Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt is exquisite. I knew I needed Ellis and Wren's story as soon as Ellis announced "She's still a Byrd" to an entire town meeting in Savor It. (While this book can be read on it's own, I highly recommend reading/listening to Savor It first. And The Co-Op too, if you're itching for more.) Wren and Ellis grew up together and got married young when Wren got pregnant. Add on top of that the responsibility for Ellis's younger siblings, after their parents died, and they had to grow up very fast and take on a lot of pressure. They decided to divorce when their son, Sam, was in middle school. Sam is graduating now, and moving away for college. Ellis decides this is the perfect time to see if he and Wren can come back to each other, by taking a road trip home, just the two of them. Second chance books are tough, because the reasons for the separation often seem either too petty to have caused a rift or too monumental to get over. That's not the case here. Ellis & Wren had genuine issues, that felt very real and lived in, but they don't pass by any of the steps needed to figure out where things went wrong and communicate their way back to each other. Ellis even spent time in therapy (!) Tarah DeWitt's writing always brings me to tears, and this was no exception. I will be hydrating fully the next few days, but it's so worth it. I'm not sure I will be able to handle Silas Byrd's book; I'm pretty sure I cried every time he was on-page, but I also can't wait for it. ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, and I'm so grateful for that.

Pub date 5/20/25
5⭐️
I wanted to read this as soon as I saw the gorgeous cover art. Then I found out it was a second chance romance with a couple that had been married. How can it work? I had to know.

I loved this book! Ugh, the feelings, the letters, the mutual pining, the family rooting for them. Swoony.

Wren and Ellis have been divorced for 5 years. Neither has moved on. They have coparented their son the best they could and stayed civil. Now their kid is off to college and both are wishing things were different between them.

Ellis is fighting a forest fire and happens to pick up a box donated by his ex wife with baked goods and a letter. He writes her back anonymously, and they start exchanging letters. They both confess somethings, and when Ellis writes “I still love my wife” it’s heart breaking.

Later Ellis suggests a road trip to drop off their son at college, and to spend time together with Wren. They are open with each other about hoping for more and actually talking about hard stuff. It’s romantic and sweet, sexy, and sad in some parts.

Can be read as a stand alone. We get a cameo of Deacon & Laryn from The Co-op, and lots of Fischer and Sage from Savor It.

Content Warnings for fertility issues, miscarriage, death of parents in the past.

❤️❤️❤️


Arc received from St Martin’s