i loved this one so much!! i can never go wrong with tarah!!!!!! the main characters were absolutely amazing and i found myself falling in love with both of them and i finished in one sitting!

DNF'd this book about 10% in. Just overall too slow for me, nothing ground-breaking and didn't think it was worth my time to continue. I've heard mixed reviews of this author before and I am unlikely to pick-up another book of hers again.

LaRynn and Deacon had a summer fling years ago that ended badly so neither is thrilled when they become the joint inheritors of their grandmothers’ house. Neither have much money so they are forced to reside in the home together while they fix it up and end up in a marriage of convenience to access LaRynn’s trust fund to pay for the renovations. The pair are still deeply attracted to one another but don’t quite know how to express their true feelings to one another.

I can’t emphasize enough how nice it was to have a romance where the two leads are on the page together for at least 90% of the story and when they are not together the other’s presence is felt. Their story as a couple never got lost in the weeds of the renovation or the side characters, which was just absolutely refreshing. I really liked both LaRynn and Deacon and each of their POVs had a distinct voice. The tension between the pair was palpable from the beginning and I loved that we also got their original fling as interstitial chapters rather than cramming it all into a prologue or just making vague references to it. I’m going to have to read more books by Tarah.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Second-chance, forced proximity, and marriage of convenience all in one book? What more do you need!
My third Tarah Dewitt novel and man are her books a jolly fun time. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my review!

A complicated history, a marriage of convenience, and inheriting the co ownership of their grandmothers' dilapidated building, can these two people who get under each other's skin manage to make this marriage work? LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had a short summer fling when they were teens that ended badly.... and now a decade later they have to face each other again since their grandmothers have left them shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building. LaRynn and Deacon get under each other's skin like no one else, yet when their grandmothers both pass they both now have to deal with the building they were both left. LaRynn has the money to help fix it but in order to get access to her trust she has to be married... and Deacon has construction expertise but has no money, so they strike up a deal to get married, fix and sell the place, and then get divorced. Yet they are also now living together as they work on fixing the building and now have to ace their past feelings as well as their new romance.... but can they make it work once everything is out in the air or was it meant to end from the beginning. Here's the thing, I loved Tarah's previous works and books and this is a complete rewrite of her previous work, however this one was a miss for me. I really could not stand LaRynn at all, she was such a childish and selfish FMC and honestly I have no idea what Deacon every saw in her. For two people in their 30s, they acted like children, and honestly everything LaRynn did just infuriated me, especially the throw pillow incident and the toothbrush thing. I just could not like this couple despite how hard I tried and sadly this was a miss for me. I do love Tarah's writing and will be reading her future work, this one just didn't really hit the spot for me in particular. While it didn't work for me, if you like second chance romances maybe give this a go.

Release Date: November 12,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

"You cannot still call her Larry. You can’t call your wife Larry.”

"You called me your husband.”
"Like that, did you?”
"I f*cking loved it.”

“And you won’t hate me again someday?”
"Hate you? LaRynn, I never hated you. I don’t think I could have. You want to know what I hate? I hate that I married you on some nothing Wednesday, in a short-sleeve shirt and jeans. You deserve a Saturday, Rynn. You deserve the Friday night that leads into the entire Saturday, and the whole Sunday in bed after.”

This book was so freaking good! Definitely my favorite read of the month! I loved all of the feelings we reading about Declan and LaRynn renovating their grandmothers’ apartment. No, they are not related, but their grandmothers had gotten remarried to each other. I liked that the two of them had history when they were younger, and that their relationship was left unresolved. The banter was everything in this book. I loved how the two of them had to navigate renovating the apartment and having to deal with living with each other in such a small and complicated space. I really liked that this book was a slow burn romance. Communication was done really well between Declan and LaRynn. When they finally worked through and talked over their struggles and their emotions with each other, everything clicked and place and came together. The steamy scenes were so perfect in this book! I loved how much you could see the love between the two of them! I feel like this is one of the first romance books that you can actually see a realistic couple and how they navigate the real world. I’m honestly sad that the book is over as I could have totally kept reading about their day to day lives lol!

Read if you like:
Dual POVs
Second chance romance
Forced proximity
Renovation romance
Slow burn
Childhood lovers
Enemies to friends to lovers
Open door romance
All the feels
Flashback chapters
No third act breakup

This was a DNF for me... Honestly after the first couple of chapters I felt like i knew all there was to know about the characters and it just wasn't enough for me to keep reading! Also I felt like the characters needed serious therapy and the banter was confusing? In an odd turn of events lol.

I am LaRynn and LaRynn is me. I loved this book so much more than I thought I would and I'm really glad I gave it another chance,

The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars
🔥🔥 - 4 spicy scenes, moderate details

[ thank you @stmartinspress for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! ]

PUB DATE: November 12, 2024 (out now!)

THOUGHTS:

Read if you like:
•marriage of convenience
•second chance
•roommates
•forced proximity
•slow burn
•dual pov

This was my first DeWitt novel and I liked this one! I know so many who rave about her novels so I was excited when I was approved for this eARC.

LaRynn and Deacon. I’m not always a fan of second chance romance but loved this for them! Through in marriage of convenience and the roommates tropes, tensions were high between them! 🔥

The way they slowly connected and started trusting the other, loved it. The banter was so good. I’m really glad as time went on we understand LaRynn more because she did drive me crazy just a tiny bit in the beginning.

I didn’t love this one but it still kept me entertained! I’ll definitely read more from this author. ❤️

Wow! I really enjoyed this book! I kept waiting for the inevitable misunderstanding cliffhanger that is so commonly in romance novels until I remembered that's how the book started..lol. After realizing that it was beautiful watching the story unfold and seeing the love grow and change between these characters. I give a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Loved it!!

