Ellis and Wren's story was on my wishlist since the “She’s still a Byrd” moment. 💌

Who wouldn't be excited about reading about a firefighter, a baker, small town meddling, a second chance after divorce, a road trip, and found family? I know I was prepared for the ride immediately. That was confirmed once I finished this book, basically in one sitting. Tarah Dewitt does that to you. Oh, let me tell you, this book pulls on all your heartstrings. You feel the sadness, the yearning, the heartbreak, and hope and excitement flowing through the pages. I concur, I cried a lot in this book. It's no surprise, as I got so well connected to the characters. The whole trip was spectacular and atmospheric, and once Ellis tells the truth about why he planned it that well, you adore him even more than you already do.

Every one of Tarah's books makes me pull things into my own life and inspires me to do better, in some ways or others, and all of them change me on a fundamental level. They are that incredible, truly, from the beginning to the end. This one was special, and I believe all the young married people will cherish this. Even I adore it, without fitting into that category. I only wish for more of Wren's character development. Ellis changed so much and worked so hard, I wanted to see some of it from her, too. Oh, and I would so much appreciate one more date with those two, with less tying up and more heart-to-heart talking.

All in all, magical, from the heartwrenching prologue to the tear-filled ending.

Such a good follow up to one of my favorites last year! I love a second chance romance!
This was really well done, my only issue was I felt like I needed a little more pain of why they divorced in the first place. I wanted to like really feel what they felt, and I just didn’t get that. But otherwise I really enjoyed. I loved the road trip, the cooking scene, and the cameos of Sage and Fisher!

The way this was not only a top read for me but a top audio. The second I dove in and was about 10% in I just knew this was altering my brain chemistry and going to be a top read of the year. Ellis finding the pink box and not even knowing at first they are Wren's treats and it's her letter til he gets to the end was kismet. The moment he decides he wants to go get his wife back, I was done for. There is something about a perfectly written second chance romance that wins me over every time. I love the back story of the characters and how they have this history that can't be undone or unmatched. Their love stood the test of time once and Ellis is there to prove to Wren why they belong together again. Their road trip is perfection, all the little stops have so much meaning to the two of them. This is one I will be re-reading the second I have this paperback in my hands and loving every second of. The narrators were pure perfection. Anyone who will listen I have told to preorder. I don't know how anything will top this one this year!

Oh this was such a great reading experience! Second chance romance isn’t always my favorite trope and I started out a little wary with this one but boy did I enjoy it! Ellis and Wren are both so beautifully flawed. I loved the side characters so much I think I need to go back and read Savor It to get more of them. And cheers to no third act breakup!!

4⭐, 2.5🌶️

Okay this was hecking cute! I'm not a major second chance romance fan when the couple was already married and divorced, but Ellis and Wren were so sweet and loveable. I think what kept me from being sooo emotionally swayed (because there is a lot of feels in this book) was being unable to relate to either characters. However, I totally foresee sooooooo many people being down bad for this book and the love story!

💚Second Chance Romance - Divorced Couple
🌲Childhood Friends
🚙Forced Proximity: Road Trip
⚠️Chronic Illness/ Infertility Struggles

Release Date: 5/20/2025

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was so good. I'd rate it even higher than the first book in the series and that was fantastic!
I'm not the biggest fan of second chance/marriage in trouble books (though this wasn't that exactly, but close enough) but that didn't matter with this. It was emotional but fulfilling. A must read.

Left of Forever is a dual POV second chance romance. Ellis and Wren were high school sweethearts and teen parents who tried to make a life together but ended up divorced. After 5 years of co-parenting, the two are moving their son Sam off to college. Ellis, who still loves his ex and wants her back, convinces Wren to take a week-long long roadtrip with him to see where they land without the responsibility of parenthood between them. Wren, who has been searching for closure, agrees, and the two begin exploring a possible future.

This was a very emotional book for me and I loved it. I liked how Ellis and Wren worked to stay amicable for Sam’s sake, even though both were hurting. Their trip to tentatively explore what their future might hold was a fantastic slow burn. I liked how they used the time to enjoy each others company, to have some necessary conversations and to get to know one another again.

Read dates: 04/28/2025- 04/30/2025
Goodreads review: 04/30/2025
Instagram review: 05/01/2025
Blog review: 05/20/2025

This book hurt—in the best way. Raw, real, and angsty AF. It’s a true second-chance romance about a couple who let their marriage fall apart without ever saying what needed to be said. Their journey back to each other isn’t always “entertaining,” but it’s powerful, emotional, and so authentic. I felt every bit of it.

The way I LOVED this book 😭😭 I laughed, I cried, and did both at the same time. This second chance romance was filled with so much heartache, love, hope, and laughter. It was so great being back into the Spunes universe, and hoping to see more from this crew down the road! Loved that it was a dual POV as well!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- five stars

Second chance romances, especially with divorced couples, have to be really REALLY great for me to believe that two people who previously couldn’t make it work can come back together and love for the rest of their lifetime. And this story was REALLY REALLY great.

Fun flirty banter. Emotionally deep & heartfelt moments. The pining. The longing. SO good.
“We have whatever’s left of forever, you and me.”

This was a very real and raw story that I’m sure many can relate to. And although I am not married, Tarah is such a great writer that I felt their pain and sorrows and even their joy and love right along with them. Ellis’ profound realization that they could have never made it back to each other had me so emotional for both of them.
“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.”

