Oh, my heart. LEFT OF FOREVER is the ultimate second chance romance. Tarah DeWitt has gifted us a heartbreakingly real, raw, honest look at the effort it takes to save a marriage.

When readers are first introduced to Wren and Ellis Byrd in DeWitt’s SAVOR IT, it is clear there is still something between them despite their divorce, and I’ve been anticipating their story ever since. Let me tell you, LEFT OF FOREVER is worth the wait. (This can be read as a standalone, but I recommend reading SAVOR IT first to truly appreciate the nuances and depth of longing that exists between these characters.)

Parents at 17 and married young, Wren and Ellis watched their marriage erode despite their deep love for each other. Five years after their divorce, they are faced with their son heading off to college. Neither has moved on. Both still harbor deep feelings for the other. The energy between them crackles whenever they are together. When Ellis suggests they spend a week together after dropping their son off at college to see if they can rekindle the spark, Wren agrees.

But what is between them is so much more than a spark. It is a raging inferno and it is impossible to resist. While this is a steamy, blush inducing novel, it is so much more. The focus of rebuilding the relationship is on personal growth and communication; with Wren and Ellis learning to understand, accept, and communicate their feelings. These two put in the work and tackle the hard stuff head on. There is pain and tenderness and unwavering love. It struck an emotional chord and brought me to tears more than once. There are no shortcuts here and DeWitt’s writing cuts deep.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copies. All opinions are my own.

Tarah has a way with words that makes you FEEL. Like just beautiful writing and story telling. Funny Feelings is my favorite Tarah book but this one just it's place. Literally one of the best second chance romances I've ever read. And the spice??? One of her spiciest books yet. Wren and Ellis story is about healing, growing, and learning to fall in love all over again.

This book was *chefs kiss*! Perfect in every single way. I absolutely loved Savour It, and am SO happy we got to revisit both Spunes and this fantastic cast of characters. I adored Ellis and Wren from the very start and getting to watch them fall back in love was so special. Tarah has crafted a tender, emotional, heartwrenching romance in the best way and I will for sure be thinking about this book for months to come. Absolutely one of my top reads of 2025!!

Another winner from Tarah DeWitt! If you love second chance romance, you’ll love this one. Wren and Ellis’ dynamic and story felt so realistic. While this book touches on some heavy topics, it was still a really fun, heartwarming read and was everything I wanted it to be.

Tarah DeWitt is a magician and after reading this book, I am fully convinced. Spunes, Oregon, instead of seeming like a whimsical, somewhat aloof setting after Sage + Fisher's book, becomes a visceral feeling in the way Tarah navigates Wren + Ellis' story here.

This book will start you off in the bowels of heartbreak, and then slowly but surely mend you back together. I laughed out loud, I shed tears and I kicked my feet, and I am certain you will too. This book was BEAUTIFUL & I was so sad when it was over. Absolutely loved and can't wait for more!

It was so nice to be back in Spunes, OR and reading Wren and Ellis's story. They were each other's first love, had a child young and divorced. The story starts with their son moving away for college and they have a road trip together.

There is so much to love about this book. I loved how well the letters were woven into the story and it was told in a duet style narration. The flash back to the past worked so well to see what happened to them.

The character growth of Ellis is one of the best I've seen. Miscommunication is one of my least favorite trope, I loved that this was the redemption of the story.

I loved seeing characters from Savor It play a role in the story. Connor Crais and Megan Wicks did a phenomenal job bringing out the angst and emotions.

Thank you @youhadmeathea @macmillan.audio for a copy of this.

This is an absolutely stunning book, emotional yet funny, with a spellbinding romance that keeps the reader engaged from the first page of Left of Forever.

From the moment we meet Wren and Ellis, it is clear that these two are still truly madly deeply in love with each other, from the expository exchanges to the forced proximity on the road trip. There is a bubbling tension that has the reader rooting for their unification.

The dual narration is simply stunning. Both narrators convey an emotional, heartfelt performance with a vocal range that only enhances DeWitt’s incredible pros. Conner and Megan have incredibly warm, rich voices that capture the listener. They breathed life into these characters and left me weeping as I experienced this love story. From the emotional confessions to the sensual moments both narrators blew me away.

I always tend to favor second chance romance, but I cannot tell you how much I loved the way Tarah set this one up. The character growth is perfection with characters that not only fight for each other, but fight to make themselves better for their partner. I loved the way they communicated and the way the spice was incorporated in a way that felt like a natural progression. Additionally, I really enjoyed the uneven changes in POV, I think it enriched the reader experience.

