Wren and Ellis, childhood sweethearts turned divorced co-parents, take a road trip together after their son leaves for college. As they travel the California coast, old feelings resurface and they’re forced to confront the past—and whether they have a future together

This was okay overall. I think I preferred the first book, but I enjoyed the family dynamic and was intrigued by the set-up for Silas and Micah’s stories. The combination of letter writing, journal entries, and long internal monologues started to feel like overkill. I probably would have preferred flashbacks to show their past relationship, rather than having it described through journal entries. The trip could have taken up more of the book too. It felt like they got back together, had one or two conversations about their feelings, and then everything was suddenly resolved a bit too quickly

TARAH! TARAH WHEN I FIND YOU THIS. This book destroyed me. ALTERED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY?!? I’m never getting over Ellis & wren. They had my heart from when he said she’s still a Byrd. I was SAT.

Tarah captured that rare feeling over being known and the pain that comes when it’s not enough. The mark it leaves on your soul. Second chance romances will always have a place in my heart because how beautiful to think of all the love that comes with forgiveness. How many times someone will say that hurt but we’re going to work through this. To meet you at the precipice of never and change it to forever. IM CRYING AGAIN.

this is a masterpiece! This book is 6 stars! And I can’t wait to have my physical copy.

Ellis. Orion. Byrd.
This is an absolutely beautiful second chance romance. It’s equal parts hopeful and devastating; one minute I was sobbing, the next I was giggling and kicking my feet. The very real issues that Wren and Ellis faced were not overdone, nor were they resolved too quickly. There was so much tension, Tarah is queen of the slow burn, and angst, and the pining, OH THE PINING. It’s so well written, both funny and heartbreaking in equal measure.
I loved being back in Spunes, and getting to see the Byrd family again, I can’t wait for Silas and Micah’s stories. And I’m hoping we’ll maybe get a Sam and Indy story, even if it’s a novella.
A very easy 5 stars for me, and would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Savour It and fell in love with this cast of characters. When DeWitt announced a second book in the series, I was all over it. Like a rash. I knew I needed it in my life.

Ellis and Wren were just everything together. I’d say the first half of the book dragged a little with the letters and realising they still wanted each other. I felt like that could have been shortened so we could get more time with them together. That was the part of the book that I devoured and rushed through. I couldn’t get enough.

We follow them on a road trip and a journey back to each other. This book had me swooning, chucking and laughing out loud. It also made me cry which isn’t an easy feat. It is just such a simple and pure love written between these two and it felt so life like. Normally I can’t deal with a second chance romance, but this was done perfectly.

I’m also so happy we got to see Sage and Fisher again, with the rest of the Byrd family making appearances. My biggest hope is that we get a story for Micah and Silas because I need them something silly.

"I'll love you for everything left of forever, in every life time we get."
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Left of Forever is a powerful expression of love, loss, and the enduring ties that bind us.

Wren and Ellis — childhood sweethearts turned teenage parents — are now divorced in their thirties.
Wren runs the local bakery.
Ellis is a firefighter.
Wren’s trying to move on… but five years later, she still can’t shake him out of her mind.
Ellis isn’t over her either — and when he comes across a letter, hope flickers back to him.
One road trip.
One week.
One last chance to find their way back to each other.
"You were never just a chapter. You were the whole story."
No amount of words could describe how much I loved this book—I flew through it, savoring every word and page. Wren and Ellis’s journey was beautifully written. The spicy scenes weren’t cringey; instead, they added emotional and intimate depth, making us truly feel how much they missed and loved each other.
"Five years later, and my heart still looks for you in every room "
Themes of longing, emotional growth, vulnerability, healing, family bonds, parenthood, and intimacy are woven throughout.
"Sometimes love doesn't die, it just waits."
This might just be my favorite book of the year. Highly recommend—I loved it so much.
Xoxo😘

4.75 stars - arc review. This is a perfect second chance romance, lighthearted, emotional. It was everything. I was so excited when it was announced we would get a story for Ellis and Wren because the snippets of them in savor it were too good. The road trip aspect and the letters were brilliant. I really hope we get stories for Silas and Micah as well I love them both.

Thanks Netgalley for the arc.
I rarely go for second change romances but I really really enjoyed this book.

Wren and Ellis have been each other’s other half since the age of 5 to 28, got married too young, had a baby at seventeen. However, Wren they have now been divorced for 5 years.

They run in the same social circles, live in a small town, and don’t want to hurt their son.
However, a road trip after their son’s college move-in to find closure might rekindle the ember between them.

Wren is very self-aware and the writing is at times on the nose. I loved her unapologetic humour and the rapid-fire stream of consciousness unraveling.

<b>I’m a Heinz 57 bottle of emotion, upside down and shaken, waiting for the inevitable plop.
</b>
There are flashbacks between past and present which makes you feel rooted in their relationship.

Expect:
Dual-pov
Letter writing
Road trip
Camping
One-bed

<b>I am so scared to fail to the point that it prevents me from acting, let alone taking a risk, or it makes me try to control everything that poses a potential risk around me. I’ve been living and loving in half-measures for years. Living my life in pencil, because I don’t think I can get shit right the first time. Maybe because I think it’ll save me some pain.</b>

I do believe in the romance and love between these characters. They worked at it.

I have to admit to being frustrated by how much it is obvious they both want the relationship, but keep misreading the other person or holding back. It got to the point where it felt too contrived.

I also wanted more of the small town vibe which we get teasings of. I admit, I did not read Savour It which is technically book one of the interconnected standalones.

I would advise reading that first: not only does this book obviously spoil a lot, I felt I had missed a lot of shared past between the characters and the found family feel.
Perhaps this would have been four🌟 if that were the case.

Trigger warning for infertility.

Arc gifted by publisher.

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.