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The Space He Left

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Harper Henderson has everything she's ever wanted-a loving husband, a thriving design business, and a baby on the way. But when Jack's ex-girlfriend Madison returns to their small town dying of cancer, Harper's perfect world begins to crumble. What starts as Jack helping an old friend quickly spirals into something darker. Missed appointments. Broken promises. A husband who's slowly disappearing from their life together.

there is a happy ending for cancer….in more ways than one.

253 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 16, 2025

14 people want to read

About the author

Ivy Myst

13 books15 followers
Romance addict, book lover, & eternal believer in happily-ever-afters whether it's an MC romance, the redemption of a groveling hero, or the mystical allure of fae, wolf shifters, or dragons! I write what I like to read.

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5 stars
111 (29%)
4 stars
122 (32%)
3 stars
99 (26%)
2 stars
36 (9%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Tmstprc.
1,272 reviews165 followers
October 23, 2025
Read on Wattpad.

I find this trope curious … marriage in trouble because he’s easily manipulated by an obviously evil OW— everyone around him is telling him he’s being used, but he doesn’t see it… How do you forgive stupid?
Profile Image for Callie.
638 reviews28 followers
October 27, 2025
Not really sure how to rate it because the writing wasn’t bad but I just didn’t love the story.

I do enjoy a marriage in crisis, but I hate emotional cheating in books. 😢 I have read books with a similar premise of the hero giving attention to a woman friend, but you can tell he’s just dumb and doesn’t have romantic feelings for her. That was not this book. Despite the hero saying he never thought of the OW sexually, I did think he had lingering feelings for her and there are moments where you can’t believe someone could be that naive in real life. Her being an ex girlfriend made it even more stomach churning.

The good part was that no one excuses his behavior and everyone in their life calls him out on it. Also, the heroine is definitely a bit of a martyr at first, but when she’s done, she’s done. They don’t really reconcile until a couple years later.

I’m also conflicted in stories like this when the OW always ends up being “evil” or manipulative. I feel like it makes it more palatable but what if she wasn’t??

Anyway. I did like that the heroine made him work for it, that he got therapy and worked so hard to get back into her life, but any kind of cheating just is not for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Angela Wilson.
242 reviews15 followers
October 26, 2025
Saved by the Epilogue

This was going to be a 1 star review, but the epilogue bumped it up to a 2 star review.
Profile Image for I’m a Paula too… Thompson.
1,236 reviews4 followers
October 27, 2025
Are all men this dumb?

Well we know all men really aren’t as dumb as this guy, but based on this trope you can certainly feel as if this is true!

The ex from high school shows up planning to steal the MMC. And basically she succeeds in a way because he manages to miss his child’s birth. He doesn’t love the ex but he has put her before his wife one too many times.

This is one of my favorite tropes. He doesn’t physically cheat but the emotional aspect is worse in many ways. He has lost the necessary trust.

KU read, and it’s a good story but nothing special. I did enjoy it.
Profile Image for Christine.
1,057 reviews16 followers
October 22, 2025
Something the same but different

This was a very good and different second chance story. It was so good and engrossing you felt like you were there a part of the story. I was rooting for the couple. The epilogue was cute and let us know how successful their HEA was.
326 reviews9 followers
November 3, 2025

Frustrating, realistic, but honestly… this man tested my patience

This story follows Jack and Harper — a married couple expecting a baby — and while I appreciate what the author tried to do, I spent most of the book wanting to shake Jack by the shoulders.

Jack lets his ex manipulate him by pretending she has cancer, and instead of using one single brain cell, he falls straight into his hero complex and emotionally cheats. And the worst part? He acts confused about why it’s a problem until his therapist literally spells out “emotional affair” for him. Like… sir. Be serious.

Harper being seven months pregnant while he’s emotionally tangled up with another woman? Missing the birth of his daughter because he’s busy “helping” his ex? Leaving his wife on their anniversary?
No. Absolutely not. My blood pressure said “I hate it here.”