Wren and Ellis and captured me and I could not stop listening to their beautiful story. Hands-down, one of my favorite romances ever and definitely a top thbook of the year.

Full review on Instagram to come closer to pub day.

As their son is heading off to college, divorced couple Wren and Ellis realize that where their future lies may be with each other.

This was a good second chance romance, here's what I liked:

Wren and Ellis: I liked how the narration goes back and forth with them. This really helped give a fleshed out story. You can see quickly how they should really be with each other, but how they drifted apart. Seeing them come back together was really nice.

The family: I loved all of the side characters in this. They all worked really well together and helped push Wren and Ellis together.

The road trip: I love books that have the characters traveling around. The different places they go really help push them together. It was all really well thought out.

All in all, this was a great emotional romance.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to review this book. This is my new favorite read of 2025, it had my heart in a chokehold the whole time. I was rooting for Ellis and Wren from the first page. Their love isn’t the type of love you ever truly lose, they were made for each other. Tarah Dewitt’s writing was spectacular and meaningful. It allowed me to truly feel connected with Wren and Ellis and feel the love and pain that they felt for each other. This has become my new favorite second chance romance and it’s going to be my go to recommendation to other romance readers!

Absolutely love the newest title in the Spunes series. It was a beautiful story of first love finding each other again after years apart. DeWitt managed to weave in the past to the present plot/story. The MCs are lovable and left me giddy at their angst and longing for each other.

I really enjoyed this story. The second chance romance was lovely and the characters were loveable. I posted a full review on @mimigunnbooks. Definitely want to read more by this author.

High school sweethearts. Teenage parents. Exes who never stopped loving each other.

With humor, heat, and all the feels, Tarah DeWitt shines in a story about healing old wounds, finding your way back, and choosing love - again.

Left of Forever is the kind of book that grabs you by the heart on the very first page and doesn’t let go.

Wren and Ellis Byrd are two people who clearly never stopped loving each other, even after life pulled them apart. Watching them navigate old wounds, co-parenting, and the ache of "what could have been" was deeply emotional. (like, i cried ... a lot.) Every stolen glance, every word left unsaid (until it wasn’t) ... I felt it all.

If you love second-chance romances (or even if you don't usually), Left of Forever will absolutely wreck you in the best way. It's not just about falling back in love - it's about growing, forgiving, and learning to choose each other all over again.

I enjoyed this book so much! I think this is my favorite book by Tarah! The story follows Wren and Ellis, who fell in love when they were young, got married and started a family, but ultimately ended up growing apart. I loved the characters and they are so lovable and relatable yet very flawed. Both Wren and Ellis grew so much throughout the book, both individually and together. This is such an emotional book and Tarah’s writing is so raw and beautiful! There’s some heavy themes covered which the author handled with care and was balanced nicely with romance and tender moments.

Read if you like:
🪵second chance romance
🪵road trip
🪵dual POV
🪵small town vibes

I’ve tried other books from this author, but I think her writing just isn’t for me. There’s quite a bit of inner dialogue, and I’m unable to connect with the characters. Halfway through, I just didn’t believe the romance and love between the two. A lot of people seem to love it though. So, it may just be a me thing.

It was so wonderful to be back in Spoons. Tarah DeWitt has given us another gem with Left of Forever, featuring Wren and Ellis Byrd. They divorced five years ago and co-parented their son, Sam, the best they could. But now's he's graduating high school and headed to college. They were teens when they got pregnant with him, and their entire adult lives have been about being his parents while also raising and looking after Ellis's siblings after the death of his parents. Now, they finally have the space and the time to examine what went wrong and if there's still enough love between them to try to salvage.

This was so real and so beautifully crafted. Ellis convinces Wren that after they drop Sam off at college, they should take a road trip, just the two of them. Separate room but plenty of time to talk and reconnect. The progression of their relationship from skepticism and distrust to cautious optimism to rekindled love was achingly realistic. They handled it like actual grown-ups, communicating even when it was hard or the truth hurt.

I listened to the audiobook (because ADHD), and Connor Crais and Megan Wicks were perfectly cast as Ellis and Wren. I love Connor's deep timbre, with just the perfect amount of rasp, and Megan has a maturity to her voice that makes her FEEL like she's in her thirties. Their performances were *chefs kiss* perfection.

Plot, steam, narrators? All 10/10. No notes.

A massive thanks to MacMillan Audio for my ALC and to SMP for my e-ARC. I started the e-book but switched to the audio when I got the ALC simply because my neurodivergent brain audiobooks better than it reads with my eyeballs.

