I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, but I didn’t love this one. I loved the small-ish town vibes and the side characters. I also loved the story with their grandmothers and the discussions of grief. I did not love the main characters. I disliked LaRynn, I just felt like she was constantly rude to everyone and it was hard to see her full character because I couldn’t get past that. Deacon was fine, but I wished we could’ve had maybe more of him interacting with the community or something. I just was not invested in the romance. The epilogue was beautiful and had me teary-eyed! I will definitely read more from this author, but this one was not for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not always the biggest fan of second chance, but I loved how DeWitt wrote it! And paired with marriage of convenience, so amazing. Deacon and LaRynn both had rough childhoods and trauma from that and I really enjoyed how the author slowly unfolded all that to show how they broke up the first time and slowly fell in love the second. I really appreciated it being dual POV.

I have not related to a character as much as I did LaRynn in a very long time, or EVER. From the first chapter when she got motion sick, I felt connected. From then on, it just kept going. The thoughts and feelings she had just rung a bell, from being to tall and “not smiling enough” to the pressures from her parents. I just really connected with her.

I loved the symbolism of how the further their renovation went along, the more their relationship healed, in the house it all started. The character growth in this book was incredible. All the music references were also so amazing and the book playlist DeWitt created is so good and is in my opinion the perfect driving at night playlist.

I became a big Tarrah DeWitt fan after reading Savor It and was excited to read THE CO-OP. It promised things I tend to gravitate toward: second chance romance, marriage of convenience, and forced proximity and, while it delivered on those tropes, my failure to connect with the main characters created an issue for me.

LaRynn and Deacon each inherit equal shares of the house their grandmothers owned together. The house needs repairs before they can sell it, but there’s a small problem. Deacon has the talent to make the renovations, but lacks the funds. LaRynn has funds available in a trust, but lacks a husband which is a stipulation for her to access the money. Hence, the marriage of convenience. Here’s where the big problem arises - LaRynn and Deacon had a hot and heavy teenage romance that ended badly and haven’t communicated since.

The last 30% of the book was entertaining, but getting there required navigating frequent instances of the MCs failing to communicate. It also felt like the entire house renovation which was central to the plot simply disappeared. Consequently, the book had a ton of promise and just didn’t execute to its potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

“Life feels like it’s happening to me and moving around me, some heavy tide I’m always treading, trying to keep my head above water.”

This is a really solid second-chance, enemies-to-lovers romance. I love the dual POVs and dual timelines, so we get to see their relationship from five years prior that led to their current animosity. LaRynn and Deacon have such good chemistry and their banter works really well. They both have some family trauma, so it’s good when LaRynn finally talks with her mom and Deacon talks through what happened with his parents. I do wish that we got a little more resolution with LaRynn and her dad. I think her familial trauma plays a big part to her character, so it would have beeb ore satisfying for resolution with both of her parents.

It feels a bit like a slow burn, which is right up my alley. But we do get so much from the past so it doesn’t feel like it drags. They take time to reconnect and learn what the past five years have been like. I really love the way everything unfolds regarding the house and especially Sally, the elderly neighbor that was friends with their grandmothers. She absolutely is a scene-stealer.

“You’ll be so happy you were brave.”

I really enjoyed this one and it’s just such a sweet story. It’s funny and loving, raw and vulnerable, and a little spicy.

Thank you to SMP and Tarah DeWitt for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Deacon and LaRynn's story was fantastic and I really liked the dual timeline. This was a fast, fun read with some great characters. I love the tropes of this book - second chance romance and marriage of convenience with a really fun "fixer upper" HGTV vibe.

Tarah DeWitt is going to be an auto-read author for me from this point forward!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️

ARC Review: Pub Date November 12, 2024

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

I legitimately squealed out loud when I was sent this ARC. Tarah Dewitt is an auto-buy, auto-read (auto-obsess) author for me. I read the original version of The Co-op over a year ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But this version? I LOVE it. Everything that was good before has been amplified and reworked to be so amazing.

Deacon and LaRynn are both such phenomenal characters. They are so well rounded and they're pains are so deeply human that they feel like real people. We all know I love when they yearn, and I don't remember the yearning being quite so visceral before. These two are in PAIN and I LOVE IT!

The flashbacks to their summer love makes everything they feel in the present so much more vibrant. I loved the way they healed individually while also taking the time to heal they're shared past and move forward in a way that felt healthy and lasting. These two have my whole heart now.

The flirting, the banter, the SPICE! Y'all Tarah kicked this up a notch and it is a good time! I love the way Deacon and LaRynn fight with each other and for each other. The tension is so good and when it finally snaps it is delicious.

