The banter, the connection, the spice! So so good! Loved the setting and the MMC (coming from a blue collar wife) Tarah is ON A ROLL!

I always love a good romance with angst, and boy, did The Co-Op deliver!! I can see where some readers may find the two main characters immature and frustrating. I definitely had a few moments where I wanted to shake them and beg for those two to JUST TALK!!!!! I really enjoy Tarah’s writing style and the fact we don’t get a third act break up here was the cherry on top of a great romance. I kind of expected some sort of blow up or climax regarding Larynn’s relationship with her father, but I appreciate that not all familial ties are worth redeeming or trying to salvage. Also, can we talk about the epilogue?????? I always want some sort of future update with romances and I got exact what I’m always begging authors for - so thank you Tarah 😩😭

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and the author for sending me an early copy!

You know an enemies to lovers story where the characters seem to have no connection and the book seems to have no real plot? That as The Co-Op for me. I was expecting a fun, flirty romance with a side of DIY home construction, but I got a book where the characters quickly went from hating each other to loving each other with little-to-no conversation about the actual home renovations. Bummer.

When LaRynn and Deacon’s grandmothers leave them a home in their will, the two must finally face their enemies to pick up the pieces. While they had a fling as teenagers, hurt feelings led to miscommunication, leading to a mutual disdain for one another. In order to access her trust fund to repair the falling apart home, LaRynn needs to get married, and unfortunately it seems Deacon is her only hope at accessing the account.

This book should have everything – enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, one bed for two characters, and a side of home renovation, but I just found the plot to be lacking any substance. It’s like I blinked and LaRynn and Deacon went from jumping down each other’s throats to jumping down each other’s clothes. This feels like a book that will be quickly forgotten in the grand scheme of romances I read this year, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book was super cute!! I’ve seen a lot of great reviews for it, and I agree with all of them. It had a lot of fantastic tropes that were used in unique ways - marriage of convenience, forced proximity, second chance…everything was done so well.

The writing really flowed, and the author created a story that I could relax and get lost in. I loved the flashbacks with Deacon and LaRynn and kept wanting to learn more about their past. There were a lot of great topics that the author tackled, and the story was a perfect balance of humour, romance, and conflict.

If you’re a romcom lover, I definitely recommend you pick this one up.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for my gifted copy!

I went into this book with no idea what it was about. I judged it on the cover and I am SO glad I did! This book had me from the first few lines about mortifying moments. I knew I'd be able to relate to LaRynn since my life is always riddled with mortifying markers of time. This story is about Deacon and LaRynn, who met as teens when their grandmothers fell in love, and inevitably the two bonded and fell in love as well. After not talking for many years, the two must reconnect after inheriting their grandmothers' home. They must work together to renovate the home to sell it. Along the way, Deacon and LaRynn work through the loss of both their grandmothers and find their way back to one another as well. I lost both of my beloved grandparents this year, so the death of their grandmothers hit me a bit harder. Also, Sally was the funniest part of the book. A sassy little old lady who made a great addition the story. This book had humor, emotion and all the spice as well. It was wonderful! I had never read a book by Tarah DeWitt before and I can't wait to read more. Funny Feelings and Savor It are next on my list.

- Marriage of Convenience
- Forced proximity / roommates
- Second Chance romance

Trigger warning - death of a loved one. Off screen though. The author did a great job sharing all the trigger warnings right at the beginning of the book. So make sure to read if you are on the fence.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

one of the greatest books i’ve ever read in my entire life !!! i love this author so much and i love these characters more than myself

I loved this!!🩷🩷 Super fun, cute, quick, and I loved both main characters. The marriage of convenience and forced proximity tropes were done really well, the banter was great, and there was even second chance romance. It was a super fast read and I couldn't put it down absolutely loved it!!!!

I love this book so much!!! I wasn’t sure it would live up to the hype and it absolutely did!! Thank you for letting me read this!!

With recent deaths in the family, our two main characters now are left with a ruined house to inherit and co-own; however, the catch is that the only way to gain access to their inheritance and be able to renovate and sell the house, is to get married. Sounds simple enough, right? Well these two had a summer fling 10 years ago leaving them heartbroken and now they can't stand each other.

