This is a fun and spicy second chance romance. Forced to live together while renovating their grandmothers’ house, Deacon and LaRynn find they might not be as over each other as they hoped.
With lots of tension, this romance is a lot of fun and a great palette cleanser between heavier fantasy books or emotional reads.

LaRynn and Deacon have know each other since they were kids. Each summer they would visit their grandmothers and became closed. Both their grandmothers were happily married until they recently passed away one after the other.

They both inherited their grandmothers home and are trying to renovate to sell it and be on their way. However they must live together while doing it and it seems these two just can't get a long. There is history there and in order for LaRynn to get her inheritance money she must marry, so they decide it's beneficial for them to do so.

There was a lot of bickering throughout this story, at
Times and a lot of sweet moments. If you're looking for a funny marriage of convenience book this is for you.

Release day is November 12th

Thank you to the author and net galley for letting me advance read this book.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this story.

Maybe it was the characters- I found it hard to connect with either one. They just… existed, but didn’t do much in my opinion throughout the story. Certainly nothing memorable.

Maybe it was the dual timeline which I didn’t think was necessary. Nothing in the ‘before’ brought much to the present story. I’ve read plenty of second chance tropes over the years and if written well, a reader is able to piece together the information from a couple’s past without the extra chapters that do little to drive the plot forward other than drag the pacing.

Maybe it was the lack of chemistry and relationship development. Because the MC’s interactions seemed to only revolve around miscommunication.

Best part of the story- The epilogue.

This book was cute and fun! The writing was good and the characters were likeable. I also really enjoyed the banter at the beginning. The plot was interesting and I really liked the flashback scenes (i wish there were more). I felt like it dragged a bit by the end of the book but I still enjoyed the story. Overall, I liked the book, but didn’t love it as much as I thought I would and if I’m being honest, it felt pretty forgettable. I do recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick, fun read with second chance romance!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Can LaRynn and Deacon cooperate long enough to finish the renovations?

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had avoided each other since they had a fling one summer when they were both staying with their grandmothers. Now they had to deal with their grandmother’s estate in Santa Cruz because they shred ownership of the grandmother’s building but it needs a lot of work. But LaRynn has the money in a trust to pay for the renovation but she needs to be married to get the money and Deacon knows how to do the work. Can they just cooperate long enough to finish the project before putting the building up for sale?

If you like book with second chances and a marriage of convenience with a couple that has to learn to deal with getting along while they renovate and fall in love!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This really dragged for me unfortunately. The book doesn’t really get going until around the 80% mark which is far too late to get into. And I had trouble connecting with both lead characters. The flashback scenes didn’t really connect well to the scenes in the present and I’m still not clear on why they broke up in the first place. I wish there had been a bit more relationship development and a bit less of superfluous things like the carsickness.

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

The Co-op covers a forced proximity, marriage of convenience, friends-strangers-lovers tropes where LaRynn and Deacon are renovating their grandmothers home. The renovation is forcing them to become friends again and work through their past history. Both characters have many flaws and poor examples of love in their upbringing. They worked through their issues to keep their grandmothers home intact while also reliving past memories of the summers spent there. Cute summer/fall read for us romance lovers.

Thank you NetGalley and Tarah Dewitt’s team with the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I was looking forward to reading this one as the premise sounded promising. I enjoyed how the novel was written with its dual POV, which also integrated chapters around LaRynn and Deacon teenage fling. The two are unfortunately brought back together after their grandmothers passing, leaving them the dual ownership of the home. What first starts as enemies, turns into a friendship and then to a marriage of convenience in order to access LaRynn’s family trust money. With the moneys arrival, they can flip the house and move on with their separate lives. While in close proximity a lot of the history the two share resurfaces and brings up the main issue of failed communication from the teen hood. Miscommunication is one of those tropes that I either love or can’t get behind. With The Co-op, I found it to drag on for longer than needed (almost 70% in before they actually talk about why there’s so much animosity between them) which really frustrated me!! The lack of communication lead to the MCs acting like teenager all over again, which is fine, for a short amount of time. I still loved the grandmothers and Sally so much and ultimately still appreciated the relationship development between LaRynn and Deacon but wished they just communicated sooner!!

3.5/5

✵𝖬𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖲𝗍. 𝖬𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝗇’𝗌 𝖯𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌 & 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖦𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋’𝗌 𝖢𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐.✵

I wanted to badly to love this one but I honestly just had a really hard time getting into it. Its certainly possible it was a "me problem", others I spoke to about it seem to love it, and I can't really put my finger on what I didn't love. I was just very tepid about the entire experience. I did enjoy the ending, and even cried in the epilogue but it took me almost two weeks to wade through it.

The plot, the banter, the characters, the romance—all came pretty damn close to perfection. Though there were certain things I would change and/or leave out, I enjoyed this read a whole lot!
 
Deacon was a great hero, and I found myself attached to him from the get-go. He’s your typical misunderstood MMC, but I enjoyed his character nonetheless.
 
LaRynn, just like Deacon at times, could be annoying and stuck up, but overall she had admirable traits.
 
Together, Deacon and LaRynn had some of the best banter I’ve experienced and the HOTTEST tension!!! The closer they got, the better the character development, which is a big thing for me. I love when the hero and the heroine get that all-consuming, life-changing love that betters who you are as a person and a lover.
 
