“They say love and construction don’t mix. By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.”

Read if you like:
🛠 Second Chance
🛠 Marriage of Convenience
🛠 Roommates
🛠 Dislike to love
🛠 Pranks
🛠 It’s Always Been You

A romance about restoration, renovation, character building and partnership. The Co-op follows LaRynn and Deacon, two characters who have a contentious summer fling as teens. A decade later, their grandmothers leave them shared ownership of a dilapidated Santa Cruz building. Thrust back together, LaRynn and Deacon’s relationship is tested, emotions are exposed, and a romance blossoms.

“What a gift it is to trust someone, I realize. To know that through every up and down, every unexpected break, they want the same thing as you in the end. Just to be together.”

As usual, Tarah DeWitt blesses us with a charming romance. With possessive ‘My Wife’ moments, hilarious references to Friends, ‘PIVOT!’, and a dialogue full of emotional quotes, the highlight feature on my kindle was working overdrive. This was cozy, steamy, and just an overall entertaining read. The characters were real and flawed, and I enjoyed reading their character growth from beginning to end.

“My home, my girl, my pain in the a**, my world. That force of nature. I want her on my side, that formidable, fierce woman.”

Although I enjoyed this romance, I didn’t quite feel the same connection to these characters as I did in Funny Feelings and Savor It. I can’t quite put my finger on what was keeping me from this connection, whether it was the female MC or the challenges with communication, I just can’t say.

Regardless, I will absolutely read anything Tarah writes. She’s written two five-star favorites of mine, and I can’t wait to see what she releases next.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for my gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 Stars.

4.5 Stars. I loved the combo of second chance romance and marriage of convenience. There is great angst in this, which is a must for me in second chance romance and was paced very well. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I do think the last quarter of the book and the epilogue were my favorite parts. Such a solid romance! Due to receiving this arc, I read all of Tarah Dewitt’s books this month, and she is now an auto-buy author for me!

This was my first time reading a book by Tarah DeWitt and I will definitely go back to read her backlist! I really enjoyed it and I love tall, angry FMCs. <3

The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt I was provided an ARC copy of The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. LaRynn and Deacon, previous lovers, current married enemies, become co-owners of a house left to them by their grandmothers. The two bond over their time spent renovating and cooperating to realize they belong together after all. And the house is just a bonus! #arcreview #tarahdewitt #thecoop #bookreview #romancereader

Love a marriage of convenience and Tarah Dewitt served us a good one! LaRynn and Deacon are forced back together in order to save their Grandmothers’ home. With a heartbreak and more between them, the restoration of the home served to be a bit more complicated. I loved the chemistry between LaRynn and Deacon however I didn’t love the way they handled their past (lack of communication). I also felt certain parts of the story were exaggerated and didn’t feel very realistic. LaRynn’s relationship with her parents was also a bit odd and the spontaneous reemergence of her mother just added to it. Overall I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from Tarah!

First thank you to st martins press and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.75 stars

Synopsis: Larynn and Deacon both have rough childhoods but enjoyed summers with their grandmothers. When one of their inheritance depends on marriage, they agree to get married. After parting for 7 years, they have to come together again to remodel their grandmothers condo.

What I liked: this was my first Tara Dewitt’s romance and I was excited to read it. I do understand that this is a rerelease of an earlier work. I liked it and thought it show a lot of promise. Larynn was very strong willed but did have a heart. Deacon was a solid guy who fit Larynn to trust him and share more than she usually would. There were some spots that seem to move slower but I was interested enough to want to read more.

LaRynn and Deacon had a fling when they were teenagers which resulted in them breaking each other’s hearts. They became enemies soon after that and LaRynn avoided Deacon’s hometown, which was also were her grandmother lived.

Years later after both of their grandmothers died, they inherited their home, which requires substantial repairs before they could make a profit of the property. LaRynn could gain access to her trust and provide the fund if she gets married, so these two who haven’t interacted with one another in years decide to get married until they can complete the renovations and sell the house.

