delightful, swoony romance!! this is a perfect summer time easy read. i absolutely loved it!! 5/5 stars

Rating: 5⭐️ | Spice: 3🌶️ | Audio: 5🎙️
What to Expect:
Second Chance Romance
Divorced Couple
Small Town
Forced Proximity
Road Trip
Letters / Journal

Thank you so much @macmillianaudio and @stmartinspress for the gifted audiobook and ARC.

“For how many words we’ve used to help us through this to get here, from writing them to finally sharing all the ones we held back, they all fall short when it comes to

Review Title & Vibes:
{WILL FOREVER RAVE ABOUT THIS BOOK}
FRIENDS - DO NOT LET THIS BOOK PASS YOU BY.
It’s so freaking fantastic. A beautiful story of second chance love, personal growth, and unshakable bonds. I loved everything about this. The spice was just the perfect amount - icing on the cake of a deeply emotional journey. Throw in some comedic relief and fantastic side character-this is one of my top reads of the year.

I would caution you - this needs to be read after Savor It. Jumping into my first Tarah Dewitt I had many questions about side characters/happenings that were discussed in Book 1

Who’s gonna be next?! Sign me up.

Audio Notes:
No notes - absolutely perfect performance. I was definitely ugly crying at work for the gut wrenching bits, I laughed out loud (in real life), and swooned so freaking hard my knees literally went weak. Megan Wicks and Connor Crais couldn’t have done a better job! It’s a MUST LISTEN.

Recommended to...  
EVERYONE who reads contemporary romance - or even if you don’t.

Narrated by @connorcrais and @meganwicks
Produced by @macmillan.audio

a man who yearns is a man who earns! good lord, I am so down bad for Ellis. It's depressing that this man is fictional. He truly proves time and time again that he will do anything to get her back, SWOON! Second chance romances are my jam and this one did not disappoint! I cared so much about these two and about them working out their issues. Wish I could read a whole series about them!

4.5/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

“It terrifies me to think that I might’ve let this life go by without finding my way back to you.”

MY FIRST TARAH DEWITT BOOK AND IT WILL NOT BE MY LAST. This book had me crying tears of sadness and tears of joy. Their story was so beautiful and their journey of finding their way back to one another was so perfectly imperfect 😭 This was funny, emotional, and gave me all the butterflies!!!

The narration was also amazing!!!

-second chance
-divorced couple
-small town romance
-road trip

Tarah Dewitt, do you do witchcraft because what the heck was that??? I’ve already read the book once but the audiobook was the most painful and healing experience of my life…and I’m in therapy!!!!

It's books like this one that continue to confirm my very favorite trope. Second chance romance will always resonate with me. I married my second chance romance, so that probably makes me a little biased, though.

The romance in these pages between Ellis and Wren was so powerful. It was imaginative and sweet and meaningful and nostalgic... that Ellis Byrd is something special and could teach a seminar on intentionality and thoughtfulness.

I am always a sucker for a book that includes letters or journal entries, and this one has them both. The letter between Wren and Ellis had me swooning right from the start.

I also adored all of the supporting characters in this book, as the supporting family and friends featured here really worked to bring the story to life.

DeWitt's writing is so strong, and she painted the most beautiful pictures in these pages. Her words were so raw and real, and you could feel the intensity as this couple fights to resuscitate their marriage.

I listened to this one, and the dual narration of the audiobook was the perfect complement to DeWitt's words.

I do want to say that I rated this one 4 stars only because the spice level was a little high for me. That is totally a me thing, as I'm a closed-door girl in my heart. This book made me laugh and it made me cry, and it did both in the most fun, beautiful way!

LEFT OF FOREVER by Tarah DeWitt was so anticipated for me that I basically was salivating on the first page. I enjoyed the characters - especially their dynamic as people who grew up loving one another, created a family, and then found their way back together. I enjoyed being back in the setting of Spoons.

This second chance romance is about two ex-spouses finding their way back to each other on a road trip after dropping their son off at college. Second chance romance is not my favorite trope (people usually broke up for a reason) but this one works. I was rooting for them and knew they’d rekindle their romance in a way that worked. The feelings and love never left, but they never learned how to talk about the hard things.

The two narrators for the audiobook did a great job. I usually don’t listen to things that are this spicy, so that was a bit odd for me. I haven’t read the first in this series of standalone romances, but I think I’d go with the kindle version (just personal preference).

I’d been to many of the places the couple travels, so it was fun read about their journey.