To sum it up, this was romantic, funny, and a very entertaining story! The hype is well deserved.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗥𝗖!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Tarah DeWitt for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!


The story follows LaRynn and Deacon, who were first introduced by their grandmothers then they fell in love, and then again after the grandmothers had both passed away and left their grandchildren to co-own their home. LaRynn has money in her trust that she can use to renovate the home, but the condition on the trust requires her to be married in order to access the funds. So obviouslyyy, LaRynn and Deacon decided to get married in order for her to access it. The romance between LaRynn and Deacon was not my favorite if I am going to be honest. Their romantic evolution felt forced and while they did have some very cute and heartwarming moments, I just didn’t really feel their connection or spark, even despite them having history during their teenage years.


Overall, a good read but it was not my favorite :/

Tropes:
- marriage of convenience,
- slow burn
- dual timelines
- forced proximity
- black cat x golden retriever

As a girl in her late twenties, The Co-Op felt so relatable. Amidst the romance, Tarah Dewitt wrote a beautiful story about growing up and healing, which made LaRynn and Deacon’s relationship such an authentic portrayal of a second-chance romance. I judged, LaRynn especially, too harshly in the beginning as they each were the immature teenage versions of themselves. But with having to try to figure their adult problems out and building healthy communication skills, it was heartwarming to see them lay the foundation to their lives. I guess the actual romance was a bit of a slow burn, but the epilogue wrapped this up for me so wonderfully I could not imagine the story going any other way. It was all so sweet and felt incredibly real.

Posted to Goodreads:

Almost a decade ago, LaRynn and Deacon had a summer romance that ended badly. Now, they are sharing a property. They need money to fix up the apartment; the only way to get that is to get married and access LaRynn’s trust fund. As they spend time together, their fake romance begins to feel real.

I am usually a fan of fake relationship books, but this one didn’t work for me. The story felt slow, and the characters were underdeveloped. Deacon and LaRynn were unlikeable, and the romance was unbelievable. I had high expectations for this book, but, unfortunately, it didn’t live up to them.

Whew was the tension tensioning or what? This was steamy, it was intriguing and I was easily captivated by the storyline!

4.25 ★

First of all, thank you to the publisher, Tarah DeWitt, and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

I read the original version of this book sometime last year, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around! Deacon and LaRynn’s relationship felt very organic, and while it was definitely angsty, the way they came back together after so many years was believable. Although the miscommunication/lack of communication altogether was frustrating at times, it felt realistic to their characters, and while of course they weren’t perfect by the end, their character and relationship development was well done.

The organization of the “before” chapters occasionally felt a little bit sporadic, but not quite enough to take me out of the story. Overall, I thought the build-up made sense and while their eventual reconciliation felt somewhat sudden plot-order-wise, the slower burn through the entire novel made it more realistic and enjoyable to read.

I am always seated for Tarah’s romances and can’t wait to read her next one!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This was my second book by Tarah DeWitt and I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed LaRynn and Deacon’s chemistry and their growth together. LaRynn was a well written, flawed character. If you are a fan of second chance romances and marriages of convenience, then I would recommend checking this one out.

✩4

✦What to Expect✦
•Enemies to friends to lovers
•Marriage of convenience
•Forced proximity
•Second chance
•Renovations
•He calls her Larry
 
✦Characters✦
•LaRynn Lavigne
•Deacon Leeds
 
✦Fav Quotes✦
“I don’t mind your mess”

“I want you for me”

 “I want it all, LaRynn. You’re a fine friend and everything, but I can’t take having less than all of it with you”

✦Thoughts✦
My second Tarah book and I’m a fan!!

These characters were so relatable and lovable because of their flaws and how they grow from their past. Their story had me feeling all the things.

The slow burn of it all and build up to them reconnecting had me squealing!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

I for the most part I found the story entertaining. I dislike flashbacks in most books, and this one was no exception. That being written, I managed to finish this book in a weekend while reading 3 other books so the romance and misunderstandings of Rynn and Deacon deserve 4 stars.

This heartwarming second-chance romance between Deacon and LaRynn is filled with great chemistry and emotional tension. Watching them navigate their past struggles and work through their issues to finally find their way back to each other is both satisfying and touching. Their journey of reconciliation makes for an engaging and sweet read.

This book was an absolute delight. LaRynn is a spunky, strong, heartfelt, sincere, and independent woman with a take-charge attitude. Deacon is a sarcastic, innovative, strong-willed, intelligent, loyal-to-a-fault man. This isn't just a second-chance romance story but also a beautiful story of grief, resiliency, forgiveness, healing, self-love, and the true meaning of home. Tarah DeWitt is the QUEEN of writing a love story that's not just between two characters but also includes those characters falling in love with themselves and learning to heal and grow with one another. These characters have given so much of themselves, and my heart was SO full watching them turn that compassion towards each other and themselves. I loved reading about LaRynn and Deacons' love story and watching them both heal their inner children, exercise emotional intelligence, and strengthen their self-identities. The depth of this book is so profound. Tarah broaches elements of emotional abuse and neglect, broken families, self-worth, loss, and grief with such tender poise. This book is a MUST READ!!!