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rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️

“I’ll save you a seat, Byrd.” 🕊️

Wow what a beautiful book! This one got me out of a month and half long reading slump. Left of Forever is a book that will suck you in and not let you put it down! It is set back in Spunes, Oregon (book 1 Savor It), and follows Wren and Ellis Byrd, two complex characters that had to grow up fast when they had fallen pregnant at a young age.

The vibes in this were amazing. the chemistry. the banter. the entertainment. and the top tier yearning and angst in this were absolutely immaculate! also the tension was so so good and full of deliciousness! 🤌🏻

I loved these two characters so much. I loved seeing the glimpses of their past and how it reflected on their present, and reading about how they regained their spark for each other. They truly went through some great character development, both together and by themselves. I loved the emotional journey that these two went through, they will definitely have you rooting for them.

There was definitely some heartbreak and emotions in this that were strong and powerful, and it shows real life scenarios that people deal with all the time, which makes it so real and relatable. Just everything about this was so good and beautifully written.

I highly recommend adding this to your tbr!

Tropes/What to expect:
🌻 second chance
💛 found family
🌻 forced proximity
💛 dual pov
🌻 only one bed
💛 romantic road trip
🌻 small town romance
💛 divorced couple
🌻 firefighter x bakery owner
💛 slow burn
🌻 infertility issues

thank you netgalley, st martin’s press, and tarah dewitt for the arc 🫶🏻

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My oh my! this was beautifully done.
We don't get enough (good) books with this kind of storyline and I was living for it. The romance was STEAMY but it was balanced out well with the tender plot and great writing. I was thankful we didn't get the same old sexy talk in here. There was no "good girl" which I was thankful for. I'm worn out on the same spicy content. Overall, I was very impressed, and it made me cry. I can't say enough good about the book and the audio narration was fantastic.

CONTENT: Heavy, and explicit descriptions of sex. heavy language.

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What can't Tarah Dewitt do? I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the characters being older but I ended up absolutely loving it

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This is my new favorite book by Tarah DeWitt! Hands down with out a doubt no notes this book was truly amazing!

This book was so beautiful and an emotional read. Wren & Ellis love story was absolutely something special, they deserves so much and definitely deserved to be loved by each other and their character depth and growth and the way the found their way back to each other just warmed my heart so much.

Left of Forever is a book that will stay with me forever!

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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Ebook (arc)

Quick Plot Summary:
Okay, so this story is a sequel of sorts to Tarah DeWitt’s Savor It (following Sage and Fisher). Now, we are following Sage‘s brother Ellis and his ex-wife Wren. Ellis and Wren are childhood friends to lovers. At age 17 they have an accidental pregnancy and are quickly married. We follow them present day where they are five years post-divorce and co-parents to their 18yr. old son, Sam.

My Thoughts:
I’ve said it before and I will say it again second chance romances are my kryptonite However, it is very easy to execute them poorly because it has to make real world sense why this couple broke it off and also why they should actually be together. And I can confirm that Tarah Dewitt nailed it with this one!

Our story is in dual POV meaning we are able to see and understand clearly our main characters’ thoughts and how their respective actions harm one another. The miscommunication in the story really makes sense when you learn each of their backgrounds and the hardships they endured. The nuances of their arguments and what ultimately led to their split make you fully understand them as characters! When we got to the crux of their conflict, I felt like screaming at the page. We the reader get it. Their hurt makes sense and we are hurting right alongside them. We are also begging them to drop their pride and to be open, honest and vulnerable. You want to shake their shoulders and be like “look just be together please…. you are perfect for each other”. And that’s how I know this is a book that will stay with me forever!

So their relationship alone is enough for this to be a five star read for me but add to that the lovely cast of characters from book one that come back! I adore this town and all the side characters. I also have to commend the writing. The dialogue felt incredibly realistic. I felt the tension and the gravity and the seriousness of their conversations. The tone was incredibly appropriate yet I was also laughing out loud at some of the hijinks that they get into. It was easy to follow along and yet I felt like this was actually a very complex emotional story. I’m so grateful to have read the advanced e-copy. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin! I will definitely be reading her next book (which I really really hope set in this world/series because let’s get real we need Micah‘s redemption arc!)

