This was a great book! I really appreciated the emotional journey the characters went through and loved the road trip setting!

I was always a fan of second chance romances, but Left of Forever made me fall in love with them on a significantly deeper level.

“I don’t know how most people write in pen. I rarely get s*** right the first time and would love to use an eraser on more than words.”

Both characters were so incredibly relatable, and their mutual pining for each other (thank you Tarah DeWitt for the dual POV) was so raw. It was one of those books that makes your chest feel heavy while watching their story play out because you know what it feels like and it stirs up memories (negative and positive). I cried, more than once, but it was so beautifully realistic. Seeing their relationship slowly mend itself through hard discussions and consistent communication was perfectly paced, and the antics added in throughout the story had me cackling in a balance of hurt and laughter. And the slow burn? Oh I was kicking my feet!

As someone who ended a long relationship for some of the reasons Ellis and Wren did, watching Ellis plan their trip (with details I won’t spoil) would have me falling in love with him all over again too.

I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tarah DeWitt is my rom com queen and no one can convince me otherwise. I have no words—truly. I’ve been sitting with this book for days, trying to figure out how to express how much it meant to me, and still I don’t think anything I say will do it justice. All I know is: I loved it. I felt it. Deeply. This is the kind of story that crawls under your skin and settles right into your heart, and refuses to let go.

After Savor It, I already knew Tarah DeWitt had a gift for writing characters that feel achingly real, but this book? This book wrecked me in the most beautiful way. I am fully convinced she’s magic. Her words are stunning—poetic in places, cutting in others, always intentional. She writes with a kind of emotional clarity that just knocks the breath out of you.

Wren and Ellis completely undid me. I adored them in Savor It, and this book only deepened that connection. The second chance romance between them was everything I wanted—tender, raw, bursting with longing and growth and that kind of once-in-a-lifetime love that never really dies. They weren’t perfect, and that’s what made them perfect. Watching them find their way back to each other, piece by piece, with patience and vulnerability and honesty, was just… unforgettable. I cried more than once. Okay, maybe the whole way through.

Their history, the pain and love layered between them, made their reconnection feel so earned. There was such believable, quiet effort in how they chose each other again—not out of convenience or nostalgia, but because they still saw each other, completely. They showed up for one another, even when it was hard. Especially then.

And can we talk about the Byrds? That found family warmth added so much to the story, and if you’ve read Savor It, you’ll love the way this book ties everything together. Their connection to Wren felt personal, grounding, and reminded me that love doesn’t just come from one person—it’s the people who surround you and lift you up, too.

This was one of those rare books that made me laugh and sob and swoon all within the span of a few pages. If you love second chance romances that are full of longing, soft touches, heartache, healing, and hope—stories that make you feel—then this book will completely undo you in the best way. Absolutely perfect.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. This really blew me away and I was super surprised since 1) I have never read any books by this author, 2) this is the second in an interconnected standalone series and usually those don't work well for me if I haven't read book 1. I can safely say I will be reading her other works.

Not sure if this is biased, as I also married young and have been with the same man for 7 years now, but this book got me all emotional in a billion ways. I loved the prose, the journal entries and letters and conversations between the MCs, the atmosphere in each location was palpable and beautiful. The small town shenanigans and family aspect were very charming as well. Dual POV was used nicely here, showing each side of the relationship and how much each person went through to get to where they are. The spice was out of this world as well, trust me on this. One of the best second chance romances I've read.

Spoiler adjacent: There was a moment I thought it was going in a 3rd act breakup direction, and they did NOT which always brings a book higher for me. Yay for healthy communication!

TWs: Fertility issues, ectopic pregnancy, minor mention of death.

This was all the emotions. You can’t help but love every character from the start. Ellis and Wrens story was so good I couldn’t put it down. You can’t help but root for them the whole book.

No one does it like Tarah. She’s a god actually.

A beyond gorgeous romance about never giving up on love 🥹 Wren and Ellis are unforgettable and magic.
I’ll never be over them.
Everyone must add this to their TBR IMMEDIATELY.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for providing me an early copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

What an absolutely beautiful book!

These two had already stolen my heart when Silas yelled, “She’s still a Byrd!” in 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘐𝘵, so yeah, you could says I was a wee bit excited when Tarah announced this book!

From these two saying goodbye to their son as they dropped him off at college, to all the open communication on their road trip, I was constantly feeling all the feels.