I really enjoyed the side characters so much. They brought life to this beach side town. Sally was an MVP. When she tells Deacon to "kindly eat glass" I nearly spit out my drink. I know we got nearly 30k more words in this edition, but I want more. I would read a whole series of these people in this idyllic little beach town.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅,”𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚.
𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒚. “𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖?”
“𝑰 𝒇*𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕.”

Read November 8-10, 2024

This book is a delightful mix of humor, romance, and the ups and downs of community living. DeWitt’s writing is sharp and engaging, making the characters feel like real friends navigating the chaos of life together. You want to be friends with them.

The story revolves around a group of quirky residents in a co-op, and their interactions are both hilarious and heartwarming. I found myself laughing at their antics while also rooting for their personal growth and relationships. The dynamics between the characters are so well-crafted that I could easily see this as a fun movie—imagine the ensemble cast bringing these vibrant personalities to life!

Overall, “The Co-Op” is a charming read that left me with a smile. If you’re looking for a book that combines laughter with heartfelt moments, this one is a must-read!

Cute romance revisiting a summer teenage romance years later. The feud and miscommunication they started out with was a little obnoxious, but it did create some funny scenarios and set up the rest of the story well. Overall enjoyable and fun.

This is an entertaining, fun read. Decan and LaRynn are interesting, wounded, complex, intriguing, relatable, complicated, strong, entertaining characters. I enjoyed their romance and the path it took to get to their HEA. These two are fun to spend time with. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The story deals with tough family relationships and dynamics in a sensitive and meaningful way. I enjoyed the duel timelines and wasn’t pulled out of the story at any point because of them. The story is easy to read and get into.

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

I enjoyed certain parts of this book. But it took me awhile to get into it. For some reason I felt confused throughout most of the story and didn’t connect with the MC. But the ending of this book was cute.

I appreciated this revised version so much! The author has a gift with the pen, and I’m so glad this couple is getting more love! This was a unique marriage of convenience, with some HGTV vibes that I adored!

There were so many goooood tropes in this book including a second chance romance, marriage of convenience, and forced proximity. When the two main characters are forced to live together at a home that their grandparents left them (they are not blood related, the grandmas were married), they plan to fix it up to sell it. But here's the catch, neither of them have money readily available, and the only money that they can get to fix the house in time, would be provided by the FMC's trust fund, which would be given to her after she gets married. Due to this, the two main characters get married to get access to the trust fund money, and are forced to live together while they fix up the house. It was an overall fun read with a lot of banter between the main characters. The main characters were both likeable (for the most part) and had a lot of layers that were peeled back as the book went on, allowing the reader to understand more about them. I'm just not a fan of the miscommunication that ended their relationship the first time, and that it took them that long to talk about it and actually want to fix the problem. So much time had passed, and even though they were teenagers when the original break up happened, they were grown adults now but they didn't really act like it. The FMC was always so petty and annoying at times with how she was acting.

Thank you to Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

Tarah Dewitt is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I really want to go back and read her blacklist just because she has a way with characters and words that really draws you in and makes you a very real part of the story. This book was absolutely no exception.

LaRynn and Deacon are blasts from the past in this second chance romance. They were both dumb teenagers at once point who grow in capable humans who are just now learning who they are. This book is so good. I wish everyone could read it.

This has to be one of my favorite books of the year. It reminded me of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle. These books were so unique in giving me these gritty, unlikeable characters. They were so flawed and real.

I felt their emotions - the angsty feelings of wanting to protect yourself while also feeling a little bit more. Every time they shared a glimpse of their pain, struggles, and personalities to each other I cried and cheered.

They were both so hurt. And I don’t think that either one’s pain outweighed the other or that either POV outshone the other. Many times, I’ll note that an author favors one character over another and will try to make the reader believe that one character is more hurt or more justified in their actions. But I think in this, Tarah gave us such an open and honest story.

I absolutely loved this book.

This book checked the box of so many romance tropes,forced proximity, enemies to lovers, second chances and marriage of convenience. And it really works well. Two very flawed characters Deacon and LaRynn are left joint ownership of a house which needs repairs and the cash to make them. To access LaRynns inheritance they must marry and that is basis of the story. There is lots of tension and spice while they learn to co-exist. Probably my favorite of Tarah DeWitts romances and I hope she keeps them coming. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press.

