A Beautifully Raw and Real Second-Chance Romance

Left of Forever is a masterpiece that delves deep into the complexities of love, loss, and the journey of rediscovery. Wren and Ellis Byrd's story is a poignant reminder that sometimes, love isn't about perfection but about finding your way back to each other after life's challenges.

Tarah DeWitt's writing is both lyrical and grounded, capturing the essence of small-town life in Spunes, Oregon, and the emotional landscapes of her characters. The chemistry between Wren and Ellis is palpable, making their journey toward reconciliation both heart-wrenching and hopeful.

This novel is a testament to the resilience of the human heart and the enduring power of love. It's a must-read for anyone who believes in second chances and the beauty of starting anew.

Thank you @youhadmeathea @netgalley for the free arc and @macmilian.audio for the alc 💖.

🗓️Out May 20, 2025

✨What it is about:
Wren and Ellis Byrd, once teenage sweethearts and now divorced co-parents, take a road trip together after their son leaves for college. As they revisit old feelings along the California coast, they must confront the pain of their past to see if love deserves a second chance, or if it’s time to finally let go.✨

💭My thoughts:
This story is one of the best trips you’ll go on, guaranteed.
It’s my first book by Tarah DeWitt, but definitely not my last. I have Savor it on my shelf and will now get to it asap. This story was absolutely real, raw, sexy, romantic, and most of all, beautiful. The story grabs your attention from the start and pulls at your heartstrings the whole way through. If you haven’t preordered, I suggest you do. RIGHT. NOW. This isn't just a love story, it is a journey of healing, vulnerability, and connection. You'll laugh, and maybe even shed some tears along the way. I’m not saying another word, as it’s best if you experience each little moment for yourself.
🎧Narrated by Connor Crais and Megan Wicks, who both did an amazing job. Crais brought Ellis to life with a grounded, emotionally restrained yet vulnerable tone, while Wicks gave Wren a soft, thoughtful voice. They made each character shine. A truly great listen.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
💖Divorced couple
💖Second chance romance
💖Meant to be
💖Found family
💖Mutual pinning
💖Road trip

⚠️CW: Ectopic pregnancy (off the page), mentions of infertility, explicit language, death of an unknown character by fire (off the page), explicit sexual content.

thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and Tarah Dewitt for this ARC!

I really enjoyed the narrators, they did a great job bringing the characters to life. The writing was well done and the story line at one point made me cry because it was so relatable. 4 stars for me ✨

5 stars of hopeful, messy perfection.

Respectfully, f you Tarah DeWitt (again).

It will surprise absolutely no one who knows me that this book CONSUMED ME. I thought nothing would ever top Savor It... and then freaking Tarah DeWitt writes Left of Forever and I'm just a puddle on the freaking floor. Literally from the dedication to the very last word on the last page, I was glued to this story.

Left of Forever: "This time, they'll get it right." *deceased*

I loved how we got to travel through Wren and Ellis's relationship, from their young start as parents, through being a season of pen pals, grief, the loss of their relationship, all the way through to dropping Sam off at college and taking a road trip to maybe rekindle their relationship along the way.

Moments and things I absolutely loved about this story:
- THE LETTERS + Wren's journal *iykyk*
- Every little nod that Ellis still deeply loves Wren... the perfume, the origami birds, the memories of her body and the way he worships what it did to bring Sam into the world, THE BAKED GOODS,
- The freaking meddling family members that I love SO MUCH, especially Sam, Indy, and THE BYRD SIBS
- MEN IN THERAPY. THANK YOU.
- The most thoughtful road trip of all time.
- Dropping Sam off at college had me SOBBING.
- THE CAFE CO-OP EASTER EGGS
- The game Wren plays to keep her feelings offline during the road trip
- ELLIS'S FREAKING TATTOOOOOOOOOOOO
- "GOING SLOW" lolololol
- "Soft and firm and mine." (love a good "mine" possessive statement)
- Chapter 23, which I basically highlighted in its entirety lol sorry not sorry?
- THE COOKING CLASS + the chaos that happened..... after
- Ice cream + flip flops + elevator rides + all the moments so taut with tension
- Ellis being all "Wren, I can still taste you in my mustache." *squeeeee*
- The vows
- All kinds of wedding festivities

Some of my favorite quotes:
"I grew up with my great love, so I think maybe my heart took shape around his."

"She's still a Bryd."

"I managed to go almost five years without your baking." This statement is shaded in innuendo. "Don't underestimate my self-control, Wren."

