What can I say about The Co-op that I haven't already shouted from the rooftops. Tarah DeWitt has a way of making you fall in love, rip you apart (in the best way possible) and put you back together again to the point that you are unable to stop thinking about these characters LONG after you have closed the book.
Deacon and LaRynn hold a very special place in my heart. Basically, you are going to want to read this book, trust me.

Unfortunately, this missed the mark for me and I ended up DNFing at the 36% point. This hit a few of my personal icks in books. First, I need to feel like an FMC or MMC is redeemable. I was so irritated with the FMC that even if she had a full redemption arc, I still wasn't cheering for her. The best friend said it best:

"Alright, LaRynn. Enough. The last thing I want to do is gaslight you here, so I'm sorry if that's what I'm about to do. I get how you're feeling and it's valid. But you know what, if I'm being honest, I really can't muster up much sympathy for you. I don't feel sorry for the fact that you have to temporarily marry an attractive man, all so you can eventually be the co-landlord for a beautiful beachfront property, or, in your worst-case scenario, sell it to collect a very large amount of money. Call me crazy, I just don't."

I just didn't feel sorry for her and I didn't support her full tantrums. Spending $2,000 of a $100,000 budget all because she wanted some comforts and didn't discuss it with her business partner/husband? No. You're a team, act like it. And then the toothbrush... come on. Like I said, I was just starting to dislike her so much that I didn't even care if she had a redemption arc.

I was also triggered when she said:

"Why do you do this?" LaRynn asks me, visibly piqued. "Why do you make me be mean to you?"

Take responsibility for yourself, your words, and your actions. I have a few other FMC irritants, but I won't go any further on this point. The other aspect that I couldn't get on board with was the basis of the marriage of convenience itself. When she explained why her father changed the trust fund requirements from completing law school to "get married", her explanation was basically that it was the easiest and fastest thing he could switch it to. But I don't understand the father's motivation in the first place. Why have a barrier to the trust fund at all, and not just age of the recipient? Why marriage? If the father was so opposed to her accessing the fund, why didn't he just keep it as finishing law school since she made it pretty clear she wasn't going to do that? If he realized that she wasn't going to fulfill that and DID want her to access it, just remove the barrier entirely. She's 25 years old.

Between my dislike for the FMC and not believing the foundations of the marriage of convenience trope, I decided to put the book down. Even if a lot of this was explained later in the book, my enjoyment was already so low that I didn't believe any sort of redemption arcs could truly redeem.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love the way that Tarah DeWitt sucks me in with her writing and I don't ever want to leave. This is the second book I have read of hers, and I am a super fan!

Read this for:
- Childhood crush
- Lovers to Enemies to Lovers
- Forced proximity
- Marriage of convenience
- Only one bed
- Roommates
- Second chance

LaRynn Lavigne finds herself inheriting her Grandmother's home right when she needs it the most. The unfortunate thing is she is heading back to the town and the man that broke her heart. Deacon Leeds is also part owner to his Grandmother's home that was shared with her wife LaRynn's Grandmother. The problem is that it's a huge fixer upper and with no walls and little separation, exes LaRynn and Deacon are forced to live in close quarters to help fix up their cherished family home to sell.

The hostility is so strong at the beginning because of their tumultuous past they shared. The traumas they both endured caused them to have their issues when they were younger. As adults, and forced to share space, they are now forced to tackle the problems of the past. The chemistry never died, and the entire time they are basically living on top of one another, the intensity of need between them is constantly building. Tarah really gives us a slow burn in this one, but the pay off is really great.

I love how Tarah writes in a way that I can feel these characters heartache with them. I can empathize so easily with their pain and their traumas. I get pulled in deep and it's so emotional. The chemistry she weaves is so intense. I kept waiting for it to explode and when it does, wow! Plus I also find myself laughing at a lot of the hilarious moments which breaks up the emotional journey she takes you on.

This book put me in a huge book hangover and I'm not mad at all about that. It's so good and I highly recommend adding it to your TBRs and grabbing it when it comes out 11/12!

