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Thanks to NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy. Here’s my review:

I went into Left of Forever knowing I was going to fall in love with Wren and Ellis—and what better time to do that than while they’re learning to fall back in love with each other?

This is a beautifully written second chance romance that picks up five years after their divorce. A road trip, just the two of them, after dropping off their now college-bound kid—what could possibly go wrong? Or, more importantly, what could go right?

Be ready to fall hard. Be ready for the petty, the messy, the heartbreaking—but most of all, the magic that is Wren and Ellis.

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Obsessed. Love love loved this book!

There is something about reading a book about two people finding their way back to each other that wrecks me! It’s so emotional. They already know each other in such an intimate way and they never really stopped loving each other but sometimes life just gets in the way of that love. I feel like anyone who has been married for a while can understand this, especially if you were married young.

I really loved and appreciated the way Wren and Ellis found their way back to each other so much. They got down to the nitty gritty of their past and confronted it head on. It was great because they were both open to hearing it all. They both wanted to fight for what they had. 🥹 and they did and it was absolutely beautiful.

🎧
Megan Wicks and Connor Crais did an amazing job bringing this story to life! Their voices added so much more emotion to this already emotional book. They give me all the feels and brought me to tears. 100% recommend the audiobook!

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Full disclosure: I love Tarah Dewitt and her writing. All of her books are auto-buy for me. That being said, Left of Forever is my favorite. 💖 Second chance stories can be risky because the reason the MCs didn't work the first time around has to be a "forgivable" offense, which can be a challenging needle to thread. Wren and Ellis' story was emotional, sexy, and at times, hilarious. I can't wait to see what Dewitt tackles next. She has a forever-fan in me. 🥳

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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I ended up finishing the book in just a few sittings and really enjoyed the story and characters.

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This is a beautiful second-chance romance between two people still very much in love with each other, but too afraid to say it, or even admit it to themselves at first. Wren and Ellis have known each other forever--they grew up alongside each other in their small town in Oregon, fell hard for each other as teenagers, and married young after Wren got pregnant at 17. Now they're 5 years post-divorce, gearing up to send their child Sam to college, and deciding to see if they have a chance of reconnecting.

This is the first book I've read set in Spunes & first I've read by this author, and I probably would have been even more emotionally invested in their story if I'd read others first -- but still, this was a beautiful romance and I was rooting for Wren and Ellis so hard. For readers who love an epistolary novel, there are some letters back and forth between Ellis and Wren that were essential to them opening back up to one another and giving themselves another chance, though only Ellis knew the identity of his correspondent. Their story felt very real and very hopeful, and it was a beautiful journey to go on. I'll definitely be looking out for Savor It and others by DeWitt now! And I'll be recommending this to our romance readers looking for an emotional contemporary romance.

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Please forgive me if this too long or doesn’t make sense because I tend to ramble, I’ve been struggling to find the words that will do this book justice.

This book has more than altered my brain chemistry, I can feel how it changed me down to my marrow. The heartbreak, the hope, the grief, and the love that fill this book are palpable on every page.

Wren is so incredibly lovable, flawed, and real. She felt like sunshine, the kind that finds its way through the trees and makes everything glow in shades of gold and green. She has felt so much grief, but it never affected the amount of kindness and love she has to give. She’s the kind of person that just radiates it.

Ellis Byrd, the man that you are. He took on so much from such a young age that he never learned how to share the load, or even know that it’s okay to do so. This man put in the work to listen and grow and fight for Wren. Watching his growth with emotional vulnerability and communication broke my heart and put it back together again. Ellis hands down has the best character growth I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

And if it wasn’t enough to fall in love with Wren and Ellis, Tarah had to go and make us fall in love with the rest of the Byrd family as well. Getting to see Sage and Fisher again was a treat, but Silas and Micah stole the show for the supporting characters. I am so unbelievably excited to read their stories when the time comes I’m practically vibrating!

It has been so long since I’ve had a book leave me feeling this raw and full of hope, I will truly compare every book I read to it. I’ve repeatedly joked that the nickname for this book is Heartbroken and Horny (and I stand by it), but it is also hopeful. Hope to try again, hope to grow together, and hope to love, for whatever is left of forever.