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Wren and Ellis speak to my soul and pulled on my heartstrings. I love second chance romances, and this one might hold the cake. Having them being married young and then life/kids/everything gets in the way and then them finding their way back together was beautiful. And also relatable.

I hope we will get to spend more times in Spunes. I love it here.

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I fell in love with the characters of Spunes in the first book, so I was so excited to revisit this little town and the Byrd family in book two! Left of Forever begins right in the middle of the last chapter and epilogue of Savor It, and we get to see some of those events unfold from a different perspective. I love the dual POV between Ellis and Wren, the way we were able to see both individuals as they struggled to move on, processed their past, and eventually realized their true feelings for each other. This second chance romance takes the main characters and the readers on a beautiful journey of rediscovery as they explore potential after dropping their son off at college together. I loved everything about this so so much! I think second chance romance/"it's always been you" are my new favorite tropes and I can't wait to read what this author writes next! Hopefully more stories for the other Byrd siblings??

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This book was everything.

Synopsis: Wren and Ellis were high school sweethearts, got pregnant young, and have been divorced for a few years. When it's time to drop their son off for college they realize neither are realize to let go and they take a long trip back home to see if reconciliation could be possible.

Romance books about married couples or couples going through a rough patch are hard to come by. (I know Wren and Ellis were divorced, but it's close enough.) I ADORED reading about a couple working through all the hard, unromantic parts of their relationship in order to come out stronger on the other side.

I was very excited to read this book. It started off good and only got better and better. I was seriously so impressed by how well their relationship progressed. I was hooked. They worked through hard things without making me the reader feel like I was being forced through my own therapy session. (That's not to say I didn't feel like I learned things I want to apply to my own marriage, because I did. The book is really thoughtfully done without it feeling like "too much".)

I laughed. I cried. I sweated a lot. (The steam was so good omg. I can't decide which scene was my fave but wow.)

Oh, and read the Author's Note. Sometimes I skip them but I'm SO GLAD I read this one. I was very moved.

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🌲Second Chance
🧡Divorced Couple
🌲Firefighter MMC x Baker FMC
🧡Letters
🌲Hidden Identity
🧡Road Trip
🌲Small Town
🧡Meddling Family

The first book by Tarah I read was Savor It and I am one of those people who desperately hoped Ellis and Wren would find their way back to one another and wished for their book. Well…I👏🏼AM👏🏼NOT👏🏼DISAPPOINTED👏🏼AT👏🏼ALL!!!!

I was a mess after part 1. The heart ache, longing, the words left unspoken between Ellis and Wren and the things they could not say all had me deeply invested and honestly hurting. But by the end of this book my heart had been mended. The sobbing in the end was because I was so happy and felt like my faith had been restored in the power of true love in all its forms, phases and iterations.

I am usually pretty specific about second chances, wanting a dual timeline or multiple parts in linear timed format or many, in depth flash backs. But the way Tarah brought the past to life in a string of consciousness that felt concise but emotional complexity made their past come alive in my mind. To see the emotional growth of this couple both independently and together, the careful and cautious(Wren)/diligent(Ellis) and focused way they moved toward reconciliation was so endearing and poignantly moving.

My heart was bursting and me kicking my feet to see how blissfully happy Sage and Fisher were. I may be crossing my fingers that the remaining Byrd siblings get their on books but if not I feel at peace with the ones whose stories were told.

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I don’t know if I will ever be able to adequately find the words to express how deeply I loved this book. I have been a fan of Tarah’s since she was an indie author and Funny Feelings was the first book of Tarah’s I read and have since been a huge fan. I have cried while reading each of Tarah’s books but never before have I been choking back sobs at the end, which is where I found myself at the end of Left of Forever.

Tarah has a remarkable way of diving into the messiness of life with such care, tenderness, and humor and the experiences of her characters are immensely relatable. I love how in each of her books, Tarah’s voice rings true as she delivers her signature humor, heart, big feelings that crack your heart ALLLLLL THE WAY OPEN, and perfectly imperfect characters.

