This was my first Tarah book and boy, oh boy.. I was not disappointed. The yearning went crazyyyyy and I loved all the characters so much. Felt like a well thought out, well developed plot with some absolutely wild smut. The beginning was cute and tied in nicely toward the end. I ATE THIS UP.

Also the cover art… are you KIDDING ME? Gorg

THE AUDIO WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I EXPECTED IT TO BE 😭 i had SOOOOO much fun binge listening to this one while traveling/driving this weekend!!! i absolutely love this book so much and even though this is now my second time reading it in the last few months im already excited for the next time i crack this baby open 🤭
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last year i was lucky enough to receive the arc for savor it and i am not exaggerating when i say i have been AGONIZING over wanting and needing wren and ellis’ book. i was immediately obsessed with them and their story, in a letter from tarah before the start of this book she says “wren and ellis jumped out at me so viscerally” and that is exactly how i felt about them during my time reading sage and fishers story, while i was obsessed with them and had the best time reading their book i was yearning for these Byrds.

i am to my core a massive slut for second chance romances ESPECIALLY when they are already divorced or its a marriage in crisis, so i think it was pretty safe to assume i was going to devour this (which i did). this book will without a doubt be a top 3 read for me this year (it would solidly be #1 right this moment if i hadn’t read ATYD a few weeks ago… so #2 by just a smidge it is).

this book had me in a chokehold from start to finish, the way you could just feel the yearning and how much the wanted/needed each other like no other it felt so ridiculously palpable to me 😩

there is quite literally so much i want to squeal and yap about but i am going to force myself to shut up right now because everyone deserves to read this with the experience of not knowing what youre gonna get. its hot, its passionate, its emotionally painful, its P E R F E C T

I was lucky to receive both a physical ARC and an ALC copy and absolutely enjoyed the immersive read. Both narrators expressed all the emotions so beautifully – the angst, the sadness, the longing, and the playful banter. Loved the raspiness of Megan Wicks' voice and the soothing deepness of Connor Crais' voice.

This was a very well-paced, emotional read about two childhood friends whose marriage ended up in divorce 5 years ago. It was the perfect blend of a realistic and hopeful love as we were given snippets of their past (how it all began and ended, all the pain they suffered together, yet individually) and the present (how they were nudged together by both fate, their families, and Ellis trying hard for a second chance).

Wren was such a dynamic character and Ellis had so much emotional growth. Their chemistry was insane – their tension, banter, raw truths, and the shared vulnerabilities made me fall in love with their redeveloping relationship.

The writing was lyrical, descriptive, and hilarious, and the story flowed seamlessly from past to present. I absolutely loved all the Byrd siblings (hoping the other two will get their own books) and I will definitely be reading the first in the series.

"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."

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did!! I don’t usually read this genre of Romance, but I was surprised- Like I literally was tearing up 😭😭😭 El is such a MAN, like yessss. Although, I was like, why did y’all even divorce to begin w/, but I get that they were young, things happen!! So I totally understood them. And the people having issues w/ the “you don’t know your ex’s handwriting?”… Like he could’ve just wrote differently lmfao, but like how would she suspect HE would be the one replying to begin w/. So those aspects didn’t really bother me, but what did was y’all fr could’ve just talked about these issues ☠️ Pls. Which shows the importance of… Everybody say it ✨ Communication ✨ But not just any communication, HEALTHY communication!!
Overall, this was a cute ass read, hoping to get more into these types of romances… Without shadow hands & all of that lol!!

Wow, I really liked this. Ellis and Wren were childhood sweethearts who divorced 5 years ago. They go on a trip to take their son to college and Ellis plans a trip on the way back to see if they can get their love back. This was raw and deep and so real. I loved the story of their love and I appreciated that they talked about real issues that many couples have. I will highly recommend this to friends and family!

If you don't like second chance romances like me, here is a book that will change it

I have never liked second chance romances, because it goes against the HEA fantasy we all have . Like they were together and then they break up!!
But now that I am trying thos whole adulting thing, 0/10 don't recommend btw I am thinking slight hiccups are fine or maybe it's just this book making me find excuses.

Left of forever by Tara Dewitt 💓

The main characters became parents and married too young. And then so much happened that made them drift away from each other. They are still a family, because their family members are too intertwined with each other and they live in a small town with everyone is in everyone's business.
And then after few years of being divorced, they find some sparks and trying to get closure by going on a road trip.
You already know what will happen next
.
It's romantic, it's flirty, it's spicy. I love it, I love them.
.
• Small town romance
• second chance
• pen pals
• baker x fire fighter
• road trip
• one bed
• no third act breakup
• spicy 🔥🔥🔥
• my rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book is not at all what I expected. It was a second chance romance with ex’s coming together when they have to take their only child to college. I think it was too easy, like there was no angst, no real conflict, but instead they said let’s do this thing and poof everything is better. The writing style was good and the narration was excellent. I will definitely be checking out more from this author.

