What to expect:
Second Chance
Divorced MCs
Yearning
Firefighter x Baker
Road Trip
All The Emotions
I Choose You

Every dang time this woman writes a book, it hits me right in the feels, and Left of Forever is no different. I have been obsessed with Ellis and Wren’s story since I met them in Savour It and was beyond excited to know they were getting their own magical, emotional, and redeeming story.

Left of Forever is an emotional ride. It’s a second-chance romance between a divorced couple who’ve spent the past five years trying to co-parent their son while also trying not to be too close to each other. Let me tell you now that their story is beautiful but also painful, it is an emotional rollercoaster that will leave you in a mess of joy and sadness, mixed in with some bittersweet yearning and tears streaming down your face. But gosh if it isn’t worth it. Watching Ellis and Wren get the love story they deserve was beautiful and I tell you now I want to see books for the rest of the Byrds!

I've been eagerly awaiting this book and it absolutely did not disappoint. It's a story about the power of being seen and being known, and being loved. It's very much a 'what's for you won't pass by you' romance full of hope, with heaps of delicious pining, angst and tension.
It's such a gorgeous, tender take on a second chance romance, with the added layers of friends to lovers and some microtrope favourites, like one bed and hurt/comfort. The layers of intimacy that have been weaved into the story are stunning, and the banter had me laughing out loud.
I'm such a massive fan of Tarah's work, and this is my favourite book of hers yet. I hope we get to return to Spunes (not to be confused with Forks) and the Byrds again soon!

DNF at 16%

I really don't like this. It's not a badly written book at all, and it's probably too early for me to form a firm opinion, but life is too short to waste time on books you don't vibe with.

Firstly, this foesn't feel like a standalone at all. There are references to multiple things that happened in the previous book without adequate explanation to make sense to the reader. (I have read the first one and apparently enjoyed it, but I remember nothing from it)

Why do we start the story with their son being accepted to a school and plans for a road trip, then suddenly skip to the guy being away at a fire-fighting job and they're writing letters to each other? So far we've had 3 chapters from his POV and I dislike him already. He feels absolutely icky to me.

He knows who she is but she's not aware she's corresponding with her ex-husband, and the information shared in the letters made zero sense to me. I know it's fiction, but I refuse to believe anyone would write the things she did to a stranger. Just, absolutely not.

There was already a spicy flashback that was not good, I didn't like the way this was written and I liked it even less when he had to pull over his car and masturbate because zoning out when driving made him so hard he just couldn't control himself.

I genuinely dislike pretty much everything already - the characters, the plot, the spice - so I am sadly going to leave it here and I won't be reviewing this book on any other platforms.

ARC Review
5 🌟

I read 'Savor it' as a book club pick and knew instantly that I needed Wren & Ellis' book. "She's still a Byrd" was the perfect intro into their unfinished shed business.

This book is beautiful and gave an accurate representation to childhood sweetharts who still love each other but have grown apart.
I love Tarahs writing and how easy it was to lose myself to this story.

I hope we get Micah and Silas' books soon


Thank you to Netgalley for the ebook

Wren and Ellis had a piece of my heart when they first showed up Savor It and so I was so excited to get into Left of Forver and it exceeded all my expectations. From the moment they started exchanging letters I knew that their reacquaintance with one another was going to be so touching and beautiful. And also incredibly sexy. There was something so gorgeous about seeing two people who were clearly meant for each other find their way again. DeWitt has such a beautiful way of crafting a story and this one was a joy to read.

A cosy, second-chance romance between two divorcees who once shared a childhood romance. I think this could have benefitted from being a little longer so we could explore Ellis and Wren’s history more, but overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend reading

I'll start by saying second chance romance isn't usually my favourite, but when i saw this I couldn't resist. This book is just a reminder of why communication is so important. I was hooked so fast with this one. The spice was so good as well!

I would die for Wren and Ellis.

I loved them in Savour It and I love them now. Ellis is such a grumpy teddy bear with such a tender, loving heart. Wren is such a soft but badass mother who is truly looking after every single person. I loved the acknowledgment that Wren had made everyone family rather than the Byrd family adopting her; I loved Sam's quiet rooting for his parents and acceptance of their hard work.