This book is a second chance romance and it’s beautifully written with so much tension between LaRynn and Deacon. We get an insight to why their relationship didn’t work the first time and character development is well played. I fell in love with Deacon very early on because he was so unapologetically himself and he portrayed the confidence LaRynn needed in a relationship. The book was very easy to read and I really enjoyed them as a couple.

Tropes
* Second chance romance
* Marriage of convenience
* Close proximity
* Dual POV

3.75/5 ✨

This is *true* rivals to lovers in every sense of the phrase. They are complete menaces to one another, and the resentment towards each other ran deep. The first little bit of the book really had me questioning how everything would come together because it felt like the animosity was irreversible??

But man was the journey worth it! I loved how everything tied together. I feel like Tarah did a good job pacing their story. It would have been really easy to try and rush the messiness of their relationship, but this book really takes everything in stride. As LaRynn and Deacon work together, you can see their emotional walls start coming down. You sit in the uncomfortable moments. You sit in the misunderstandings and miscommunication. And you realize that these are just two perfectly imperfect trying to do their best 🥲

This is the book for you if you’re looking for a messy and real rivals to lovers romance with a marriage of convenience 🫶🏻

Thank you to Tarah and St Martins Press for this advanced reader copy of The Co-op!

I had not read this one the first time around, so this was a new to me story. I recently read one other book by this author so I was excited to read this one as well.

I always love a marriage of convenience and this one had the added second chance vibes with the time jumps showing us LaRynn and Deacon the first time they were together as young adults. Neither one had the best example of a good relationship growing up until their grandmothers fell in love so it was easy to understand how they were both affected by their parents and struggled to find their footing in a relationship.

Things did not end well between LaRynn and Deacon the first time because they didn't communicate properly and I was definitely interested to see how they would manage being around each other while dealing with the stress of the restoration project. Even though they both struggled to open up more to each other, the fact that they finally came clean about how they hurt each other when they were younger and were able to find their way back to loving each other the way they both deserved made me so happy. There were so many tender moments and also hilarious banter between these two, I loved it!

Thank you to SMP Romance, Tarah and NetGalley for the ARC!

The co-op
4.5⭐️3.25🌶️

Contemporary Romance
1st person
Dual POV
Second chance romance
marriage of convenience
Property Reno
Flashbacks

Tw: parental abandonment, emotional abuse, cursing, family death, parental infidelity

I adored Funny Feelings, so I was excited to read an ARC of The Co-Op.

Two kids who fell in love a decade ago meet again after loosing their grandmas. They are tossed together when they have a common goal of fixing up the duplex their grandma’s owned.

I found the story to be very charming. I loved the pacing and steadiness of the plot. The characters were solid and had great emotional arcs. The side characters were very cute.

I especially adored the epilogue.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was such a good read. LaRynn and Deacon story is a beautifully vulnerable read. This book had me laughing, tearing up and kicking in frustration it had me in a roller coaster of emotions I just couldn't put this book down. This is my first read by Tarah DeWitt and I highly recommend.

This one was unfortunately not for me. A lot of the characters were really rude & the story just fell flat. DNF :(

This was my first Tarah Dewitt book and it was really fun! A cute and easy romance read with lots of banter. I will definitely be checking out some of her other books in the future! Thanks for the copy St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley.

I read this two years ago when it was released by Tarah. Now it’s been reworked a bit, and traditionally published. I really love Tarah’s writing and the way she tells a story, so I was excited to reread this! 

Deacon and LaRynn’s story was so much more emotional and angsty than I remember. It felt very real and raw. They were renovating a house that both their grandmothers left them. They had to get married to access LaRynn’s trust fund. The forced proximity and the sassy banter was so good and really added to the tension. 

I loved the flashback chapters where we got to see them fall in love for the first time, and how everything went wrong. They both had misconceptions about each other, so there were a lot of hate-to-want-you vibes.

