believe they separated, took THAT long to realize they still love each other, and went about fixing it the way that they did. it TRULY felt like none of this was substantial or well thought out.
**spoiler**
them not recognizing each others handwriting made me question this entire relationship brother WHAT???
thank you to netgalley & smp for the arc
**spoiler**
them not recognizing each others handwriting made me question this entire relationship brother WHAT???
thank you to netgalley & smp for the arc
June 6, 2025
Imagine if Happiness and You're Losing Me by Taylor Swift were a book, but with a happy ending...that is Left of Forever. And I adored every minute of it!
This was my first Tarah DeWitt book, and I was blown away. Her writing is beautiful. I love her poetic language and how she captures real and raw emotions. Wren and Ellis' story cements why second chance romance is one of the best tropes. I love reading about characters falling in love all over again—even though they never truly fell out of love—and working to repair their relationship after time and circumstance has changed.
The mature communication was a breath of fresh air. Wren and Ellis' relationship and initial fall-out was believable, and their hurdles and breaking points seemed realistic, given the circumstances of how they married in the first place. Both characters were three-dimensional, and the dual POV in a book like this was perfect. I enjoy seeing the two characters' perspectives as to what went wrong in the first go-around.
I loved how the forced-proximity road trip (which was, as an aside, the perfect summer aesthetic) allowed Wren and Ellis to come face-to-face with why their compatibility faded away. Yet after half a decade, especially at their age and stage of life, they were able to tackle their problems with a mature outlook. Left of Forever is one of those books that I think I will continuously appreciate more and more as I get older. I also liked that instead of having long flashback scenes to when Wren and Ellis were younger, their past was told via Wren's journal.
And circling back to the songs, this book was SO How Did It End, Exile, loml, Happiness, and You're Losing Me by Taylor Swift + I know it won't work by Gracie Abrams. Essentially...emotionally devastating. But the way the characters go from that to happily ever after, is just, true love! I can't wait to read more books about the Byrd siblings too and will definitely be picking up more Tarah DeWitt books.
Thank you so much to St. Martin's for an ARC of Left of Forever. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
This was my first Tarah DeWitt book, and I was blown away. Her writing is beautiful. I love her poetic language and how she captures real and raw emotions. Wren and Ellis' story cements why second chance romance is one of the best tropes. I love reading about characters falling in love all over again—even though they never truly fell out of love—and working to repair their relationship after time and circumstance has changed.
The mature communication was a breath of fresh air. Wren and Ellis' relationship and initial fall-out was believable, and their hurdles and breaking points seemed realistic, given the circumstances of how they married in the first place. Both characters were three-dimensional, and the dual POV in a book like this was perfect. I enjoy seeing the two characters' perspectives as to what went wrong in the first go-around.
I loved how the forced-proximity road trip (which was, as an aside, the perfect summer aesthetic) allowed Wren and Ellis to come face-to-face with why their compatibility faded away. Yet after half a decade, especially at their age and stage of life, they were able to tackle their problems with a mature outlook. Left of Forever is one of those books that I think I will continuously appreciate more and more as I get older. I also liked that instead of having long flashback scenes to when Wren and Ellis were younger, their past was told via Wren's journal.
And circling back to the songs, this book was SO How Did It End, Exile, loml, Happiness, and You're Losing Me by Taylor Swift + I know it won't work by Gracie Abrams. Essentially...emotionally devastating. But the way the characters go from that to happily ever after, is just, true love! I can't wait to read more books about the Byrd siblings too and will definitely be picking up more Tarah DeWitt books.
Thank you so much to St. Martin's for an ARC of Left of Forever. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
May 20, 2025
3 ⭐️ I'm mad at myself for not loving this more
"All I know is that if I found out heaven was real and got there first? I'd hang back in the waiting room and save you a seat."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ contemporary romance
✨ second chance
✨ divorced for 5 years
✨ co-parents
✨ baker x fire fighter
✨ grumpy, broody MMC
✨ yearning / longing
✨ secret letters
✨ road trip
✨ one-bed / cabin
✨ SPICE
✨ miscommunication
✨ men in therapy 👏
✨ groveling
✨ HEA
✨ TW: ectopic pregnancy (off page in past) and references to infertility
My Thoughts:
Audiobook rating: 5 ⭐️ Loved the narrators!
Story rating: 3 ⭐️ I couldn't quite connect.
Truly, no one is more disappointed in this rating than me. I’ve been dying for Wren and Ellis’s story since Savor It, and I wanted to love this book so badly.