"She's kissing me. I'm home."

Okay, I'm off to reread this book now, bye. Thanks SMP Romance for the eARC!

EDITING TO ADD: THE AUDIOBOOK IS MAKING ME SOB ALL OVER AGAIN. Megan Wicks was AMAZING as Wren. I felt every single emotion along the way with her. And then FREAKING CONNOR CRAIS AS ELLIS IS WHAT LITERAL DREAMS ARE MADE OF. That sexy man talking about his sexy mustache... the emotions that Ellis wears mostly in private, Connor absolutely brought to life. While Ellis was amazing on paper, in my ears, I was like... UM YES PLS MORE. I'll be relistening to this book for YEARS to come. 5 stars of audiobook perfection.

If anyone was going to have me rooting for a second chance romance, it was going to be Tarah DeWitt.

Megan Wicks x Connor Crais bring to life Wren x Ellis Byrd with heart, humor, and heat. Their chemistry is undeniable and practically seeps off the page, or in this case, my ears! I loved their performance and it's one that is going to be hard to forget.

For the story, let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of second chance romances. But this one? THIS ONE was done so well with believable circumstances that cause a rift in a relationship, YEARNING for your first and only love, and family that is rooting for mcs to get back together. From the very beginning, I couldn't help but here Taylor Swift's "Down Bad" lyrics as a way of describing Ellis's x Wren's love, and slowly as they find their way back to another with flashbacks of their past driving their story forward it becomes "The Alchemy."

I can't tell you enough how I LOVED Wren x Ellis. By the end, when the title context comes into play, I was SOBBING. I was not expecting the weight of its significance because here I was thinking "left" meant directional. And if you think I'm going to spoil this, I AM NOT.

If you're looking for a second chance romance that is filled with yearning, heart, and humor look no further than Left of Forever.

12/10 stars

*also not me realizing this a second stand alone book in a series so now I gotta go and read Sage's book!

Way more open door than I prefer to read but second changes are my second favorite trope so that was good. It was also fun to get a few updates from other Spoons couples from earlier in the series. P.S. this book made me so hungry for baked goods, especially the holiday pie! 🤤

The narrators were so amazing! 🥵 love them!

“I’m just saying. My DNA mixed with yours, and it altered your very bones, Byrd.” - Ellis

I think this book altered my brain chemistry

“All I know is that if I found out heaven was real and got there first? I’d hang back in the waiting room and save you a seat.”

All the stars! I’ve been waiting for this book since last year and I decided to take my time with it. I knew it would make me cry and I thought a couple of times from the very beginning until about 90% that maybe I could hold it together. But at the very end the birds got me 🥹🥹🥹

You meet Wren and Ellis Byrd in the first book, Savor It. They are currently divorced but at a town hall meeting when someone calls Wren by her maiden name Ellis loudly proclaims “she’s still a Byrd.” At that moment you know there is still love there and I was smitten.

Wren and Ellis got pregnant young and got married and when their son is about a teenager, their marriage starts to fall apart. They divorce and 5 years later even as they try to avoid each other they can’t avoid the love they had or the past they shared.

Now their son is headed to college and Ellis wants his wife back. So he suggests on their way back from dropping off their son that he and Wren take a road trip back home. She reluctantly agrees and what a trip it was. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Second chance romance, banter, firefighter mmc, baker fmc, childhood friends to lovers, second in interconnected series,

I have been waiting for this book ever since I read Savor It over a year ago. I was OBSESSED with the little bit of Wren and Ellis hinted at in that book and have not stopped thinking about them.

This book did not disappoint.

I loved reading Wren and Ellis story and then realizing that they never really fell out of love with each other. Something that I also appreciated in this story that I haven’t really seen in other series with interconnected books is how there were things we didn’t know about Wren and Ellis before getting into this book. We didn’t know about Wrens reproductive issues, so we were able to really learn about her and not just the surface level we learned in Savor It.

Something I really appreciated in this book is the open communication between Wren and Ellis. Sure in the beginning it was just about their kid, but once they got on the road trip and they decided to give them another chance was glorious. You gotta communicate with your partners. While the letters/short lived pen pal situation didn’t come to light right off, that was an adorable part of the book with Ellis fully realizing he was going to fight for Wren again.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an early read of this book. All thoughts are my own, I do not accept money for reviews.

📖: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5/5
🎧: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5/5
🥵: 🌶️🌶️/5

Left of Forever follows divorced co-parents Ellis and Wren Byrd. Having fallen pregnant as teenagers, they divorced when their son Sam was 12. Now he's 18 and preparing to head off to college, so they decide to spend some time together figuring out why their relationship feels so unfinished.

