A beautiful, second chance romance that speaks to how love can be found again despite it being lost for a time.

As soon as Tarah announced this new release it immediately earned a spot on my most anticipated new romance books of 2025 list. How could it not when after getting only a few cameos of Wren and Ellis in last year’s hit, Savor It, those moments alone had me clamoring for more of these two. And when I say clamoring, I mean I was DESPERATE to know more about what drove these two apparent soulmates a part and if they would be able to find their way back to each other.

What transpires is a beautiful, second chance romance that I think a lot of people may be able to relate to and that’s the beauty of DeWitt’s romances I’m coming to find. She creates these perfectly imperfect characters who are so relatable in the struggles they find themselves in and the way they navigate giving their heart and their love to another in the process of moving through those struggles. I’d convinced it’s DeWitt’s superpower as an author.

Wren and Ellis are no different. She crafted two people who found each other as kids and who grew to become friends, then lovers and then parents at a young age and who let the bad times overshadow the good until they called it quits. Now with their grown son off to college, they are in the headspace to see if what they once had is still there and salvageable – to finally be together again and enjoy what’s left of forever.

The story however doesn’t jump right into the road trip that’s mentioned in the summary. This might make the story seem like it has a slow start to some but I think it was actually pretty genius. Instead, Tarah gives a bit of background and understanding (especially for those who haven’t read Savor It which you don’t need to as this is a standalone) to where Wren and Ellis are in their respective headspaces – both finally letting themselves realize how much they miss their other half and how they might be ready to fight for each other when they didn’t before.

From there the forced proximity of their road trip home after dropping off their son Sam at college is a mixture of reminiscing and dealing with the moments and feelings that drove them to divorce as well as dropping their guards to admit the love they still have and hope to resurrect again.

While the topic of infertility is mentioned (and might be a trigger warning for some) and played a role in their drifting a part, it wasn’t really about one moment or one piece of drama that drove their separation which is what makes their reconciliation so much more hopeful and believable.
It takes courage for them to be honest with their “2 negatives” a day that they share but also with the hopes that they have for a future as well.
There were a number of one-liners that really stuck with me while reading this that illustrate how tough it can be in any relationship and in any marriage even if you are soulmates. And every moment that he called her Byrd just melted my heart.

The found family aspect of this story, while subtle in the background, is so lovely. I loved each member of the Byrd family and would love to get Silas and Micah’s stories as well.

Sometimes the best romance books are those about a love so enduring that it takes your breath away in its simplicity. I loved how these two finally allowed themselves to fight for the love that never left them and how much joy it brought to all of those around them as well.

I highly recommend reading this AND Savor It if you love a fulfilling romance with all the feels.

*I received an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read. I haven’t been this struck by a book in a long time. I’m in shambles. Tarah is an amazing author. Will pop back in on good reads and share my thoughts when I can articulate them properly.

This was a beautiful story of second-chance romance, successful young co-parenting, and finding each other again after life knocks you down. This was my first book of the inter-connected series so I was worried I would feel lost with the characters but the author did a great job of reviewing characters readers may met before while having the MCs be the primary focus. Can definitely be read as a standalone but I'll be back to read the backlist! Thank you!

Left of Forever follows Wren and Ellis, two people who fell in love as kids, had a baby as teenagers, and got married. But somewhere along the way, their marriage fell apart. Now divorced and in their 30s, they’ve built separate lives after being apart for five years, all while successfully co-parenting. Despite this, they still haven’t been able to move on from each other. When they help their son move into college, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back home to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. 

Funny Feelings is one of my top five favourite books of all time, so any book that Tarah DeWitt releases is immediately an anticipated read of mine, and her upcoming release, Left of Forever, gave me everything I want in a romance book and more. Wren and Ellis’ love story was so beautifully written and heartwarming. I really appreciated how they worked through their problems and found their way back to each other, ensuring it was done in a healthy way to protect their family.

In addition to writing compelling love stories, I love how Tarah DeWitt brings her characters to life, showing flaws and real-life struggles, making them so relatable to readers. Both characters had things to overcome, which made their happy ending even more satisfying.

Left of Forever is truly second-chance romance at its best! Tarah DeWitt will forever be one of my favourite romance authors, I can't recommend her books enough!

Still dying over the fact I read a Tarah DeWitt ARC 🤯 This book follows divorced couple Ellis and Wren as they go on a roadtrip to celebrate sending their son off to college, and as the trip goes on, they start to rekindle their relationship.

This book definitely gave me an “I love this book feeling” at only 4% in. The amount of highlights I have is absolutely insane. The moment I realized they both missed eachother badly and wanted to work on things but didn’t know how, I was hooked. It gave such good tension.

Absolutely obsessed with Ellis, we love a man that goes to therapy and actively WANTS to become a better person.

This was also surprisingly funny, even in the midst of tears, I still found myself laughing at something said on the next page. Especially that cooking scene, it was so chaotic.