Wren and Ellis Byrd were the best second chance romance ever. This was emotional but also had some funny moments. I loved this book and can not wait for the next book from Tarah DeWitt.

I've read LOF thrice and this was my first ALC and well. Absolute perfection. Connor and Megan brought Tarah's words to life in a way I wasn't prepared for and I'll be thinking about this audiobook for the rest if my LIFE.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillion Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you for the advance audio book. This is the second book by this author set in Spunes Oregon. It's a beautiful slow burn second chance romance, and well written. Wren Byrd- is divorced and not because her husband cheated but because they simply grew apart. She had married her best friend, Ellis Byrd, and thought it would be forever. Though a series of events she finds herself on a road trip and a journey to rediscovering herself and her relationship with Ellis. It's full of big feelings and wonderful humor and touching but realistic moments. I can't wait to see what Tarah DeWitt writes next.

Please see Goodreads profile for full review! I also posted my review on Instagram and tagged the author & publisher.

Audio Narration: 5/5 I LOVED the narration. These two did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life and I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not listened to the audiobook.

For fans of spicy, emotional (but low-angst/drama), character-driven books.

Overall this was a pretty good book. I really love the author's writing style/prose, and her general storytelling.

I'm completely obsessed with these characters and love how in depth, real and flawed they feel. Ellis is a hell of a caretaker and I loved that he knew what he wanted and took steps to make it happen. Wren deserves to be treated with care and love. I was eager to to see her happy and worshipped. The side characters are well fleshed out and their inclusion leaves us wanting more. I cannot wait to read the rest of the family's stories.

Where I think this book fell a bit short was the overall pacing and the major lack of angst. We didn't get to see them struggle at all, and only got snippets of their past issues via the MCs "little confessions" to each other during the road trip. We saw none of their "tumultuous past" play out, and it made their HEA seem entirely too easy. I also would have loved to see Ellis's journey to becoming "worthy" via therapy and reflection on their past, rather than just be told it happened. I really wanted more tension in regards to the spice. I expected an achingly painful build-up before we finally got to the banging.

This felt more like a character study with spice. Certainly a good book, but it lacked the balance of plot/character/spice that would have made this a phenomenal book for me.

Whats to love...
- Emotional
- well-developed characters
- family forward
- spicy
- second-chance romance
- 30+ MCs
- Mustached MMC

What not to love...
- Pacing was my biggest issue with this one. The first 30% made me want to DNF, then we did pretty good for a while, until it got spicy way too quick for my liking and then rounded out with the worlds quickest 3rd act conflict (a few paragraphs maybe?) and then a chapter that felt like it should have been an epilogue and then the actual epilogue.
- low stakes, low angst, but plenty of lusting and sexual attraction. Personally I wanted the stakes to be higher, the angst to be leveled up 10 notches, and the burn to be much slower for a marriage reconciliation book.

🌶️- The spice starts in Ch 23 and continues pretty frequently for the rest of the book. This would be a great one for when you're ovulating. It'll make you cry and also set your panties on 🔥

"What is bravery if not hope in action?"

Achingly romantic, beautiful, honest, earnest, and so incredibly vulnerable. Connor Crais & Megan Wicks were the absolute p e r f e c t choices to bring Ellis & Wren to life. How Megan narrates Wren makes you feel every single feeling written on the page. And Connor Crais? He is Ellis.

I can't quite put into words what this book is beyond that. The way this story unfolded, how fated Ellis & Wren are, how steadfast Ellis is for Wren. How two people who always take care of everyone else but themselves found someone who was willing to take care of them, of each other, and hold steady. Through growing pains, divorce, and everything in between.

You couldn’t help but root for them the entire time. Cheer them on while they were opening themselves up and laying it all down. How they managed to stitch it back together and make it so beautifully and uniquely them. Unflinching honestly and vulnerability written in such a poetic way. I could not stop crying.

Their growth, both individually and apart, was incredible to read. Their undying hope. My heart aches with love for them.

Tarah's pen was on FIRE omfg. Thank you SMP & NetGalley for the ARC!!

OMG!! I loved this story soooo much!!

Wren and Ellis are childhood friends, turned romantic in the teens, ended up pregnant, get married, then life happens and they are divorced in their late 20s. Their son goes off to college and Ellis convinces Wren to take a roadtrip back, just the two of them! Do they remain in limbo where they are at or will they find their way back to each other? Read to find out!

Ellis and Wren are perfection! I loved their dynamic! Everything about this story was perfect. I even cried, the last paragraph took me out! For the record, I am not a crier! But this story spoke to my soul! I will think about this story forever! It’s the funny parts, the tender parts, and everything in between!

This was my first Tarah Dewitt book and I am going to read more!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.

Tarah DeWitt always hits!!! This book was tender, tear jerking, but also laugh out loud funny and I really enjoyed it. Ellis is such a earnest and selfless man who would do anything for the people he loves which for years meant putting his own thoughts and feelings aside. I loved getting to see his journey of realizing that in order to get the things he wants, better relationships with his siblings and a second chance with Wren, he needs to truly voice his own feelings and thoughts versus stuffing them down.