And the writing was just so beautiful. I highlighted so many passages throughout. Far too many to share here; I’ll let you experience them while reading. 🥰

And I LOVED how mature these two were when it came to opening up; it definitely brought us to some really deep places, and honestly, *communication* is something I will always eat up in a romance novel! 😍

Gah, I can’t get enough of Spunes and these characters, and…I wouldn’t mind going back again, if something sparks in Tarah’s mind! 👀

What this book is giving:
✅ Contemporary Romance
✅ Dual POV
✅ Second Chance
✅ Road Trip
✅ Letters
✅ “She’s still a Byrd!”

Tarah always has a way of emotional damage. Wren and Ellis’ story was so heartfelt and kept me intrigued the whole time.

More in depth review to come on socials

So I think this might be my new favorite Tarah Dewitt book to date! 🤭 This book was so full of love and hope and longing, and it was honestly one of the best second chance romances I have read in a very long time!

This book was so beautifully written and had so many layers to it! Ellis and Wren were soulmates and worked so well together and I loved every single second of them together! They were complex, and I love all their history together and all the growth they had to do in the time they were apart. Everything about their relationship seemed really believable and almost understandable and relatable in some ways. I love that they both reconnected and how much effort they put into trying things out again. They both showed up for each other time and time again, and worked on what needed to be done, and I love seeing that in a couple, especially in a second chance romance!

I think the Byrds really added to the story as well (please note that this book is considered a standalone, but I think reading Savor It beforehand really helps you connect to the story as there a lot of characters that come back!) as I loved their connection as a family and to Wren as well! This added some found family elements that I really enjoyed and thought really added to the story!

Overall, this was such a heartwarming read that I think any second chance lover would fall in love with! The beautiful writing, the relatable and lovable characters and their backstory that you can’t help but root for, bits that make you laugh and cry, and the spice… What more do you need from a good romance book? 🤭❤️

4.5⭐️

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it turned out to be so disappointing. Let me just say that I ate up the first half, and I was loving it. I was living for the emotions and the epistolary element. The chemistry and banter was totally evident in the letters between the MCs. I was so into it that I was willing to look past the fact that these two idiots, who have known each other since they were children, should have been able to recognize each other’s hand writing. 🙄

Because of the turn this story took, it seriously felt like two separate books. Ellis and Wren start their road trip and agree to FINALLY talk about all the things that went wrong and to not get physical. So what do they do? They proceed to get physical every other chapter for the rest of the book. CRINGE. It’s well established in the beginning of the book that the physical element of their marriage was never the problem. This book felt like such a huge missed opportunity. I would have loved for the letters to continue and for the MCs to actually talk like they should’ve done five years ago.

Content: open door (Chapters 4, 24, 27, 29, 33, 34, I stopped keeping track at some point)

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for gifted copies. My thoughts are my own.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the advanced E-ARC of this title.

Easiest 5 star rating. Wren and Ellis have been divorced for almost five years when a chance letter brings them unexpectedly together.

First things first, I swear fully clothed knee humping is the hottest thing I've ever read.

🤍 I'm going to blame my Parent Trap loving heart for the way I feel about this book.

🤍 This divorced couple didn't find their way back to each other with the help of their kids, instead they put in the work.

🤍 Years of separation led each character to grow in empathy, understanding, and grace.

🤍 This is a love story to marriage and everything that comes along with it.

🤍 I loved that the author never had the couple take an easy path. They had to go through all the bad to get to the good. Even the things they disliked about each other ended up being pieces they missed.

🤍 The writing was poignant, the spice was sizzling, and the story was perfection.

I can’t believe how much I loved this book. This gave you everything a second chance book needs to give for you to believe in them. I would find myself heartbroken, swooning, hoping, gilling with these characters. I absolutely believe in them and loved them so much. I would absolutely love to reread this, maybe audio next time but this is an absolute recommend and reread book.
Absolutely loved everything about this book.

I enjoyed these characters and story, however another part of me thought they are adults & should communicate better. I still really loved the story and some moments between the characters. I also wondered how she never recognized his hand writing in the letter?!! I feel like there were just a few key notes missing that would have really added to the story. Overall I still had a good time reading this. I loved that he had a wren tattooed.

I really loved the authors last book in the series, Savor it, and gave it 4 stars so I was very excited for this book! But while the story was great it just felt a little bit low stakes and I found myself underwhelmed.

