Wow! I loved this book! A heartfelt story of a couple who grew apart in their marriage and divorced. Years later, through a twist of fate and a trip to drop off their son in college, they decide to take a road trip together to see if they can rekindle their love. If you love a second chance romance with relatable and endearing characters, this is a must-read!

Wow. Just wow. That was phenomenal. I’ve been hearing incredible things but actually reading this story was magical.

I fell in love with Ellis and Wren in Savor It. I remember being so sad because Tarah only wrote standalones…. But guess what? She wrote the book! She wrote a story for, “she’s still a Byrd.” And it’s everything I could have wanted and so much more.

Expect 👉🏼 Second Chance, Small Town, Road Trip, Forced Proximity, Epic Family, Mutual Pining, Meddling Family, Healing, Spice, Anonymous letters, Journals

Wren and Ellis have loved one another their entire lives. But 5 years ago they called it quits and have been doing a delicate dance of politeness to not affect their son or family while pretending to be okay apart. As their son graduated high school, Ellis suggests a trip for just the two of them. One last chance to see if they could still be together.

This book was a beautiful journey. It was hard fought. It was love as it evolves. It was growing apart and growing up. It was being brave and being vulnerable. It was being honest. It was learning to try again and learning to trust. It was relatable. It was incredible. I had a hard time putting it down.

With literally any other book, I would have said it was too spicy. But Ellis and Wren EARNED their spice. And it was SPICY my friends. More spice than I am used to from Tarah but it fit this couple perfectly.

I read this one with my eyes (a rarity for me these days) and I cannot wait for the audio to do a reread and spend some more time with The Byrds!

Thank you SMP for this arc!

♾️🌟 I'll never be the same after this one

You know those books that you read and know they'll leave an indelible mark on you? Authors that seems to just know who you are down to your very core? Tarah DeWitt is one of those for me.

Savor It was my favorite read of 2024 and Left of Forever has now slated itself as one of my favorite books of all time. The yearninggggg. The raw, honest, and real conversations. The tension. This book was simply about two imperfect people owning up to their shit and getting it right, this time forever.

So many pieces of this book burrowed their way into my heart. I lost count of how many times I teared up. The first time happened somewhere around 3% and then I sobbed happy tears through the end. I loved this book with my entire heart and soul–I can't wait to read it again when the audiobook comes out. Please, do yourself a favor and add this to the top of your TBR.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Without a doubt, my favorite Tarah Dewitt book to date (previously was the Co-op so I LOVED the cameo). The angst in this book! Wow. I was choked up more times than I can count while reading, especially the letters ugh! I love the dual POV because this was definitely a love story that I felt was important to see from both sides. This was one of the best second chance romances I have had the pleasure of reading. Good open door spice! Love that we had characters that are 30+ years old. They just felt so “real” to me. I may not have married my childhood sweetheart but I could relate to the love, the sadness, the regret, and the hope found on these pages. I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about this story and I hope that we see more books from the Byrd’s and Spunes.

Idk how each new Tarah Dewitt becomes my favorite, but somehow she never misses.

This one feels so personal. Like Tarah took a peek into my soul and left it on display for everyone.

So much heart with characters that feel so real. I forget I’m reading and wish I knew them in real life they feel like real people. People I want to be around forever and forever. They’re just tragic enough to be hilarious with believable plot points. Her declarations of love are next level swoony and heartbreaking. Punches in the gut that force you to feel something.

She takes these typical romance tropes and archetypes and makes them so much more.

I feel bad for the rest of my 2025 reading because I fear I’ve peeked and it’s only February.

Read if you like:
💍Marriage in crisis
🚗Road trip
✌️2nd chance love
🫂Found family
🏡Small town
😤Steady grown antisocial mmc
🍰Baking
🤭Meddling shenanigans
👯Matching tattoos

Left of Forever was absolutely amazing and I am currently sobbing as I’m writing this!! I think this might actually be one of my favorite books of all time. Wren and Ellis will live deep in my soul forever, I will never be over them. Tarah Dewitt really ripped my heart out and shove it back in. I laughed, cried, and felt so much love & hope. There are so many things I want to say, but I don’t want to spoil anything! But I will say that the growth Wren and Ellis make, both individually and as a couple, is so inspiring. Anytime Wren talked about her body image, it made me emotional! And that’s something else I loved about Left of Forever; it was just so relatable in many different ways. There were a lot of similarities between Wren & Ellis and me & my own husband, which made their story extra special to me. I loved it so much and I can’t wait for it to be out into the world for everyone to read. You could read Left of Forever on its own, but reading Savor It first makes it even more meaningful. I love the town of Spunes and every single person in it. Just knowing that we’ll get more stories to come from this quirky town keeps me going. Left of Forever comes out May 20 and it is a MUST read!!!

As someone who has been married for 10 years, this book got to me. It shows how communication can make or break even the strongest of couples. I loved how relatable the characters are. I saw myself in Wren. I saw my husband in Ellis. The Pepper scene had me laughing out loud because that’s something my husband would do. I hope we get more books on the other Byrd siblings.

Safe to say after three Tarah Dewitt books she has solidified herself as one of my favorite romance authors. I will admit I LOVE second chance romance, but I haven’t read one about a married and then divorced couple. This was PERFECT in every sense of the word. The second I met Wren and Ellis in Savor It I wanted their story immediately. This book was just so sweet and everything I love about romance books. Their story will be sticking with me for awhile.

Magic on a page. Tarah’s characters never fails to leave me feeling so hopeful. The way she balances reality and romance, hurt and hope, love and loss, is nothing short of perfect. I’d give it a dozen stars if I could.

