Enjoyed! I was really rooting for the characters but the pacing was slower than I would have liked. Some of the steamy scenes were not my fav. The romance was good though and the characters were so cute together!

Tarah is queen and can do no wrong. A worthy follow up to the incredible Savor It, I’m so glad we got to see this story play out. 5 stars for longing and 2nd chance romance and working through your relationship by road-tripping with your ex-husband.

DeWitt does it again! I really have enjoyed all Tarah DeWitt books, but this one now has a special place among my romance favorites. There is something so special about finding characters in another book that feels like their story needs to be finished. There is also something so special about people who were meant to be together, divorcing, and then finding their way back to each other. I really appreciated all the therapy and self-work the main male character did as well. I think I always get mad when stories of re-ignition the guy is still the same/same problems, but this one felt like they both worked through their issues separately and together. I found it so beautiful and special that they were able to talk through their problems and work through their issues. Overall, super romantic and one of the best romances of the year.

"I'll save you a seat." GOT ME!! This book was beautiful!
I thought this book was lyrical and truly dove deep into Wren and Silas's history. It's funny, clever, heartbreaking, and soul-healing.

I do love a good second chance romance, and boy does Tarah Dewitt deliver! Ellis and Wren had me entranced quickly.

What a heart-wrenching and life-giving book! My heart was bursting with love and adoration for Wren and Ellis and their story. The rekindling of their relationship and "home-ness" with each other was so special and wonderful to read about. Tarah DeWitt is truly the queen for writing these lovely stories about lovely people. Even though I couldn't personally relate to Wren or Ellis, DeWitt writes so stunningly and relationally that it transports you into the mind of these characters. I felt like I was a friend of the Byrd's and getting to be a witness to a grand love story that ignited more love for them. The way that DeWitt incorporated the rest of the beloved characters of Spunes and the Byrds was so sweet! Reading about Sage and FIsher's continuing love story, Sam's new adventure into college, and Silas and Micah's bickering was just an added bonus to an already lovely story. I loved getting to bear witness to Wren and Ellis rediscover their love for each other and also discover new ways and reasons to love each other. This story was raw, real, and inspiring. Thank you Tarah!! && congrats on another home run <3

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review! 4.5⭐️ YEARNING is SO back! Wow… I’m not usually one for second chance but this was done very well! 💚

This is my second read by Tarah Dewitt and I am so happy I decided to give it another try (I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first one I read). This story had be HOOKED from the beginning and kept me invested the whole way through. The emotions were high in this one, and even though I couldn’t exactly relate to a majority of the experiences of the characters, I still felt the feelings deeply - Which reflects amazing writing and portrayal capabilities. The chapter lengths were on the shorter side which made it easy to fly through, and of course I loved that it’s dual POV! And obviouslyyyy we LOVE when there’s yearning and grovelling, and there’s BOTH in this 🤭

The only thing I could say that would have made it better was if it was more of a slow burn, to really build up the tension. But honestly the way it played out was more so realistic so can’t argue with that lol. I do find it a little funny how the FMC and MMC who have been together since their teens don’t recognize each other’s handwriting (I’ve seen a few similar comments about that)… But maybe that reflects the character’s detachment from each other in some way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read! I think for people who have struggled with communication in relationships (romantic and/or platonic), this read will hit 🧡

—

Overall Ratings ↴
Star: 4.5⭐️/5
Spice: 1-1.5🌶️/5
Emotion: 2-2.5💧/5

Tropes ↴
💚 Second Chance
🧡 Divorced Couple
💚 Road Trip (is that a trope? idk)
🧡 Grovelling
💚 Yearning / Longing
🧡 Dual POV
💚 Childhood Friends to Lovers to Divorced to Lovers (lol)
🧡 Found Family
💚 Small Town
🧡 One Bed
💚 Firefighter MMC

Quotes I loved ↴
🧡 “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.”
💚 “If you won’t have me back anymore, then I’ll find you in the next life. You are the only thing that makes me believe in that. In something bigger than myself.”
🧡 “If he can carry all of them, I can carry him.”

What a wonderful new story from an author whose writing I cannot get enough of because it’s so delightfully emotional and equally lighthearted.

Following ‘Savor It’ I truly wanted to see how Wren and Ellis would navigate their divorce and the seemingly unspoken emotions that lay between them.