I loved that the author showed us the extent of the pain and hard work and choice that rebuilding a relationship required and how reflective and genuine she made the characters. She didn't let them brush their pain or their mistakes under the carpet and this made this just so achingly gorgeous (but sexy and witty and delightful as well!). I loved that we got to see them seeing each other at all ages and still finding new ways to surprise each other - this book is a testament to all loves that continue to evolve and grow. Ahhh I could eat this up with a spoon!!

Left of Forever had me stifling a sob on the bus. Tarah DeWitt writes her love stories with so much depth and yearning and love that I am truly in awe of her. Would give a million stars if I could.

I was really excited for this book! A second chance romance between two divorcees who are childhood sweethearts going on a road trip together? I was ready for the angst and tension and pining… and I was left severely wanting.

The book was so blasé for story with themes The Left of Forever had. I was just bored because the moment Wren and Ellis step foot in that car for the road trip, they’re as good as back together with no real angst or turmoil, or hard won build up. I was just like “oh? that’s it?” They were divorced for YEARS after being the love of each other’s lives so I expected a hell of a lot more of “yes let’s try again :)” after years of them refusing to speak to each other or be in the same spaces as each other, as two people who have a fully grown adult son. I wanted this to make me cry and feel gut punched by the themes, but instead by the halfway point my eyes were glazing over and I just wanted to book to end :/ honestly it should have because it’s not like anything was actually happening on the road trip beyond sex. They may as well have just stayed at home or took a plane back instead of wasting all that petrol.

The cover is lovely though. But it doesn’t make up for an incredibly major letdown of a book.

I don't read 18+❌ however that has not shaped my review at all🙅🏽‍♀️.

While there were some questionable👀 things that happened thoughtout the book, I did enjoy it👍🏽. In terms of believability and realism🧐, I didn't find the book convincing🤷🏽‍♀️. To not recognise the handwriting of someone you've had a relationship with for many years is not realistic 👁️👄👁️. I understand if they're like me and don't have consistent writing📝, but I know that's not the case.

Wren and Ellis divorced📑 eachother due to communication issues☎️, yet they only had that problem once throughout the book🫂. How they got divorced, is how they got divorced, okay. But the author should have kept in mind that that was an issue for the period of time🗓️ that lead to their split. Although they had strong feelings for it eachother, it shouldn't rule out ❌the struggle they had.

Thinking back to the story now, it felt like there wasn't much happening🗯️. However, I did enjoy reading it and thought the writing was good🔆.

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC 🎳🎀🧳

3.75 STARS

Another classic, cozy romance from Tarah Dewitt.

I have absolutely adored all of Tarah's books, so I was really excited to dive back into Spunes. I think we've all been excited about Ellis and Wren since he firmly proclaimed "She's still a Byrd." in Savor It.

While I felt that this story still had Tarah's signature sweet, cozy vibe, I didn't feel as connected to this couple as I have others. Due to all the history the couple had, I felt like the length of the book did them a disservice. Has the story been a bit longer, I think we could have maybe explored a little more of them falling in love the first time round.

Regardless, I still enjoyed this book and would happily revisit Spunes if Tarah wants to continue writing about the rest of the Byrd family.

i have been eagerly (rabidly) anticipating left of forever since savor it and it did not disappoint. tarah dewitt is magic writer, i really believe that, and this book made my heart glow. i am super picky when it comes to second chance romance (can’t explain why, i just am) but i knew this was gonna be good from the crumbs we got in savor it. left of forever is a beautiful, emotional story of two people finding their way back to each other and the love they deserve. watching wren and ellis fall in love {even harder} for a second time filled me with so much joy. they had a lot of hard moments to work through but they learned to open up and be vulnerable, and that gave them the strength they needed to rebuild their foundations. their love is golden and it touches everyone in their path, as is evidenced by sam, sage, silas, and micah’s hope and excitement for them to give their love a second chance. i also love a good road trip and seriously enjoyed the scenery elements of this book as well. honestly everything about left of forever is perfect and will remain on my heart. BE GOOD, BYRD.

thank you to my queen and favorite ever tarah dewitt + Little Brown UK for the advanced copy i am forever in your debt and will do anything for you XOXOXOXOXO

4⭐️

Very sweet romance. Sometimes I did find it to be a little cheesy at the very start but I cringe fairly easily so take that with a pinch of salt. I like the characters and thought their relationship was great and there was so much emotion to it. I thought the characters were well fleshed out and relatable. Definitely going to pick up more of Tarah’s books!