This was the cutesttt Tarah book i’ve read, and it was so relatable to some aspects of my life that I was reading and was a little freaked out lol. This was an interconnected standalone to Savor It, which was also one that I really really enjoyed by her. The only thing that would’ve made this a 5 ⭐️ read for me was if it was more of a slow burn. I feel like they very quickly got over their awkwardness which was kinda their biggest issue in the beginning.

I absolutely adored everything about this book. I will read anything Tarah DeWitt writes, I’m convinced she can’t write a book I would dislike.

5.0

♾️⭐

I first met Wren and Ellis is Savor It, and was very excited to read their story. I knew 30% in that this would be one of my top favorite romance books of all time.

Their story of growing up, growing apart and coming back together was done so beautifully.


"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." 😭😭

It was emotional and funny at the same time, I would alternate between laughing and crying. I loved how things got started with the letters, and how they both agreed to be open and communicate with each other on their road trip.

This is second chance romance DONE RIGHT. And I appreciated how the MCs were in their 30s and had gone through stuff.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. I will be immediately rereading as soon as I get my paperback copy upon release 💖

this book felt like sitting on the floor of an open room, window ajar, letting the delicate shine of the early morning glow merge itself to the gentle but firm summer breeze as it plants itself into my soul. truly supernatural sunshine in book form. i won't soon forget. Wren and ellis, thank you. tarah, you are a gift.
"I'II love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get."
thank you to netgalley for the arc🤍

Tarah writes it, I read it. I looooooved this. I’m usually not a huge fan of second chance romance or marriage in trouble tropes but Tarah has such a way with words and emotion. I think I say this in all my book reviews for her stories but this one’s got a lot of heart!

This was such a beautiful and emotional second chance romance.

This book contained Tarah DeWitt's signature fast-paced writing, and I absolutely flew through it. The way she creates characters who are flawed but honest, and who love each other despite, and because of, their messiness, never fails to make me swoon. Ellis and Wren were meant to be. It was heartbreaking to read about their reasons for breaking up, but seeing them try and put their love back together was a delight.

Ellis is a man who wants to be in control of his life. He wants to make everything ok for everyone else, and it hurts him when he can't. Seeing him work through things and get himself help was so heartwarming. Wren was a strong woman and mom, and it was hard to witness the grief she dealt with over the loss of her marriage and her hopes and dreams. (While there weren't flashback chapters, both characters did a lot of writing that detailed their past.) I also loved the glimpses we get of their childhood friendship and teenage love.

The road trip chapters were a lot of fun, and I was eagerly waiting to see how these two would find their way back to each other. There was a lot of humor, along with some of my favorite romance tropes. (I'm looking at you, one bed!)

If you love Tarah DeWitt's books, you will absolutely adore this one and I definitely recommend it. I'll be off to read Savor It soon because I want to spend more time with the characters of Spunes.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for the e-arc of this book!

Tarah Dewitt, you’re amazing. We already knew that, but you continue to outdo yourself. Having met the characters in “Savor It”, I was nervous. Why? I have no idea because Ms. Dewitt ALWAYS comes through in a spectacular way. I want to say more, but don’t want to ruin this one for anyone reading the review because I can’t gush without spoilers at this point. This one is a 5 ⭐️ book for me & I can’t wait to have her sign a copy of it for me.

“I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his.”

Tarah has done it again! How am I expected to move on from this book???? Like many of you, I was ready for an Ellis and Wren book from the moment I read the words, “She’s still a Byrd” in Savor It. This was such a beautiful story. I loved seeing Wren and Ellis find their way back to each other. I went from giggling like a dork at their flirting/tension to bawling my eyes out at the heavy conversations they needed to have.

I may be biased as someone who lives in California, but I loved the road trip aspect of the story! Wren and Ellis reconnecting while traveling the state was not only fun but important for the story. As much as I love Spunes, I loved seeing these two reconnecting outside of the town where they fell in love.

I can’t wait to return to Spunes with the Byrds! Thank you, NetGalley and SMP for this eARC!
Pick this baby up on May 20!

This ARC was my first (and currently only) five star read in 2025! Tarah writes romances the way that I wanna read romances and I just absolutely ate this one up. I giggled, I bawled and I fell in love with Wren and Ellis. There is such genuine and thorough character development that makes the story just so authentic and raw.

The pacing was truly so spot on. Tarah find a great balance of character and plot development. There is wonderful exploration of their faults in the relationship in the past, which makes their journey throughout the novel more genuine. I will be screaming about this book from the rooftops!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (NO NOTES!!)

Gahhhhhhhhhhh…this gosh darn book people! First of all, let’s just discuss the cover – it is screaming to have a step back, like the vibes it is giving off an old school historical romance cover – I cannot. Then Tarah DeWitt has the audacity to write a masterpiece second chance romance for Ellis and Wren in Left of Forever – how dare she! The pining that man does is just perfection, and THEN you’re going to throw in letters and emails and journal writings! I will eat it up every single time. I did a lot of squealing and maniacal laughing (think Pepé the King Prawn), reading this book. There might have been unhinged texts to my bestie including “Tell me why Ellis talking about his feelings is like one of the sexiest things ever?!?” and “he’s down sooo bad”.