This is the very best second chance romance that I have ever read! Ellis and Wren are so good. The therapy positive and the way they approach the issues that their marriage had after 5 years of divorce. So good. Also, I loved that Tara added the body positive post motherhood for Wren. You get some serious “My Wife” from Ellis. Yum! The road trip adventure while they break themselves down and relearn each other. So good.

Thank you Tara and Netgalley for this ALC! The narrator's voices were perfect for these characters.

Tropes: Second Change, Small Town, My Wife, High School Sweethearts, Divorced Parents, Road Trip, Dual POV, Extreme Pining, Firefighter/Baker

This was a second chance romance like no other. It hit differently and brought a new spin to perspectives. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that is actually a good thing...

First things first, the chemistry and longing in this book are top notch. There's no denying that. But what didn't work for me was the lack of communication and explanation behind how this couple went from divorced and unable to be around each other to being open and receptive to rekindle the longing they both discover they still have. There's mention of Ellis going to therapy. But other than that, we don't see how he transformed from closed off and grumpy to open as a book and ready to be better.

I also struggled with the lack of recognition of each other's hand writing. Minor thing to get stuck on? Maybe. But come on, you've known each other forever, there's no way you wouldn't know the others writing.

I think ultimately I just didn't connect with the story or the characters. The book wasn't bad by any means. It just didn't pull me in and make me care about the characters and their love story.

As a second-chance romance fan, I loved getting to hear Wren and Ellis's story. There was just the right amount of angst, and I'm thankful for a story with adults that could communicate. The cameos of other characters from Dewitt's world that we have come to love are also always a fun touch.

This is where I start to fan girl, so bear with me. These. Two. Are. EVERYTHING! Talk about a second chance romance! Wow. Here I am sputtering for words days later because it just blew me away.

The amount of healing and personal growth these characters had to go through in order to find their way back to each other was no easy feat. But they made it. To go through something, to know you have to let each other go for a better life, and then to find your way back is just so beautiful. This book will give you hope, heart palpitations, and so many cheeky smiles.

I highly recommend reading Savor It first, as I believe this really helped to build my love for and the tension between Wren and Ellis. While it is not a requirement, I think it would benefit the reader’s connection with the characters.

I read this once before, but when I saw the audio available, I knew I needed to listen to it. And wow, Connor Crais and Megan Wicks did not disappoint. Talk about the perfect pair to voice these characters. If they narrate, I’ll be listening.

Please protect your mental health and check the content warnings prior to reading. 🫶🏻

Left of Forever is an objectively good book and I love Tarah DeWitt's writing, but this was not my favorite of hers. I don't love second chance romance and there just didn't seem to be a solid reason these two divorced other than not communicating. They clearly loved each other, which made the divorce frustrating and a not believable plot point. I loved Savor It and will continue the series but this was a miss for me.

Left of Forever was such a great listen. It's a beautifully written storyline with a great cast of characters. Wren and Ellis have been divorced for 5 years but have maintained a civil relationship along with coparenting. Neither of them has been able to move on completely and get over the other. I enjoyed the correspondence through the letters and how the road trip came about. Swoon-worthy moment where Ellis made my heart smile! Their love and connection could be felt throughout, and I felt their struggles with life and infertility. etc made them relatable.

Narrated by Megan Wicks and Connie Crais. The audiobook was so well done, and both narrators really brought the story to life with their narration. They portrayed Wren and Ellis perfectly and truly complemented one another’s voices. I highly recommend the audiobook, a perfect lighter listen.

Thank You to NetGalley for the ALC

If you've read Savor It, you can appreciate Left of Forever more. If not, if you just picked it up as a standalone, that's fine too, but definitely enhance your experience if you read Savor it.

The book takes place overlapping a little with Ellis' sister Sage and her beau, Fisher. He had just broke her heart and she let him go, and they were on a break. p.s. one of the best quote in that book was something like: "Thank you for the privilege of loving you." Friends, I was in tears. This book is just as good. It goes with Ellis, fighting fire and received a care package from his ex-wife by chance. And it gave him hope. Despite having been divorced for 5 yrs, he still loves her, want her, look out for her. Not because she's the mother of their child, but he genuinely loves her. Wren, baker extraordinaire, felt something is missing and facing to be an empty-nester, and her mom retiring from the bakery, she's wondering what's next.

This is a great second chance romance, Once again Tarah Dewitt outdid herself. There's fun, flirty banters; there's heartfelt tears coming from the characters (and maybe me too). But Tarah brought it!

I have never listened to Megan Wicks before, but majority of the book is from FMC POV, so got to know her style and character voices a bit more. Of course, there's parts from MMC, and that's Connor Crais, If you know what's good for you, you'd go and listen right now!

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC.

