"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."

Easiest five star I’ve ever given! 😭😭

I got this ARC months ago and could only bring myself to read now because I just knew like all her other books it would GUT me. And boy did it. 22% in and there were waterworks. I’m typing this review up 10 days after I’ve read the book and holy f*ck the quotes have me crying again 🥹🥹🥹 I knew we were gonna be fed when Miss Tarah hit us with the “she’s still a Byrd” in Savor it, and fed we were.

Ellis and Wren are literally everything and more. What broke them made me so sad and it’s literally my worst fear but this book gave me hope that what’s meant to be won’t remain broken.

Tropes:

Divorcees 💍 💔
Second chance
Only one… tent 🏕️
It’s always been you
Pining
Secret pen pals

Here are some of my fav quotes for the road!

“We've been divorced for over four years, but her last name is still Byrd, so ... she is still a Byrd.”

“The bravest thing I ever did was leave something that was fine, but not making either of us happy anymore. Sometimes I think I regret it even still, but ... there are different kinds of hurt.”

“I miss fighting with him. It was when we stopped fighting that everything went cold.”

“She's kissing me. Her lips are on mine after five long years. Five hundred years. She's kissing me. I'm home.”

“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.”

You know when you read a book that you love so much you just can't wait to talk about it with somebody and you want to make sure they read it too, that's this book! I love this book so much! It was sweet, romantic, funny, sad, all of the emotions. I've never highlighted passages throughout a book so much!

"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."

"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 and something bigger than myself."

I liked that it reconnected us with characters from Savor It and I hope there will be another one with another Byrd sibling. I love the playlist at the beginning of the book. It really sets the tone of the book and I'm constantly thinking of all the different songs when I'm reading!

“This time, they'll get it right.”

Look. I’m just going to say it. If Tarah DeWitt writes it I’m going to read it. If Tarah DeWitt has the book made into an audio book, I’m going to listen to it. If Tarah DeWitt wants to draw me a cave drawing, I will marvel at it.

If you read Savor It and absolutely loved it (like I did) and needed 1000% more of Spunes, OR (like I did) run, don’t walk to your nearest book retailer to get the physical or audio copy of Left of Forever. In this story we get Wren and Ellis’s story: how they met, how they fell in love, and ultimately how they fell apart.

This book hit me in all the emotions. I laughed. I cried. I cried some more. I had a few giggles. And then I ugly cried for the last few chapters. And that epilogue. WHAT AN EPILOGUE. This book is filled with so much love (and pain) and emotion that it’s hard to even put into words what I loved about this book. Essentially, it was everything. Hard stop.

Definitely read this one for:
🥐Small town romance
🥐Second chance romance
🥐Childhood love
🥐Roadtrip
🥐He wants her back and will stop at nothing

This book does deal with some heavier topics so please, please, please read and research any trigger warnings beforehand.
While this book is not a sequel, per se, it doesn’t help to have read Savor It first in order to get to meet the side characters and the small town where they live.

I was lucky enough to score an eARC and an ALC and I traded back and forth between the two. The audio is great as well and I loved the dual narration.

Both are out on May 20th! A special thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and also Macmillan Audio for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book but it was hard. I was very frustrated that they obviously wanted to be wit each other but held back. It pulled me out of the story multiple times. I loved the premise of this book as I love second chance romances but it kind of fell flat for me. Ellis and Wren had too much miscommunication for my liking.

Let me start by saying that Second Chance can be hit or miss for me. When its done right though, I love it. That is the case with Left of Forever! Wren and Ellis are well-developed characters and the dual POV let’s you into their fears about rekindling their relationship. The road trip to test out the possibility of getting back together and the fact that family members keep interfering from afar was really fun. And the cooking class scene??? I could not stop laughing because who hasn’t cut a spicy pepper and accidentally touched their eye or.....other areas of their body?!?!?! If you love a character-driven second chance, this one’s for you!

On another note, this can definitely be read as a standalone! However, for those that I have read Savor It, you'll appreciate appearances from all of the characters you loved, including Sage and Fisher!