I am a huge Tarah DeWitt fan but this one just didn’t land as well with me as her others have. I liked the story and I thought the tropes, marriage of convenience and second chance, were well used. I liked the relationship between the main characters and it was interesting to see the way their relationship now was compared with their relationship in the past. The dual POVs and the differing timelines helped keep the story moving, though there were definitely pacing issues throughout the story. It felt like we lost the HGTV of it all for a bit, only really coming back around to the home reno part of it at the end, which was then rushed. Also not every chapter had a header telling you when it was so it was sometimes jarring to go back and forth in time but not realize that you had. This is also a me specific complaint - I absolutely hated the names of 90% of the characters in the book to the point of distraction. That being said, I’ll still read anything Tarah DeWitt writes because I love her!

Tarah DeWitt does it again 🥹 I loved everything about LaRynn and Deacon’s love story and am so glad to have been gifted an ARC copy! Thank youuuu to Tarah!!!

This was my first time reading this book so I definitely don’t know of the edits made but it was just perfect. LaRynn is our protective, grumpy, black cat FMC who is stuck living in the co-op she owns with Deacon our cinnamon roll, honest, unashamed in his love for her MMC. Their connections besides the deteriorating co-op: their grandmother’s falling in love with one another and owning the co-op, the memories they’ve built, and their never disappearing desire for one another.

The forced proximity, marriage of convenience (I don’t wanna say when but read to find out because I did not expect that twist)🤭, second chance tropes in this romance were everything and more. I genuinely finished the book wanting even MORE of LaRynn and Deacon’s love story! The black cat and the cinnamon roll made the perfect mix, who woulda thought!!!!

Every book of DeWitt’s I read, I know I won’t be left disappointed. She always packs her writing with emotion, beautiful memories from her characters, life lessons + mottos, a good amount of spice, and the most relatable characters that you can see bits and pieces of yourself/who you love/who you’d love to be in.

I have 2 songs for this one:
* All My Love by Noah Kahan (Deacon vibes)
* Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon (both but def LaRynn mainly)

I cannot wait for Left of Forever and to read more of DeWitt’s books🥹🫶🏽✨

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book!

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the last 30% of the book, and I’ve loved Tarah DeWitt’s other books, this was a miss for me.

The biggest issue for me was that the tropes didn’t really work together. The marriage of convenience was completely unnecessary. This is told in past and present timelines, which I typically LOVE because they can add so much to the build up of the conflict, but the chapters in the past were so anticlimactic.

This book was the slowest of burns, but in the best way. It was needed in order for the relationship between Deacon and LaRynn to develop and mature. The way these two grew throughout the book was so great to read. 10/10 for character development. I especially loved getting glimpses of the two from "before" so you can see why there was animosity and hurt between the two and what they needed to work through in order to be happy. I think the biggest thing that was the issue between these two was communication, but obviously they each had their own reasons for not openly communicating and being vulnerable.

LaRynn is the black cat of the story. She is the phrase "looks like she can kill you, is a cinnamon roll." Once you get past her tough exterior and break down her walls, she is a loyal friend who you want in your corner. While she lived in the lap of luxury during childhood, that does not mean that it was good. She was often neglected by her parents and never seemed to come first. She was constantly moving which made it difficult to form friendships and ties. Because of that she felt the need to harden herself to avoid getting hurt. She was also deeply closed off and would not openly share how she was feeling, especially with Deacon in the "before."

Deacon is such a golden retriever. He seems like the embodiment of sunshine and is also extremely loyal. He is so down bad for LaRynn, which confused me as he seemed totally in love with her in both the "before" and the present. Later we learn why he made the decisions he did, which in turn caused so much hurt and dislike. Deacon knew that although LaRynn was difficult, not to give up. His time and affection paid off.

I think the fact that these two were renovating a place together was the perfect symbolism. While renovating the condo, they also were renovating their lives and growing together in order to be better for one another. They tore down walls, both metaphorically and literally, and opened up to one another about insecurities and past feelings. It was truly a beautiful love story to read. My only complaint was the I wish we got some sort of closer with LaRynn's dad as he seems to be the main source of her troubles.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Co-Op might just be my favorite second chance romance ever! This story was absolutely wonderful. While it has moments of humor, it definitely leans toward the darker side of romcoms, dealing with real-world issues like depression, abandonment, verbal abuse, and profound grief. It’s raw, heartfelt, and utterly compelling.

I adored watching LaRynn and Deacon’s journey from former flames to reluctant partners, slowly learning to be vulnerable with each other in a way they couldn’t when they were younger. The renovation of their grandmothers’ house served as a perfect backdrop for their own emotional restoration. It was beautiful to see their friendship heal and evolve while they worked together to rebuild both the house and their relationship.

The brokenness they both carried felt so real, and I loved how they supported each other through it. The story captures many forms of love, from familial to romantic, and it does so with incredible depth. The steamy romance was the perfect cherry on top of this emotional journey. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a second chance romance that’s raw, real, and full of heart.