Lost and Found (Spunes, OR #3) by Tarah DeWitt
When Silas steps in to give her a place to live when she needs it, Bea is half-relieved she has a longtime friend in her corner. A firefighter living in the wake of an accident, Silas has his own challenges to work through that have left him cautious and vulnerable in equal measure. At first, they expect nothing. But as these two former sunshines knit together in a love that has been unfulfilled till now, a new beginning comes out of the ashes of the past. One that will lead to a love that can withstand all the slings and arrows, joys and triumphs, that life can throw.
Review: Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin & NetGalley for an eARC of this book out on August 4, 2026!
The third and final book in this series and I did not expect this to be such an emotional ride.
This is not a spoiler since it is clearly spelled out in the summary in the book so I do want to address the central premise of this book, which is that Bea's best friend has left her eggs to her in her will and Bea decides to pursue IVF and raise the child of the best friend she lost. I will be honest when I say it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief here. Every friendship and every person is different, but it was WILD to me that her best friend would never discuss this with her and just leave her with these eggs. To say that asking your friend to give birth and raise your child for you in your total and complete absence is a BIG REQUEST, guys. But obviously, Bea could have not done it. It was a wild choice as a single hairdresser that is so financially strapped by the prospect of IVF that she has to give up her housing (albeit temporarily) to save money, to pursue single motherhood. There was NEVER any discussion of her plans for childcare or supporting the child after she gave birth. The only two people who object to this plan are portrayed as being irrationally judgmental, angry, and unsupportive, which bothered me.
BUT. Let's just set it aside and accept that Bea is making a crazy life choice. Beyond this, I did love everything else about this story. Silas is SO GREAT. The yearning! The man has pined for this woman for years. This felt like prime second chance romance. I did understand why Bea felt like they couldn't be together the first time around and I loved the dual timelines that gave the backstory.
I really appreciated that this is much more than just a love story. It's an exploration of female friendship, grief, trauma recovery, navigating shifting family relationships, and more. Bea puts her friend Merritt first through her illness, even at the expense of her own love interest, which I respected. Silas is also dealing with his own trauma since he was severely injured. I would have liked to have seen a little more on his side of the story since not much is shared about his experiences on the job as a firefighter, specifically how he felt returning to that line of work after being injured, or the challenges he might face with his burn recovery.
As many have mentioned, please do not skip the acknowledgements!! They straight up made me emotional at the thought of moving on from this series, these characters, this fictional town in Oregon.
Favorite quotes:
"What if we keep asking each other for what we need? And what if we just keep showing up?"
"He reaches across the space between us to hook a finger into one of my belt loops, slowly pulling me into him."
"I have. At least a hundred times in my head in the last hour alone. A hundred thousand times before it. Across miles and years. I love you, Bea."
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