This book was so refreshing. I love how genuine the characters relationship and dialogue felt. It was the perfect balance of cheesy and spicy for me. How the characters worked through deep family issues felt mature and realistic. The banter between LaRynn and Deacon was done so well. I loved learning about the grandmas too 🥹 The ending was just the cherry on top. I loved this book.

Read if you like:
▫️marriage of convenience
▫️second chance
▫️home renovations
▫️family baggage

This book was such a pleasing read. It didn't jump out at you to bring you in, no, it sauntered along and let you fall in love slowly.

Second chance love is such a rewarding trope. In this case, it truly made the characters work for it. Very hard, in fact. But man, it was so worth it in the end.

I'd definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

no one sees, exposes, and cares for tender spots like tarah dewitt. a misunderstood (read: unlikeable) larynn returns to the only place that has ever felt like home to find it in need of TLC, requiring her to work with her "situationship" of years past, deacon.

while containing some of our favorite tropes (marriage of convenience, black cat/golden retriever, second chance), they feel very natural in 'the co-op' - as though they happen and we figure it out later. the story is handled with love and care that it feels like larynn and deacon could be your neighbors or friends - they are whole people who are flawed but attempting to be better for themselves and each other.

yes, this is a contemporary romance novel, but this is a ROMANCE. my heart fluttered, my feet kicked, and my chest ached throughout this book, feeling the characters' pain, growth, and peace. and there is spice; it was a little heavy-handed toward the end, but I also appreciated the sex-positive approach to scenes.

4.5 stars / thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC. the 2024 publication of 'the co-op' is a renovated update to the previously self-published book of the same title. I have not read the previous edition.

3.5 stars

The Co-Op first came to my attention because of its comparison to Beach Read and You Deserve Each Other. I agree that it is a good comparison. However, I will note that if you disliked You Deserve Each Other, you may also struggle with The Co-Op.

DeWitt gets a lot of praise for her stories and romances, and I get why, but what resonates with me is her settings and female leads. Both of these made this story stand out. DeWitt uses her settings to help tell a story, one of my favorite things in a book. Emily Henry, Carley Fortune, Julie Soto, and Tarah Dewitt do it very well. It adds so much depth to the story.

Can we talk about LaRynn Lavigne for a moment? I love her attitude, her sarcasm, and her undercover vulnerability. She exudes so much confidence but is such a loyal soul. I adored her.

The other thing I loved was the side characters, especially Sally. She made me laugh and laugh.

Read if you enjoy:
Second Chance Romance
Marriage of Convenience
Forced Proximity
Dual Timelines
Strong Female Leads
A Little Bit of Spice
Small Towns
Enemies to Lovers

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

LaRynn and Deacon, the main characters in The Co-Op, are messy. And I fully support (even celebrate!) messy characters in my romance reading. But, in this case, I just found them frustrating and annoying.

The dual timeline was easy to follow and added emotional heft to the story. I wasn't totally convinced of the reason they broke up in the past, but it mostly worked.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🔨 Dual POV
🔨 Forced proximity
🔨 One bed
🔨 Second chance
🔨 Fake marriage

I liked the premise of why our MCs were forced back together, it was nice to see their 2nd chance romance play through. Also, enjoyed the characters. Would’ve liked more build to what made our MCs the way that they were.

I read Savor It earlier this year and really loved it. I knew I wanted to read anything new by Tarah DeWitt, so I jumped at this book when I had the chance.

🎧 Stephanie Rose & Nelson Hobbs were good here. This was my first audiobook with either individual involved. They did a great in keeping my engagement and fit the shoes well for LaRynn and Deacon.

I have become a huge fan of Tarah Dewitt and I can't wait to keep reading more of her writing. This book is no exception I adored this book.

LaRynn and Deacon had a brief summer fling a few years ago, it ended badly and they haven't seen or spoken to each other since. But when their grandmothers both pass away within months of each other, they leave LaRynn and Deacon their dilapitated house. The two of them have to work together to get the property up to code so they can sell it. The problem: they are both broke!

They have the perfect solution, they get married to access LaRynn's trust fund and now they are living in a mess and their emotions and feelings are a mess and it is the perfect set up for this romance!