Ever since Ellis uttered “she’s still a Byrd,” I have been on the edge of my seat for this story - and that’s a testament to Tarah’s writing that something like that single line had so many of us in its thrall. I am feral for a second chance and marriage in crisis/trouble, and while Ellis and Wren might not be together on paper anymore, their hearts are very much still tethered together. My heart ACHED as these two made serious strides to grapple with the fears, miscommunication, and heartbreak that led to their parting and OOF, it absolutely wrecked me. But In Tarah We Trust and she masterfully mended our hearts and this story will forever be imprinted on my soul.

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This was second chance done PERFECTLY.

Talk about two soulmate characters that are working so hard to find their way back to each other. I was absolutely smitten with their love story from the very first page and the inclusion of a pen pal moment was so sweet and one of my favourite tropes!

Easily one of my favourite romances of all time now, I don’t know how I’ll recover from this one being over.

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“If you're lost, I'll find you. I'll give you my body, my heart, and my soul. I'll cherish every bit of yours in return. I'll fight with you. I'll fight for you. I'll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.”

Read if you enjoy:
- Second Chance Romance (Divorced Couple)
- Small Town
- Romantic Road Trip
- Childhood BFFs to High School Sweethearts
- Teenage Son (Off to College)
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
- Emotional Conversations
- Steamy Scenes

Rating: 4.5

Savor It has been my favorite book of Tarah DeWitt, so to find out that she was releasing a new one and it was going to bring us back to Spunes, OR had me jumping with happiness. Even more so getting an early ARC and yall, I can’t wait for you to read this second chance story! Also, can we just admire the cover? Love it!

I love a good second-chance romance, especially when there is no cheating involved. I love emotional depth in books and DeWitt delivered characters that had such emotional growth that they were able to have the type of communication that is admirable in mature couples. I love the energy that both brought into this story. The way Ellis still had all the feelings for Wren, melted my heart. Marriages are not perfect and it takes work to maintain it. This book makes you reflect on the ways of life and that’s what gives it even more meaning to me.

I hope you love this book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Tarah DeWitt for the advanced readers copy.

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Thank you Tarah DeWitt and St. Martin's Press for an ARC via NetGalley!

Raise your hand if you love a man in yearning? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Meet "she's still a Byrd" Ellis. THIS. MAN. There was just so much good in him and the way he loved and lived for his family? 😭 And once he loves, he never stops. Wren was no exception (clearly) and I LOVED the way he dove into making all the plans to win her back when he realized that he wanted that second chance with her. Bc in those moments, we saw more than the quiet, grumpy man we had come to love. We fell for the hopeful, almost innocent version of him that tugged at our hearts even harder. How do you resist a man who puts in the work to right himself and unpack his baggage, who takes the time to plan a whole ass road trip bc he'll do whatever it takes to make it special, and who sits in front of you offering to tackle the hard truths so your second chance doesn't fall apart like your first? The answer: you don't. You give in and go on that ride with him and see where it takes you. 

And Wren. I think we all have a little Wren in us. In those moments of loneliness, unsure of our lives. So we try new things... only to come up short. BUT it opens our hearts to possibilities, like a certain possibility with a certain ex. 😉 Yet we know this time has to be different so we go in with rules, some we want to break 🤭 and others that help us process our past so our future has a fighting chance. I know, that's a lot of "we"s for someone (me) who isn't actually part of the equation but just give me this, okay? 😂 In all seriousness, I loved that Wren pushed Ellis to talk about the hard parts of their history. They unearthed every resentment, every fear, every despair that led to their first ending and came out stronger for it. Bc now they can do better, *be* better for each other.

CN: open-door romance, ectopic pregnancy (off page), infertility, death of an unknown character caused by a fire (off page)

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Tarah can do no wrong and she continues to make us fall in love with both her characters and ourselves while reading her books! I was so interested in hearing more about these two from Savor It and Left of Forever exceeded expectations. It's the year of second-chance romance!

