When you have to stop mid-read to either cry or *just* process, you know you're reading a good book. I actually stared at the wall feeling everything I had the pleasure of reading once I had finished it.

I was drawn in by the big, loud Byrd family but fell in love with both main characters and the literal journey they completed to find each other again. If you are a mood reader like me, this is a book that would accompany a rainy, overcast day, a warm cup of tea and cuddles from a cat. You will not be disappointed in this one.

Dare I say this is my favorite Tarah DeWitt book to date??

The Byrd’s hold such a special place in my heart and I think Dewitt is (as the cool kids say say) in her BAG with this one

Maybe I just love a second chance romance but this pulled at my heart strings and me rooting for these two so hard

This might be DeWitt’s most emotionally intimate and complex book yet. Wren and Ellis’ history is heartbreaking and their journey to spending what’s left of forever together broke my heart and put it back together.

I really enjoyed this novel; the characters felt real, and the well-paced plot kept me engaged from start to finish.

MY HEART! I was rooting so bad for Wren and Ellis's happiness in the previous book of the series! How I loved this amazing book. It was sad at some points but that was a given and I was ready for the emotions. Second chances are so rewarding. This novel was simply perfect. Probably my favorite book of the year so far!

Did I stay up until 1:30 to finish this book? Yes, yes I did. Do I regret it? No, I really don't. Left of Forever is a love letter to the magic of love and a testament to the fact that even if love itself can not conquer all, you can conquer anything if you do it with love.

4.75✨ 3🌶️

wren and ellis 🥹 sweet baby angels. i am such a sucker for a second chance romance, and their story was so beautiful. the flashbacks, the letters, the YEARNING; i can’t cope. tarah really created something special with this one.

also, the final paragraph of this book wrecked me in the best way. one of the best final lines in a novel ive ever read. i had managed to keep my tears at bay reading this one until that moment.

thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and You Had Me At HEA for the e-ARC. ❤️

review posted on Goodreads + Fable, with additional post on Instagram (more to come):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7017089103
https://fable.co/review/ab7cc55c-52d1-4ab9-bfd7-7cb924fa82e9/share
https://www.instagram.com/p/DH54iMKttea/?igsh=OHV5amUwc3lhcDBp

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

I loved the second chance trope before this book and I would die for it now after reading "Left of Forever."

Wren and Ellis were childhood friends to lovers who had a child young and got life thrown at them.
They got a divorce after being together for so long and were able to remain amicable for their child's sake, while never really getting over each other.
I loved the found family aspect of this story from Wren's POV and enjoyed seeing Ellis open up and really work for this second chance.
I didn't love the miscommunications and stubbornness that kept them apart longer than necessary, but did feel that it added to the plot and made the ending all the more sweeter.

I didn't read "Savor It" before this, but felt that I could follow along with these characters and setting easily.
I truly enjoyed the emotional rawness and awareness that was captured in this story and these characters. I felt that this was an accurate representation of the difficulties of marriage and life while still keeping things interesting.

I loved getting to see more of Wren and Ellis in this! Their story and second chance romance had much more on the line than a lot of other second chance love stories, they had their son Sam in the mix and even while separated had to find a way to be around each other and coparent. The road trip to spend time together and try to see if they could repair their relationship was such a fun way to explore their relationship. I am loving this interconnected series, being from the PNW, I get all of the PNW vibes and I love to see it, and am wishing I could go to Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington. Dewitt is quickly becoming one of my auto-buy authors.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this eARC! I have read a few of Tarah DeWitt’s novels previously, and I genuinely think this is her best work yet. The story was so beautiful and you could really feel all of the emotions the characters were experiencing while still maintaining realistic expectations. Cannot recommend this book enough to everyone I know!

Thank you @netgalley and @st for this eARC.

Release date: 5/20/25

Tarah Dewitt can write beautiful declarations that the reader feels in their soul. This book is filled with so many great passages regarding love and second chances— so much great dialogue.