I’m sorry but what did Tarah put into this book?! Because this book was phenomenal. I could’ve read 500 pages of Wren & Ellis and still beg for more. This is EASILY one of the best second chance romances I have ever read! I truly don’t even know if I have the words to describe just how much I loved this book. This one of the most raw and real books I’ve read in a very long time.

Ellis and Wren are the definition of soulmates. They are truly meant to be in every way possible. Their story was so heartbreakingly beautiful. The past and present brought together was so good. The letters. Just the way this whole story unfolded was perfection. Two people who are constantly thinking of everyone else and their happiness instead of their own. Two people who quite literally grew up together in every way possible. Then 2 people who grew apart, but yet found a way to grow back together.

The romance is this book was quite frankly some of the best I’ve ever read. Ellis was so rooted in his love for Wren. The tension and angst between them was everything. The emotions between the both of them. The sweet, vulnerable & tender moment. The spice. THE LOVE. You could genuinely feel it all through the pages. I felt like I was a part of this story.

I could go on forever about this book. Tarah really did her thing while writing this story & I’ll love her forever for it. Because this book will be engrained in my soul forever!!

“My heart took shape around hers, too, and it will never go back.”

Thank You so much SMP for the arc!!

A million stars, if I could. I flew through this book, I was so invested. The writing?? Absolutely beautiful. This is my first Tara Dewitt book and will certainly not be the last. Her prose just flows on the page, bringing tears to my eyes with how earnest and real it felt. The love between Wren and Ellis?? Heartbreakingly beautiful. I felt the yearning, I loved watching them fight for each other, earn each other's trust back, and find their way back home. I will say, I could tell this was an interconnected standalone, so I had to catch up with the side characters more, but it didn't detract from my immense love for this book, the small town, and its lovable characters. Overall, this is a new favourite, and absolutely unmissable.

Thank you endlessly to St. Martins Griffin for the advanced e-copy!

ARC/ALC REVIEW

Left of Forever by Tarah Dewitt
5 STARS

Thank you St Martin’s Press for the free eARC of this book and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audiobook!

SYNOPSIS: Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another…until they fell apart. Now in their 30s and divorced, they reunite for a road trip after helping their son move into college. As they drive the California coast, old feelings resurface amid scenic stops and shared memories. But to rediscover what they once had, they must face their complicated past—and find the courage to say what matters most.

REVIEW: Summary: I LOVED it. There is just something about a second chance in a marriage that I just adore. Lovers finding each other again after the push and pull of life, kids, jobs? GIVE IT TO ME.

As soon as I read the line, “She’s still a Byrd” in Savor It, I KNEW I needed Wren and Ellis’s story. And, dear reader, I was not disappointed. Wren and Ellis are equally sweet/tender and steamy/spicy. Setting this “reunion” during a road trip was the perfect choice. Well done, Tarah!

Personally, I love a road trip story, because I feel like I’m tagging along with the characters as they explore new places. Another fun part was getting to know the other Bryd siblings. I’m very excited for their stories as well.

Connor Crais and Megan Wicks were so PERFECT for this audiobook. If you’re an audiobook lover like me, consider listening to this one!

I definitely recommend this book to my fellow romance readers. Left of Forever has solidified Tarah’s status as an auto-buy author for me.

Publisher: SMP, Macmillan Audio
Pub date: 5/20/25

4.5⭐

when i tell you i am weak in the knees for a second chance romance, i mean it. left of forever was the epitome of what a perfect second chance romance should be. i was giggling over their chemistry, the banter, and the spice! throw in some forced proximity and i'm a goner. i absolutely adored this book so so much! i will be thinking about ellis and wren for a long time 🤭

when wren and ellis bird's son, sam, gets accepted into a college out in california, they set on a mini trip of their own to see if they can re-kindle their marriage and romance. i loved that the santa cruz setting, it was so fun & romantic! i adored all of their heartfelt moments and all the in-betweens. their love just felt so realistic and i felt their connection right off the bat. for a couple who really wanted to work on their communication, i really thought they shined in that department, especially with being co-parents; the letters were so sweet and i loved how that wrapped up in the end.

thank you to st. martin's press for the ARC!

4⭐️/5!!!

I loved this book! Tarah Dewitt has quickly become an auto read for me and this one did not disappoint. I loved the character development and how this story was about an older couple who are rekindling what was lost. As I get older I have found I just can’t connect to the books where the characters are in college so this book was refreshing.