‘Left of Forever’ is the pinnacle of second chance romances. Acknowledgment of what was done and the sheer determination and hope of two people who are desperately attempting to save their own hearts while forging a new bond with the each other.

I adored the letter writing, the road trip, and all the heartfelt conversations. Wren and Ellis are relationship goals.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Tarah DeWitt for the chance to read this phenomenal new romance.

I always forget how much I love Tarah's writing style. This is a book that HURTS but in the best way. I loved watching how Wren and Ellis found their way back to each other again and how hard they fought for each other. I absolutely loved the side characters (please tell me that there will be a story for Micah and Lennon!!) Hands down her best book yet.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for letting some of us snag this eARC for a short little while! And if you missed that 24hr window, you should ABSOLUTELY get your hands on this when it is released May 20.

This is my first Tarah DeWitt book (how?!?!), and now I will be spending the rest of the year making it through her back catalogue. And looking forward to the rest of this little interconnected series that I am sure is to come.

I had low expectations going in because I have been burned by popular Booksta romance authors lately. But wowie I loved this book SO much. For me, this was a new trope, but so many aspects felt real and relatable. Her representations of parenthood, marriage, and how the two impact you for better and for worse are spot on. All of that hit me right in the gut. It helps that Wren and Ellis are great characters, and I loved watching them rediscover themselves and each other. Plus give me all the small towns and found families.

My only real complaint is the letters. I felt like that was kind of an unnecessary plot point and that the same outcome could have been achieved with something much less coincidental and far fetched. But this is me nitpicking.

Anywho. If you’re looking for sweet and spicy and well written and developed romances, I can’t speak for the rest of DeWitt’s books yet, but I can say this one is definitely worth reading. Now to get my hands on Sage and Fisher’s story! And if Silas and Kirby aren’t the leads of her next one, I’ll be very sad.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2025 and I’m so excited to have a physical copy!!

Tarah is one of my favorite authors and if you haven’t read her books yet I would HIGHLY recommend them! I love her writing style and the characters she creates. The stories are always so real and heartfelt and filled with love, emotion, and humor! Her books are forever favorites of mine and they always stick with me long after reading. I was lucky enough to get to read Left of Forever early and it’s INCREDIBLE!! I loved Savor It so much and was so excited for Left of Forever!! The glimpses we got of Wren and Ellis in Savor It just made me crave their story! Their second chance romance is everything!! 🙌🏼 This is already one of my top reads of the year!! 🧡

Thank you so much Tarah, SMP Romance, St Martins Press, Macmillan, and Netgalley for the ARC! 🫶🏼

🧡 Small Town
🧡 Second Chance
🧡 Childhood Friends to Lovers
🧡 Roadtrip
🧡 Forced Proximity
🧡 Marriage Reconciliation
🧡 Only One Bed
🧡 Soulmates
🧡 Pining
🧡 Angst

I don’t have words for how much I loved this. Probably one of the most perfect second chance romances to ever exist and will absolutely be one of my top reads of the year.

“What is bravery if not hope in action?”

OMG I loved this second chance romance between two people who married young, got pregnant young, and got divorced five years ago. We meet Wren and Ellis in Savor It (which I also really enjoyed!) but this reads just fine as a standalone. This book also features my favorite microtrope (the meaningful tattoo)!

I loved seeing these two complete open up to each other and crawl their way back together. I wanted maybe just a touch more of their past but generally this one reinforced why second chance romance among married spouses is one of my very favorite tropes.

I voluntarily read a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

That was truly one of the most tender, endearing, heartachingly beautiful love stories I’ve read (let’s be real my other favorite is Savor It so the probability that I would be head over heels in love with this book was really high). This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and honestly, it lived up to all the yearning and pining I did for it with all the yearning and pining in the book itself.

Gosh this one hit me in the emotional solar plexus really hard and I was crying really early on from how sweet and earnest and yet heartbreaking Wren and Ellis’s story is. Second chance romance really is one of those tropes that just gets me but this book was something else entirely. The love that these characters have for each other is so clearly nestled into the these words that reading it was like being hit upside the head with a big stick labeled “Wren and Ellis love each other so much”. (I’m tearing up writing this honestly)

Watching them fight their way back to each other was just such a joy. I loved getting little flashbacks of how their story began and where it all fell apart. I loved the epistolary element of the book too it was so special and lovely for them. I loved watching them love each other from afar and up close. I loved watching them grow to be better together. I love these characters so much and I just want to be back with the Byrds honestly.