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

This book changed my DNA, and I am forever obsessed with Tarah’s writing. I cannot wait for this audiobook to relisten!

Wren and Ellis Byrd have loved each other since they were kids and had their son, Sam, together when they were only teenagers. Five years ago, they called it quits, but neither of them has been able to fully move on. When Sam gets accepted into college and the couple decides to help him move, Ellis convinces Wren to road trip home with him so they can give their relationship another shot.

I have no words. Hands down this has been my absolute favorite romance of the year! This book had me literally laughing out loud and crying fat, ugly tears of joy.

I'm a huge sucker for a solid second chance romance, and this book delivered everything I long for. Wren and Ellis have been friends since they were young, and their relationship developed slowly, not culminating until their high school years. We get to see glimpses of their past as they reminisce together and through Wren's journaling, and I loved the slow burn aspect of it all.

While their road trip together is lots of fun (and plenty spicy!), the two also use the time to talk about what went wrong in their relationship. I love how raw and honest this all felt, and it made everything about them and their relationship feel more real and relatable.

And of course, Ellis was the perfect MMC. He's a hot firefighter who would do just about anything for the people he loves. He's willing to admit his faults, and fight for what's really important to him.

Read if you like:
Second chance romance
30s MCs
Divorced couple
Letters/journal
Firefighter MMC
Cinnamon roll MMC
Dual-POV

tarah dewitt has a true talent when it comes to writing. i haven’t started this one because i wanted to read “savor it” before it, but i cannot wait and im so excited to start!

Rounded up from 4.5
- this is for the emo readers!😭
- second chance romance done PERFECTLY
- I love the depth she wrote into her characters, so earnest and emotionally attuned to themselves and each other
- you get a bunch here: found family, road trips, second chance, LOL moments (like the pepper incident - soooo funny), also very sexy!
- my only qualms are that there wasn’t enough conflict, it came too easy for them (but still loved) and that I felt like I needed a character list (but only an issue for those who haven’t read Savor It. I didn’t know back stories so some of the details just flew over my head

I’ll be swooning over Ellis Byrd til the day I die. What. A. Man. 😍

Savor It was one of my favorite reads of 2024 so when I heard there would be a spin off, I was absolutely ecstatic. This book exceeded every expectation I had of it, and then some!

I knew I was going to love it and I loved it even more than I thought possible. Tarah puts so much raw feelings into her books and everyone cuts me open and sews me back together. It was a true masterpiece.

"I'll save you a seat, Byrd."

Phenomenal. Beautiful. Magnificent.
This story was so heart warming, emotional, raw, and real.
The love between Wren and Ellis was so beautiful.
I cried so many tears. So many happy tears.
To see a couple fight for each other and their family, to see them fight for their way BACK to each other, their love was so special. To be able to witness the beauty of this story from Tarah's brain, I am in awe. This book might be one of the best books I have ever read. It touched my heart and soul in so many ways.

This book 😍! Second chance romance is one of my absolute favorite tropes and The Left of Forever by @authortarahdewitt is the most heartfelt book I’ve read using it. Ever. The tenderness, the emotional depth, the rawness both of the characters spill onto the page. It’s stunning. I loved it. He runs his hands up her stretch marks reverently. I can’t even!!! I’m a big re-reader of books and this one will be an annual read for me. It comes out May 20th and if you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it. Perfect summer book.

#bookrecommendations📚❣️ #romancereads

Wow talk about a second chance romance. Wrenn and Ellis are recently divorced and deciding to give their relationship another shot, with a lot at stake is it worth the risk? This book was so romantic, so mature, so realistic, raw and beautiful. I just loved this story.

HANDS DONE, my favorite Tarah book! I’m not sure what she put in this book, but once i hit play on the audiobook I COULD NOT BE INTERRUPTED.

First of all, second chance romance that involves a divorce and remarriage/rekindling is a trope i’ve read and it be done REALLY bad. I think it has to be done in a way that’s so careful and that the reader WANTS them to end up back together & Tarah did that.