I will be thinking about this book for a long, long time.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
Thank you, Tarah DeWitt, for making me swoon with this second chance romance. If this didn’t settle the debate on my favorite romance trope, second chance romance, I honestly don’t know what book would. This story was fun, heartfelt, and everything I love in a romance. I adored the letters at the beginning, the hilarious and sexy moments throughout the road trip, and the emotional family dynamics that made my heart soar. I loved Wren and Ellis and their beautiful love story.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💕Second chance love
❤️Childhood Sweethearts
👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻Forced Proximity
❤️‍🩹Healing past wounds
🧍🏻‍♀️Single Parents
🔥Slow burn
🌶️Spicy
🏠Small town setting
🗣️Dual POV

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: infertility and miscarriage.

💕𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💕
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E : "𝒫𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓊𝓅, 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎."

🙏 Thank you St. Martins Press, and Tarah Dewitt for this eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐁𝐲𝐫𝐝.”

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the ALC and e-ARC.

This book is described as a "An emotional, spicy, second-chance romance" and boy is it. I have been LOVING second chance romances and I knew that if Tarah wrote it, I'll be crying by the end.

The Audio was superb Connor Crais and Megan Wicks were PERFECT narrators for this.

𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

Ellis and Wren fell in love as kids, then had a teenage pregnancy, and as they grew older, and had to deal with the hardships of raising a child and infertility, they fell apart.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Ellis realizes first that he's still in love with Wren, and he wants her back. So he asks her to road trip with him after they drop their son off at college and on the way back.... see if there is still a spark between them. If they can work it out.

𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬. 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.

There is so much swooning and pining and big sweeping beautiful prose that my heart was just breaking and soaring and being put back together whole. It was SO good.

“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.”

ARGH. Just posting these quotes reminds me of the feelings this book made me feel. It's so raw and open and exactly what a second chance at marriage and a left together should feel like. Tarah just reaches in your chest and squeezes and I thanked her for it.

So much love. And now I'm feral for Silas' story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
pub day 5/20

I recently ready Funny Feelings and instantly became obsessed, so I was so excited to get an ARC of Tarah’s newest! Full disclosure, I have not yet read Savor It, but will immediately be reading it because I LOVED this book.

A second chance romance between two ex spouses 5 years post divorce after they drop their son off at college- y’all, this book pulled at my heart strings!! obviously I cried -the EMOTIONS of this book!! You can’t not root for Ellis and Wren to find their way back to each other 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

if any one wants to buddy read Savor It with me soon, let’s do it- then you can be ready for this book when it comes out May 20th!! Thank you to netgalley and st Martin’s press for the arc!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my e-arc and PRH audio for my ALC 🫶🏻

I love everything Tara writes! 4.5⭐️

Ellis and Wren had their son very young at age 17. They spent most of their adult life together dealing with some infertility issues. Their marriage ended in divorce 5 years prior to the start of the story.

Ellis is a firefighter and during a big fire, received letters from a stranger, but knew it was his ex wife. After some realizations, he knows he never stopped loving her. He hatched a plan to win her back when he proposes a road trip to come home from taking their son to college.

This is a story of healing and communication. I loved the openness of Wren and Ellis. Their true love wins in the end with some spice along the way!

Omg! This is the best second chance romance I have ever read! All the feelings!! I’m obsessed with this book!

“One day, when we’re very old and gray, one of us will open our eyes to a day that the other won’t, but we’ll smile knowing how full life has been, knowing how we spent forever. Everything left of it, together.”

You guys this was the easiest 5✨ I’ve ever given. Here’s the thing, I usually HATE a second chance romance, but this one was perfection. this book had me cheesing and smiling and kicking my feet the whole time.

I was also blessed to listen to the audio and Megan & Conor were PERFECT for our Wren and Ellis. That ice cream scene?? I was giggling and hot all at the same time!!

DeWitt has the rare ability to weave words in a way that hit you with emotions so strong, it’s as if you are sharing in her characters’ experiences. Left of Forever will make you laugh, cry, and hope while transporting you to the beautiful Pacific coast.

I cannot recommend this novel enough!

4.5 stars!

While I have not been a fan of the books I've read from Tarah DeWitt previously, this one is her best one so far. I was nervous going into this, given I didn't enjoy Savor It (the first book from this interconnected stand-alone series), but Wren and Ellis called to me from the second they appeared in that book. The love and longing between them is beautiful and almost jumps off the page and makes you feel it. Their relationship was incredibly real, and getting to watch them rediscover the love they built so many years ago was really special. The only reason this wasn't a five star read for me was that once these two began their journey into trying to make things work again, the plot took a backseat, which was a problem I've had with this author's work previously as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!!

Listen....
When I read 'Savor It' and Ellis said, "She's still a Byrd" - I knew I NEEDED their story. I have yearned and pined for it since January 2024 - go ahead, read my review for Savor It. ha!

So when Netgalley and St. Martin's Press bestowed this digital arc, I squealed with delight. And let me say... this is Tarah DeWitt's ** BEST BOOK YET! **

To say I loved these two characters, Wren and Ellis is an understatement. I already knew I love small town - Spunes, OR - and the found family vibes. I was ROOTING for this couple (well, ex-couple). Wren was super relatable. Literally, a couple pages in and I found myself chuckling and nodding to "Waiting Syndrome."

I'm a total sucker for letter writing and so when there was note passing and journaling - *chef's kiss*

As a parent of teens with just a few years left of high school - I could also relate to them being a parent learning to "let go" of a baby they raised. (get in there tear!)

I loved that Ellis and Wren put effort into talking to each other. (hello therapy!) and that epilogue... gah... who was cutting the onions?!?

Go... grab a copy of this book on 05/20/2025 (probably a physical copy cause that cover is 🔥)

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars!
3.5 🌶️

this was a perfect second chance romance! wren and ellis are truly meant to be. definitely right person, wrong time when they split. this story was written well and made the characters so full of love. second chance romances aren’t my usual go to, but when they are beautifully written like this, i couldn’t stop to find out how they rekindle their love.