Left of Forever blesses the public with its existence May 20th!💚🕊️

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Griffin for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

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may i present my newest hyperfixation and favorite books of the year!!!! this book made me SICK the yearning and angst are absolute perfection.

left of forever is a second chance romance and forced proximity wrapped up in a delicious angsty love story of two divorced people finding their way back to each other and i was so MOVED reading it.

the letter writing, the road trip, the WORK the two of them put in, all of it was so seamlessly perfect. ellis is a man who YEARNS and it’s my favorite thing, actually. this book felt like magic.

second chance romances are one of my (if not my top favorite!!) set ups and tarah wrote one of the best second chances ever. we get the angst and delicious tension that i ate up on every single paaaaage. and the epilogue made me weep it was so good.

i truly cannot recommend this enough!!!! and i’ll be shouting about it for whatever is left of forever ✨

🎧 the audiobook is a MASTERPIECE. connor crais read for ellis and he was perfection. megan wicks IS wren. the two of them did such a phenomenal job reading for these characters that they literally brought me to tears.

thank you SMP for the arc and alc

what to expect
⟢ second chance romance
⟢ forced proximity / road trip
⟢ letter writing
⟢ acts of service

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4.25!
wow was i emotional reading this :(( any second chance / divorce romance will always get me in my feels just cuz it's scary to fall in love but then also falling out ?? yea sorry that's going to get me..!! but Tarah's writing really elevated in this book and i was just so invested in the two characters!

i still do think the author does more telling than showing when it comes to feelings, and there's somewhat of a dumping of the connection the characters are supposed to have instead of having that actual build up in the interactions between the characters but nonetheless i still liked the book a lot!

you could tell ellis and wren had so much love for each other and to see them finally let themselves acknowledge their faults and heal in their own ways was so heartwarming

when we got to the high point of their mending relationship there was a part of me that was like "that's it?" so i guess it kinda felt lack luster when they found each other again.

but then again i was still very invested and enjoyed the book! I feel like anyone who likes second chance romance will enjoy this one! It was beautiful, cathartic, healing, and just beautiful to read! I highly recommend reading it if you find yourself enjoying these types of books!

Thank you to NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for a review!

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In Left of Forever, Wren and Ellis Byrd are divorced in their 30s and almost empty nesters. They fell in love as teenagers, but many life circumstances led them to a split a few years ago. They keep it civil for the family and both are fighting leftover feelings for the other. When Ellis suggests a roadtrip together on the way home from dropping their kid off at college, Wren is understandably wary. Could this be a chance to rekindle their relationship? Or is it the circumstance that solidifies their split?

I love books where the small town feels like a character of it’s own. Spunes, Oregon is definitely one of those towns! I loved all the characters so much, but none more than Wren and Ellis. Their struggles and emotions felt so real and raw and it made this second chance romance very emotional. I thought the roadtrip framework was the perfect way to put a lot of vulnerability into a not very long amount of time. And we love when there’s only one bed! I just really enjoyed this one. Tarah DeWitt writes some of my favorite romantic comedy characters out there!

Give Left of Forever a read if you enjoy :
- Quirky, small town romance
- Second chance romance
- Roadtrip vibes
- Anonymous penpals
- Firefighter MMC
- Plenty of good spice

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher St. Martin's Press for an eARC of Left of Forever in exchange for an honest review.

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I cannot put into words how much I LOVED this book. It was perfection and as of now my favorite romance book of the year!!! I am not normally a huge fan of second chance romance but Wren and Ellis deserved it. If I could give out a 6 ⭐️ I would.
I absolutely cannot wait for the next one to come out. Plus I hope I’m not the only one secretly hoping that the last book of the series will be about Sam and Indy ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advance copy in exchange for a honest review.

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Left of Forever is a sweet and spicy small town second-chance contemporary romance romcom set in Oregon with MCs who are divorced childhood friends. There was so much emotional depth between these pages and so many lines in this had me absolutely swooning.

Wren and Ellis fell in love, married and had a child as teenagers. Now in their 30s and divorced with their son leaving for college, they take a road trip back home together and begin to wonder if they might still have a future together.

I loved following along with the love story & flashbacks between Ellis and Wren as they navigate co-parenting while rekindling a marriage that feels unfinished. This story is perfect for fans of second-chance romance romcoms set in the PNW with Twilight references, forced proximity, found family and its-always-been-you.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eARC!