Now, to be fair — I loved Harper’s reactions. She didn’t play the “understanding wife.” She stood her ground. She left. She protected her peace. And I respected her so much for it.

The book then follows a slow burn emotional fallout — years of small gestures, growth, therapy, rebuilding trust. It was realistic, and I can appreciate that the author didn’t rely on some dramatic grovel or easy forgiveness.

Did he redeem himself fully? Honestly… no.
But did he work enough on himself to earn another chance?
Reluctantly, yes.

I didn’t hate the message — it just wasn’t a story I enjoyed sitting through. The emotional realism might work for some people, but personally, watching this man be blindly manipulated and so clueless about what he was doing… it was too frustrating to enjoy.

It hurt, it angered me, and at the end I didn’t swoon — I just exhaled and said, “Okay, finally.”

Not a bad book — just not the kind of second-chance arc I love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Shorty.
103 reviews
November 2, 2025
Unsure

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one. She knew the man had a hero complex. Sure he was neglectful for 2 months then she used the baby to get back at him and kept him in limbo for over a year and went out on dates with another man. I feel like that is more of a betrayal. Call it just going out as a friend but she was literally dating him to see if there was a "spark" all while letting her husband just wait in the wings.
Profile Image for VoraciousReader.
1,984 reviews
October 28, 2025
I enjoyed this book but the conflict between Jack and Madison felt manufactured. Jack said, "I felt guilty about how things ended with Madison, felt responsible for her pain when she'd left town all those years ago." He also said, "It was about the eighteen-year-old kid who had failed to keep his promise to his first love." None of this made any sense because it was Madison who broke up with him, not the other way around. She was the one who decided to end their long distance relationship and when she did, she was "full of excitement for a life that didn't include me." Jack carrying guilt for that for all those years was groundless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Birty.
587 reviews5 followers
October 19, 2025
Second chance marriage

Harper and Jack have a great marriage and are excited about the birth of their first child. But when Jack’s high school girlfriend shows up, the marriage goes down hill quickly with a separation for the shaky marriage.

Jack is a good man who is gullible to the lies by his ex. She takes advantage of his caring heart but he makes all the poor choices. He does seek professional help when his life falls apart. Harper is strong but also makes Jack grovel to even see his daughter. I did not like how Harper used their child as a weapon to punish Jack but she eventually change her mind.

No physical cheating by Jack, but emotional cheating.
Profile Image for Michele.
291 reviews5 followers
October 17, 2025
A book about emotional cheating. Jack & Harper are expecting a baby - she is 7-months pregnant. An ex-GF, Madison, calls Jack and appeals to his hero complex by saying she has cancer, and he is the only one that can help. He prioritizes Madison over Harper, over and over again, because helping her makes him feel needed.

💥He misses the birth of his daughter
💩OW lies and manipulates Jack - she doesn't have cancer
💥He loses construction contracts because he is unreliable
💩OW is giddy because wife leaves him and thinks he will now be with her
💥Wife shuts him out completely

The rest of the story is the fallout of his actions, him coming to realize he was manipulated, was having an emotional affair, and has to earn his wife's trust before they can be a family again. There is no grand gesture/OTT grovel. He earns her trust by doing the work on himself, learning and growing from his actions, and doing small and meaningful acts of love and service. She also admits that her knee-jerk reaction to him abandoning her came from a place of pain and hurt and that she might have over-reacted (her words). The overall journey takes about three years, and it is very realistic in terms of emotional angst, growth, and reconciliation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Christelle Ruiz.
412 reviews
November 5, 2025
I am not sure I can say I loved this book hence the 3 ⭐️.
I loved the main story about an emotional affair and the falling out between the main characters and the consequences on their lives and family.
What I couldn’t get into was the wallowing/groveling part and that it took nearly 3 years for the FMC to forgive and move on. I found both main characters were selfish and self centered at times and I struggle to read about the inner monologues!
And how the MMC destroyed his family life and work life was unbelievable to me I had to skip few times because I was bored.
I loved how the therapy and personal growth was explored and explained as well.
These two quotes resonated the most for me in this book:

“An affair doesn’t have to be physical to be a betrayal,” Dr. Cox said gently. “You gave another woman your time, your emotional energy, your intimacy, and your loyalty. You made her your priority. That is the very definition of an emotional affair.”