But I find the work feels inconsistent. I struggled fully understanding Wren as a character and therefore their relationship didn’t always make sense to me. Superficially, it works. They married young and have now been divorced for 5 years, but they aren’t truly over each other.
But there were parts— like how they poured themselves out in their initial letters— that just didn’t work for me (as beautiful as it was). Also, some of the spicier scenes felt forced. Maybe it was my reading pace (I’m very slow with physical reads), but it all felt a little clunky.

The best part for me is that I couldn’t help but picture Jason Kelce as Ellis, the burly wildfire fighter. Wren was harder to nail down. Her description never fit the character in my mind.

Overall, it was a good Tarah Dewitt novel. And even though I’m finding her books to be good, not great, I still expect that I’m going to want to read Micah’s story when it comes out.

CW: multiple spicy scenes, divorce, parent death (off page), miscarriage (off page)

Left of forever by Tarah Dewitt

“It’s like I’ve finally come alive under my own skin again. The version of me I was meant to be, misshapen heart finding its matching piece.”

If you like a second chance romance with secret penpalling, roadtripping, and whole ass adults that go to therapy and then work through their problems together…then this is the book for you!

Also full of unique family dynamics that are invested in the main characters and the outcome of the relationship…it’s very evident that they want to see the main characters find “what’s left of forever” in each other.

Thank you to NetGalley for featuring this book! Was so amazing!

Tarah DeWitt does it AGAIN.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars for Wren and “she’s still a Byrd” Ellis.

Left of Forever was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025. The way I ran to NetGalley to get my hands on this!! 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️ Add this book to your TBR immediately and (im)patiently wait for May 20, 2025.

Wren and Ellis grew up together, had a son in their teen years, spent years married, and then…unfortunately divorced. Now almost 5 years later, they’re about to decide if they want to fight for what’s left of forever.

DeWitt’s writing gets to the heart of the story, is character-led, and always infuses humor just when you need it. This is DeWitt’s best yet, and I’m not sure I’ll ever look at vanilla ice cream the same 🫣 This is a story of being brave enough to hope and loving someone enough to fight.

📖 childhood friends to lovers
📖 second chance
📖 dual POV
📖 road trip

Left of Forever is EVERYTHING to me. It’s easily one of my new favorite books. Tarah DeWitt’s writing is so stunningly beautiful. I was hooked on each word, I couldn’t put it down. I truly don’t know how she manages to get better with each book!

This follows Wren and Ellis, two characters introduced in DeWitt’s previous book, Savor It (I highly recommend this book as well!). You don’t necessarily need to read Savor It before reading this book, but Left of Forever will be much more enjoyable if you read Savor It first!

Wren and Ellis grew up together, had a baby together as teenagers, and got divorced 5 years ago. Now their son is off to college and Ellis suggests that they take a road trip back to their hometown after dropping him off—one last chance of seeing if they can spend what’s left of forever, together.

Thank you so much to Tarah DeWitt, Saint Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the eARC. Left of Forever comes out May 20th, 2025.

“I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.”

Tarah DeWitt’s writing absolutely shines in this novel, the way she creates a seamless blend providing snippets into Ellis and Wren’s past while keeping us in the present was beautifully done. The way I was gripped from the beginning with the letters and then to follow Ellis and Wren as they give themselves another chance—there was never a moment where I wasn’t hooked on the story.

The yearning and tension and hurt was palpable it had me gripping my kindle, I was absolutely captivated. I love second-chance romance because there’s always so much history between the main characters and this story was no different. Both Wren and Ellis had their own journey and were even better when they came together.

Despite the loss that is explored in their story, an ectopic pregnancy and a separation of five years, Left of Forever still felt like a warm hug and like coming home to family, all in a small gloomy town on the coast of Oregon.

I’ve loved Tarah’s previous novels but there is something about Left of Forever that felt so raw and emotional that shifted something in me and served as another great reminder of how magnificent the romance genre is as a whole.