It has all the usual Tarah DeWitt trademarks - emotional, romantic, vulnerable - but I just didn’t connect with their second chance romance. I understood the reasons for their divorce, but I didn’t buy them. If they loved each other as much as we’re told they do, I honestly don’t understand how they let five years go by without trying. Not one single moment of “maybe we should talk”? I couldn’t wrap my head around that. Especially when their lives were still so intertwined because of their son and friends. My husband would NEVER just let me walk away like that. In fact, I know he wouldn't because there's been moments where I've felt like things were too hard, and he refused to give up. Instead, we both went to couple's therapy - because my husband loves me and CHOSE us. So I had a hard time respecting their choice to separate only for them to reunite later.
I love Ellis, but I struggled with him. The man we meet here is suddenly open, emotionally in tune, communicative, and present. Which is great! But it felt like a huge jump from the grumpy, silent, broody man we were shown in Savor It. Six months of therapy just doesn’t explain that kind of transformation for me. It felt more like he showed up when he was ready, and we were supposed to be happy about that. Meanwhile, Wren had grieved, she had processed, she had waited. And now she's wanting him back because he’s finally ready and doesn't want to lose her? Idk, it irritated me.
Wren was giving “I’m sad and also very horny for my ex-husband,” and while the chemistry is absolutely there, I wanted more emotional groundwork in how they rebuilt their relationship. There’s a moment where Wren and Ellis agree not to hook up on their road trip because they know they need to reconnect on a deeper level first. But then, they basically toss that plan out the window the second the sexual tension gets too high. Which is fine, but it didn’t feel like growth, it felt like a pattern. And honestly, that kind of sets the tone for the whole story. Yes, they have more than a few heavy, meaningful conversations, but it always felt like the intimacy starts with lust, not vulnerability. And the sheer amount of internal commentary (especially from Wren) about how attractive Ellis is made it feel like I was reading about two people who couldn’t stop thinking with their bodies. It was giving horny teenagers, not mature exes working through years of pain and distance. I needed more emotional intimacy before the physical to really buy into the healing and growth.
PS: I did not find the pepper/ice cream scene funny or sexy. I was horrified by the pepper and then completely turned off by the ice cream.
I will say though, I do like Wren and Ellis, and I do think there’s an intense love between them. But I just didn’t care about this story the way I wanted to. 😭 I know I’m in the minority here since most reviews have been glowing, and I wish I felt the same way. I may even reread it down the line because maybe I just wasn’t emotionally available for this book right now. We'll see. But regardless of my feelings, I think if you love second chance romance and Tarah DeWitt’s writing, you should absolutely still pick it up. This one just didn’t hit for me.
PS: The audiobook truly was incredible! The production was flawless and the narrators were amazing! Megan Wicks brought so much depth to Wren, and Connor Crais as Ellis was literal perfection. I would listen to him narrate a shopping list because his voice is just so sexy.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending a physical copy, Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
"I don't give a f*ck who you've slept with or how many times. I don't give a f*ck if you have a boyfriend right this minute. We belong to each other in ways no one else ever will."
_______
"I think you and I are worth seeing about."
_______
"You robbed me of YOU!"
_______
"If you won't have me back anymore, then I'll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself. The way I have felt about you has been the only thing that's felt like...like it can't be contained in one body or lifetime."
_______
"I'm begging you to fight with me, do anything with me. Just be with me."
_______
"I should be so mad at you."
"That's okay, baby. Be mad at me forever."
_______
"We have whatever's left of forever, you and me."
_______
"If you're lost, I'll find you. I'll give you my body, my heart, and my soul. I'll cherish every bit of yours in return. I'll fight with you. I'll fight for you. I'll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get."
_______
"All I know is that if I found out heaven was real and got there first? I'd hang back in the waiting room and save you a seat."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ contemporary romance
✨ second chance
✨ divorced for 5 years
✨ co-parents
✨ baker x fire fighter
✨ grumpy, broody MMC
✨ yearning / longing
✨ secret letters
✨ road trip
✨ one-bed / cabin
✨ SPICE
✨ miscommunication
✨ men in therapy 👏
✨ groveling
✨ HEA
✨ TW: ectopic pregnancy (off page in past) and references to infertility
My Thoughts:
Audiobook rating: 5 ⭐️ Loved the narrators!
Story rating: 3 ⭐️ I couldn't quite connect.
Truly, no one is more disappointed in this rating than me. I’ve been dying for Wren and Ellis’s story since Savor It, and I wanted to love this book so badly.