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I wanted to like this book so bad. The cover drew me in, gave me werewolf vibes, I was excited! But then comes the kid. I just do not like a plot that revolves around a kid, whether its the main character's kid, or one of the main character's kids, I'm just not a fan. So this fell flat for me, I'd give this author another chance, I'm just not into this trope personally. But the style is good and the writing is entertaining and fluid.

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4⭐️. I thought this was so cute!! It’s not necessarily a story that will stick with me but I’m not usually a second chance girlie and this one was still so good. I don’t think it beats out Savor It for me but I really loved Savor It so that’s still high praise! Love Tarah DeWitt’s characters 🧡

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4.5 stars and ohmygod this was a beautiful beautiful emotional book! The YEARNING the PINING the LOVE in this book!!! I giggled, I had a single tear rolling down my cheek, I blushed, I gasped!!!!

Wren and Ellis had me since he declared her still a Byrd in Savor It, and won me completely over as they re-examined their relationship and its successes and failures as they traveled home from dropping their son off at college. Truly inspiring work in this book, as two characters, two people, looked at their faults and the faults of the person they loved most, and chose each other again in spite of everything. Love really is the most powerful force on earth.

This deep, introspective character study is what Tarah DeWitt does best, and I am here for literally anything she will write. Gorgeous covers, even more beautiful insides!!!! Thanks so much to Tarah Dewitt, SMP, and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

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Another wonderful, tearful romance from Dewitt. I was starting to worry because the last couple books by her I didn’t love. Savor It is still my favorite but I was so happy to return to Spunes. Ellis and Wren have a second chance romance and they have a lot to deal with before they can reunite. It’s so romantic and sexy and vulnerable. The siblings are so funny in this and I hope Silas and Micah get their own books. Have tissues nearby when reading this. Lots of them. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

“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.”

Wow… the way that this is one of the best second chance romances I’ve EVER read. That is one of my least favorite tropes but when I saw rave reviews about this book and it was Read Now on NetGalley, I decided I wanted to give it a try- and I’m so glad I did!
This is my first book by Tara DeWitt but I will be reading her backlist because I was thoroughly impressed.
Both characters were relatable and the honesty and communication was probably the best I’ve seen in any romance novel. It was also deliciously steamy and the quotessssss… this was me for most of the book 🫠
I normally dislike second chance romance because you spend so much time in the past, fleshing out their entire history and what happened that you lose the magic of them finding their way back to each other again, but this entire love story was magic. While they had to unravel the whys of how their relationship didn’t work the first time, it was still focused on the now and future, how they could grow and learn from the past so they could be together again. And Ellis and Wren NEEDED to be together again. They are soulmates, no doubt about it.
Such a beautiful story and if you dislike these tropes like I do, please give it a show anyway!
I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy and rereading it in the future!

Thank you so much St Martin’s Press & NetGalley for the eARC!

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I love how DeWitt wrote this second chance romance. The journey Ellis and Wren go on, both literally and emotionally, to find their way back to each other is so beautifully written. And I really liked the focus on the open and honest communication as a primary tool to help them achieve this goal. This is backed up by really strong character development. Particularly by Ellis. He makes such an effort to work on his flaws and better himself before even shooting a second shot with Wren. Showcasing some great mental health/ therapy rep, and in a male MC, which is always so refreshing. I also found Wren's character to be so relatable. I really connected with how she was feeling at the beginning of the book, and her desire and need for connection with another person. That notion of feeling alone even when surrounded by people.

And while we spend a lot of the book away from the town of Spunes, we still get its cozy small town vibes. As well as laughable appearances by some of our favorite characters from the first two books in the series. The shenanigans of the Byrd brothers always make me smile. As did the escapade that occurs in the cooking class when our couple visits the winery. It had me laughing out loud. Paired with the perfect amount of spice, made better by a couple who already knows each others bodies and this has to be my favourite book by DeWitt so far.

TW: teen pregnancy, fire injury (off page), parental death (off page), infertility, miscarriage

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my advanced copy in return for an honest review.

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