Pretty much the perfect specimen for how a second chance romance should be written – they were both so vulnerable and open with one another and it just made it feel all the more real to see what went wrong the first time, and how they would work to make sure it went right forever.

Ohhh and getting to catch up with Sage and Fisher, being back in Spunes, Oregon AND we get to see Deacon and LaRynn from the Co-Op. Sooooo good!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Tarah DeWitt and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

This second chance romance brought everything to the table. Love, loss, hope, heartache, and understanding.

Wren and Ellis are so unmatched, alone and as a couple. They loved hard, and in the end, they had to walk away from another….. But not forever. Their journey to find themselves for themselves and each other was raw, emotional, and honest. They wanted to be better for each other, their son, and their families.

The banter and tension between Wren and Ellis made this book so hard to put down. While some moments had me in tears, I also laughed. The story is really well written, I ended this book with no lingering thoughts or questions. I also felt that this story can be very relatable, married, or divorced. It made me look at my own marriage and what I appreciate about it. As someone who solely reads romance, I have never found myself thinking about my life and how it could relate to what I’m reading, and for me, that made me love this book more. I could not recommend this book enough.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC

There is something so captivating in Tarah’s books. The way she captures feelings, even the simplest sentences are so damn emotional. Admittedly I was not someone who held on to the “she’s still a Byrd” from Savor It but god was I wrong for that!!!! I have fallen so hard for these characters and their love and their determination to get it right this time around. Watching these two find their way back to each other ripped my heart out in the best way. I loved seeing the work that Ellis put in, he knew he needed to show Wren things would be different now and wasn’t shy to vulnerability and communication even when it didn’t come naturally. The history that Tarah manages to give us without dual timelines was magic, so easy to see who both Ellis and Wren were throughout the years of growth and change of their relationship. It’s so clear they never fell out of love but are also learning to love each other all over again. I was so emotional reading this and I’ll be thinking about “I’ll save you a seat” forever. (Also are we getting a Silas book because I fear I won’t be able to handle that)

I LOVED this book. LOVED this book. Tarah Dewitt must be some kind of writing goddess because she can do no wrong. The emotional depth, the scenery, the longing, the character depth, the character growth, THE MUSTACHE. Left of Forever had it all. I’m kinda obsessed with Spunes and would like to love there ASAP

After the divorce, Wren and Ellis are forced to live their lives separately after so many years together. Being together since they were 17 and 18 years old, they find it hard to imagine a life without each other. 5 years after the divorce, they come together to send their son, Sam, off to college. Ellis has more planned than just a send off trip, which leads to more than just saying their goodbyes to their boy.

This book was honestly so much better than Savor It. I'm not sure if it's because all the characters were already established. It just seemed so much more structured and less chaotic. I really loved the premise of it all and I loved Ellis! He was such a family man with a good heart. I loved how he so easily took care of everyone. It makes me wonder why they even got divorced in the first place.

Romance novels have a way of being unrealistic, and this one seemed to be that way. Sam was conveniently such a good kid and didn't have any teenage angst issues. Ellis conveniently loved Wren despite the divorce, it didn't seem like they were any qualms. It just didn't feel that believable as to why they even got divorced in the first place. I've read some second-chance romances in the past and this seems to be the most unrealistic of them all. But I guess that's the beauty of fiction novels?

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

Tarah just hits every dang time! I loved this one, just like I loved all the others. Great read with characters I cared about and a storyline I wanted to see to completion!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of Left of Forever by Tarah Dewitt.

I had a feeling this was going to be one of my top romance reads of the year, and it still managed to blow my expectations out of the water. Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt is, without question, the best second-chance romance I’ve ever read. And that’s saying something, because it’s not even my go-to trope. But DeWitt completely nailed it with Ellis and Wren.

She set things up so beautifully in Savor It (book one in the series), where you catch the spark between two people who clearly still have feelings but need time and space. In Left of Forever, she explores what happens when people take the time to grow, reflect, and then rediscover what’s been there all along. The emotional depth, the vulnerability, the slow rebuilding, it’s all just so well done.

This book is thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly relatable, even if you’ve never been in a similar situation. It’s a story about love, identity, and choosing each other again after life has happened in between. I can’t recommend it enough.

While Left of Forever can technically be read on its own, I highly recommend starting with Savor It to get a better sense of the characters, the town of Spunes, and the beautiful dynamic of the Byrd family. It makes the experience that much richer.

I’ve never highlighted so much in a book. So many lines felt like they were written just for me, and I think a lot of readers will feel the same. I sincerely hope Tarah DeWitt continues this series. I am not ready to leave this world behind and can’t wait to revisit Spunes again.