This book was such a surprise, I expected a typical romcom, some witty banter, some push pull, some romancing, some eye opening. I got this in large doses, and much more.

The author brings out some deep issues faced by both protagonists so well -Things that they could not talk about at 18, but now as adults are able to take the emotional risk to share.

Larry and Deacon are just hot, their dynamics were perfect and the epilogue in their story was amazing. Lots of healing, love, and laughter took this book from being mediocre to good.

Even though I got an galley book, I ended up listening to the book and the narrators Stephanie Rose and Nich Hobbs were a new experience. They did a good job!!

#netgalley #thecoop

My first Tarah DeWitt book, but won't be my last! Deacon and LaRynn are raw and real and relatable. I adore them. This book was a great mix of levity and raw emotions, and my own emotions ran the gambit throughout. I laughed, I cried, I devoured this book and I wish there was more of Deacon and LaRynn!

4.5✨
1.5 🌶️

Of course I loved this book because Tarah Dewitt can do no wrong! This marriage of convenience , forced proximity, second chance romance really hit the spot. I laughed and swooned and ate this book up in a day!

Deacon and LaRynn were so fun to read about, and I loved how natural their relationship blossomed & eventually picked back up after all those years! The banter and angst in this book was so so good and totally worth the wait! I enjoyed this from start to finish and can’t recommend this enough!

Thank you Net galley and Tarah Dewitt for the eArc on the new and improved version of The Co-op!

♥️

“Deacon's always kissed like it's the finale. Like the kiss is what we've been climbing and torquing ourselves toward all this time. Like he'd be content to only do this tonight, tomorrow, forever.”

I am so excited that The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt is getting a traditional release! Tarah writes some of the best Millennial romances out there right now. I love this marriage of convenience romance so much. LaRynn and Deacon find themselves joint=owners of a dilapidated building in Santa Cruz, left to them by their grandmothers. LaRynn has the money they need to fix it up--but in order to access it, she has to be married. Deacon has the construction know-how. Together, they hatch a plan to get married and stay married only as long as they need to fix up the house and put it on the market. Then they'll go their separate ways. But of course nothing goes to plan.

Refreshing and romantic, funny but also tender, The Co=Op is an instant favorite. Tarah's books will always have a place on my shelves.

This book had three of my favorite things: dual POV, a content warning so I knew what I was getting myself into, and a playlist that ranged from Taylor Swift to Mumford and Sons to Elvis.

The parallels of remodeling and fixing a house while reworking and building a relationship left my heart full. I think the flashbacks to their youth and early phase of their relationship set the stage beautifully for the self-growth, reflection and work each character put in to becoming their best self. I think it highlighted the angst of being young and growing with someone who has seen some of your lowest points. Everyone deserves to find someone like Deacon and LaRynn to love them in their ugliest moments as they grow into themselves!

The Co-op is a charming tale of a second chance love story filled with delightful clichés like being forced to be close, a marriage made out of convenience, and a gradual romance! was completely captivated by this book and thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience! LaRynn and Deacon had a wonderful dynamic. The growth of their characters and their mutual acknowledgment of their past mistakes and ability to move forward together was touching. Their bond, once repaired, felt incredibly strong and reassuring. I also found the early stages of their relationship, filled with playful arguments and tension, quite engaging. This is my first time reading a Tarah Dewitt book, and I'm thoroughly impressed by her storytelling. I can't wait to explore more of her work.

I read The Co-op when it was first published independently and I was so excited to see this book coming out again. I enjoyed this the first time around, but somehow, Tarah has made it even better!
This story follows LaRynn and Deacon, who first met as teenagers and are now forced into each other's lives again when they have left a house to renovate together from their grandmothers. Obviously, hijinks and plenty of tension follow as they have to make the best of living with each other and hurt feelings from the past.
Typically, I’m not a fan of the second-chance trope, but the way LaRynn and Deacon’s relationship evolves is amazing, and their growth as individuals brings a lot of heart to the story. I also appreciate that the characters in Tarah’s books all have a range of personalities so each reader can connect to the characters in different ways. For example, I see a lot of myself in LaRynn and how she adapts a tough exterior to protect her heart.
Also, did this book get steamier or is it just me??? I absolutely loved all of the small tweaks to the story and can't wait to see what Tarah does next.

