Tarah DeWitt's "The Co-op" is that enemies-to-lovers, second chance romances, and marriage of convenience that should be on your must read list.

DeWittt blends the perfect amount of angst and sizzling chemistry between the Deacon and LaRynn that immediate makes you want to know what happens next. I had a little bit of a slow start with the book, but as soon as I got past the first chapter, I was hooked.

The way DeWitt writes is beautiful and I can't wait to pick up another one of her books! I also hope she'll consider writing a story for Jensen and Elysie down the line.

Favorites moments:
-Flashbacks to the Grannys
- Watching the romance between Deacon and LaRynn build and sizzle
-LaRynn helping Elysie with her coffee shop

4.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to Net Galley and St. Martin's for allowing me to enjoy this advance review copy.

All opinions are my own.

LaRynn and Deacon had a summer fling and didn’t break up on the best terms and now they’re being pushed back together 8 years later forced to mend fences. Their grandmothers left them the deed to a dilapidated house Deacon has what it takes to do it but money is an issue. In order to get the funds to renovate the house LaRynn has to get married. They make a deal, marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, sell it and move on with their lives separately. However, spending all that time together in a house with no privacy, being forced to work as a team and building trust moving on might be more difficult then they’d thought.

This book is like a warm hug. It’s a wonderfully written romance book with some of the best tropes (second chance romance and forced) and lovable characters with a lot of depth which is one of Tarah Dewitts biggest strengths an author if you ask me. The main characters in her books never disappoints!

LaRynn and Deacon had a lot to work thru which is not surprising considering their fleeting romance at 18. I appreciate them trying to be civil about it and slowly working thru things especially under the circumstances, living at a construction sight with an ex would be very awkward to say the least. The slow burn is so well written.

Who could’ve thought a renovation plot could be this interesting, not me but I was very wrong. Dewitt makes boring tasks like buying materials, budgeting and looking at decor options fun with lots of banter and sizzeling tension. I wish it was a bit more spicy but that’s just my personal preference otherwise its an all around incredible read. I’ll definitely be picking up Tarah Dewitts next book!

Read this if you like
💍Marriage of convenience
💜Forced proximity
💫Second chance romance
🔥Spice
🤩Fun banter

Top tier pining!!! Like my god!!! I can’t wait to recommend this to anyone I meet. I cried, I laughed, and I gasped!

The laundry scene was my favorite! 🫶💜

The Co-Op hit all the funny notes with the banter and pranks (the Bobby pin one was glorious), and it hit all the emotional notes too.

LaRynn’s relationship with her parents, especially her mother, and how their actions impacted who she is and the way it’s impacted how she views and behaves in relationships is — bar none — my favorite part of the books. Larry and Deacon don’t exist inside a vacuum in such that they have baggage and histories, and not just with each other, but with their parents.

The way Larry protects herself by trying to hide her hurt behind a mask of apathy, to pretend she’s too good for something — 💔 I get that. Man, there were countless times — especially in regards to Lar’s relationship with her mother and her absence — that hit very close to home.

What I loved most was how childhood trauma was a constant undercurrent to LaRynn’s behaviors and how it shaped her as a person. The reality is that everyone was marked by their parents by their parents and to see that reflected in fiction makes it feel real and relatable.

5/5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tarah DeWitt's The Co-Op and I'm grateful to have received this e-ARC. This book is a perfect choice for a summery beach read, featuring a marriage of convenience/second chance couple whose growth and maturity over time were truly engaging.

While the book started a bit slowly for me—often, I find narratives that shift between present and past challenging—it quickly became a page-turner once I immersed myself in it.

Deacon exudes a charming "golden retriever" vibe, contrasting with LaRynn's more enigmatic "black cat" demeanor. Watching them break down relationship barriers, especially given their negative family experiences, was a highlight for me.

Deacon's heartfelt confessions were swoon-worthy, and I admired LaRynn's journey towards vulnerability. As a therapist, witnessing characters own their behaviors and evolve resonated deeply with me.

The epilogue was a perfect conclusion—I always crave closure for characters I grow attached to. I eagerly anticipate more from this author! Thank you SMP, Netgalley, and DeWitt for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.!

Publish date: 11/12/24

good romance about these kids who visited their grands who fell in love in santa cruz. there are different timelines of the past and present now where they are fixing up the duplex. Loved the smexy times. I would love to read about elyse and jensen and their romance.

The storyline to this book definitely holds you to where you want to flip through the pages as fast as possible! The characters are well written and has amazing personalities and them being expressed. I would recommend this book to people who want an amazing storyline with great characters!

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read this ARC.

The words aren't coming to me to write this review. I'm feeling a mix of joy because it was so good and sadness because it's over. This book was magic in the same way that ordinary life is magic. I loved Deacon and LaRynn and getting to watch their story unfold.

I don't normally like books with a dual timeline, but this was perfect. Getting to read their history and find out why things were the way they were in the present. I also don't normally like books with the miscommunication trope, but it fit so well here. I wasn't mad about it because it felt so fitting for the characters and the ways that previous trauma had affected them and their lives.

This one of those books where you get to the end and you wish that there was more book. I want to see more from their lives because they feel like friends. I love books by this author because her characters are so real and so easy to connect with even if you don't really have a lot in common with them. Read this book! It's been one of my favorites!