And that's why we're here, why this works, because you understand that love is a choice you make over and over and over."
Profile Image for Liz.
3,688 reviews63 followers
October 31, 2025
The Space He Left by Ivy Myst is an emotional story about a marriage in trouble and choices with hurtful and damaging repercussions. Harper and Jack are welcoming a child soon and they could not be more excited. They are thriving. Then Jack’s ex, Madison, comes back to own and everything changes. Now Jack is missing appointments and time with Harper. She loves him and trusts him, but as he keeps disappointing and letting her down, she feels like she is losing him. When he misses the most important event in their life, she is done.

This story was hard to read at times because it felt so real and heartbreaking. I felt Harper’s pain throughout the first half of this story. Even with everything she has gone through, she was strong and determined. Jack wants to help those he cares about. His heart is in the right place, but his actions were not. Their journey was very emotional.

Happy reading!
585 reviews69 followers
October 16, 2025
Cheating = H has an emotional affair with OW who was his high school girlfriend. There was some physical intimacy such as hand holding and cuddles on the couch.

OW drama = OW faked having cancer to get the H to play hero to her damsel in distress. OW constantly calls H needing his support and his presence. H drops everything to be there for the OW. Many point out to the H that OW should not be the priority, but H ignores them. The slap in the face comes when the H misses the birth of his child due to his need to be there for the OW. Comeuppance? OW gets called out by the H over the phone and slinks off into the ether...

Grovel = see above for all that H has to make up for. H gets therapy, does acts of service and generally through word and deed grovels. It takes about a year before the h is even willing to listen to the H, so she is not a doormat. Eventually she forgives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
697 reviews8 followers
October 25, 2025
One of my favorite tropes. H chooses OW/friend and neglects h. The h is seven months pregnant and she and the H are out for dinner to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. The H gets a call from the OW, his ex-girlfriend, telling him she's scared by her cancer diagnosis and can he come to comforther. The H leaves the dinner and his wife and this becomes his pattern of response every time the OW reaches out to him. The H misses, doctor appointments, a baby shower, and birthing class in order to be there for the OW. His construction business starts to suffer when he neglects his clients. The H is TSTL when it comes to the OW. The author is somewhat heavy handed in reinforcing ideas such as how good and helpful the H is but the OW is really vile and the grovel is long.
Profile Image for Amy Bible.
52 reviews1 follower
October 23, 2025
Almost 5 Stars

The writing in this book was great. It was succinct and completed the picture. Infidelity is such a challenging topic to tackle. I think because we all have a belief of “what I would do is…” However, that isn’t reality. What really struck me once was when the author said that her husband would have told her everything from the beginning. I feel fortunate to have that husband, and everything Myst wrote about the long road back resonates. She didn’t try to rush timelines, but I could have used more story actually in the years they took to rebuild. Worth a read if you’re good with emotional cheating.
Profile Image for Pooh Reader.
165 reviews4 followers
October 23, 2025
3 stars 🌟 for me! I read this on KU. The story was good, but some of the words and lines were very repetitive.

