Tarah Dewitt is an insta-buy author. Her writing is fantastic and her character development never disappoints. She's witty in her dialogues, yet portrays those heavier emotions so poignantly.

Deacon and LaRynn tugged at every single one of my heart strings and I loved their dynamic. LaRynn is guarded and a little prickly and Deacon knows how to get on every. single. one of her nerves. But they also develop this great friendship along the way as they deal with their own grief in losing their grandmothers.

The plot toggles between the past and present and we really get to see both characters mature and grow over the course of the book. The plot centers around the remodel of their grandmother's old complex and it is the perfect book to inspire your own work on home DIY projects (or motivating you to actually finish them...)

This book is re-releasing in November, and it needs to be in your pre-order cart ASAP. ITS SO GOOD.

Tropes: fwb, second chance romance, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, found family, miscommunication, dual pov, and dual time line.

4.5 Stars rounded up ! I really enjoyed everything about this book. It was so easy to read and fall for the characters and their journey with the home renovation, forced tight living situation and navigating their past complicated history. The sexual tension and banter between LaRynn and Deacon was chef's kiss ! The ending was perfectly wrapped up and satisfying. I highly recommend giving this a read if you a looking for a good romance.

Thank you Netgalley and St.Martin's Press for the digital arc in exchange for honest review.

Tarah DeWitt is an auto-read author for me - I loved this book!! Truly Im normally not a big fan of second-chance romances, but something about Deacon and LaRynn worked so well for me. Their dynamic felt so real, and their rekindling happening while renovating a house was so fun to watch. LOVE!

3.5 stars. This was a very cute read! It was funny but there was a good blend of serious topics as well. Although LaRynn and Deacon are brought back together under tense circumstances, it is very obvious that their hatred and annoyance towards one another is a cover for some more serious feelings. I loved the flashbacks to their past relationship, piecing together where things went wrong and how their insecurities and trauma are still affecting them years later. The ending made me emotional as well, but not to the point where I was in tears. Over all, that’s where the book could have been improved a bit more, as I didn’t have an intense reaction to anything, nothing revealed was really a surprise, and everything unfolded as expected (apart from a really nice, healthy second chance relationship with no third act breakup). The reflections on what it means to be loved and seen and accepted were so heartwarming though, and both Deacon and LaRynn really give it their all and support one another beautifully. The epilogue was perfect, and Tarah really is a great writer!

The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt has a little bit of everything. Marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, second chance romance, and more. I loved the dual POV with multiple timelines between LaRynn and Deacon because it shows how events from different perspectives can really change the outcome of the future. LaRynn and Deacon have a history of a summer fling/romance when they were younger but when true feelings came into play along with miscommunication they soon hated each other. Or so they thought. As much as they over think and deny their feelings for each other I really loved how their relationship blossomed. They overcame their individual traumas and how it relates to how they react to certain situations and relationships. Sometimes your first love is your true love.

The Co-Op
By: Tarah DeWitt

This was a well written romantic comedy book. This book had second chance romance, enemies to lovers, fake marriage and forced proximity tropes. The spice was there but well written and tasteful.

In this book you meet LaRynn and Deacon. They both grew up visiting their grandmas. When their grandmothers get married they unexpectedly start spending more time together. As they complicate their relationship with the promise of no relationship, miscommunications make for a crashing goodbye.
Years later when they both have to come together to sale the house they both visited growing up, memories arise and feelings have to be dealt with. What starts as a marriage of convenience and necessity brings up the need to talk about the past and what they want for the future and if they have a future.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good small town romance with minimal spice and a good second chance love story.

I read this one back when it was on Kindle Unlimited and didn't realize before requesting.

My review: "second chance romance, marriage of convenience, AND forced proximity??? this book was too cute for words <3"

This is probably one of the slowest slow burn love stories I’ve ever read and it was 100% worth it. Deacon and LaRynn needed that slow burn to be able to give their second chance romance a head start to succeed this time around. They grew so much since their first time together and they continued to grow this time around sharing the parts of themselves they kept hidden. Both of them came with baggage and this time they were able to communicate to each other about it and they healed from their original hurts in their previous relationship.

I never read the original indie release and wish I did but I l only recently discovered Tarah DeWitt books after reading Savor It, however I can tell you that if you enjoy a marriage to convenience story and home renovations then you definitely need to read this book.


Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is a second-chance, marriage of convenience, opposites attract romance set in the world of onetime childhood hookups who are jointly tasked with fixing up a run-down duplex that they mutually inherited. It's told in dual points of view and has a dash more than moderate levels of spice. This book was a bit slow for me to get into, which I think is because it, personally, lacked that spark for me. The writing wasn't terrible, and clearly this author does have talent. It was just the plot that I couldn't connect with.

While I liked the idea of this book with a second chance romance with an arranged marriage, this book just didn’t draw me in.

