Tarah will forever be one of my favorite authors for a number of reasons. Including her ability to create characters that are so beyond real. This book and all her others are a breath of fresh air. I adored all the renovations this book went under and am so happy to have been able to read both versions.

Reading this book felt like falling in love again in real time.
These characters were so beautifully imperfect, I loved every moment of unraveling their love story.
Would highly recommended.

Thank you to SMP and Tarah DeWitt for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If Tarah writes it, I'm reading it. She became an autobuy author to me last year when I first picked up a book of hers and promptly devoured her entire backlog.

I loved The Co-Op the first time around and fell even more in love with it after its renovation. Getting to see LaRynn and Deacon again was such a treat. And loved what she did with Elyse and Jenson.

🛠 Second Chance
🏚 Marriage of Convenience
🛠 Roommates
🏚 Its Always Been You
🛠 Black Cat FMC & Golden Retriever MMC

I was so excited to receive this because I recently read Savor It by Tarah DeWitt and loved it so much. In my opinion, the FMC was written immaturely. I don't like it when grown adults are holding on to anger over things that happened in high school. I couldn't connect with the characters or the story and the whole Dot thing was a major ick.

I really enjoyed my first book by Tarah DeWitt, Savor It, so the Co-op was one of my anticipated reads. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I enjoyed the tropes : marriage of convenience, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, no third act break up, and second chance. As well as how real the characters were. They were messy and broken but worked though things in a realistic way. It wasn't all sunshine and roses.

Where it lost several stars for me: the book did NOT need to be this long. There was a lot of repetitive filler. Also, hoy miscommunication. If they had just had a simple adult conversation instead of acting like the teenagers they were when they met, we could have gotten more of a second chance aspect. And for a book plot based on renovating, not much of that was actually touched on in the story.

One other small pet peeve, how the heck to you pronounce LaRynn's name?? Its unusual, but never touched on. I kept saying Lauren in my head, but caught on it every time I had to read her name.

So while I enjoyed parts of the book it didn't live up to my previous read from DeWitt. That said I would still pick up another title by the author having loved Savor it.

Thank you so much to St.Martin’s Press and NetGalley for gifting me an e-arc for the re-release of The Co-Op.

The Co-op is a marriage of convenience, second chance romance. LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds are brought back together when their grandmothers leave them a dilapidated Santa Cruz building. They decide to get married in order to access LaRynn’s trust fund so they can fix the property and make a profit off it.

If you love Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words, I think you would really love this book.

This was such a fun read and I found myself kicking my feet when cute things happened. I will be reading more of Tarah Dewitts books.
LaRynn is definitely the definition of a black cat girl and I’m happy she found someone who loves her for who she is. Deacon the man that you are.
“Stay my wife. Forever, LaRynn. I don’t care where we end up or what we do as long as I have you.”
This is will be forever in my head. ❤️

Giving that this was my first book I was reading by Terah Dewitt, I didn’t know what to expect. Duly noted, I’m down bad for second chance and/or marriage of convenience (when done right). This book gave me that on a silver platter.

I absolutely fell in love with Deacon and LaRynn. Hell, I’ll fake marry Deacon too if I had the chance. The marriage of convenience with force proximity brought forward flames that started 8 years ago (ages 18-19) when having a summer fling.

This book provided teenage heartbreak, insecure adulthood, grief and a whole lot of renovations. Not only the renovation of the home they inherited from their grandmothers, but also their traumatized hearts. I can’t wait to read more of Terah’s catalog.

I would like to thank Terah Dewitt, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

tarah dewitt is such a good writer; i love reading her work! getting to experience falling in love the way tarah writes it is truly such a joy, and i had a blast reading this one !

This story brings together the tropes of marriage of convenience and forced proximity over the backdrop of building a solid foundation between two characters who are flawed, guarded, and silently hoping they can rebuild what they both lost of each other years before. With dual timelines and dual POVs, it was easy to piece together how their shared history plays into their perceptions of what might be if they gave their unfinished romance a different, more hopeful ending, with lighthearted banter making their chemistry very believable.

It did take me a while to connect with these characters, and the pacing felt quite slow for the first half which made it somewhat difficult for me to be invested in their story as it started to unfold. Their building connection did feel much easier to root for when it did pick up in the last half of the story as their communication was also developing which was refreshing to see. While it wasn't a favourite, this was a cute and spicy second chance romance for something lighthearted and more character-driven.


Thank you to Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

My favorite from Tarah DeWitt yet! Loved the character growth and the complexity of the story beyond the romance.

My first Tarah DeWitt book and enjoyed it so much!

Teens brought together thanks to their grandmothers falling in love get off to a rocky start and a rockier reunion years later. LaRynn and Deacon are forced back together to handle a major project to honor their grandmothers and have a chance to make things right between themselves.

Both main characters seemed so real and relatable and I love that in books now. Both having gone through some rough stuff growing up, they’re battling it as adults and learning how to do so while also learning how to love someone else in a healthy way. This story was super sweet and I loved the CA setting. Looking forward to more from Tarah!

Especially great for lovers of: second chances, forced proximity, and fake relationships.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Co-op. I read Savor It and had mixed feelings. I am happy to say I really liked The Co-Op! LaRynn can be a little immature at times (definitely keep an eye on your toothbrush) but not all the time.