I was immediately rooting for our MCs to get back together and I felt the angst, tension and build up through every single page. I loved how she organized the book as well. It was fast paced and addictive.

The narration was SO well done. I absolutely loved it. I followed along in the digital copy, but the narrator did an outstanding job and keeping me engaged and entertained. She will absolutely be added to my must listen list!

You’ll find:
-Second Chance Romance
-Roadtrip Rekindling

Overall, this just felt like such a well done romance. You truly fall in love with every character and are rooting for our MCs! I absolutely recommend and would def recommend the audio!

And that's how you write a second chance romance.

𝙇𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 opens up with Ellis Byrd writing to Wren Byrd in secret and when he realises all they've lost and how they've both not been able to move past their shared life... he's determined to get back his wife.
So the plotting ensues as he plans a final road trip to see if they can either get closure or get back each other.

~

I absolutely did not sob reading this btw. No the water from my glass just decided to land on my face.

I've never appreciated a gruff, semi closed off, gaurded, cinnamon roll hero more than Ellis Byrd. That man needs a two week, all expenses paid trip to Lake Como with his wife more than anybody... he won't sit still for a moment of their time but he deserves it nonetheless.

And Wren Byrd? She deserves to be able to taste and appreciate her own scones and all the baked jargon I don't remember. Her sadness and emptiness was visible in the first few chapters. And the way she magically came to life in Ellis's presence was like lying down after a bone tiring, cold, hard day - that is to say it was worth it to feel that pleasure again.

Also, at one point Wren's matchmaking bulb glowed bright regarding Micah (one of the Byrd brothers) and Lennox (Ellis's former colleague) but if by some forced of fiction, the author is reading this... I root for Lennox and Silas (they'd be a phenomenal blend of chaos).

~

3.97 / 5 ★

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5⭐️ & mark my words, this will be one of my favorite romance books of the entire year 😭 !!!

THIS is why I love second chance romance!!!! The yearning, pining, tension, & LOVE is unmatched. No man has ever loved a woman like Ellis loves Wren. The trauma & pain they’ve gone through together, raising Sam, & fighting their way back together. They are soulmates in every sense of the word 💗

“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.”

I had CHILLS at so many points in the book. I truly was crying at the end, not only because it was so incredibly beautiful, but also because I was so sad it had to end.

I LOVED the Sage, Fisher & Indy cameos, learning more about Silas, & HOPEFULLY getting a Micah book (next!!?). I love the Byrd family so much my heart hurts 😭💗

A HUGEEEE thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Tarah DeWitt & NetGalley for the early copy. I will cherish this story forever 🥹

Left of Forever may have set THE bar for second chance romances! I am such a sucker for this trope and I'll devour any book that has it. I want the angst, the YEARNINGGGGGG, all the emotions, and we get all of that in this. But so much more! We see a couple that has seen so much together, and they've been apart for five years. They explore everything that happened between them, the misunderstandings/miscommunication, they work through all of it. Perfection!

I listened to the audio of this and I knew right away that this would be a top favorite for 2025! Megan Wicks and Connor Crais did a phenomenal job with bringing Wren and Ellis to life. I usually set the speed a little quicker, but I listened to this at the normal speed because I just wanted to absorb every moment.

What a beautiful story and I can't wait to have a physical copy to annotate the crap with all of my favorite quotes! Bravo to Tarah and this beautifully written story and thank you for writing it!

Wren and Ellis are high school sweethearts who set off on a roadtrip after dropping their son off at college to rekindle their romance.

The way their affection was written genuinely made their relationship feel real, you can feel their years of history in the way they communicated or small antidotes shared.

Overall the conflict that drove a wedge between them felt genuine, however their push to get back together was mildly thin as they both clearly still deep feelings for each other.

However, this did not detract from the reading experience. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know these characters and their love story. They both spoke of each other so highly, even in sad moment, in a way that truly transformed their love into something real as a reader.

Longing to the extreme! They lonnnnnged for each other and I. Ate. It. Up.
I love this Spunes family and *fingerscrossed* Silas is next! Alllll the stars