Tarah DeWitt’s writing is honestly just so magical and wonderful and beautiful that she tricked me into feeling all these really big, raw, intense feelings right alongside Wren and Ellis. She broke my heart and then carefully and meticulously pieced it back together and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

10 out of 10, chef’s kiss, wouldn’t change a thing, loved it so much, need it in my hands immediately an ebook simply isn’t enough.

I really enjoyed my time reading this book. I heard all the hype about this and saw well it did for early releases who received the ARC. I think this is such a unique take on second romance especially since they were married and fully divorced for 5 years. I think Tara did a great job on explaining the turmoil, grief, and struggles that each character went through. Additionally, she also captures the exact moment when we feel the spark between the two MC never left. It was nostalgic and beautiful the way the story was told.

Left of Forever might just be the most beautiful love story I’ve ever read—a million stars for this book! Wren and Ellis have been in love all of their lives and had a son when they were teenagers, but now divorced in their 30s, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip after dropping off their son at college in an attempt to fall in love again. This book is romantic and heartbreaking. Ellis and Wren are both holding on to so much pain and love, and it’s devastatingly beautiful watching them fall back in love. It’s steamy, it’s stunning, it’s everything you want in a second chance small town romance. Their adventures and blunders are so fun to be on the journey on for, and their love is so powerful. It might just be the best second chance romance I’ve ever read. The story is dynamic and the characters are relatable and alive, and I loved the small town! Every part of their story hit me in the heart and had me rooting for these beautiful characters. I cried, I laughed, this will 100% be on my top reads this for 2025—it’s just perfection!

This book!!!! This book is what a second chance romance should be. Heartbreakingly beautiful. I feel like was shedding a single tear of longing throughout the entire book until I wept at the end out of pure love. The characters are so beautiful, the work they put into it their relationship feels so real. Ellis talks about how he thinks it’s unfair to say that his and Wren’s love was fate because it makes it seem like they didn’t work for it but my god, I think they would find each other in every life time.

This book is for everyone who is hopeful about their love. I want to reread it already.

Tarah is one of my favorite authors EVER! Each book is a hit. She has a way of writing that immediately captures you by the first few pages. This was such a beautiful story between a couple who clearly still loved each other. Dare I say this is her best book yet! Forever my fave!

oh tarah dewitt knows how to write a second chance romance. i absolutely DEVOURED this!! i loved wren and ellis' story and watching them grow and understand each other more. i laughed, i swooned and i cried. i was nervous going into this book because i didn't love savor it, but this book felt like the tarah dewitt writing i fell in love with when i read funny feelings for the first time. i also loved the little cameos of past characters in this book it was so fun and i screamed when i realized it!! also tarah must of heard us begging for authors to bring back yearning and she said "okay bet here's ellis bryd." i absolutely loved his character and watching him work on himself and try to prove to wren that he loves her was just so heartwarming. he would literally do anything for her. i also loved wren and everything about her. in short i loved this book.

✨ e-ARC Book Review ✨

🌿 Left of Forever - Tarah Dewitt 🌿
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

➡️ Swipe for GR synopsis

If Tarah Dewitt writes it, I’m going to read it 👏🏻 I was super lucky to get to read the e-ARC and omg I loved this one so much! First of all, it’s a second chance romance *swoon* and secondly the FMC & MMC are in their 30’s and are parents. I love nothing more than reading a book where I can relate with the people I’m reading about. It was just so refreshing to see these two people be so open and honest with their feelings and what they wanted out of life. The trip Ellis planned for him and Wren after they sent their son off to college was just so sweet and thoughtful. And while there was some fun (and steamy) moments, I really felt like these characters were so open and raw with their feelings. The whole book was just so good and I loved it so much!

Part of the story is set in the same world as Savor It with the same characters. Even though this can absolutely be read alone, I think reading Savor It first makes this one so much more fun to see all the characters and be back in Spunes.

Would recommend if you like :
- Second Chance Romance
- Forced Proximity
- Small Town Feels
- Sweet & Spicy

✨Left of Forever releases 5/20✨