Tropes include:
💍 Marriage of convenience
🏠 Forced proximity
💔 Second chance romance

4.25 ⭐️
Thank you to Netgalley and St, Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this one.

The tropes are all some of my favorites, but honestly these two drove me crazy with just how mean they were to each other! And it wasn’t even the fun kind of mean, where its teasing and bantery. LaRynn especially was pretty mean, even when she was younger, and it just didn’t make sense to me. I think she was supposed to be grumpy, but overall I just really couldn't get into her character.

The book did get better for me as it progressed, specifically with LaRynn healing and moving on from the trauma caused by her parents, but overall this one didn’t hit me the way I was hoping it would.

Read if you like:
-second chance
-marriage of convenience
-enemies to friends to lovers
-small town vibes

Thank you NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt and St Martins Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Co-Op has delicious tension, second chance history and hilarious wonderful banter. Any author who makes her couple be together in a shared space when they still kind of hate each other is a winner for me. This book was chaotic but honestly a blast,

This romance was super fraught and angsty, and there were times when the characters were somewhat hard to like, but in the end it was very easy to be invested in their love, their lives, and their story. I’ve come to be a big fan of Tarah DeWitt for her romances that combine the fun, flirty, and steamy with strong plot and backstory, and this book lived up.

The dual timelines and dual POV both helped build the story in a full way and give a duo worth rooting for.

4 stars.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This started slow for me, but by the end, I really loved it! Second-chance romance is one of my bread-and-butter favorites - and DeWitt is an auto-buy author for me!

I loved these character's growth and ability to work hard - and I loved the epilogue even more!

**Thank you to St.Martin's Press & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

This marriage of convenience, enemies to friends to lovers romance is the heartwarming book that everyone needs in their lives.

The Co-Op is absolutely hilarious but was also filled with so many tender moments that my heart felt like it was going to burst at any given time. LaRynn and Deacon are so relatable that I could see myself in both characters and their pain was my pain, their joy my joy. I was rooting for them from the beginning and loved how the slow burn was one that felt natural and realistic. They became such amazing friends/partners that the romance part felt like the perfect next step and it wasn’t based only on their attraction to each other but mutual respect and compassion.

The epilogue was beautiful and was the perfect ending to a truly outstanding romance book.

FYI: NO THIRD ACT BREAK-UP!

P.S. if you have read Funny Feelings there is a little Easter egg in this book that will bring you to tears (at least it did for me and my emotional self).

“𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤—𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.”

The Co-op is a cute, wholesome second-chance romance with some favorite tropes such as marriage of convenience, forced proximity, and slow burn.
LaRynn and Deacon have history, a past summer fling broke LaRynn's heart leaving her wanting nothing to do with Deacon. But they inherited a duplex from Larynn's late grandma. The problem is, it's in bad shape and needs to be repaired before it can be sold.
To access her inheritance to help fund the repair, they get married and coexist while trying to navigate past feelings that were left unresolved.

I loved how natural their relationship felt, everything was realistic and their banter was easy to read.
The problem is I felt they were so at odds with each other for so long that it was hard to connect and root for them at times. It took too long for them to get on board with one another. But through the slow burn, there is a lot of pining and angst and I still enjoyed it. I loved the ending, it was perfect for these two.

Thank you NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt and St Martins Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful, seemingly well-researched novel. It’s like the author grew up in Santa Cruz or spent a great deal of time there (no hardship I imagine). Santa Cruz lifestyle was well written, I felt like I was walking the hills and sandy beaches with the MCs.

And talk about real life emotions and experiences (heartfelt, messy, embarrassing, and the like). The interactions between the two MCs were so genuine and realistic.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention all the strong women as secondary and off page characters who helped carry the storyline along.

I could not stop reading this book once I started. Tarah DeWitt, an auto-buy author for me.