Thank you for my earc of this book.
This was my firsts of Tara’s books and I really enjoyed myself. I love second chance romance!! For the same reasons I love friends to lovers: the history, seeing each other in a new light, re-learning each other. I love that they have a kid already and seeing how they parent too.
I loved the plot and thought it was so lovely and fun! Definitely will be reading more of this author

Left of Forever is a really enjoyable second chance romance between our two main characters Wren and Ellis. We got hints of their story in Tarah DeWitt's previous book Savour It and I had been really looking forward to reading this one. This book had lots of fun and entertaining parts to it especially when the two characters are on their road trip but also focused on the more emotional aspect of their relationship breakdown and the communication around resolving their problems. I think this created a good balance of a fun romcom whilst also tackling some heavier, more emotional points as well which worked really well for me. I also really enjoyed the secondary characters and I hope we get more books from this group in the future!

4.5 Stars

“I want the chance to be lazy with her on a day off. I want our boring life back”.

I was really excited to read this book since it was my first one by Tarah DeWitt. I loved Wren and Ellis! Wren surprised me at times, but in a good way.

I thought Wren and Ellis were as real and raw as it gets for a couple trying to give love a second-chance. They both had their doubts, but you could tell they genuinely wanted to make it work. I liked that it wasn’t a rushed reunion and it felt more like, “Okay, what didn’t work last time, and how do we fix it?”. This whole situation needed both sides to look in and work on themselves individually. They had a lot of history with being young parent’s and taking on the responsibility of looking after siblings.

The trip gave them the space to actually feel things and process everything. Without giving too much away, I’m not sure if I liked the external factors that played on the choices that were made during the trip. It would’ve been nice if it was just about the two of them, but I get that it all came from a place of love.

The yearning was there, the flirting was there and the excitement really brought out this beautiful love story. This was definitely Rom-com material and I enjoyed every second of it. There was so much romantic suspense in this.

There wasn’t an epilogue, which isn’t a bad thing as it was all wrapped up perfectly at the end.

Thank you Little Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for this arc.

Oh I just loved this book so much, it was warm and fuzzy but also really poignant and funny. It really had everything you could want from a romance novel. This is a second chance at love story and they are not usually something I enjoy because I tend to think relationships end for a good reason and should stay that way. But Wren & Ellis’s story totally changed my mind on this. The emotional growth and maturity shown by both characters was really refreshing to read in a way that showed they were still flawed humans but that they were really trying to be better. I promptly went and bought two other books from Tarah DeWitt!

3.5 ⭐️

Childhood sweethearts Wren and Ellis had baby Sam aged just 17. It’s now been 5 years since they divorced and they began living separate lives. Now Sam is about to head off to college, and Wren and Ellis agree to help him move in together. Ellis convinces Wren to go on an “unromantic” road trip to celebrate their success as parents, and maybe give them a second chance to be together.

It took me a while I get in to this one, and I had a hard time keeping up with who all the side characters were (I did read book 1 some months ago) but once they went on their road trip I was really enjoying it, especially the scenes settings.
I’m a sucker for a second chance romance but I found I was a bit confused about what their relationship had been like for those 5 years, considering Sam seems completely unaffected by their divorce, so I found the yearning not as hard hitting as I would have liked.

I was also confused about the letter thing? I didn’t really understand how that came about and how Wren didn’t know she was sending letters to Ellis. Also it seemed VERY far fetched that she put 2 and 2 together just because it’s mentioned that Ellis has a lot of pencils?

Overall, not my favourite romance personally but still a good palate cleanser book; and I do think for the right person this would really resonate.

✨4.5 stars✨

This is my first book by this author and I loved it!! A second-chance romance between a couple who had been together since they were teenagers and have been divorced for 5 years.

The writing was funny and engaging (so much so that I read it in 24 hours!). I couldn’t put it down. I found myself sympathises with both Wren and Ellis’ struggles and watching them grown individually and as a couple during their trip was beautiful. The way it all came together in then end felt incredibly rewarding as well.

I hadn’t read Savour it (the FMC in that is Ellis’ sister Sage and that couple makes appearances in this book) but that didn’t affect my reading experience. That’s definitely on my TBR now!

I would 100% recommend this.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!