I will never sleep on a Tarah DeWitt book. I always feel all the emotions whenever I read her books. The way she can write books is so amazing that literally just pull you in. I truly loved this book from start to finish. I am a sucker for a marriage of convenience with forced proximity. All the characters are truly written with so much depth that you feel like you are right there with them in their feelings and they are your friends. The banter between our two main characters was truly unmatched and had me giggling so much through this. Though our characters have deep flaws and working through problems of their own, it makes them feel realistic and relatable. Please don't skip out on this book and pick it up immediately!

long story short: this was the most egregious example of the miscommunication trope that I have ever seen. Also the constant scene jumping and timeline shifts gave me whiplash.

I am a really big fan of Tarah DeWitt's writing! I sadly was quite sick and missed the last day to download. I will still be reading this book whether through the library or buying a copy because Tarah's books are so entertaining and enjoyable I completely devoured her last book Savour It and need more of her stories.

The Co-Op by Tarah Dewitt was just the sexy, fun romance I needed! LaRynn and Deacon come together in true “fixer upper” style to repair and renovate the house that each of their grandmothers lived in together. The grands passed with just months between eachother and left the house to their grandchildren. Deacon and LaRynn get a second chance at romance while they must navigate the difficulties of home renovation, hurt from their past together as teenagers, and working to figure out who they are now. The banter between the two main characters is enough to fuel this amazing book, not to mention the chemistry! This book had me laughing, smiling, tearing up, and flipping pages as quick as possible!

If you are looking for a cute, fun read, look no further. Larynx is down on her luck after her grandmother died and dropping out of school. However, her grandmother did leave her the house she shared with her wife, whose grandson’s phone calls are the ones she has been avoiding. After their brief summer fling as young adults which ended in heartbreak for LaRynn, the idea of facing both a former love and the one house she felt at home at that no longer has the people that made her feel at home is terrifying. But when Deacon, the grandson, puts down the ultimatum (come and help fix the house or else), LaRynn finds that there was more love left in the town.

Deacon and LaRynn’s story was an enjoyable read. Grief is talked about regularly through the story, which makes sense with the premise, and DeWitt does a good job balancing the touching with the funny. There was definitely a string of miscommunication between the two main characters, but for some understandable reasons and they did work through how to keep those issues from happening again. Overall, an enjoyable read.

✨ Second Chance Romance
✨ Lovers to Enemies to Lovers
✨ No 3rd Act Breakup
✨ "That's my wife"
✨ Marriage of convenience

Do you want a mildly steamy second chance romance set in a beach town with no 3rd act breakup? Then get your hands on this book NOW. This was so damn good. There was spice and romance and love and supporting characters that have a life and personality and depth and I loved every single second of it. Obviously you can read the synopsis, but this felt very "curled up on the beach with a blanket and a book", mixed with The Notebook, mixed with its own incredible magic that is Tarah DeWitts brain.

WOW🤩 I absolutely loved this book. I’m not usually a fan of second chance romances but this was done so well!! I loved how they didn’t just get back together and they worked hard to get where they ended!! The bickering back and forth and the tension was so so good!! I also really enjoyed how they were able to work through their grief together and honour their grandmas🥹 This is my first book by this author and definitely won’t be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tarah DeWitt for the eARC!!

I usually don't love a romance book with flashbacks in it, but this one was an exception! I thought there was a great balance between the present and the past, and mixing of the perspectives. I never felt like I was too much in a flashback or too much in the present. And I never felt annoyed with how much I was hearing from Deacon or LaRynn.

I thought the side plots were also interesting and equally balanced to where they weren't pointless, but also not taking over the main storyline.

The characters were all fleshed out and stood on their own as individuals and supported the two main characters well.

The romance between Deacon and LaRynn was realistic and believable while still being swoon-worthy and so adorable to read. The tension of them living in a space with no doors and having such an intense past was great. They had both messed up in the past, and neither of them was perfect in the present. I liked that they were both equal in their good and bad traits.

Overall, such a lovely story that was really well-paced and thought out. Definitely putting this author on my list of ones to keep an eye on and keep reading from.

4 ⭐️

🔨 marriage of convenience
🔨 slow burn
🔨 second chance

This was such a fun read. I loved Deacon and LaRynn’s banter. I was giggling and kicking my feet at how funny their interactions were.

Imagine having to be reunited with your first love when you were younger, to have to renovate a house together after not being around each other for a decade? Sounds like a possible recipe for disaster and boy, do Deacon and LaRynn run into some obstacles along the way of this renovation. But once old wounds are re-opened, will they be able to get past things in order to finish this house as a homage to their grandmothers? You’ll have to read and find out!

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for this E-ARC.
This book has a playlist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I enjoyed this book. Did I find LaRynne extremely annoying at times? Yes. Did I think she was unnecessarily rude? Also yes. But did I like how the story ended? Yes! Was I deeply invested in her love life? Meh…. Mediumly. Did I struggle a lot to figure out how I wanted to pronounce her name? Yes.

LaRynne and Deacon are pushed together by no choice of their own. As teens, their grandmothers fall in love and get married. They spend time together over the summers and do some extra fun things that 19-20 years old do. Wink wink. I’m sure you know what I mean.
They have a miscommunication trope and don’t speak for years. They are pushed together again when the grands pass. Things happen and the story unfolds. It’s cute and fluffy and slightly annoying by their in ability to simply communicate but I guess that’s the story. Did I cry in the end? Of course. I cry to almost all books.

There are some spicy parts. Not a wild amount. But was the spice spicing? Indeed. That one first part! Yes, that was nice.
Will I be reading more of Tarah DeWitts books? Yes indeed!