While there was other elements and communication breakdowns that exasperated things, the breakdown of their marriage is directly linked to their infertility challenges and the ectopic pregnancy Wren had after three years of trying to get pregnant. I'm definitely not the right person to be able to fully comment on a situation like this since it's not something I've gone through and plan on never going through since I don't want kids, but in a way this made it feel like their reunion came together easier after they finally had the conversation about it since they are never going to face the situation that "broke" them again.

I am really interested to see where the rest of this series goes. We get lots of set-up moments for future stories for Micah, Silas, and even potentially Sam & Indy. I read Savor It almost a year ago, so I feel like at times I definitely struggled in trying to remember some of the elements of the Byrd's family dynamic, ages, and when things happened to them since I felt like the book referenced a lot of these elements but didn't fully outright state them or didn't mention them til later on.

I thought the audio book of this was really well done and I loved that whenever the journal entries or letters the characters wrote got read the person doing the writing narrated them even though the chapter would be in the other's POV.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ALC & ARC of Left of Forever!

I absolutely LOVED this book when I had the chance to read it on kindle and now the audio is PERFECTION! This is one of my favorite books of 2025. I will forever think about Wren and Ellis 😭❤️

Your honor, I love them!!!🥹 I felt and adored every moment of Wren and Ellis’s second chance love story *so* *very* *much*!! The glimpses of their childhoods together, their young love — the angst and depth of their dynamic, and how they both worked so hard to come back to each other!!!

Both narrators were absolutely perfect and embodied the characters and their emotions beautifully. The voicing couldn’t have been better!

Savor It was just okay for me, if I’m being honest — but this book gets 5 stars from me!💖

Second-chance romances aren’t usually my favorite, but something about the “fixing the marriage” trope always gets me—especially when it’s done in a healthy, realistic way like it is here. I loved watching the couple work through their issues with care and intention. That said, I wish there had been more conversations around their past hardships, and I would’ve loved to see their son’s character more fleshed out. Still, it was a thoughtful, heartwarming read.

Easiest 5 stars. I cried throughout this entire book. Sad tears, frustrated tears, heart broken tears and happy tears. I cried them all.

I love Wren and Ellis (and Sam) endlessly.

While this is technically a second chance as Wren & Ellis have been divorced for several years, it read more like a marriage in crisis to me. Marriage in crisis is one of those tropes that is SO underrated in my opinion, because you go into the book knowing their love already exists for one another, but watch as they experience the true difficulties of navigating a long term relationship. It's not always sunshine & rainbows after the HEA. It's people who are still flawed, still learning, still growing and not always growing in the same direction. Sometimes even growing complacent, or resentful. It happens, and it takes effort to maintain the magic in the everyday and mundane.

That's why I love marriage in crisis books so much. They're raw, they're real, they're hard, but it's so satisfying when they find their home in one another again.

Wren and Ellis were exactly that for one another. Home. They had a long and complex history that involved countless struggles including grieving the loss of parents, becoming teen parents to a newborn themselves while also suddenly taking care of Ellis' siblings.

Another one of my favourite tropes is a road trip romance. Ellis and Wren taking a week long road trip after dropping Sam off at college as a means to re-learn one another and hash out their issues on neutral territory created some hilarious and emotional moments that I loved. The drunken cooking class will live rent free in my head lol.

And the LETTERS!! Ugh, I am a sucker for letters on page and I loved how we got to know Wren & Ellis' personalities through them.

The tension and chemistry between these two was delicious, but there was so much heart and emotion captured in the spicy moments too. It felt very well balanced.

Tarah's writing... I wish I had words to express how much I love Tarah's writing, and every time I read a new book by her I am again surprised by how much I love her writing.

Narrators Megan Wicks & Connor Crais were flawless in their performance. I loved every minute of their narration and how they captured so much of the vulnerability and raw emotion these characters displayed throughout the story. My only complaint is I wish there were more chapters from Ellis' POV so we could listen to more Connor.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to tandem read the ebook & audiobook (my favourite way to read).

This is, by far, one of the best second chance romances I’ve ever read—and that’s saying something. Left of Forever completely swept me off my feet with Wren and Ellis’s emotional, heartfelt journey back to each other after divorcing five years ago.

What made this story so special for me was the deep dive into their past. Instead of brushing over their history, Tarah DeWitt takes us through the heartache, the healing, and everything in between. I loved how honestly their struggles were portrayed and how much intention was placed on why they fell apart—and how they could choose each other again.

Wren and Ellis's chemistry? Off the charts. I was rooting for them from the very beginning, and watching their dynamic shift as they worked through their pain and rediscovered what made them fall in love in the first place had me swooning. The title of this book took on such a beautiful, layered meaning, and I’m still not over it.

I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved the narration. The emotion came through perfectly and added so much depth to an already stunning story.

If you love second chances, characters with real depth, and romance that feels earned and raw and real—this is one you don’t want to miss.