Tarah DeWitt does it again—this book broke me in the best way.

Wren and Ellis’s second-chance love story wrecked me. Childhood sweethearts turned heartbroken co-parents, they reconnect on a road trip after dropping their son off at college—and every mile peels back years of pain, hope, and unspoken love. From pink pastry boxes to quiet motel moments, every scene is packed with heart and history.

What makes this stand out? Real communication. Real grief. Real growth. It's not just about rekindling romance—it's about rebuilding trust, rediscovering who you are, and choosing each other all over again.

And the audio? Perfection. The narrators deliver every emotion like they’ve lived it.

This isn’t just a top read of the year—it’s a top experience. Prepare to swoon, sob, and believe in love that endures.

All the damn stars. Wow. wow. wow.

My heart. I didn't realize all the amazing tropes this book had going into it and I was so damn pleasantly surprised. This book is for sure a top read of the month and will likely be a top read of the year contender!! SO DANG GOOD!!

The way Ellis yearned for Wren was nothing short of perfection. This book hit home to me personally as a married woman, knowing that marriages aren't perfect and I just felt so seen and relatable.

Ellis & Wren
second chance
divorced couple
epistolary
road trip
small town
childhood friends to lovers

I recently started listening to audiobooks and I have been lukewarm about it. When I saw this audiobook was dual narration, I was so excited! The male and female narrators were fantastic. They really made this audiobook perfection. As for the story, this is my second read from this Author and definitely not my last. I love a second chance romance and this was no exception. Ellis and Wren were so beautifully written and I was rooting for them the entire time. I finished this audiobook in a day and cannot recommend it enough.

Tarah DeWitt? Delightful.
Narrators? Flawless

I would have been willing to read this book for 20 more hours and still would have begged for more. Having actual communication be the crux of a second chance romance? Apparently revolutionary. I was so pleased and cannot wait to read this one again

All the damn stars. Wow. wow. wow.

My heart. I didn't realize all the amazing tropes this book had going into it and I was so damn pleasantly surprised. This book is for sure a top read of the month and will likely be a top read of the year contender!! SO DANG GOOD!!

The way Ellis yearned for Wren was nothing short of perfection. This book hit home to me personally as a married woman, knowing that marriages aren't perfect and I just felt so seen and relatable.

The way this was not only a top read for me but a top audio. The second I dove in and was about 10% in I just knew this was altering my brain chemistry and going to be a top read of the year. Ellis finding the pink box and not even knowing at first they are Wren's treats and it's her letter til he gets to the end was kismet. The moment he decides he wants to go get his wife back, I was done for. There is something about a perfectly written second chance romance that wins me over every time. I love the back story of the characters and how they have this history that can't be undone or unmatched. Their love stood the test of time once and Ellis is there to prove to Wren why they belong together again. Their road trip is perfection, all the little stops have so much meaning to the two of them. This is one I will be re-reading the second I have this paperback in my hands and loving every second of. The narrators were pure perfection. Anyone who will listen I have told to preorder. I don't know how anything will top this one this year!

This book was everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a second chance romance. The family dynamic was perfection. This story gave me all of the feelings. And the spice was just right.


The narrators did a wonderful job and I’m glad I listened to it in audio. IMO they embodied the characters perfectly.

WRELLIS FOREVER - seriously don’t even start with me I love them so much

Ive now read this twice - once with my little eyes and once on audio... BOTH are exceptional because DUH but the audio really added an additional layer to this story. The narrators did such a phenomenal job

This book feels like 3 different stories rolled into one and I mean this in the best way imaginable. It starts as a story of self discovery and moving on but quickly turns into a story of second chances and new beginnings and then love and acceptance.

Wren and Ellis have known each other since childhood and have grown together and apart over the next 30ish years. Theyve been through everything imaginable together - death of parents, teenage pregnancy, marriage, fertility issues, pregnancy loss, sick parents, etc. and while a lot of these things brought them closer together, some of these things tore them apart.

I found this story such a realistic depiction of love at the many stages of life. Two people who love each other so fully and so completely too deep into their own despair and grief that it tears them apart but watching them comeback together was the most beautiful love story

I loved both of these characters and its almost impossible to not root for them from page one. They are truly made for each other and they belong together without question - they are the true definition of family, best friends, and soulmates

As always Tarah's writing and story telling is unmatched - she is the queen of romance, I dont know how she keeps doing it. Her way with words feels like shes simultaneously holding my heart in the palm of her hand lovingly and also reaching into my chest cavity ripping my heart out and stomping on it. I LOVE IT GIVE ME MORE

4⭐, 2.5🌶️

Okay this was hecking cute! I'm not a major second chance romance fan when the couple was already married and divorced, but Ellis and Wren were so sweet and loveable. I think what kept me from being sooo emotionally swayed (because there is a lot of feels in this book) was being unable to relate to either characters. However, I totally foresee sooooooo many people being down bad for this book and the love story!

💚Second Chance Romance - Divorced Couple
🌲Childhood Friends
🚙Forced Proximity: Road Trip
⚠️Chronic Illness/ Infertility Struggles

Release Date: 5/20/2025

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Loved seeing previous characters from Spunes. This one felt a little “easy” to me, not enough angst maybe? But MANY will feel SO seen by this book and what these two characters went through. I loved the tie in of the title at the end and the ever meddling family.

This was so great’ narrators were WONDERFUL! I love that this was a love story of second chance with more mature, imperfect characters. I cannot wait to read more from this series.

This was so good. I'd rate it even higher than the first book in the series and that was fantastic!
I'm not the biggest fan of second chance/marriage in trouble books (though this wasn't that exactly, but close enough) but that didn't matter with this. It was emotional but fulfilling. A must read.

Thank you NetGalley and macmillan.audio for the ALC.