Tarah’s best work yet!!!! When I saw this was a 2nd chance romance, I KNEWWW I had to get my hands on it. I devoured this in 1.5 sittings. My goodness was I invested. I loved the healing, the hope, the yearning, the very slow burn. It was all so delicious. I ate it up SO quickly. I also enjoyed the Easter eggs from The Co-op. This story will stay with me for a while. Infinity stars!!!

5 stars. No notes. Ive been waiting for this ever since I finished Savour It. I needed more of spunes & Tarah delivered. This was fantastic.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read an ARC of Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt

Here I am again, lucky enough to have gotten to read another Tarah DeWitt book, staring at this review box wondering how in the world I write this review without getting far to gooey and personal about it. Seriously, there is something so very human and emotional about each one of her books, and even when it feels like I am scraping my poor heart up off the ground, it is worth it every time.

Second chance romance has always been a challenging genre for me. On one hand, as a lover of romance, I love it. On the other hand, the idea of lost time wrenches my heart like few other tropes do. So needless to say, I knew I was going to read this book, but I gave a fair warning to my husband that things were about to be a bit emotional (cue me misty eyed and leaning my heads on his shoulder through much of this book).

While you do not have to have read Savor It by Tarah DeWitt before reading this one, I do recommend it (and if you read The Co-Op you might just get a quick little glimpse of what comes next). Savor It was about Sage and Fisher, and included in the warm and lovely cast of important side characters, is when we first meet Wren and Ellis.

Left of Forever centers around Wren and Ellis and starts relatively at the end of Savor It. After growing up together and a surprise teen pregnancy, Wren and Ellis shared countless happy years together until life did what life does, it happened. Years of pain and personal history spiraled until these realized they’d lost one another and that their marriage had come to an end. But a few years later, and Wren and Ellis find themselves stuck, in life, and maybe on each other. Could it be that the reason these two can’t move on is because they still belong? Will they have enough left of forever? It’s romance, in the deepest realest sort of way. Life gets in the way, parenting is hard, and responsibilities pile, amongst all of that can they find their way back to one another?

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC prior to release date. I was a little hesitant as I wasn’t too big of a fan of her last book, but boy I am glad I read this one. It was a really good 2nd chance romance between 2 adults that couldn’t figure out how to stay together as they were childhood sweethearts. The road trip and how Ellis put everything together and worked on himself as a person to show Wren that they could try again was great and kept the back half of the book to be swoon worthy.

5 stars. No notes. Pure perfection. The pining was top tier and so refreshing. The moment I realized the meaning of the title was such an emotional rush.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy. I don’t even know where to start, this book was perfection! I loved every single moment every word I read. This was about second chance love, learning to communicate, being vulnerable with another, falling in love again and believing in others. I enjoyed how they write letter to each other and shared journal entries. It felt like stepping in to familiar shoes, made it feel relatable and real. I will recommend this to friends! I highlighted so many part of this book, and I look forward to a copy when it is released.

When I tell you this has now become my favorite contemporary romance of all time.....
I've been a longtime fan of DeWitt's writing but this book blew it out of the water for me. The way she captures such raw emotions and the ups and downs of being in a long term relationship had me in literal tears. I loved this so much. The characters, the story, the second chances, the hope, the chemistry and intimacy. Wow. All the stars from me!

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC

Not to be dramatic, but this is my new favorite romance of all time. I waited a few days to write this review in case there was some recency bias, but nope, I am confident in my claim.

Ultimately, this is a story about two people trying to make their way back to each other while navigating their history of love, loss, grief and emotional distance. The complicated feelings of still loving someone while knowing you can’t reach them were so nuanced and real.

There are so many things I love about Wren and Ellis’s story. I’m not usually a huge fan of nicknames in books, but Ellis calling Wren Byrd throughout the entire thing, even when they were apart, was such a layered choice that I am now converted. I love that the catalyst for Ellis attempting to get Wren back could have been written as this freak chance encounter, but the amount of work and effort they both put in to get back to each other, and how intentional they both were in talking everything through and making all of the right decisions together, made this that much more special. None of that, however, took away from the slow building tension and giddiness of their story. DeWitt’s prose is emotional, poignant and thoughtful, but never felt overly flowery or poetic. Ellis was solid and earnest. I love how much effort he put into being a better partner to Wren and giving her everything she deserved. And Wren was such a beautiful balance of self respecting, compassionate, and hopeful.

Savor It was one of my favorite books that I read last year, and I was so excited to be back in Spunes with these characters. I did not think anything would top Sage and Fisher’s story, but I am so so happy to be wrong.

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt is a beautifully written, emotionally captivating novel. The story flows effortlessly, blending heartfelt moments with just the right amount of tension. DeWitt’s engaging writing keeps you hooked from start to finish, leaving a lasting impression. Highly recommended for anyone seeking an unforgettable read.

It’s already time for a reread. This is how you do a second chance romance. I loved seeing Wren and Ellis find their way back to each other and it made me even more excited for the rest of the books in this series.

When I read Savor It last year, it immediately became one of my absolute favorite books. I also immediately needed Wren and Ellis’s second chance love story. Second chance is my favorite trope, and Tarah did it perfectly with this one. The longing and love between Wren and Ellis was so palpable from the very first moment, and seeing the way that they learned to trust each other again healed something in me. Tarah’s writing is always beautiful, and this may just be her best yet. I’m even more in love with Spunes and all its endearing characters after Left of Forever, and I fear I need Tarah to complete the Byrds series now. I must have Silas and Micah’s love stories!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy of this book. Even though it’s only February, I can confidently say it will be among my top favorite reads of the year.