I'll be honest - I did not imagine I'd love The Co Op and its characters as much as I did. I absolutely loved the story {and all the tropes included!} I can't wait to dig into Tarah's other titles now! Pick it up - you'll love it!

“I don’t care where we end up or what we do as long as I have you."
•

down on her luck and grieving the one adult who was her safe space growing up, LaRynn is drawn back to her grandmother’s california town to figure out what to do with the house she left behind. not only does she feel untethered, but LaRynn also dreads seeing the boy that broke her heart seven summers ago, Deacon. but their meeting is inevitable since he was left half of the house as well.

together, they must navigate what they should do to make the most of their shared property, and not kill each other while doing so. the solution: get married. what could possibly go wrong?
—

Tarah never disappoints, and The Co-Op is another winner! I’m a sucker for forced proximity and second chances, so this was a perfect one for me!
•

this and that:
♡ beach volleyball
♡ bingo nights
♡ campgrounds
♡ chosen family
♡ dancing in the kitchen
♡ dual pov
♡ dual timelines
♡ elderly neighbors
♡ first love
♡ forced proximity
♡ hand tattoos
♡ he teaches her to drive a manual
♡ home renovations
♡ laundry room trysts
♡ marriage of convenience
♡ one bed
♡ open door spice
♡ roommates
♡ second chances
♡ summer drives
♡ teambuilding exercises
♡ toilet testing
•

triggers:
☞ death of a loved one
☞ grief
☞ infidelity
☞ toxic parental relationships

what a stunning stunning gorgeous book woah! i listened to the co-op (pre renovation) a couple months ago and inhaled the entire thing in one sitting, so it’s safe to say i loved it! but tarah somehow made it even better! and made me love it even more!!
deacon and larynn’s dynamic is just so fun to watch!! i love a girl that’s a little mean and a guy that is down so bad he wants her to be mean to him. i love it even more when that mean girl has a soft soft heart and that guy brings it out of her! and getting more of these two from their teenage years and seeing their backstories and glimpses of why they are the way that they are in the present made me love them and the story so so much more!
and i do have to add! i LOVE that tarah upped the spice for this story! deacon and larynn are just so hot! their tension is delicious! and since their story did originate (and fall apart) because of the sex, getting more of that felt very fitting!!!

truly adore this story with my whole heart!

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!

honestly this was so cute and i've been loving the tarah dewitt books she's been on a roll. the cover and characters and writing and all of it was fun!

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.

Tarah DeWitt is truly a master of her craft. From the characters to the setting to the banter, it all works together so well to create a beautiful and utterly human story. I absolutely fell in love with Deacon and LaRynn.

Tarah's writing is so compelling and all consuming I finished this in one sitting. I'm a sucker for second chance romance and this is one of the absolute best! The characters are so flawed which makes them so human and easy to relate to, I was rooting for them the whole time even when they made decisions I didn't agree with. This book is about love, second chances, and having the courage to move past issues into love. The second chance, slow burn, marriage of convenience is done so so well!

This is a must read for romance lovers. I will forever read anything Tarah writes!

“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

4.5 stars!!

ahhh!! Tarah added so much to this story and made me love it even more. I'm so happy we got more context to Deacon and LaRynn's past, it added so much more to the story and their rekindling.

I love a marriage of convenience so much, but add in all the angst and old feelings from their previous relationship that ended in heartbreak?!? Truly, fantastic banter, tension you could cut with a knife and a second chance romance that has you rooting for these two to get it right this second time around.

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!