These two are forced to live together and work together and in the beginning there is so much fun passive aggressive behavior between them. I loved the "fighting" and the sarcasm and the pranks they played on each other. I also loved how they both continued to have feelings for the other, but both believed the other didn't have feelings, which made their conflict that much more fun to read about.

Being in such close quarters, they eventually have to come to terms with what happened that summer, and actually talk about it. They also have to confront their current feelings as well.

I loved the flashbacks to when they were kids and their shared summer together. It added so much to the story and explained so much of their current dynamic. I loved how they were both a little broken from the behavior of their parents and how they both opened up about that to each other, something they did not do as kids. Deacon's declaration to Rynn was absolutely perfect and I just wanted to scream FINALLY when they both gave into their attraction, chemistry and feelings.

I also adored the side characters in this book, I loved Rynn finally finding her place and her home. I loved how much Deacon loved her, even when he acted like he didn't.

Tarah is an auto buy author for me, I love how she is able to write such beautiful romances with characters who feel real and flawed, but the stories are also funny and sweet.

Thank you to Tarah Dewitt, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my arc of this book!

The Co-op is a dual POV following LaRynn and Deacon in present day and with flashbacks of the past. LaRynn moves back to Santa Cruz to help repair her grandmother's old building. She shares partnership with Deacon who was her first love but she now despises. In order to receive her trust fund money, she marries Dean then begins to work on the building with him. As luck would have it, they start to learn more about each other and develop feelings yet again.

This book was really cute. I liked the back and forth between now and then. The characters and side characters were all loveable. You really rooted for the MCs to make it work this time.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I highly recommend you read this newly edited and updated version of The Co-Op. It’s a second chance romance where the two main characters find themselves with shared property that needs to be renovated. In order to get the funds to do so, they get married. While the walls are literally coming down in the house and they’re picking swatches of paint, the walls around their hearts soften too and they revisit who they were as teens together. Set in Santa Cruz, it’s the perfect blend of a modern marriage of convenience and rediscovery of themselves. Plus it’s incredibly hot, even if Tarah makes us work for it.

Tarah said that reworking this book felt like she was going through it along with her characters and you can see it in the writing. The tortured young love throwbacks and the guarded wounded adults trying to figure out who they are now. I also grew up in Santa Cruz and she did a great job capturing the setting and feel of the town!

Vibes:
Second chance
Marriage of convenience
Slow burn but fireworks
Mutual masturbati*n
Working on the house while working on themselves
Black cat who’s a secret softy FMC
Cinnamon roll MMC
Flashbacks
Beach town
Dual POV

Thank you SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

She's got the money he's got the construction knowledge to restore a house however for that to happen for her to get her money that have to be married. But they hate each so what could go wrong. Could this be enemies to more or will it blow up in there faces. I did indeed love the banter between these to.

This book was such a fun read and I read I read ot a time when I needed something like this. I got through it in a day it was lighthearted and didn’t lack depth. It was my first read by Tarah Dewitt and won’t be the last

I enjoy home renovation books so this one checked a few boxes. The story overall was fun and I like the premise of inheriting a house together but there were a few things that didn’t make sense – mostly the marriage of convenience. Deacon was a saint for putting up with LaRynn, who was a brat and completely unlikeable. Credit the author for writing her so well that I can despise a fictional character. The story also moves from past to present and back again, which can get confusing at times. Other than that, it’s cute and entertaining.

A fun read, a marriage of convenience, second chance romance for LaRynn and Deacon. I really enjoyed reading this book and wanted everything to work out for them.

Gahhhh. Wordssssss. This book! Can that be my review? But in all seriousness I’m not sure what Tarah Dewitt put into her novel, but I ate up every bit and just wanted to absorb all the feelings into my skin. Usually I can take or leave second chance romance, but LaRynn and Deacon are just the story we all need. I think I like my romances best with a side of angst and even some heartache because it makes the happily ever after so much more dramatic and worthwhile.

A home renovation is the most stressful, most tiring, most financially and emotionally draining event a couple can attempt to do together. Making exes do it? Irresponsible! And yet. That’s the magic of The Co-Op. LaRynn and Deacon have equally inherited an old beach house from their grandmothers and must come together to make decisions about the future of the house. Chapters flirt between the “before” and present and also in both Deacon and LaRynn’s POV to build a scaffold of their previous versus current relationship. This story is so much about family and feelings and wanting to have a forever person and a forever home and it just gnawed at my heart. A bit of a slowburn, the frustration and sexual tension just build and build between Deacon and LaRynn until they are forced to start talking to one another. I fell so hard for Deacon as a book boyfriend. His big “my wife” energy, his capable hands, and his huge heart made him the perfect catalyst for LaRynn. I loved that he let her be prickly (there’s even cactus jokes about it), but also insisted she see herself as more than a tough unlovable character. And it’s not just Deacon that I loved, but LaRynn is complicated but so tender hearted and his flirtation just opens her up.