I love Tarah's lyrical writing, but this second-chance romance fell a little flat for me. I was sometimes confused when switching back and forth from "before" to "present-day." The two characters seemed aggressively at odds with each other initially, making it difficult for me to root for them as a couple. I wasn't fully invested in Deacon and LaRynn's relationship until halfway through the book. The second half had a lot of cute and some spicy moments, which ultimately saved the book for me.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Tarah DeWitt, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not influenced.

I absolutely loved seeing this relationship play out! This is my first book by Tara DeWitt and I absolutely fell in love with not only the characters but her riding as well. The duo POV as well as duo time periods make it an extremely well rounded story!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5, open door, explicit, a few scenes
🛠️
Feelings after turning the last page: Wow omg that was SOOO cute!!!
🛠️
10-second Synopsis: LaRynn and Deacon had a summer fling; fast forward 8 years and their grandmothers leave them shared ownership of a house that is in serious need of repair. In order to fund the repairs, they get married so LaRynn can access her trust fund. They sort of hate each other and it’s TOTALLY going to stay that way!
🛠️
Review: I loved this one so much!!! There was angst, there was pining, yet there was NO third act breakup!! It was fun to see them hate each other (okay mostly LaRynn), and their actions towards each other were just 👌🏼. Their relationships with all of the side characters were special and I had a lump in my throat the last 10% of the book😭😭. M This is my first Tarah Dewitt novel, and it certainly won’t be the last ❤️. Would recommend!!!

LaRynn and Deacon have such great enemies to lovers vibes. They’re also so refreshing in that they actually speak to each other about how they’re feeling and work through the immature end to their long ago summer fling. LaRynn is a strong, independent FMC who is so misunderstood by all the men she’s dated before, but Deacon sees her for the loving, protective woman that she is and never attempts to dull her shine. Deacon also is an MMC who gives so very much of himself to those around him and expects nothing back. LaRynn appreciates him for everything that he is and truly wants to give back to him so he can fell the love and joy he gives others.They had a fling the one summer that ended badly and they have avoided each other since. But their grandmothers were married to each other and left them their house after their passings. In order to access her trust fund to get the money needed to restore the grands’ house, the two have to get married. But with all that closeness, LaRynn and Deacon remember why it was so easy to fall for the other all those years ago.

A super cute, fluffy read!

The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt follows LaRynn and Deacon -- former summer flings when they were teens (LOVE a second chance summer romance) -- as they are forced back together to fix up a (extremely dilapidated) house their grandmothers left to them. Deacon is a construction whiz but lacks the money. Thankfully (!) LaRynn has money! … But she needs to be married to access her trust. Naturally, the two end up getting married so they can get the work done, make some money, then go their separate ways.

I liked the dynamic between the two main characters, although I wish we saw more of their relationship when they were younger. I'm not usually a fan of the marriage-of-convenience trope (especially in contemporary romance novels), so I think that's why this book isn't rated higher for me. I wish there was a better reason for doing it besides accessing trust money, especially because it made the rest of the novel's plot so predictable. Of course, with it being a contemporary romance novel, we could already infer the main characters end up together, but forced proximity is simply not my personal favorite. Nonetheless, the author did a pretty good job of writing this trope and it didn't make me want to stop reading. LaRynn and Deacon's banter was so fun to read too - very much reminiscent of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle and I'm not at all mad about it! The love confession at the end is what really did it for me… SO good.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Tarah DeWitt is the mastermind behind some of my favorite books. That being said, this isn't one of them. I want to stress that this was well written, but I could not find it in me to like the characters. Something that is a very hard no for me is when characters intentionally do or say things that they know will hurt their counterpart. That was basically 95% of this book. There will be people who enjoy and relate to LaRynn, but honestly she is the type of person I would avoid in real life. There was too much immaturity and both characters could do with therapy.

I read The Co-op nearly two years ago when it was independently published and originally rated it 2 stars (I had the same issues with it that I do now). I am adding a star to that after this reread, though I am not sure if it was the rewrite or if it was my later-developed enjoyment of Tarah's writing style that made me tolerate it a bit more.

3 stars- the concept was alright but the characters were not for me.