Thank you to SMP and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All opinions are my own.

tarah never misses! while i was a bit confused about the general premise, i went into it with excitement because i loved tarah's funny feelings novel. i loved the characters from the start- they had so much interesting backstories to them and their immediate dislike of each other and the fast pace of the plot made me really enjoy the second-chance romance. i loved their banter and even their arguments (even though it was a bit annoying at first) but i totally got that they were exes and.. obviously had some DELICIOUS tension. i loved the way the plot progressed and the ultimate finale was very sweet, romantic, and fulfilling. fantastic romance, so excited to celebrate its release!

I dare you not to fall in love with LaRynn and Deacon, and Tarah DeWitt's writing! This has some top-tier tropes, great chemistry and banter, and amazing found family.

-marriage of convenience
-second chance
-forced proximity
-dual POV
-nicknames

When LaRynn inherits her grandmother's unconventional house, she thinks it might be the answer to her financial troubles - except she now co-owns the house with her ex-situationship, Deacon. In order to sell the house for a profit, it needs major repairs and upgrades, which they can't afford, unless LaRynn can access her trust fund - here's the catch, her trust fund will only be paid out to her when she gets married.

This book has everything a modern-day romance book should have. It's easy to connect with the characters, I loved LaRynn from the first chapter. This book was second chance romance, perfectly executed. And that epilogue??? It was everything I could have ever wanted AND MORE.

I highly recommend picking up this upcoming release.

Stay my wife..” marriage of convenience and forced proximity strikes again! Easy read and low stress. Excited to read more by the author!

I really liked the past and present aspect of this book. The two main characters, Deacon and LaRynn had a relationship when they were younger, but it ended poorly. They are forced back together when they inherit a home. The book switches back-and-forth from the current timeline to when they were younger. Additionally, the point of view switches back-and-forth between LaRynn and Deacon.

Overall, it was an easy read, but it felt very low stakes. I didn’t love LaRynn’s personality, and I felt like the character development was a little bit inconsistent.

This was the cutest book I have read in awhile!

It was frustrating how much LaRynn gave attitude towards Deacon but thankfully she gets unarmed by Deacon's charms and slowly warms up to him again. I love how everyone around them knew about their love except them themselves! I love how they worked through their problems and maybe did some unethical ways of getting trust funds but they did it together as a team. They had some funny moments and I loved how the author painted the picture for the audience. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a cute romance and those who love a childhood friends to lovers plot.

I’ll be honest and say this one was hard for me to get into. I was atleast 50% into the book before I started to care about the characters and it was such a slow burn…almost too slow for me. With all that said, the second half of the book was much better and flew by.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital copy of this book.

“I’m so gone for you that sometimes I want to tear this place apart just so we can do this all over again"

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I went into it thinking it was over hyped because everyone I followed was obsessed with it. But now I see why!

LaRynn and Deacon are a real life couple, I refuse to believe they’re confined to the pages of a book. I just know that if I went to Santa Cruz I would find them doing updates to their house! This is a book that you immediately know it’s gonna be a favorite and you would give anything to read it for the first time again ❤️

-forced proximity
-marriage of convenience
-second chance
-enemies to lovers

Loved this book. So much of life and living is influenced by our own and other family and friends, so much that at times is overwhelming and difficult to trudge through and around. Both Deacon and LaRynn have emotional issues to deal with and to hopefully put to rest. It took me a few chapters to get into this story as I am not much on shifting timelines, but finally found the rhythm and fell into this story. It is emotional and truly heart warming. Do not miss this one.

I put this ARC off for awhile and what a mistake that was! I thoroughly enjoyed this second chance romance. In a gist, Deacon and LaRynn inherit a shared home from their grandmothers after their passing. After not seeing each other for 8 years following heartbreak as teens, they tentatively decide to team up to fix the house. Throw in a marriage of convenience to access some reno money and forced proximity forcing these two to face their past and overcome so much miscommunication, and you have this gut-punch romance story.

The characters were flawed and real with so much depth I feel like I knew them personally. The romance had me smiling and swooning, but the emotional journey had me tearing up and in all the feels. Highly recommend this one!

ARC received from NetGalley for review.

This is the second Tarah DeWitt book (I finished Savor It in June) and she's one of my new favorite authors.

Writing a second chance romance can be such a tricky balance, but Tarah pulls it off effortlessly. This book was so GOOD! Like I thought about it days after reading it, which is how I know I really loved a book if I'm still thinking about it post read.