How can men be so dumb??? This mmc is so stupid and dumb that even after everyone tells him to open his eyes and see the truth, he doesn't believe anyone and just happy in his world being a hero to his ex! I think he was still in love with Madison when she came back because she was the one who left him when they were young. He was very easy to manipulate, and all the hand holding and cuddling took him down the memory lane to his teen years!
I'm glad that the fmc didn't forgive him easily, and he had to suffer and grovel for years before she took him back.
772 reviews2 followers
October 17, 2025
Great book

I read this on Wattpad and I really enjoyed it. I went back to reread it and saw it was being published on kindle. I preordered and got it.
This is a really good book. I loved the story of Harper and Jack. Harper was such a sweet and understanding wife..until she wasn't. Jack was a devoted husband until he let the past get in the way. His actions started hurting Harper. Will he wake up and realize what he has done? Take a chance and read this. I know you will love it!
Profile Image for Diedre.
897 reviews10 followers
October 28, 2025
Can a man be that stupid? That oblivious? I think so! This was what I would call almost a "soft" angst in light of what the husband actually did. But I liked the way the hero was shown how a man thinks. Not so much in the midst of the deceit, but afterward. He was stalwart, logical, taking full responsibility, taking actions like a soldier off to a battle. And I loved what therapy uncovered for him. The gradual self awareness they both had that became honest, respectful, humble. So even though there was no knife throwing and intense emotional arguments, the plot was very engaging.
Profile Image for Traci.
130 reviews6 followers
November 6, 2025
Knew what to expect from other reviews. This is filed under no cheating but there was emotional.

He tells FMC Harper that Madison is just a friend from HS, but thinks she’s his first love, first heartbreak. The ghost hovering at the edge of his marriage. He says he loves Harper more than he’s ever loved anyone I was concerned for a minute. But he’s a little too torn being reminded of his time with M YEARS AGO.

They are split up for a year. They have the long needed talk at 81%. It was brutal and broke my heart.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
238 reviews4 followers
November 6, 2025
Just ok

Started out ok. Timeline not perfect. This book has a lot of scenarios I just read in another book by a different author. Something is weird about that. From the timelines, the conversation with the "other guy" , the repetitive drag of the second half. Not having a big confrontation makes for the healing to be drug out and repetitive. Having the confrontation would have filled a nice chunk in the story. Having them take YEARS to find themselves again almost seems unreal as most people probably would have said they weren't getting past this.
Profile Image for Jordan Bailey.
882 reviews1 follower
October 27, 2025
I enjoyed this read

This was an enjoyable read! Everything is so detailed and explicit up to the birth and then there’s some gaps. There’s some jumping around while Jack tries to make amends and I do wish we had gotten to see more of his work to reconcile with not just his wife, but his friend, his company, his parents and the town.

Chapters 25&26 were a bit repetitive but I appreciate in the epilogue we get an update on their “friend”.

What a story!
71 reviews4 followers
October 16, 2025
Great second chance romance!

If you are looking for a terrific second chance romance, you have come to the right place. There isn't physical cheating rather there is emotional betrayal. Jack leaves his wife every time his ex girlfriend calls him (she is pretending to have cancer and he wants to help her). It's an amazing story!
Profile Image for Diane.
683 reviews4 followers
October 30, 2025
Lots of emotions

Ms. Myst did a fantastic job writing about the turmoil of betrayal and the road to redemption.

She created spot-on characters and describes both sides with care.

This book tells a long fought journey to happiness. I like how she has them reflect on their journey years and years later.
1,050 reviews2 followers
October 20, 2025
3.5⭐️’s

”𝓢𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓘'𝓭 𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓽.”

𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜:
🤍Marriage In Trouble
🤍Second Chance
🤍OW Drama
🤍Grovel

𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 🌶️
𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛: Yes

*𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍*
27 reviews
October 27, 2025
Great story and great HEA

I was really happy that Ivy released this on Kindle, I really enjoyed this story the tears and joy and growth of the main characters and the HEA they deserved. Bring tissues for this story. There will be tears.
Profile Image for Paige Whitecotton.
2,508 reviews10 followers
October 31, 2025
loved.

This was a hard read. Loved it but man when Jack screwed up he did it royally. Working to fix it. Long and hard fought. Harper had to heal and that took time and work also. Great book.
Profile Image for Melanie Clark.
219 reviews16 followers
October 16, 2025
This was actually really good! I LOVE strong FMC and Harper was exactly that. I loved that they didn’t rush to fix things, it took YEARS of work. LOVE LOVEEE
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews

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