It has all the usual Tarah DeWitt trademarks - emotional, romantic, vulnerable - but I just didn’t connect with their second chance romance. I understood the reasons for their divorce, but I didn’t buy them. If they loved each other as much as we’re told they do, I honestly don’t understand how they let five years go by without trying. Not one single moment of “maybe we should talk”? I couldn’t wrap my head around that. Especially when their lives were still so intertwined because of their son and friends. My husband would NEVER just let me walk away like that. In fact, I know he wouldn't because there's been moments where I've felt like things were too hard, and he refused to give up. Instead, we both went to couple's therapy - because my husband loves me and CHOSE us. So I had a hard time respecting their choice to separate only for them to reunite later.
I love Ellis, but I struggled with him. The man we meet here is suddenly open, emotionally in tune, communicative, and present. Which is great! But it felt like a huge jump from the grumpy, silent, broody man we were shown in Savor It. Six months of therapy just doesn’t explain that kind of transformation for me. It felt more like he showed up when he was ready, and we were supposed to be happy about that. Meanwhile, Wren had grieved, she had processed, she had waited. And now she's wanting him back because he’s finally ready and doesn't want to lose her? Idk, it irritated me.
Wren was giving “I’m sad and also very horny for my ex-husband,” and while the chemistry is absolutely there, I wanted more emotional groundwork in how they rebuilt their relationship. There’s a moment where Wren and Ellis agree not to hook up on their road trip because they know they need to reconnect on a deeper level first. But then, they basically toss that plan out the window the second the sexual tension gets too high. Which is fine, but it didn’t feel like growth, it felt like a pattern. And honestly, that kind of sets the tone for the whole story. Yes, they have more than a few heavy, meaningful conversations, but it always felt like the intimacy starts with lust, not vulnerability. And the sheer amount of internal commentary (especially from Wren) about how attractive Ellis is made it feel like I was reading about two people who couldn’t stop thinking with their bodies. It was giving horny teenagers, not mature exes working through years of pain and distance. I needed more emotional intimacy before the physical to really buy into the healing and growth.
PS: I did not find the pepper/ice cream scene funny or sexy. I was horrified by the pepper and then completely turned off by the ice cream.
I will say though, I do like Wren and Ellis, and I do think there’s an intense love between them. But I just didn’t care about this story the way I wanted to. 😭 I know I’m in the minority here since most reviews have been glowing, and I wish I felt the same way. I may even reread it down the line because maybe I just wasn’t emotionally available for this book right now. We'll see. But regardless of my feelings, I think if you love second chance romance and Tarah DeWitt’s writing, you should absolutely still pick it up. This one just didn’t hit for me.
PS: The audiobook truly was incredible! The production was flawless and the narrators were amazing! Megan Wicks brought so much depth to Wren, and Connor Crais as Ellis was literal perfection. I would listen to him narrate a shopping list because his voice is just so sexy.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending a physical copy, Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
"I don't give a f*ck who you've slept with or how many times. I don't give a f*ck if you have a boyfriend right this minute. We belong to each other in ways no one else ever will."
_______
"I think you and I are worth seeing about."
_______
"You robbed me of YOU!"
_______
"If you won't have me back anymore, then I'll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself. The way I have felt about you has been the only thing that's felt like...like it can't be contained in one body or lifetime."
_______
"I'm begging you to fight with me, do anything with me. Just be with me."
_______
"I should be so mad at you."
"That's okay, baby. Be mad at me forever."
_______
"We have whatever's left of forever, you and me."
_______
"If you're lost, I'll find you. I'll give you my body, my heart, and my soul. I'll cherish every bit of yours in return. I'll fight with you. I'll fight for you. I'll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get."
_______
September 1, 2025
Every good review about this book is true😭 I cried and felt their pain and will never be the same
November 14, 2025
∞⭐ -- Left of Forever is the perfect example of why second chance romance is my all-time favorite trope. Everyone else in romance, take notes… that’s how you do yearning. Pining hits hardest when two people have loved each other their whole lives, taken time apart to grow, and come back stronger for it.
Dewitt’s character work with Wren and Ellis is masterful. Their world feels real and lived in like you’re not just reading about them, you’re with them. That’s partly because Dewitt is one of the few romance authors who truly nails realistic dialogue.
There’s something deeply universal about this story. It moves between the specific and the relatable in a way that lets everyone find a piece of themselves in it.
Dewitt’s character work with Wren and Ellis is masterful. Their world feels real and lived in like you’re not just reading about them, you’re with them. That’s partly because Dewitt is one of the few romance authors who truly nails realistic dialogue.
There’s something deeply universal about this story. It moves between the specific and the relatable in a way that lets everyone find a piece of themselves in it.
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