One of the things I loved a lot about this book is how Tarah takes the usual romance tropes like marriage of convenience, forced proximity, second chance and lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers and puts her delicious spin on it!

I really loved seeing the flashbacks of Larynn and Deacon as teenagers and then how they're dealing with each other and their feelings in present day. Their journey back to each other was emotional, funny, adorable, and spicy!! It's just really such a great read and I loved everything thing about it!

Do yourself a favor and get this book when it comes out on Nov. 12th!

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Co-Op. The most fun romance story, that somehow handles grief with the perfect amount of grace and humor. This book has every trope you need: marriage of convenience/fake marriage, enemies to lovers, one bed, second chance romance and more! I love that Deacon and LaRynn learn to communicate and feel all their feelings.
Something everyone should learn. The spice is spicin' and the romance is sweet. How are Tarah's characters so loveable?! Even the side characters have my heart!
This book will be out on Nov 12th, preorder now!
Thank you for the ARC St. Martin's Griffin!

The Co-op was a cute, romance that took FOREVER to actually let happen. I was so annoyed by that but other than the slow burn, it was good, The characters are adorable and the author did a good job.

“Play house with me?”

I adored this book to so much! Rynn comes back to her grandmother’s place to fix it up, only to be reconnected with Deacon. In order for them to fix it up they must access LaRynn’s trust. The only catch is she must be married. This is A SLOW BURN, marriage of convenience.

LaRynn comes back feeling lost and uncertain, which I can totally relate too. I loved seeing her find stand up for herself and finding her happiness. Side note, I loved that Tarah made her tall.

Deacon, I love you! He is a cinnamon roll but fiercely protective of Rynn. I was giggling at there banter. He was so smitten. I loved seeing him and Rynn get past well their issues. I cannot stop thinking him.

“I hate when I have to spend my days waiting for my nights with you. Or my nights waiting for my days with you.”

Tarah DeWitt gives all the good banter in this novel. Enemies to lovers is a favorite trope for good reason and her building of it is masterful in The Co-Op. I can’t wait to see what she does next

2⭐️

I went into this thinking I was going to love it. I had seen such great reviews, and normally, I am pretty easy to please. I'm not too harsh of a critic.

I read the first 19 chapters about 2 weeks ago and can't really tell you what I read except that I didn't like it. I almost DNF'd because the story is just all over the place. The FMC, LaRynn, her mood flipped on a dime. The story went back and forth between past and present, and even though it was labeled as such, I would forget that reading because it's like nothing changed.

This was a marriage of convenience trope, and normally, when that happens, you're supposed to be proving to those around you that you're married. Well... Deacons mom came over, and they just kind of acted like awkward friends. The angst that should have been there was missing. And the miscommunication from the past took FOREVER to resolve, which really messed with the whole story, in my opinion.

I loved the premise of the book. I was thinking it would be so cute, friends to lovers, to enemies, who now own a house and decide to renovate it. The parts I did love were the renovation when they finally decided to be "friends" (after they were already married) and work together to get the house finished.

What spice there was was really good, in my opinion, but I wanted more.

This one just fell flat and I'm really sad about it.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC and the opportunity to review the book.

First of all, I love this new cover! So beautiful. The story is really good- I’m a fan of enemies to lovers! The banter and bickering had me laughing.

This book was on my TBR for far too long. LaRynn and Deacon were friends to enemies to lovers that still had all the same feelings and lots of fire. Add in marriage of convience with a dash of forced proximity, and you have a perfect trope round up. They both own half a house, they need to fix up said house to sell it and get out of each other's hair. He has the skills and she has the funds, but only if she is married. (cause of course) So when they get married and start fixing up the house, they obviously keep fighting one another and old feelings.
There was so much tension and I absolutely loved that we got to see both POV because Deacon was just as crushed when she left as when he crushed her heart all those years ago. When you find the one, but you are too young and scared to realize it? That is what this is. But when it comes back into your life, you need to grab ahold of it with both hands and cherish it and not let go.
I loved there was no third act break up! Yay! I just fell in love with the whole story and am mad I didn't get to experience it sooner.
Thanks to St. Martins, Netgalley and Tarah DeWitt for an early copy.