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

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.
Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.
But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they're thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but to access her trust, she has to be married.
Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.
A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, they quickly learn that it's easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But, with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks) they'll also have to learn what it means to truly co-operate as a team

This book. This book has left a mark on me forever. It had all the tropes I absolutely love: second chance; lil enemies-to-lovers; grumpy/sunshine, but she’s grumpy; marriage-of-convenience. And Tarah nailed every single one (construction pun intended?).

What I loved:
- Deacon and LaRynn’s banter at the beginning was perfection. They were so petty and snarky to each other, but it made that push and pull and tension SO fantastic.
- The slooowwwwww burn! Holy. Cow. This was one that I thought was going to make me spontaneously combust. And let me tell ya—the wait was so worth it.
- LaRynn might be one of my favorite FMCs that I’ve read recently. I love a misunderstood grumpy FMC. I related to her a lot, and I loved to see her growth.
- The playlist! Incredible. Perfect.

A sexy romantic comedy that has the tried and true plot of former young lovers reunited by tragic circumstances where they have to work together and live together.

Okay hear me out….this was actually a really good book overall. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline and the pining. I think where it lacks for me is just the fact that I was able to put it down and go on about my day. I didn’t miss not reading it and I felt like a lot of the storyline was slightly repetitive. But truly overall I did enjoy this book. My mom loves to read books like this and I am definitely going to recommend this to her when it releases.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a sweet second chance romance from DeWitt. I enjoyed the characters and their complicated backstories. At the times the transitions between past and future weren’t as seamless as they could be. It took a while to get into the book as well which is why I gave it 3 stars. Thank you Net Galley for the advanced digital copy.

tara has a way of writing romance books that contain all of the tropes i love without making them seem too corny or intentional. this book had everything. i loved the history between the characters and their banter. i found myself laughing out loud multiple times. i wasn’t sure about the setting at first because it seemed like it could be too predictable, but the well-developed characters kept me hooked!

2/5⭐️ 2.5/5🌶️

I really, really wanted to love this. Truly. I loved “Savor It” and I love a good Second Chance/Marriage of Convenience. This fell flat for me. The pacing felt stilted and awkward. You know when you have to meet a minimum word count for school? About a hundred pages could have been remitted and the outcome would have been the same. The Forced Proximity and jilted ex-lovers could have been more developed if there had been more in-depth descriptions of the actual house remodeling projects. The story dragged on with little action occurring.

LaRynn was overall mean and unapproachable. Deacon felt similar. The spice scenes were done well, but they fought like teenagers. They both read as immature. There were some sweet moments between them, but I found myself skimming through the majority of the book and just wanting to be done with it.

Expected Publish Date: November 12, 2024

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I enjoyed everything about it, from start to finish. I loved the dynamic between Larynn and Deacon. They both had difficult baggage from their past that they had to work thought. It wasn't a fairytale relationship in that sense. I loved how real it felt. This book had me laughing and crying. This is a book I would choose to read again in the future. I will also be watching for more books by Tarah DeWitt as well!

The Co-op follows LaRynn and Deacon, ex childhood family friends/hook-ups. Their grandmother’s were partners that owned a beach house together. Both grandmothers passed away and left the house to LaRynn and Deacon. During their childhood they had a summer fling that ended abruptly and they were not longer technically cordial. LaRynn finally decides to go to the beach house after Deacon threatened her with a lawsuit if she didn’t start contributing to the rapidly declining home. Previously LaRynn was supposed to be going for a law degree to follow in her fathers footsteps, but once she decided to can that idea her father decided to take her inheritance away, as well as her car and financial support. I don’t want to give away too much of what happens in the book but it turns into a marriage agreement between LaRynn and Deacon so that they can get her inheritance to remodel the beach house and sell or rent out later. As they spend more time together it is quickly seen that maybe they might actually care about each other, and might have unfinished business. I really liked the premise of the book, but unfortunately only gave 3 stars due to the fact that LaRynn drove me a little crazy. I found her very whiney and hard to deal with. I would absolutely still recommend, as everyone’s tastes are different though!

So when I first started this book I thought that it was going to be a 3 star read for me, but I was pleasantly surprised that it turned into a 4 star read for me! I found both of the main characters to be fun and charming. The reason I dropped one of the stars was because I feel like a lot of the issues in this book came from lack of communication and I find that to be one of the more frustrating tropes. I really liked a lot of the resolutions in this book, as well as the epilogue as well! I’m always a fan of good epilogues that satisfies my want for information on the future!

Forced Proximity, Second Chance, Marriage of Convenience, this book was chock-full of tropes and I loved every one!

I had such a great time reading this book. Deacon is a top 5 book boyfriend for sure. While there was definitely some miscommunication in the beginning I appreciated that once they got it together that stopped and the tensions for the book came from other places in their lives.

I related so much to LaRynn and I appreciate how realistically she (and really all of the characters) were written. If you’re looking for a book that balances deep emotions, spice, and fluffy fun romance this is the one for you!