There is some good humor, some things that made me shudder, and a lot of two characters having honest conversations. I think DeWitt has found the sweet spot between humor and honest human interaction. LaRynn and Deacon’s relationship doesn’t feel forced with the little exception in the beginning. Overall I liked the progression of them getting to really know each other.

First off thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eArc.

- second chance romance
- marriage of convince
- roommates
- home renovations
- 2.5/5 spice

Both are characters spending time at their grandmas house with LyRynn visiting durring the summers. LyRynn and Deacon have a summer fling that doesn't end well. LyRynn the spends her time back at Law school and does not return back until after both her grandma and wife has passed away. The house was left to both Deacon and LyRynn and Deacon has to almost push/beg for LyRynn to help with her part. LyRynn had a falling with her rich father so she is cut off of her inheritance until she is married. So that is where the marriage of convenience comes into play. They both live at the house while renovating. I loved the banter and the tension. The spice was nice and just the right amount.

An enemies to lovers, second chance, forced proximity romance. Former flames are forced into living together after they inherited a house together and have to endure crazy renovations.
Thank you NetGalley, I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book!
This book is about two grandchildren, LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds being gifted their grandma’s home and having to work together to clean up the house to sell. It’s based in Santa Cruz and it’s a cute little story about a rekindled love.
This book rereleased on the 11th!

➼ second chance
➼ enemies to lovers
➼ forced proximity
➼ forced marriage
➼ working class hero

Trigger warning(s): none

I personally struggled to read this book. I blame it on coming off of an amazing series reread and my expectations were already through the roof! It’s not a bad storyline, it just takes a WHILE to get to their rekindling and reconnection. It’s a great little story about two misunderstood characters finding love after their grandma’s deaths.

Deacon Leeds is a sweet hero. He’s a working man and you can clearly see how much he cares for the heroine. I loved getting to read the “before” chapters with these two!

LaRynn Lavigne is definitely a misunderstood character! There’s a lot about her that Deacon never knew from before. I’m glad she went on her own route and not the one her dad chose for her! I also love the name LaRynn! It is a unique one that I haven’t heard before!

Book boyfriend? He definitely has the potential to be, but personally he is not mine

★ ★ .5
🌶️
0/5 💧

4 Stars
If this review had a title it would be, ‘The One Where Tarah Dewitt Redeems Herself To Me.’ Because I really enjoyed The Co-op! I had previously DNF’d Savor It so I was hesitant going into this book. Luckily it ended up being a winner for me!

I’ve been in kind of a funk with reading lately— really just because of my own life stress unfortunately, so I think I may have rated it higher & loved it more had I been able to read it more quickly. Because I read it slowly and over a chunk of time it wasn’t staying at the forefront of my mind and it would take me a bit to get wrapped back up in the story when I was reading.

The Co-op is a second chance romance mixed with marriage of convenience! If you love those tropes then I think you will enjoy this book. I thought the storyline was fresh which is hard to do in the romance genre while also utilizing some beloved tropes!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Co-op in exchange for an honest review!

This was cute! LaRynn and Deacon's story was enjoyable although it was not my favorite of the Tarah books I've read. Loved the marriage of convenience aspect and Tarah has a way of writing really beautiful and romantic words but something about this was just missing to make it that kind of special book, if that makes sense. I will always enjoy flashback chapters, and this was no different. I loved getting a look into the past and how they got to where they are now, that was probably the most enjoyable part for me. Overall, a cute enough read, would recommend but it was not my favorite, and this book likely won't be living in my mind rent free.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Co-Op
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (2)
Tropes: marriage of convenience, second chance romance, forced proximity

The Co-Op was the first book I read of Tarah’s in 2022 and absolutely fell in love with her writing style and characters. I was so excited to read the ARC for the remodeled version (didja get the house renovation pun?) and it was still perfect!

LaRynn and Deacon inherit their grandmothers’ building, and have to overcome their past to complete the renovation before selling it. However, they need money for all of the repairs, and decide to get married in order to access LaRynn’s trust. They slowly start to rebuild trust in themselves and each other as they repair the plumbing and kitchen.

Not only was their banter swoony, but it was such a driving force in their relationship (and the plot). I loved how their banter allowed them to portray their true selves and showcase their flaws, emotions, and struggles to overcome. The dual POV was the way to demonstrate their past relationship and how they made a safe landing place.

we have: lanky flirty teens to lovers to strangers to forced to intermingle there lives in a crazy way. forced proximity, second chance, flawed MMCs. A sprinkle of so many good things all in one book.

My favorite part of the book was how flawed Tarah our two main characters. I don’t know if I’ve ever read an FMC as flawed as larynn. My girl just doesn’t know how to process her life just fell apart so suddenly. Larynn and Deacon must marry in order for her to receive her inheritance aka the funds needed to fix the house they own jointly. There is so much TENSION and banter between the two of them. In typical Tarah fashion I laughed, I cried, and I kicked my feet in the air.

there are some things within the book that could have flowed better, there were certain instances in the book where I was like “hold up when did that happen what did I miss?”

Thank you SMP and NetGalley for an arc of this book!

4.5✨
AHHHH. We all know that I love a second chance romance and baby I ate this tf up!

Deacon & LaRynn had me hooked from the beginning with the crazy amount of tension they had when they first reunited. I love second chance romance because I love when I can see characters go through real issues (that are not cheating because EWW), figure out where both parties went wrong, and come up with a solution on how to communicate better with one another in the future.

I can't wait for more from Tarah in the future!!