If you’re a fan of second-chance romance, heartwarming stories, and just a f*cking good time, then do yourself a favor and pick up Left of Forever when it’s out on May 20!

Wow, one of my favorites to date from @authortarahdewitt ! Can I please campaign for more advanced age, married, mature conflict characters?? Thank you @stmartinspress for my early reading copy- LOVED IT! Out May 20, 2025.

LEFT OF FOREVER takes us back again to Spunes, Or- this time to cozy in with Wren + Ellis Byrd, who have been the loves of each others’ lives since the literal age of 6. But, as life often does, along the way real struggles and the comfortableness of daily life comes between their fiery love. So much so that when the novel picks up, they’ve been divorced for 5 years.

As suspected, they have both tried to move on and are still just in love with each other as when they were young.

I loved the opening search for two horses, I LOVED the letters, the open dialogue between them, I left like I was strolling on a beach with them in So Cal! Dewitt does an amazing job (like seriously, did she herself just drop a kid at college??) of making each scene realistic and FIRE at the same time. The thoughtfulness of Ellis, the vulnerability of both characters.

I loved that the characters were different than 5 years ago, and that they were scared, but willing to take chances on what is right.

Chef’s kiss.

There is some language, FYI, in case that is something you’d like a head’s up about.

Read this if you love:
Second Chances
Reunited Love
Bakeries
Firefighters
Writing Love Letters
Empty-Nest + College Parents
Childhood Sweethearts

What’s a novel you’ve read recently with adult characters + mature, adult problems? I am feeling the vibes from this genre and need more recommendations!

Tarah DeWitt has done it again—Left of Forever is an achingly beautiful second-chance romance that delivers on every front: emotion, longing, and the kind of love that lingers long after the final page.

Wren and Ellis’s story isn’t just about rekindling romance; it’s about untangling years of heartbreak, regret, and the undeniable pull of a love that never really faded. Their dynamic is charged with history, and DeWitt does a stunning job of making their past feel just as present as their current journey. Every glance, every touch, every unsaid word is thick with meaning, making their road trip reunion as tender as it is tense.

And let’s talk about the steam. DeWitt has always had a knack for balancing emotional depth with palpable chemistry, and Wren and Ellis? They burn. The tension between them simmers, building in a way that feels earned, making every intimate moment all the more satisfying.

But what really makes this book stand out is how deeply felt it is. Beyond the romance, Left of Forever is a story about healing, about learning when to fight for love and when to let it go. Wren and Ellis’s journey—both literal and emotional—is written with so much care that it’s impossible not to root for them.

If you love second-chance romances packed with yearning, well-earned heat, and characters who feel heartbreakingly real, this one is for you. Tarah DeWitt proves once again why she’s a must-read in the genre.

I was really enjoying this book and then I feel like it turned into nothing but spicey scenes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a spicy book but I feel like it took too much away from the actual story.

2.5 stars.

This was the first Tarah DeWitt book I've read and it did not disappoint. Wren and Ellis' relationship was so special. If you are a fan of second-chance romances, you'll love this story of a divorced couple who find their ways back to each other after their teenage son heads to college. This was such a quick read filled with moments that will make your heart melt. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley.

Thank you so so much to NetGalley for this eARC!!!

You guys, this was EVERYTHING to me. I am super picky about my second chance romances and don't always love this trope, BUT Tarah DeWitt blew me away with Left of Forever!!!

This book and our couple Wren & Ellis had me immediately sucked in and feeling so many emotions right off the bat (and continued throughout the entire book). I had butterflies the whole time and was constantly swooning as we went back and forth between Wren & Ellis's POVs. They both yearned for each other and their angst jumped off the page. They were raw, realistic, dynamic, and so well fleshed out. Also, the writing ???? Stunning!!! I truly think this is some of the author's best work and I will be thinking about this couple for what's left of forever!!!!

Read of you like:
- second chance romance
- childhood friends to lovers
- road trips
- anonymous letters
- found family
- small town
- hot fire-fighting dads