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
What an excellent second-chance, spicy & sweet summer romance! I liked this one more than Savor It and loved following each characters’ growth and watching Wren and Ellis grow together.
Left of Forever is the second book in Tarah DeWitt’s charming town of Spunes, Oregon, this time following divorced couple Wren and Ellis, who were once teenage parents to Sam, who has just been accepted to college in California. Ellis convinces Wren to partake in an extended roadtrip on the way back home to see if they can turn their relationship around and fix things they got wrong the first time around.
Loved the scenery, loved the yearning and pining UGH, loved their communication as they rebuild on a firmer foundation. Parts of the plot were a lil wacky (but fun, iykyk), my only gripe was getting thrown into the Autumn section was super fast paced and I wish it would’ve been sprinkled in throughout or we only got one POV, something was just a lil off there. BUT I thought this story was sooooo sweet and tender and I hope we get more about the other characters in the future!!🏕️🤎

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

Excuse me while I recover from this masterpiece. THIS. IS. WHAT. SECOND. CHANCE. ROMANCE. TRULY. IS!!!!! 😭💔💞

They were married. Got divorced. Five years passed. And Ellis Byrd? He decides he wants his wife back. AGHHH ‼️‼️

This book made me feel everything! Starting with watching two people navigate the heartbreak of what they once were, to trying to be “friends” (well, let's be real who were they kidding), to slowly giving themselves permission to ask… what if? 😮‍💨

“𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,” 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚. 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒐. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 . .” 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.

BOTH CHARACTERS? ❤️‍🔥 Absolute perfection. They are beautifully written with real demons they needed to face during those five years apart. That we find out that slowly, they did. So when 'fate' 🐴brings them together again, you feel every beat of what they could be. Every interaction is loaded with tension, pain, history, and undeniable love. And when Ellis finally says, “No more. I want her,” and Wren starts seeing the little things that made her fall in love with him again… My HEART 💘

It’s not easy for Wren. She’s scared and rightfully so! But the way their reconnection is paced slow, vulnerable, layered AHHHH it makes the entire journey feel so real. Like a rollercoaster you want to ride, even knowing it might scare you.

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 … 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔.

You get it ALL here!!!! Ellis and Wren go through the good, the bad, and the ugly to decide if love is worth the risk a second time. Spoiler: it is. I cried 😭😭😭 More than once. Even knowing it was a HEA, how they got there destroyed me in the best way. Because when you know… you know. Even if five years have passed 🥹

Why 5 stars?
Easy. I cried, which makes it automatic 5 stars.
But seriously!!! Ellis and Wren’s healing journey, both individually and together, is so raw, so authentic, that even after the epilogue, you just know they’ll make it. They will be together, for what’s left of forever 😭💫

If you love second chance romance, vulnerability, small town vibes, and that slow, aching rekindling after so long apart… READ. THIS. BOOK. You’ll eat it up. Promise!!!!!!

tropes
🧡 second chance romance
🧡 small town
🧡 road trip
🧡 forced proximity
🧡 he pines for her

⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
➳ 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱。ꪆৎ ˚⋅ I am so freaking excited for this second chance romance specially since we met them in Savor It AHHH, Thank you St.Martin Press and Netgalley for my eARC

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I need a book about every single Byrd sibling. God Tarah is so good at slow burn. I wanted to rip my hair out with anticipation. I love love love the way Tarah writes her humor. I do nothing but laugh and cry at her books.

This is slow burn second chance romance perfection and it will be in my mind for forever.

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RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt follows Wren and Ellis, who are childhood friends to lovers and have been divorced for five years, as they road trip back from dropping their son off at college and try to find their way back to one another.

This is going to one of the best books of the year, mark my words.

I was obsessed with these two, and devoured this book. Their romance and chemistry was absolutely just off the charts. Like they were in LOVE. The writing in this book was incredible. There were just some BEAUTIFUL lines.

I also loved the side characters and the setting. It had so many great tropes!! UGH! Just unreal, SOOOO good.

Thank you Netgalley and SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

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This book was such a delight! Tarah Dewitt has a way with words that doesn't compare to anyone! I really appreciated the fresh take on a second-chance romance, which them being a divorced couple with a college aged child. The road trip was the perfect setting for Wren and Ellis to discover who they were as people and how they would fit together if they were to give the relationship another chance. Similar to the first book in the series, I absolutely loved the wild cast of characters in the town of Spunes, Oregon, and how they all were desperately rooting for Wren and Ellis' relationship. I love everything that DeWitt writes but this one was extra delightful!

