Tarah Dewitt is an auto-read author, so if you've never checked her out.... just go. Just do it. She has the incredible ability to write about heavier topics and flawed characters that still have you feeling so hopeful for love.

Ellis and Wren's angst and longing jumps off the page even as they are avoiding each other at the start. I was so concerned with misunderstanding and miscommunication because of this, but we see proof that these two have done their work. They have felt their feelings, broken them down through journaling and therapy (we love to see it!) and it sets them up to rekindle what they had and fall in love with who they are now.

The playlist at the beginning of this book was a good indicator that Left of Forever was about to rip my heart out and put it back together in the best way possible. Wren and Ellis Byrd's story was one I've been excited for since "She's still a Byrd!" was yelled in the town hall meeting in Savor It.

Starting with the Spring then going back and seeing how these two dummies (said with nothing but the sheerest amount of love) started to realize the puzzle pieces of their lives belong together forever was such a joy. From their seperate lives to their trip to deliver their joint science project to college, the yearning is non-stop and top-notch. I don't know that I'll ever really be able to look at vanilla ice cream the same again, and I'm okay with that.

If you don't mind a bit of heartbreak and a LOT of mutual yearning, this second-chance romance is a must-read. Did I mention he has a mustache?

After enjoying my time in coastal Oregon both on many of my own road trips over the years, and on a trip to Spunes when I read Savor It last year, I was excited to check in with the Byrd family. While second chance has never really been the trope for me (I maintain that most of these couples broke up for good reason!) the cast of characters introduced in the first book of the series were so eclectic and memorable (who could forget “She’s still a Byrd?), that I went into Ellis and Wren’s story with an open mind… Sadly, this one didn’t quite land for me!

In Left of Forever we follow our main girl Wren, a baking wizard with big Sookie St. James energy. I absolutely ADORED Wren. She’s bubbly and charismatic, a 33-year old woman comfortable in her skin (refreshing for a romance novel!), that has been co-parenting her college-bound son with ex-husband Ellis Byrd since their divorce five years earlier. Ellis is in many ways Wren’s opposite. The eldest Byrd sibling is outwardly stoic and stern, all hard lines and weather worn from years of work as a firefighter. He's the fierce protector of the Byrd clan, used to carrying the world on his shoulders and putting himself last. When we meet them, they’re ships passing in the night - five years divorced but stuck in limbo.

At the outset, I was locked in to their story. Ellis while out of state fighting a raging Colorado blaze, through a romantic twist of fate ends up sending anonymous letters back and forth to his ex-wife. It felt very You’ve Got Mail or The Shop Around the Corner and was a fun hook. I wish more time had been spent using this as the lynchpin that kickstarts the re-kindling of Wren & Ellis’ great love, rather than as a mere device for Ellis to be the last one to learn he’s still in love with his ex-wife. (Um you haven’t been on a date in 2 years and had a near religious experience eating one of your ex’s homemade scones, of course you’re still in love with her my guy!)

The real romantic rekindling takes place over the span of one short week, when the two love Byrds go on a California road trip together after moving their son Sam into his new digs at UC Davis. This was where the book fell apart a bit for me. While the chemistry was palpable, the whole falling back in love narrative felt more like horned up teenagers getting into hijinks on the idyllic California coast. While Ellis and Wren are clear at the outset that they both want to set boundaries, take things slow, and work through the bad stuff… this is thrown by the wayside very quickly. The two are getting intimate mere days into their journey back to one another, without really doing any work to unpack why they drifted from each other in the first place. Yes we do get some snippets of tough conversations complete with heartfelt declarations, but it all felt performative and insufficient considering it had been five YEARS since these two have been in each other’s lives as anything but co-parents. To me it would have made much for sense for this trip to be one where they accidentally started to fall for one another after years of hurt, ending the trip on a hopeful note. Instead, they set out on this trip with the explicit intention of seeing if they can be a couple again, loading the trip with external expectations that culminates with them hurtling head first into a life together after a week spent outside the bubble of daily life. These two didn’t even recognize each other’s handwriting but we’re supposed to believe they are ready to wholly and completely be together again after a few days? It felt like they did exactly what they had set out not to do - got swept up in the romantic setting and let their pheromones do the talking.

My issues with the story and pacing aside, there were still some great moments. The setting, as I’ve already alluded to, is magical- journeying through the California redwoods and rugged NorCal coast. There were also some great moments with other members of the Byrd clan (I think the most romantic moment of the entire book actually involves Fisher and Sage) and some seeds were planted for future Silas and Micah stories that felt natural rather than artificially embedded into an ongoing series. (Micah in particular has got me intrigued, as the hot mess of the Byrd clan.) While this wasn’t my favorite trip to the Oregon coast, rest assured I’ll still be making future trips to Spunes!

My thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ellis and Wren <3 Ohhh I loved this one even more than I loved "Savor It." I am such a sucker for second chance romance, PLUS marriage in trouble. Being married for 17 years and having a child the same age, this one hit close to home as the older the child gets, the more the marriage has to evolve to stand on its own. Loved it.

I'm predicting this is the book that makes Tarah DeWitt explosively popular. Tender, poignant, and breathtakingly sensual, it has a beautiful ache that kept me turning pages.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Tarah for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read this one after getting to know the characters in Savor It and getting familiar with their backstory as a couple. I was curious to understand what led to their break up and how they'd get back together, and Tarah didn't disappoint. She created a separation that made sense to the characters and a mature and sensible development throughout the book.

The only thing I didn't like (and after reading three books by Tarah, I think it's a characteristic of her writing) is that some scenes didn't seem to have a transition between them, and things felt disconnected. When it comes to the middle of the book, things felt a bit stuck. Other than that, I loved the characters and the romance. I highly recommend this book and am already excited about the next one in the series.

Tarah DeWitt's books are always winners, and this is no exception. Wren and Ellis were childhood sweethearts, married and had a child when they were young. But time and circumstance led them apart and they are now divorced, with their child going off to college. While they are living separate lives, they are still dealing with their decision to separate and figure out how to move forward. Ellis convinces Wren to go on a road trip after dropping off their son at college - in one last ditch effort to find common ground and return to each other.

What I loved: Tarah always writes great characters and even greater emotional connections. So many books feature the start of a relationship and the hope of a future - I love that this featured a relationship that was all but dead and gone - and trying to discover if it could be revived. I also love books that feature older characters (now that I'm getting older). Romance isn't just for teens and 20-somethings. Love and passion can exist as you get older!

What I didn't love: I genuinely loved it all.

If you haven't read any of Tarah's books - please do. You won't regret it!

Left of Forever is my second book that I've read from Tarah, and I really loved it! Otters were mentioned and I screamed because otters are my favorite animal, and I really loved all of the origami birds!! And was that LaRynn and Deacon I spotted in the first part of the book, my favs!!

Read if you love:
- second chance
- cute nicknames
- childhood friends to lovers
- a road trip

I fear I am addicted to the way Tarah DeWitt has the most perfect titles and truly wraps her novels around it or vice versa or however the heck her process goes because it WORKS!!!

Ellis reminds me so much of my very own book boyfriend, right down to the ice cube chewing at a fancy dinner and I see so much of myself in Wren in the unexpectedly taking care of a parent and the fertility struggles and the losing myself in taking care of those around me. I am obviously unbiased when I say that I love them. I love all of the Byrds to bits and pieces.

This book may not have spent a good chunk of it in Spunes, but damn did it feel like HOME. Tarah, I am on my knees, begging you, please please give me more. More Silas. More Micah!!

Also I loved the Co-Op cameo. A pregnant LaRynn? Please tell me they have a girl because Deacon is soooo girl dad coded I swear it.

Anyway I have a lot of great feelings about this book and I cannot wait to have a signed copy sitting on my shelf. Thank you NetGalley and Tarah for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this book-I love when you have high expectations for a book & it not only delivers but exceeds. Left of Forever is everything a romance book should be-a great love story, a fresh plot line & characters you can’t help but root for. While this is technically a sequel, it could be read as a standalone (although characters from the first book are referenced throughout).

Wren & Ellis’ story was so heart achingly beautiful. It was so special to watch (read) unfold on their lil road trip adventures. These are 2 people that truly, deeply, irrevocably love each other and are willing to have honest conversations and are willing to GROW with each other!! I’m so obsessed with them. This book will live in my heart forever and ever. Will recommend to everyone i meet on the street.

The way I sobbed at the closing chapter, but mostly at this: “one day, when we’re very old and gray, one of us will open our eyes to a day that the other won’t, but we’ll smile knowing how full life has been, knowing how we spent forever. Everything left of it, together.”

😭😭😭

I stand by the drunken thread I sent (threaded?) while in the middle of this read - Tarah DeWitt writes a second chance romance like a motherfucker aka very good. I read this one coming off of The Co-op and honestly, she could just do second chance for the rest of her days and I would be happy.

Thank you ever so much to NetGalley and SMP for my arc in exchange for my honest review.