Love the cover, love the story, love this author! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This book has all the components of a spicy novel that I speed through. I loved it!

I got to review another of Tarah Dewitt's books so when this story came out I jumped for the chance to read it.

LaRynn and Deacon have known each for quite some, growing up together while their grandmother's were married. One summer before college things get hot and heavy, resulting in some spicy times but it all comes crashing down when Deacon proclaims that it's just physical, no feelings for him. For her? She was in love. Fast forward a few years and they have to figure out what to do with their grandmother's house and decide to fix it up, using a fake marriage and her inheritance. However, platonic relationships don't always stay that way and feelings start to simmer again.

This book was a cute idea with spicy scenes. It was a different storyline than typical romance novels and it worked but there was just something missing for me. I didn't feel a super good connection with LaRynn, maybe she seemed too finicky to me, which is totally fine. I enjoyed that the characters were open with each other in book and finally got pent up feelings off their chest and it was sweet to see that unfold. I still would definitely recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley, Tarah DeWitt, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to review this ARC!

Oh I loved this book SO HARD! ❤️‍🔥

Marriage of convenience with forced proximity tossed in and a summer fling when they were 18 until things went to shit and they don’t reconnect until 8 years later, so a little bit of second chance romance — which happens to just be some of my favorite tropes 😅

I truly enjoyed this from start to finish and when I’m reading, i’m always thinking of my rating—depending on how the beginning feels along with the tone and pacing of the book, but without a doubt, 5 stars was stuck in my head the whole time

I was touched by so many parts of larynn and deacon, both apart and together as a couple. They start off not being able to stand each other and have to build this trust between them and along the way, things just start to click and they really clicked for me.

★★★★☆ 🌶️🌶️/5

This book was such a fun and light read, perfect for those of you who are suckers for enemies-to-lovers and second-chance romance tropes. LaRynn & Deacon are so witty and the banter between them really is just so good!! You could cut the tension with a knife for the longest time but it was worth it in the end. They have to work through some past issues and rebuild their relationship all the while renovating a home (where they met for the first time as teens). This one was a cutesy little rom-com, I really enjoyed it but my favorite part was the look into their life 10 years later!!💌🏡🧡

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Deacon and LaRynn’s story was cute, managed to pull off several tropes very well second chance, forced proximity, marriage of convenience.
Their backstory was something i could easily relate to and see happening to a young couple who are deeply traumatized by each of their own families.

EASIEST FIVE STARS I’VE GIVEN A BOOK IN A LONG TIME!

I absolutely loved the story of LaRynn and Deaclon! I’m a sucker for both second chance romances and marriages of convenience, so it really felt like I was destined to be obsessed with this book! From the vibes of the beach with Beach Boys playing in the background to the adorable ways they tried to hide their feelings from one another, there are so many things to love about this book!

3.5
I really enjoyed this book which is rare for me for second chance romances involving young love. Some parts of this book had me laughing out loud. I thought the chemistry and the development of their relationship were done well. I appreciated how the characters were self aware and flawed. Their back story though made sense for their reactions.

I did find certain parts of this book slow though. Overall I thought it was cute though.

i love tarah dewitt, but i could not bring myself to love this book. i don’t know if it was not being able to relate to the characters or the miscommunication or the second chance romance, but i just couldn’t do it and wanted to dnf this one several times.

thank you so much to SMP/SMG and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

Having read all of Tarah DeWitt's books to date, THE CO-OP is one of my favorites! As they're forced back together to restore the house their grandmothers left them, LaRynn and Deacon pull off some classic romance tropes with style, including forced proximity and second-chance romance. I loved their relationship, and while I wish there had been more communication around why their first relationship together went south, I enjoyed reading about the house project bringing them back together and how they slowly rebuilt their love alongside the house (what a perfect metaphor). Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC!

I absolutely love the new cover! The banter between LaRynn and Deacon was amazing! The characters in the book felt so real, and it was refreshing to see them talk about their feelings instead of constantly misunderstanding each other. The house renovation kept me interested, because I just wanted them to keep the house so bad. Overall, this was a fun read, and I loved all the changes :)

Thank you to SMP and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an Arc of this book.

3 stars! 🌟

I will say that between this one and her book Savour it, I like the premise of this one better. Which seems like an unpopular opinion.
We have Deacon and LaRynn as our mains who have known each other for years as their grandmothers were in a relationship in the later stages of their lives. This book is set in a dual timeline of the past when they were young, and the present day in the aftermath of both of those grandmothers passing. They both have to come together to save the house that means so much to their grandmothers while in the beginning of the book they aren’t particularly fond of each other. But due to LaRynn getting money from a trust, they have to get married to secure the money to fix up the house they are so desperate to save.

This book was a fun ride, it reminded me in parts of love and other words by Christina Lauren with the past lovers aspect…

LaRynn and Deacon were very interesting main characters given how both hard headed they were on a lot of things but then of course Deacon is the one who falls first and well we all know how that ends. I would say that the banter was pretty funny, and there was some good quotes about life and memories… the spice was about a 1.5 🌶️, it was there but not as intense as other works.

I will continue to read Tarah DeWitt as her books are a good palate cleanser… it was a quick and enjoyable read.

Still a fun read the second time around. I actually don't remember too much from the writing style from the first time I read it, but it definitely feels a little smoother!

Thank you for netgalley and the publisher for the arc!