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I think like everyone else, after reading Savor It, I too felt that Ellis and Wren's story was not done. Even with the little snippets of what we got of their story in Savor It, I felt it in my bones that their love story was one of epic proportions. And did Tarah deliver on her end. LOF was everythng I could have wanted not only out of a second chance romance, but out of a contemporary romance book in general. There was heartache, there was regret, banter, tension and oh my gosh THE FLIRTING between Ellis and Wren. As if they didnt already have a whole child together already. There was so much love still left between the two of them and as the reader, I really enjoyed them rediscovering that love between each other. Ellis made me want to get married, just to get divorce, so i can then remarry again him again. They both went into this finding out if they could work things out again, with new hope, open hearts and open minds. It was healing to read about. Reality isn't always so happy so the escapism that this story offered was such a nice repreive. On top of Elis and Wren getting to know each other again and rehashing the past, the spice between them was off the charts. I have to say, i think LOF was Tarah's spiciest book. Honestly, everything about this book surpassed my expectations. I love the Byrd family so much. I want to be adopted by them. Thank you to Netgalley and Tarah for the eARC of Left of Forever!

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A second chance romance…with a whole lot of history, spicy times, and heart…oh my word!

It’s been five years since the divorce and they end up being pen pals. He knows it’s her and she doesn’t…he puts in the work and lets her take her take her time opening back up to their soul mate status!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC! So good!!

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Thank you @youhadmeathea and @macmillan.audio for the eARC/ALC. 🫶🏼

I’m a Tarah DeWitt girlie and will read anything she writes forever and ever. Wren and Ellis broke my heart to absolute pieces and then put it back together again (thankfully!!!!).

Left of Forever is a true second chance romance that follows a couple who were high school sweethearts until they weren’t. Having been separated for a few years now, they decide to take a roadtrip together after dropping their son at college to see if there is a flame worth rekindling.

Hope is such a beautiful theme at play here and Tarah writes it so well. The whole journey Wren and Ellis are on in this book is full of hope and driven by such strong emotion. I loved that aspect! Honesty too!! They had the tough conversations and it made me emotional!

The Byrd family just might be my fav small town fictional family yet (but don’t quote me because it’s hard to choose just one!!!). Between Sage and Ellis and all of their siblings, there is no shortage of great material there and I hope we continue to get more books in this world!

The spice was spicin’ in this book (especially second half) and that was my only complaint. I wanted to more of them connecting outside of the bedroom.

I ended up consuming this via audio after hearing RAVE reviews for it and y’all were right!! Connor and Megan absolutely KILLED IT when it came to Ellis and Wren. Highly recommend this format for anyone!

Tarah’s writing is just beautiful and like I said, I’ll read whatever she writes until the end of time. 🖤

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This latest love story from Tarah DeWitt is an interconnected standalone following a couple that was introduced in Savor It 💕 This time around, we’re following Wren and Ellis, childhood sweethearts that have been divorced now for close to five years but are both hoping for a second chance at love 🥰

I’m always a sucker for a second chance romance, and there was so much about their story to love. First off, they’re clearly great parents and put their differences aside to ensure their son felt loved and didn’t see their worst moments. I feel like we rarely ever see older/adult children in romance books, but this was such a refreshing take getting to see glimpses of Ellis and Wren’s relationship with Sam as they dropped him off for college. I only wish we’d had more of those because they were perfection 🥹

I also loved the inclusion of letters and their pen pal situation even though we knew it would come back around as a problem in their relationship later since Ellis knew he was writing to Wren, but Wren didn’t know she was writing to Ellis 👀 I thought their emotional depth and vulnerability, particularly from Ellis and his intentionality in working to show Wren how much he loved her and wanted them back together was beautiful.

However, I kind of felt like we lost a lot of that in the back half of the book and I was honestly let down. While I totally expected them to jump on each other when their road trip inevitably ran into the only one bed trope, I had hoped we’d maintain the great character depth and journey of emotional growth from the first half in the back half of the book. But unfortunately, I found myself feeling like those things were sacrificed in favor of spice. Some readers may love that, but for me, it overshadowed the emotional reconnection I had high hopes for.

I’ll also mention that I didn’t read Savor It before jumping into this one, and I did feel like I was missing a lot of details, particularly with the family tree. It’s a tough balance for an author not to be redundant for readers who have read their other works while still including enough that people like myself who read them out of order can still understand the dynamics at play. But I thought some key details were missing to help get my bearings, so I'd recommend reading Savor It first vs. reading them out of order in this case. I do think it'll make a big difference in your reading experience!

Like I said, there was a lot to love in this book, and I’m glad I got to see how Wren and Ellis came back together. They learned to communicate, fight and speak their minds in a productive way, tease and have fun with each other again, and reconnect physically, mentally and emotionally to find their way back to each other. And that’s a pretty special journey to ultimately enjoy what’s left of forever, together 🥹 3.5 stars

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