Before reading The Co-op, I had read two other novels by Tara Dewitt. One, I rated 5 stars. The other, 3. So going into this book, I knew it would confirm which of these three books is the outlier, and whether I really enjoy the author's style or not. And to my delight, I absolutely loved The Co-op. It confirmed to me that I do really love the way Tara Dewitt writes. Not only are her stories compelling and romantic, but they also always have something genuine to say about the human experience.

I will admit, it took me a little while to get into this story. For the first chapter or two LaRynn felt a little too standoffish. Then, once I'd warmed to her, I found that Deacon was a bit too much of a playboy for my liking. But as the story continued, I fell head over heels for these characters, and honestly, that was largely due to the facts that they do have flaws. These main characters both feel so incredibly realistic. LaRynn specifically really drew me in. I really love reading about female characters who are guarded and wary of love. I find that a lot of romance books stick to a "broody man x outgoing girl" dynamic, so I love when authors switch things up and explore different types of female characters. And while the main character's flaws and personal insecurities are what created the conflict in their relationship, it is also what made them so true to life.

Throughout this book, LaRynn and Deacon both let their insecurities get the best of them, and at times, it really messes up their relationship. While this did make the tone of the novel a bit heavier than that of your typical romcom, for me, it's what makes this book stand out. The book explores such universal themes, like how dips in your mental health and moments of insecurity can cause rifts in relationships, even ones with strong foundations. One line that stood out as incredibly impactful to me was "I hate the idea that love and shame could coexist like this". Without spoiling too much, I'll just say I really was wowed by the character depth and development in this novel - even if I sometimes wanted to shake the characters and tell them to just open up and be happy.

And while I enjoyed this story from start to finish, I absolutely devoured the second half. The yearning hits hard, and I was absolutely eating it up.

Overall, I don't expect this story to be for everybody, especially people who hate the "miscommunication" trope. But personally, I really loved it, and think that LaRynn and Deacon's flaws and miscommunications are what made their story so compelling. They feel like real people who have to overcome real obstacles to reach their happy-ever-after.

I loved this so much! This was my first book by Tarah DeWitt, and I already know she's going to be a favorite author of mine moving forward. She knows how to write complex characters who are flawed but still lovable. This is second-chance slow-burn romance with a marriage of convenience plot, and the tension between those two was everything! And their banter and bickering! I laughed out loud many times. I loved how it touched on deeper topics as well, like grief, toxic parents, wanting to prove your worth, etc. I had a great time going through the ups and down of renovations with LaRynn and Deacon! Just a tiny thing that annoyed me were the French dialogues. Being a French Canadian from Quebec, it was hard not to cringe at the errors. Hopefully, those have been corrected in the final copy.

This was my first time reading Tarah DeWitt's work and I have been missing out!

Aside from the frustrating miscommunication trope (a personal pet peeve of mine) I adored this adorable and swoony second chance romance. It was a light easy read with lots of tension and excellent character development. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Tara’s newest books (Savor It and Left of Forever), but this one was not my favorite. The miscommunication trope drives me nuts. Just talk to each other Iike adults! I was doing my eyes, it was driving me nuts.

LaRynn and Deacon had all the banter and undeniable chemistry in this second chance romance. While they start out in a bad place hating each other because of their past mistakes, you know it's not going to last long. We love the marriage of convenience trope because it forces the characters to face each other and solve their beef. Miscommunication was at the core of all their problems! We loved that Tarah DeWitt added flashback chapters into this new published version. It gave the story more depth and even though we didn't always love LaRynn and Deacon, we could understand them more.  

Read if you like:
▪️dual timeline
▪️marriage of convenience
▪️forced proximity
▪️home renovation adventures

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

OMG! TARAH!!! She does it again! I absolutely loved this book. The perfect amount of both past and present pov's and in both characters!!!

The queen of spice & depth is back again with another delightful read. I really loved both LaRynn and Deacon and how they keep coming back to each other over & over again. This truly felt like the right person, wrong time and once they found their timing they were so so good together. Plus their spicy scenes were *waves face*..

The only issue I had of course was the miscommunication. Their relationship suffered because neither of them could be honest with one another. They felt the same way about each other, but both were too stubborn and not working through their trauma to come together. In actuality they almost were suffering from the same traumas and could have discovered this earlier, but of course they both were 19/20 and that's not fair for people their age. We're all dumb idiots learning to be adults so I understand why they couldn't figure themselves out.

Tarah DeWitt never misses. I was locked in from the first page to the last. The story was so beautiful, well written, and emotionally invested. The past and present timelines were well executed, which fully encompassed the complexities of both characters. That is something that I really loved. I love when we don't have to pick sides. When everything is told so succinctly that you feel like you're a friend witnessing this love story in motion. 10/10 would recommend.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC!

3/5
1/5

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this ebook!
I absolutely loved Tara DeWitt's other book Savour It, so when I saw this one I HAD to read it. However, I wish I hadn't because Savour It was much much better. The major downside for me of this book was the major miscommunication trope which is my least favourite trope and usually I can tolerate a little bit because, well, that's life. This was exclusively miscommunication and it just felt boring and whiny more than anything else.

Onto the positives, I do love a good second chance, marriage of convenience situation which was well set up in theory, each of them has one piece of the puzzle to make this shared ownership of the Santa Cruz building left to them by their grandmothers (that concept is so cute!). The chemistry between these two felt hot and cold to me though, some moments were sizzling (which TOOK LONG ENOUGH) and some felt a bit forced and lackluster especially early on. I remember DeWitt doing a great job of writing the journey with grief into her characters in Savour It, but it felt a little recycled at moments here.