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Second chance and marriage of convenience are two of my favorite tropes, so I was intrigued from the start. The characters are sweet and well developed. I was definitely rooting for them. While it was a cute, fun read, this one fell a little flat for me.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Tarah Dewitt does not miss, and this book was no exception. The book follows LaRynn and Deacon as they renovate the house that their grandmothers left them. Forced proximity, enemies to lovers, second chance romance, marriage of convenience? Sign. Me. Up.

This book was just such a joy to read. The chemistry? Amazing. The banter? Spectacular. The dual perspectives and alternating timelines? Give me more! I loved being in both their heads. I loved watching how they fell back in love. I loved watching them communicate and deal with their issues. I just loved everything about it.

LaRynn and Deacon were such a pleasure to read. Both of them just complimented each other in such a beautiful way. I loved that they actually dealt with why they broke up and actively tried to work on those issues to be better for the other person. I loved that they helped each other through their own issues. Everything about this was just perfection.

I honestly was surprised when the book ended because I was just having such a fun time that I didn’t even realize that I’d read the whole book. I love this book and these characters so much. They tugged on my heartstrings and made me cry and laugh and hope and it was all just so lovely.

4.5 stars from me!

I always love a Tarah book but WOWWWW, "The Co-Op" is truly something special. Deacon and Larynn are both beautifully flawed characters that waded through personal beliefs of feeling unlovable, plus the tension from their escapades when they were younger, in addition to the grief associated with losing their grandmothers. The house renovation setting was so delightful, and their banter was incredible!! Highly highly recommend ANY Tarah DeWitt book, but this has slotted itself into my #1 recommendation for sure.

Yoooooooooooo I loved this one. I haven’t liked a book like this in a long time. The LaRynn character was so unique and her thoughts and emotions extremely well thought out in such a realistic way. I also just loved the quote shown here. What girl hasn’t felt extremely insecure about someone they’re starting to fall for! It gave me such a nostalgic window to painful, teenage heartache.

The sparks between these two were 🌶️🌶️🌶️ muy caliente 🥵. Absolutely devoured this one!

Every book I read of Tarah's I think, "this is my favorite one" and then she goes and comes out with another.

The Co-op was so freaking good. I absolutely devoured this book. I love LaRynn and Deacon so much.

So here's the deal. LaRynn and Deacon meet as teenagers while visiting their grandmother's (yes both their grandmothers are married to eachother). They have a summer romance that ends in heartbreak for both of them. Several years later, both of their grandmothers have passed away and they inherit the house together and the house needs a lot of work. Deacon has the ability and skill to fix it, but he's not got the cash. LaRynn has the cash, but needs to get married to access it. Seems like an easy way to make everything happen, except they kind of can't be around eachother because of previously stated teenage heartbreak. But they are out of options and decide to marry long enough to fix the house, sell and be out of eachother's hair for good. Nothing could go wrong with that plan, right?!

I love a second chance romance, but a 2nd chance with enemies to lovers undertones and a believable marriage of convenience trope? I need it now! I absolutely loved the banter and the teasing between the two MCs. I love that LaRynn isn't outwardly soft and that Deacon loves her sharp edges.

The way that Tarah can write such an emotionally charged story and the humor doesn't take away from the depth of the book. She layers and layers and I always end up laughing and crying at the same time.

Deacon Leeds and LaRynn Lavigne are like oil and water. After a summer fling that ended badly, they haven't been on speaking terms. In a surprise turn of events, their grandmothers leave them shared ownership of their Santa Cruz property which happens to be falling apart. To move forward, Deacon and LaRynn are going to have to put their past behind them and work as a team to get the property ready to rent. Throw in LaRynns trust fund which requires her to marry to access the money and they find themselves in a real predicament. Can they move past all of their hurt and truly become a team to accomplish this project?

This was my first Tarah DeWitt read and it certainly won't be my last! I was immediately wrapped up in this story and became so invested in these characters. They are not without their flaws but that made their relationship and conflicts feel so real. I love a good marriage of convenience story and this one truly did not disappoint! The chemistry and tension between Deacon and LaRynn made me not want to put this book down. I highly recommend grabbing this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!