What a beautiful, heartfelt, hopefully, and truly emotionally cathartic love story! Tarah DeWitt never fails to capture my whole heart and squeeze it- gently, with compassion and tenderness, but squeeze me none the less. I truly felt this story with every fiber of my being. It's profoundly existential, beautifully emotionally affecting, and deftly resonant. A story whose characters, whose journey feels so unique their own...yet also, somehow yours too. And a story that stays with you long after you turn the final page. Left of Forever is charming, witty, brimming with charming characters and endless chemistry. Easily one of my top reads of the year and perhaps my favorite yet from the endlessly talented Tarah DeWitt.

Tarah's love stories somehow manage to both be a warm and cozy hug while also being an emotional juggernaut. Stories that pack an emotional wallop while also somehow feeling SO fun, flirty, and light. And Left of Forever has a herculean task. It's a second chance romance between a recently divorced couple who married as teens after a teenage pregnancy but who ultimately broke as adults after years of challenges, including infertility....a story full of heavy and traumatic and complicated real life truths and challenges that is attempting to paint them realistically..but hopefully. To convey them with truth and authenticity without. making the narrative feel too HEAVY. And DeWitt sparkles here- she somehow achieves the impossible. She finds the hope in failure and heartache, she finds the romance in a love story the begins after the love story has actually ENDED. And it's brilliant.

I've always loved second chance stories, particularly marriage in crisis ones. It's easy to FALL in love. What's harder is staying in love. Figuring out how to grow TOGETHER as life and experience and age and being a human morph us and change us. And this isn't just a crisis...this is actually POST crisis. Two people who genuinely care about each other who somehow just couldn't find a way to make it work. Who couldn't ever communicate and connect in the way they needed to to heal the wounds between them. SO instead they festered and rotted until it felt too daunting to repair. At some point these two felt it would be easier to face losing someone they care about than actually dig in their heels to make it better- and how devastating is that? It makes for an epic and challenging story emotionally- particularly since there are YEARS of history and unspoken truths and unaddressed hurt that still exist beneath the surface. It felt like an impossible, we felt just like Ellis and Wren. How could this ever be fixable?

But Tarah explores the most basic undercurrent of love and partnership- CHOICE. This isn't a story about how love HAPPENS to us, this is a story about two people CHOOSING to do the work of loving. Because love isn't an accident- it's intentional. It's a choice we make- to love someone, to invest in them. And these characters finally find a way to invest both in themselves and in the other. And oh my gosh it's beautiful. It's intimate. It's powerful. but it's also SO FUN and and clever. Yes, Ellis and Wren have to work through some stuff on their epic road trip- but this isn't just about dealing with the hard emotions alone. They find joy and fun with each other again.

This is a story you don't read. YOU FEEL. I loved every moment with Ellis and Wren. Constructing their future while deconstructing their past. I must admit, after reading Spunes 1, I was OBSESSED with what their story could be...but I was also terrified of it. There is so much history here, so much ground to cover. But Tarah smartly keeps the narrative FOCUSED. The forced proximity element, the fixed timeframe, the laser like focus on the emotional fissures she needed to press on with both of them. We believe in their past, their connection and chemistry literally explode off the page, but the story itself is still compact. Each word, each moment feels divinely intentional- it's a beautiful story construction. Brilliant. It's a master class in characterization, in showing not telling, in emotional interiority and chemistry.

The audiobooks is FAN FREAKING TASTIC. Connor Crais EATS THIS UP as Ellis. He perfectly balances Ellis' stoic grit with his evolving vulnerability. OH AND the sexy times? Melted. And Megan Wicks is outstanding as Wren. She brings so much vulnerability, so much heart to the performance. Both narrators brought so much emotional range to their performances- you truly FEEL the power of each word. Each moment. And their vocal chemistry is chef's kiss.

The ending is so rewarding, because this is a love story so hard fought. One where our characters REALLY do the emotional labor of growing, of figuring out how to FINALLY grow together. Love matters. Love matters MOST- but sometimes it's not about just loving each other. It's about leaning into vulnerability, CHOOSING to fight for someone every day. Because being true partners isn't easy- it's work, GOOD work, THE work. The hope, the healing here is so emotionally resonsant. I cried multiple times- but I also felt such warmth and restoration too.

I loved this tender, real, and yet still playful story with all of my heart. And I can not WAIT to be back in Spunes (not to be confused with FORKS) again- it has fast become my favorite fictional escape.

Thanks to Tarah DeWitt, Netgalley, and Macmillan Audio for the #gifted copy of this book.