So cute and fun! This was my first book by her and I will definitely be picking up more. I really enjoyed her writing style, and how easy it was to put myself in her shoes. Also loved the dual POV!!! Perfect for rom com fans!

First time reading a book from this author and it was a great read! I enjoyed the characters. The writing was good!

Full review to come!

Give me all the marriage of connivence tropes please and thank you. Deacon 😍 the character development of both was *chefs kiss*

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Cute! We love a Home Depot wannabe origin romance story. Second chance romance is always in style, and Tarah does a great job investing in her characters development, romantically and personally.

LaRynn and Deacon agree to a marriage of convenience to unlock funds and restore their shared inheritance, planning to part ways once the job is done. But as they navigate a crumbling building and their own unresolved history, they must decide if their partnership is just a business deal or something worth rebuilding for good.

This is my second book by Tarah DeWitt, and dare I say, it may have pushed her into auto-buy status. Her prose is SO well done, the characters are nuanced and well developed, and her plots are the perfect balance of light-hearted and reality. Is it a bit predictable, sure - but what good romance isn’t?

4/5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm a big, big fan of everything Tarah DeWitt, so you know I loved this one. I was an ARC reader on the original indie version and adored all the sexual tension, but this revised and expanded version takes the love story to another level. I've loved watching Tarah's writing grow from Rootbound to now, and I am absolutely looking forward to more from her in the future!

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I'm planning to update my review on my blog once I listen to the new audio version and experience it that way. Here's my original review:

The tension snaps and crackles, sparking off the page in such a delicious way – I could FEEL the unresolved issues between these two, and I couldn’t wait for them to figure things out. As a certified second chance romance hater (but big fan of DeWitt’s work), I was both excited and nervous to dig into this one. And I ended up loving it! These two hurt each other in the past, and their present day interactions showcased the fact that neither one has let that hurt go. They’ve spent years building back up their defenses, so entering into a marriage of convenience AND trying to live together in a home under construction is… not ideal. The tension – sexual and otherwise – was palpable, and I loved peeling back the layers of what makes each character tick. I actually thought that the reasons why they separated the first time around made complete sense, so it was easy to empathize with both characters and not lament the time spent apart (too much). It was also clear that they both grew and matured in the years since, slowly changing into people who might just be capable of making it work this time around.

The story follows LaRynn, a woman who has been avoiding the property that she inherited after her grandmother passed away. While the house might be the fresh start LaRynn has been needing in her life, she also knows that it comes with a whole lot of baggage – most of it revolving around the man who broke her heart eight years ago. At 18, LaRynn and Deacon had a no-strings fling that went horribly wrong when she caught feelings. He snapped her heart in two, and it has never quite recovered. So going back to the town where it all happened is troublesome enough… and that’s not the worst of it. LaRynn and Deacon each inherited half of the property, so they’ll need to work together to move forward. And Deacon is not making things easy. Somehow, LaRynn finds herself entering into a marriage of convenience, moving in to a disaster of a construction zone, and working on a major renovation with the man who drives her crazy.

Typically, it’s the tangled history between characters that makes second chance romances difficult for me to get into. In this case, I understood why they didn’t work out at 18, and I thought that they shared equal blame for things going so awry. That made it easy to root for them to find their way back together, and the tension is one of the things that makes this story so engrossing. Having both perspectives also helped, and I could see the love buried beneath that mountain of hurt. I loved that they were slowly repairing their relationship as they worked on building a home together, and the parallels were so interesting. Their foundation was faulty to begin with, so it took rebuilding from the ground up to get them to a solid place. The forced proximity/roommates situation paired with the marriage of convenience tied them together as they fought against the bond, which just took everything up another notch. And, while I liked LaRynn, I was totally gone for Deacon. He is such a sweetheart, so much kinder and more vulnerable than he might appear on the surface. The intimate moments between them were incredibly impactful, and having such a slow burn made the emotional connection leap to the forefront. These two already know that they work in the bedroom, they just need to find a way to communicate out of it. Yet again, DeWitt navigates the complexities of a difficult relationship in an engaging and immersive way, seamlessly blending lighter moments with heavy shots of angst. I loved it!

I think there is real potential here with this novel from Tarah DeWitt. Everyone has someone from the past, and you wonder, "What if?" Or not-- maybe you never thought about it again! But in this case, it's cute to see the past be a surprising opportunity instead of a sad reminder.

I just absolutely love the stories TD creates and the relationships between the characters are always so lovely 🥰

This book was quite enjoyable. I really liked getting the perspective from both of the main characters. It was a fun, slow burn.

Tarah Dewitt is now a gold-star auto-but author for me. This book has so much heart and the characters are complex, dynamic, flawed people who jump off the page. The second-chance romance makes sense and adds even more depth to LaRynn and Deacon’s individual and joint stories. I truly loved this story and was sobbing through the last third. This is a story I won’t soon forget.

This wasn’t really holding my interest, was kinda boring, and I really really wasn’t a fan of the characters, specially the heroine. The immaturity, childish acts, and pettiness were too much for me. I had to force myself to finish this book.

Those two just didn’t make sense together and I couldn’t see them working out as a couple, but on the other hand, they kinda do deserve each other.

I wanted to love this one, but it didn’t keep my attention. There were cute moments, but overall the miscommunication in this book was annoying. Many people thought this book was great so I think it was just not for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!