TW/CW: infertility, teen pregnancy, miscarriage, grief, fire, death of loved ones, chronic illness

This book was perfection! I recently discovered Tarah DeWitt and read all her books in anticipation of this one! I love that we are taken back into the same world as her previous book!

Childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance executed flawlessly. SO MUCH history, angst, pining and rediscovering between Wren and Ellis. From the crumbs we were given in 'Savor It', I knew Wrellis was going to be a favorite ship in this series, and Tarah delivered tenfold. The co-parenting. The mutual respect for boundaries. The.
COMMUNICATION. I've said it before, l'll probably say it in every review for a TD novel: The tenderness and maturity of the characters is truly unmatched. AND THE SPICE? Her hottest yet, but no less emotional, babes! The way Wren and Ellis connect in the bedroom is on another level. It is mental, emotional, spiritual, CHEMICAL. Getting Ellis' POV for some of the more intimate scenes had me practically gnawing on my kindle. (AS TENDER AND PASSIONATE AS IT WAS, ELLIS MY PLEASURE DOM KING HAD ME SWEATING, OKAY?)
Tarah has given us something so special with the Byrd family, and the lovely Town of Spunes. She writes familial relationships and friendships that leave me so envious when reminded these characters are fictional and not part of my circle in real life.
This story has great pacing, the characters are so well-developed, and the dual POVs are balanced just right.
Finishing this beta read and already wanting the next Byrd sibling's story is probably so psycho of me, but what does Miss DeWitt expect when she writes some of the greatest characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading?

Tarah Dewitt writes the best romance. Her characters have depth and they are so easy to root for. Ellis and Wren are no exception. This book had me swooning, laughing, and getting misty-eyed.

I feel so honored to have read this amazing book by Tarah DeWitt and in my opinion, her best work yet. All of her stories have the best amount of heartwarming and heartbreaking love, but this one and following Ellis and Wren's road trip adventure, I cannot talk about how much I love them enough.

We follow Wren and Ellis in the roadtrip to head back to Spunes, after dropping their son, Sam, off at college. Through the road trip, they are slowly uncovering what went wrong in their marriage and how they might come to overcome them now. DeWitt has done an incredibly job at creating another couple, that this time has to overcome to see their marriage, filled with nerves and want.

I cannot wait to revisit Ellis and Wren and meet them again on their road trip when I can finally pick them up! Left of Forever will be available for you to meet on May 20th of this year! Thank you so much to St. Martin's Griffin, Tarah DeWitt and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Wren and Ellis have been in love for most of their lives. Despite being divorced for a decade and successfully co-parenting their son Sam, they each still secretly hold a torch for the other. When it comes time to move Sam into college, Ellis uses this road trip as an excuse to take one last trip together, hoping to win Wren back for good. As they navigate back up the western coast, they finally have the opportunity to look back at their marriage through a new lens only afforded with time. Can these two people find their way back to each other by the end of the week?
This book had unparalleled levels of yearning. Their lack of communication that drove the dissolution of their marriage, especially regarding infertility and medical issues, were painful to read but honest. You couldn't help but root for both of them.

This is such a sweet, hear-warming yet spicy, story about a second chance at romance. Wren and Ellis have been divorced five years, and are brought together on a trip after dropping off the child they had very early in life at college. Through anonymous letters, Ellis decides to pursue Wren again. We are given a sweet narrative that alternates between Wren and Ellis' perspectives along with letters and journal entires.

This is the first book I've read by Tarah DeWitt, and I really enjoyed it! I think I was confused as to why there wasn't MORE conflict at the beginning- we get explanations, but this doesn't really seem like a couple that would have gotten divorced. I think though, that if I read the other book set in the town of Spunes (not to be confused with Forks!) it would round out the experience.

The characters were very likable and this is a sweet love story. Rounding up from 4.5 to 5, but would recommend to romance fans who want some steam and some characters above the age of 20!

This was my first book by Tarah Dewitt, and it definitely won’t be my last! Her writing style is unique, engaging, and articulate while still being incredibly easy to get pulled in. Though romance is at the heart of this story, it beautifully weaves in themes of mental health, young love, relationships, and the true meaning of family.

I absolutely loved the characters and the dual narration, which added depth and emotion to the story. The ending felt both satisfying and meaningful, leaving me eager to read more from this author. This would make a fantastic summer or vacation read, and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I LOVED this book. It was hot, steamy, deeply emotional, and the perfect second chance read. I loved the cast of characters and the moments of laughter and levity in the midst of a second-chance road trip!