I absolutely adored this book so much and I was so thrilled to be able to listen to it as well! The narrators (Megan Wicks and Connor Crais) did a fantastic job capturing the main characters! This book really had me in my feels and also crying while washing the dishes. I could not stop listening and I enjoyed every minute! Tarah Dewitt is an auto-buy author for me and I am so excited to read more books set in Spunes!

Left of Forever may have set THE bar for second chance romances! I am such a sucker for this trope and I'll devour any book that has it. I want the angst, the YEARNINGGGGGG, all the emotions, and we get all of that in this. But so much more! We see a couple that has seen so much together, and they've been apart for five years. They explore everything that happened between them, the misunderstandings/miscommunication, they work through all of it. Perfection!

I listened to the audio of this and I knew right away that this would be a top favorite for 2025! Megan Wicks and Connor Crais did a phenomenal job with bringing Wren and Ellis to life. I usually set the speed a little quicker, but I listened to this at the normal speed because I just wanted to absorb every moment.

What a beautiful story and I can't wait to have a physical copy to annotate the crap with all of my favorite quotes! Bravo to Tarah and this beautifully written story and thank you for writing it!

4.5/5 stars!

The way I LOVED this book 😭😭 I laughed, I cried, and did both at the same time. This second chance romance was filled with so much heartache, love, hope, and laughter. It was so great being back into the Spunes universe, and hoping to see more from this crew down the road! The audio was phenomenal, and the narrators were the perfect selection for Wren and Ellis.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback

4.5 stars for LEFT OF FOREVER ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the ARC audiobook of LEFT OF FOREVER by @authortarahdewitt 🤍

WOW. I reallllllllly enjoyed this one. I blew through it in 24 hours. I honestly did not want to stop listening. And I didn’t want it to end! I loved being back in Spunes!

I loved getting a chance to get to know some more characters from this universe. I read SAVOR IT, the first book in the Spunes, OR series, last year in December and loved it so much. I did a hybrid read because I wanted to read with my eyes while listening to the audio because @karissavacker and @webberesque narrated that one.

I will say I was slightly bummed when I realized that they weren’t also narrating LEFT OF FOREVER, but I think @connorcrais and @meganwicks are the perfect voices for Ellis and Wren.

This was such a different take on second chance romance (which is my favorite trope) and I loved every single second of it.

There are some pretty heavy topics that are touched on, so check the triggers before picking this up — but I feel like the were handled with grace and carried out in a real way that wouldn’t seem hard to digest to readers.

I laughed, I cried, I loved the dynamic between the family and how close the Byrd siblings are.

I am so excited for this to come out May 20th — I think this may be her best book yet. I’m definitely going to re-listen to SAVOR IT and LEFT OF FOREVER before the end of the year.

If you are looking for an emotional, slightly spicy, second-chance romance, definitely pick this up when it comes out in a few weeks. You will not be disappointed.

4.5 stars for LEFT OF FOREVER ❤️

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐁𝐲𝐫𝐝.”

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the ALC and e-ARC.

This book is described as a "An emotional, spicy, second-chance romance" and boy is it. I have been LOVING second chance romances and I knew that if Tarah wrote it, I'll be crying by the end.

The Audio was superb Connor Crais and Megan Wicks were PERFECT narrators for this.

𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

Ellis and Wren fell in love as kids, then had a teenage pregnancy, and as they grew older, and had to deal with the hardships of raising a child and infertility, they fell apart.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Ellis realizes first that he's still in love with Wren, and he wants her back. So he asks her to road trip with him after they drop their son off at college and on the way back.... see if there is still a spark between them. If they can work it out.

𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

There is so much swooning and pining and big sweeping beautiful prose that my heart was just breaking and soaring and being put back together whole. It was SO good.

“𝐈. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞.” 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤. “𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” 𝐈 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞, 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.”

ARGH. Just posting these quotes reminds me of the feelings this book made me feel. It's so raw and open and exactly what a second chance at marriage and a left together should feel like. Tarah just reaches in your chest and squeezes and I thanked her for it.

So much love. And now I'm feral for Silas' story.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my e-arc and PRH audio for my ALC 🫶🏻

I love everything Tara writes! 4.5⭐️

Ellis and Wren had their son very young at age 17. They spent most of their adult life together dealing with some infertility issues. Their marriage ended in divorce 5 years prior to the start of the story.

Ellis is a firefighter and during a big fire, received letters from a stranger, but knew it was his ex wife. After some realizations, he knows he never stopped loving her. He hatched a plan to win her back when he proposes a road trip to come home from taking their son to college.

This is a story of healing and communication. I loved the openness of Wren and Ellis. Their true love wins in the end with some spice along the way!

“One day, when we’re very old and gray, one of us will open our eyes to a day that the other won’t, but we’ll smile knowing how full life has been, knowing how we spent forever. Everything left of it, together.”

You guys this was the easiest 5✨ I’ve ever given. Here’s the thing, I usually HATE a second chance romance, but this one was perfection. this book had me cheesing and smiling and kicking my feet the whole time.

I was also blessed to listen to the audio and Megan & Conor were PERFECT for our Wren and Ellis. That ice cream scene?? I was giggling and hot all at the same time!!

A top notch romance, truly. I laughed, I cried, I got my heart stomped on, then glued back together. It was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it. Tarah is truly in a league of her own and I bow down. This book felt so real and so raw - a marriage (or, well, divorce) in crisis done so perfectly that you couldn’t help but root for the characters and fall head over heels. Wren and Ellis are so complex and I loved getting to see them grow and unravel throughout. Their deep emotional connection … I felt it in every layer of my bones. I could read 2,000 more pages about their love story and it still wouldn’t be enough. The audiobook presentation was done so well. The narrators really captured the emotion and the heart of these characters and really elevated the reading experience.