I absolutely loved this story! I adored Savor It, and I was so happy to hear the Tarah was going to write the Ellis/Wren story the whole of bookstagram was calling for. That one line made everyone fall head of heels for Ellis, and I'm so glad they lived up to the expectations!

I really enjoyed how a lot of this story was told through recollections or flashbacks. It definitely helps to cement our understanding of why Wren and Ellis are who they are. Seeing them at different stages of their relationship and parenthood added so much depth and feeling. Their story was so heartbreaking, and I loved seeing them work to put themselves back together.

Ellis was such an interesting character because of his relationships with his siblings. He's always had to be the strong one, providing for and protecting them. This, and the loss of both his parents, makes him close himself of off. He stops truly living for himself, and this ultimately takes a toll on his marriage. However, we love to see a man putting👏in👏the👏work👏. When he knows he wants Wren back, he sort his stuff out, he's working on himself, and their relationship is all the better for it.

Wren was such a strong character. She is there to help others, especially her mum and Sam, and looks out for herself. The grief she goes through trying to conceive another baby was heartbreaking, and it would understandably put strain on a relationship. I loved her relationships with all the Byrd siblings, and of course Indy as well!

The narration for this story was performed in dual style by Connor Crais and Megan Wicks. I've listened to both of these two before and have long been a fan. I thought they worked really well together, and provided a good range each of both male and female voices. Connor as Ellis was the perfect grumbly grouch! A brilliant listen!

Overall, a really enjoyable story, with some super cute cameos from LaRynn and Declan! As a Tarah Dewitt fan, this was so exiting. I can't wait to see what Tarah writes next!

Oh this book has my heart! ❤️ I absolutely loved Ellis and Wren’s second chance romance! For me, I found I could relate to so many things about their story and I loved that so many people in their life were rooting for them. Also, can we talk about their banter and any story with letters or e-mails. 🫠 This is definitely one to add to your tbr!

I should start by saying I didn't know this was part of a series, so I read this as a standalone. I was definitely missing some context, but, for the most part, I was able to read this without issue.

I am not a second-chance trope girlie, but I do think this was done well. I thought their love was believable, the connection was there, and I liked seeing them putting in the work to fix things. I do think them getting back together after a whole divorce was quick & unrealistic, but I am able to suspend some reality in romance. The Byrd family is so fun, so I may need to go back and read the first novel.

I recommend the audiobook, as well -- the narrators were great!

4.25⭐

There are no words… this story is utterly perfect. I am pretty stingy with my 5* ratings but this story absolutely deserves it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC of this story. Listen… I love reading Tarah’s stories but you need to listen to this one. Connor Crais and Megan Wicks are the perfect narrators for Ellis and Wren.

I don’t normally read second chance romance stories but Ellis and Wren are just so perfect… they are the Notebook lovers of the new generation.

This story made me laugh and cry… I weeped and felt and it absolutely cracked me open.

You need to read this story. And before this one, you need to read Saige and Fischer’s story (Savor It). I absolutely cannot wait for Silas and Micah’s stories too.

Tarah, you are a wizard. Never stop writing.

First of all I didn’t realize this was the 2nd book in a series. It’s a standalone but features characters also from the first book. So I need to immediately go and read that one. Left of Forever was absolutely incredible!! I loved this book so much. This may be one of my favorite romance reads this year! Second chance romance, slow burn, a lot of spice. The chemistry and love were so good. I’m obsessed with Wren and Ellis! This book had me feeling so emotional throughout it. Beautiful. The narrators were perfection! I loved the dual pov! Thank you so so so much NetGalley for an audiobook arc!

"I had the day to dick around and I overdicked it." I seriously lost it — this book is hilarious in the best, most unexpected ways.

Left of Forever is a second-chance romance that hit all the right notes for me. Wren and Ellis were teen parents who got married young, stayed together for years, and are now four years divorced… but very much not over each other. After dropping their kid off at college, they take a road trip back home and decide to see if there’s still something between them.

The tropes are so good — second chance, single (ish?) parents, road trip, firefighter, and yes… the one bed trope.

The writing is fantastic — heartfelt, funny, emotional — and the audiobook narrators were amazing. I couldn’t stop listening, and I already grabbed another copy as a birthday gift for a friend. Highly recommend if you’re into emotional second chance romances.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
The synopsis of this book caught my attention. It ended up being very entertaining! While it was fairly predictable, it was still a good story! I had the audiobook and the narrators were great, I listened to this in one sitting. Overall, I would recommend for a quick, entertaining read!