This book is super hot and tension filled and full of anticipation. The feelings DeWitt evokes in her readers will have us clamoring for more books like this in the future. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my early copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Vibes/Feels: 🎯🎯🎯🎯
Steam: 🪭🪭🪭🪭
Chance I’ll re-read: 💯

this book was so special and beautiful. a second chance romance with marriage of convenience?! literally some of my top favorite tropes ever! a beautiful slow burn love story that was heartbreaking but SO special. I loved the flashbacks of deacon’s and larynn’s past relationship as it really helped get a backstory on them as individuals and together. if you love marriage of convenience, second chance, forced proximity then I highly recommend this book! 🩷

The Co-op is a cute and steamy second-chance romance. Both the main characters have very big personalities and face a forced proximity/fake marriage situation. While I found the story itself to be cute and the characters entertaining, I did not think the “spicy” scenes were very well-written, and this made the whole read a lot less enjoyable for me. Not my favorite Tarah DeWitt book, but still a fun read.

Thank you to Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin’s Press, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Tarah DeWitt is one of my auto-buy authors in Romance. I love her writing so much. Her characters, their development, the steam, the chemistry, everything is flawless and this one didn't disappoint either.

I loved this book so much ! Enemies to Lovers, second chance romance with a marriage of convenience ; add to this a pinch of slowburn with forced proximity creating a perfect romance that will keep you on your toes.

Read this if you love :

✨ Forced proximity;
✨ Marriage of convenience;
✨ Second Chance Romance;
✨ Spicy ;
✨ Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine ;
✨ Opposites Attract;
✨ Slowburn.

The Co-Op:⁣ 🔨🏡🖤
⁣
Thank you @smpromance for my gifted copy! #smpromance #TheCoOpNovel #TarahDeWitt⁣
⁣
“Dream and fight with me, let me dream and fight with you, too.”⁣
⁣
Oh what a sweet second chance. I was hooked and really couldn’t stop reading once I picked it up.⁣
⁣
I think the story really talks about growth as a person and a couple. Thinking of my younger days, I know I definitely did some silly things, so it was great to see them own up to it, learn, and grow. Their enemies to lovers miscommunication was difficult at first because they HATED capital “H” each other. I felt like sometimes I was the awkward person in the room being like “dang bro, chill” 😂 But when they finally opened up, I was kicking and squealing.⁣
⁣
I love a flawed character, and this was it. I loved seeing their past chapters of when they were younger and how they were in the present. I definitely need a pic of the unit and campground because I know it looks amazing right now!⁣
⁣
Overall, a solid read. More romance than romcom, I truly loved this little book with LaRynn and Deacon.⁣
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QOTD: Any reality TV you enjoy watching?

Thank you to Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love second-chance romance and this one checked all the boxes. What I don't like is miscommunication and unfortunately, it also checked those boxes as well.

While there are dual timelines, it just suddenly stops and I was expecting more.

I wasn't the biggest fan of LaRynn. She seemed selfish to me.

LaRynn and Deacon have history-once upon a summer, they had a fling that ended in heartbreak. A decade later, they are thrusted back into each other's lives when their grandmas leave them the ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building. LaRynn has the money, but has to be married to access the funds. Deacon has the construction expertise but not the funds. They strike up a deal-marry until the property is fixed, collect profit, and then cut ties.

This is my second attempt at reading a Tarah Dewitt, and I enjoyed it. (I started reading Savor It, but it wasn't keeping me interested). LaRynn and Deacon already banter like an old married couple even before marrying, and I'm here for it. They've never really fully moved on from each other, so even though they act like enemies, underneath is a whole lot of pining. They weren't just renovating a building but also their relationship.

> Second chance
> Forced proximity
> Marriage of convenience
> If you're a fan of HGTV

Thank you @netgalley and @smpromance for an arc of this book!