I loved Savor It so much, and this book was equally just as good. I love Ellis and Wren and loved reading about their relationship. The cutest second chance romance, the divorced edition. The road trip was the perfect setting, and I loved that I've been to 2 of the places (Santa Cruz and Monterey) they stopped at. This book made me giddy and had me chuckling (the pepper fiasco 😂).
I'm super bummed that this is where the Byrd family's story ends. I would have loved a book about Silas and one for Micah, but I do feel like the ending didn't leave us hanging wondering about their lives in the end.
I definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings as there were some heavy topics discussed/mentioned throughout both books, but especially this one.  Both Savor It and Left of Forever have me wanting to check out Tarah's blacklist and have me excited to see what she comes out with in the future.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity! I was lucky enough to get my hands on two arcs for this amazing book! Both digital and audio, for that I will forever be thankful. Following along while doing the audio felt so intimate almost like I was in the story myself.

I can’t even describe into actual words what this book meant to me while reading and now that I’m done. We got to meet Wren and Ellis in ‘Savor it’ and from the very beginning, I knew their story wasn’t finished. Truly what an amazing journey these two amazing characters took us thru. The love they both shared as not only lovers but as a family was so admirable. It just breaks my heart that I will never get to be a Byrd, long live the Byrd family. Can you tell my favorite trope is found family? Hehe, no but seriously if you love small towns, found family and second chance well then look no further because this is the book for you.

I loved this so much! Everything about Ellis and Wren’s story had so many feelings. I was rooting for them so hard the whole time. Something about Left of Forever just felt so wholesome (even though it really wasn’t)

This was probably one of the best second chance romances I have read. I liked that we already had a general idea of what went wrong in the past and got to spend the majority of the book with them working through their relationship.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC

i have no words!!!! i have been trying to write a review for a few days now, and i cannot put into words how much i love this book!!!!! i absolutely adored savor it, so i knew i was going to LOVE this one!! we love a second chance romance!!! i’m completely convinced tarah dewitt is magic. her words are stunning and i just adore wren and ellis. i sobbed my whole way through this one!!!! absolutely perfect.

This story is a second chance romance done right! Ellis and Wynn were teenage sweethearts and young parents, seemingly soul mates until they weren’t anymore. After a divorce they keep their distance but peacefully coexist to raise their son Sam. When it’s time to move Sam into college, Wynn and Ellis take a road trip that forces them to confront their past and their feelings.

Ellis was the star of this book for me. You have to love a MMC that owns his part in the end of his marriage and goes to therapy to work on himself. There were so many endearing parts of this story, and I loved how it alternated between in-person conversations and letters between Ellis and Wynn. The banter between them was very sweet, and that cooking class scene! I laughed out loud several times!

In the audio format, narrators Connor Crais and Megan Wicks did a beautiful job of bringing out all of the emotions in this story. They also described the abundant imagery and scenery in this book very well. Having dual narrators made the experience of listening to this book much more impactful because of the exchange of letters in the story; it really allowed the listener to experience the inner feelings of the characters.

My only complaint about this book is the amount of spice because there is a lot!! I found myself skimming past it by the end because I was more invested in the characters themselves than their bedroom activities and wanted to get back to their conversations. It started to take me out of the story after a while.

If you are not normally a fan of second chance romance, this one will change your mind! It’s a fun, spicy, road trip romance with some hilarious moments that I really enjoyed.

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt
Narrators: Connor Crais and Megan Wicks
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 3 chilis
Pub date: 5/20

Thank you so much to SMP romance for my advanced copy and to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

Tarah DeWitt seriously knocked it out of the park with Left of Forever. If you’re a fan of emotional, spicy second-chance romances, you’re going to love this one. Wren and Ellis were childhood sweethearts who had their son young and built a life together, only to end up divorced and living separate lives. Now in their 30s, they get a shot at reconnecting during a road trip, and it’s everything.

The pacing is spot on! It dives right in and keeps the momentum going. Nothing drags, and every scene feels like it matters. The writing is witty, emotional, and packed with little lines that stick with you. It's those kinds of details that make the characters feel so real.

Wren is such a bright, layered character—funny, emotional, and just full of life. And Ellis? Whew. His emotional growth throughout the story is so well done. The way therapy plays into his journey is handled with so much care, and some of the most romantic lines in the book come from him.
I love the mix of letters, memories, and present-day moments, and the connection between Wren and Ellis feels completely believable. This book made me laugh, tear up, and swoon—sometimes all at once.

I went back and forth between the e-book and the audiobook, and I loved the narration! It really elevated the story and gave me all the feels.
In short, I loved it. And I want more of the Byrd family, ASAP.

Read if you like:
*second chance
*road trips
*small town
*dual POV
*open door steam