The narrators are ABSOLUTELY fantastic and bring the story to life!!! one of the best second chance romances/ marriage of reconciliation I’ve read! Tarah’s BEST WRITING YET she brought me to tears with her beautiful prose! Wren + Ellis I LOVE YOU!!!!!

The way Tarah wove both perspectives first of Ellis in the first couple of chapters then wren? SHE SET UP THE STORY SO PERFECTLY. Achingly romantic and so freaking sexy!!!!

*Left of Forever* was a captivating read that swept me away from the very first page. This book was a slow-burn romance that built into something truly passionate, and made this book impossible to put down.
I especially appreciated how the story didn’t rush. It gave space for character development and let the tension build naturally. The result was a romance that felt authentic. If you're looking for a book that combines heartfelt storytelling with steamy romance, *Left of Forever* delivers in every way.

Tarah Dewitt delivers a romance that’s raw, angsty, and even spicier than expected—making Left of Forever an unforgettable listening experience. The emotional depth hits hard, pulling you into a love story filled with longing and intensity. Every moment is charged, and the audiobook format adds an extra layer of immersion, making the tension and passion even more palpable.

If you love romance that keeps you hooked from start to finish, this one will leave you breathless in all the best ways.

"Left of Forever" by Tarah Dewitt is a master class in exploring the depths of love, heartbreak, and second chances. Few authors manage to evoke such raw, authentic emotion in from me when reading romance, but Dewitt’s storytelling feels both heartbreakingly beautiful and deeply relatable. Her prose is stunning—poetic and evocative—perfectly capturing the aching, yearning, and longing that this story’s characters experience.

The book centers on Ellis and Wren Byrd, who fell in love young, had their son Sam as teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. Their love was passionate and seemingly unbreakable—until life’s inevitable challenges pulled them apart. Dewitt vividly depicts the pain of their separation, making their reconciliation not just a plot point but an emotionally charged journey.

What made this story resonate so strongly with me was Dewitt’s honest portrayal of love—its frustrations, joys, and everything in between. Their road trip across California becomes more than just a change of scenery; it’s a pivotal moment for both characters to confront their past and consider the possibility of a future together. We emotional depth and growth that Ellis experiences as he works through his own grief at losing a part of himself to caregiving was incredible relatable on a personal level to me, and the Wren finally getting to purge all the pent up emotions she's been to afraid to express...this is the only type of miscommunication trope I like.

Dewitt’s writing is both tender and brutally honest, capturing the humor, frustration, and tenderness of real relationships. The chemistry between Ellis and Wren crackles with electricity, yet it’s rooted in a genuine sense of vulnerability—showing that sometimes words, whether spoken or written, are what ultimately bridge that emotional gap.

This novel is a powerful reminder of love’s transformative potential—its ability to challenge, to heal, and to endure despite life’s hurdles. Dewitt’s portrayal of Ellis and Wren’s journey is so real and moving that it feels like a life-changing experience. If you’re seeking a love story that’s honest, stirring, and full of hope, "Left of Forever" is an absolute must-read.

In all honesty, I wish I could rate it beyond five stars. Dewitt’s talent lies in capturing the deepest longings of the heart through beautiful, honest words on a page. This is contemporary romance at its finest—relatable, emotional, and inspiring. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I absolutely loved this book. Maybe it’s because I’m married now and realize how much of life lives in the grey areas. People are flawed. We make mistakes. We get tired. Sometimes we give up when we shouldn’t—and sometimes, we grow up and try again. That’s why second-chance stories hit me so hard. I know some people question them—“If it didn’t work the first time, was it ever real?”—but life’s not that simple. Growth changes everything.

This story hit several of my sweet spots: a second-chance romance, childhood friends to lovers (told through well-placed memories), and even a brief penpal exchange that I completely ate up. Wren and Ellis felt real—messy, likable, human. I found myself rooting for them individually and as a couple. And as a mom, I especially loved how proud they were of what they built with Sam. That part was genuinely touching.

When I saw I was approved for the audiobook ARC, I almost screamed—but I was in a work meeting, so I had to settle for silently freaking out. The narrators were phenomenal. Voice acting is such an underrated art, and these two brought the characters to life with so much heart and nuance.

Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC, and to Tarah DeWitt for continuing to write books I can’t wait to devour.