Rating: ♾️/5⭐️

Summary: Childhood friends turned lovers, Wren and Ellis got married young after she became pregnant. Five years ago, they divorced, but both have struggled to move on from their first love. Since their son graduates from high school and is attending an out-of-state college, Ellis proposes a road trip home with just the two of them to see if they can rekindle the love they share. During the miles of their trip, they start to dive deep into their best moments, but also their devastating ones, and start to see that maybe they have a future together.

Dani's Thoughts: Well, this is how you write a second-chance romance, and it is Tarah's best book, in my opinion. Wow, I loved this so much...I'm having trouble putting my thoughts down... but this will hands down be a favorite of 2025 for me. I fell in love with the people of Spunes, OR, with the first book, and I was so excited for Wren and Ellis after all the tension between them.

This story was such a journey of healing through real conversations between Ellis and Wren. Though they both grow a lot throughout this journey, I think Ellis makes the most growth. I love that Ellis decided to work on himself through therapy before he pursued rekindling a relationship with Wren. There were some swoony and sweet moments(that I will not mention and spoil some of my favorite parts) that had me in all my feels throughout reading this book. By the end, I was just in tears for all the moments these two shared and watching their love story continue.

Though it can be read as a standalone, be sure to read the first book in the series, Savor It. I adored that book so much, and it sets the stage for the people of Spunes and also the story of Wren and Ellis.

🎧 I had the opportunity to listen to this story and loved the narration. Connor Crais and Megan Wicks did an amazing job with these characters and probably made me love them even more. If you need a new audiobook, I highly suggest this one.

Read if you love:
💖Second Chance
🚗Road Trip
🥰Childhood Friends to Lovers
💜Found Family
🤩Small Town

I loved the audio of this one. Dually narrated including parts where the female narrator speaks during the male narrator's portion and vice versa. Great narrators as well.

Wren and Ellis are swoon-worthy. A second chance romance after a failed first try at marriage, these two take a trip together to figure out if they could ever work again.

There were a few parts that bothered me, including the initial portion of the story, but don't let that scare you away, as it does get better after that initial bother!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an audio ARC of LEFT OF FOREVER by Tarah DeWitt.

Left of Forever was my first book by Tarah DeWitt and will probably be my last. Sadly, this book wasn’t for me even though the description had me captivated from the beginning.
After dropping their only child off at college, Ellis and Wren Byrd, both in their 30s, together since their teens and now divorced for five years decide to take a road trip to see if there is any chance of rekindling their relationship. They make a pact to be brutally honest with each other to try and establish what went wrong in their marriage as a means to fix it.

I thought the story started off well. There was a lot of potential in the pen pal situation and I really wish there had been more of this. Unfortunately it went pretty downhill at about 50% and I almost didn’t finish at 85%. By this point I was bored and just didn’t care about the characters.

What I liked:
- road tripping
- big family
- letter writing (even though they should have recognized each others handwriting)

What I didn’t like:
- miscommunication ++++
- cheesy dialogue
- cringey open door sex scenes
- conflict that didn’t go anywhere (like stuff that should have been a majorly big deal just went away because it was said and acknowledged; the 3rd act conflict was immediately resolved because the MMC told the truth - but it wasn’t even that big a deal in the first place).

Overall, this story had so much potential as a second chance love story, but it got wasted in two characters who didn’t act their age or stage in life. They were both immature and only seemed physically compatible. They clearly did not know each other, and it did not feel like they would be much better off after their trip either. There was no apparent growth or relationship development throughout.

I can definitely see why some would love this book, but there were just too many flaws and gaps for my liking.

2 ⭐️ (1⭐️ for the story and an extra ⭐️ for the narration)

How good is this book? It’s so good halfway through I wanted to call each of my exes and book a road trip to see if we should give it another go… My exes are the worst but this beautiful book is so good it made me want to call them and risk trying again haha.

I’m not usually a second chance romance kind of girl and maybe that’s because as I previously mentioned my exes are the worst but I loved everything about this story. When Wren and Ellis fell in love they were so young and they went through so much together so fast and it broke them but they never really truly stopped loving each other.

I loved watching Ellis fight for Wren and take his time proving his love for her. They didn’t just decide one day to ignore the issues that tore them apart and get back together, they took the time to repair what was broken. These two incredible humans put in the work, they faced everything head on and found their way back to each other. It was such a beautiful story.

I listened to an advanced listener copy of this book thanks to Macmillan audio and NetGalley. It was dual narrated by Connor Crais and Megan Wicks. The narration was perfect it! Sometimes with dual narration when the narrator is reading the parts spoken by the opposite sex it can sound a little cheesy but these narrators did an amazing job of not making it over the top. They made this story come alive.