I was sold the second I saw "marriage of convenience," but this book serves up some of my other favorite tropes too: small town vibes, enemies to friends to lovers, second chance romance., slow burn, forced proximity.

I loved the character development and how honest, raw and relatable to two main characters were. The banter and the way they were at odds with each other was so entertaining, but once they were able to admit their faults and move on from it, the connection they forged was so healthy and comforting.

This book was humorous, thoughtful, and such an enjoyable read! I can't wait to see what Ms. Tarah Dewitt will do next!

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in return for my opinion.
The Co-Op is billed as a Rom Com by Tarah DeWitt. In many ways it it but it is also a book that have daily multi mention al characters who’ve experienced trauma and have some major issues they need to address.
This is a “ I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it book” for a little while about a 1/3 of the way in, I seriously considered DNF ing it. However, I persisted and I’m glad I did because I did get a HEA.

Enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience and forced proximity. Not to mention they had a summer fling as teenagers.

Larynn and Deacon really hated each other at the beginning. But being forced to work together and be together, you can see their walls come down and the old feelings return to the surface.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have mixed feeling about this book! I really liked the second half but felt like the characters in the first half were completely different than in the second half. They went from mean and spiteful to normal people who recognize that people have feelings. It felt like the entire conflict was based on a lack of communication. That said I loved the home renovation aspect of the story.

Tarah DeWitt is the only person that makes me actually look forward to reading a second chance romance. I read the indie version years ago and I was so happy to get to experience the trad version as well.

The Co-Op is so full of real and gritty emotion, laugh out loud humor, and, of course, good vibrations.

LaRynn and Deacon are so good for each other. LaRynn deserves someone to be soft with and Deacon deserves someone as strong and loyal as LaRynn.

And if you talk shit about Larry you'll have to deal with me. If you can make it through Deacon.

This book was truly enjoyable. However, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed compared to the pace of the rest of the story. The banter was top tier and I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun second chance read

LaRynn and Deacon haven’t seen each other since a decade before when they were teenagers in the midst of a summer fling and Deacon broke LaRynn’s heart. Now they have been awkwardly reunited as co-owners of their married grandmothers’ home. The home is completely run-down and in need of major renovations before they can even begin to sell it. While Deacon has the construction skills to complete the renovations, he has no money to do so, and while LaRynn has a trust fund with plenty of money, the only way she can gain access to the funds is to get married. LaRynn and Deacon agree to a marriage of convenience in order to gain access to the money they need and thus start working on the house together, living in the house while they work.

I do love a good second chance romance, and in this one, I love how DeWitt uses the backdrop of working on this renovation project as a way for LaRynn and Deacon 1) to realize they really do still have feelings for one another that are way more than just a teen summer fling, and 2) to really confront what happened in the past and what is happening between them now. There were both some emotional moments as they explored their past, as well as some more rom-com worthy moments courtesy of the home renovation scenes.

This was my second read from DeWitt this year and I look forward to reading more from her!

LaRyann left the California coast in her rearview mirror years ago. Following the deaths of her grandma and her grandma’s wife, LaRyann finds herself back at their house with the last person she wants to see again: Deacon, her grandma’s wife’s grandson and the man who broke her heart when they were still kids.

I’ve seen this book everywhere, but never picked it up. Marriage of convenience isn’t my usual trope, but it worked so well here. I ate this book up! I loved the forced proximity of LaRyann and Deacon being forced to live in this crumbling house together. There are no doors! All of the quirks and disasters that sprung up added to the tension in the story and I thought it was very well done. While we get flashbacks to their summers together, this book was very much a slow burn. Both main characters are pretty stubborn, and I love how you actually see their growth in communicating with each other. By the time they reconnect I was kicking my little feet.

Read if you like:
Second chance romance
Forced proximity
Marriage of convenience
A beautiful coastal setting
DIY shows

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a review copy. I’m so glad to have finally read this book.

i think that this is a solid romance read! perfect for fans of second chance romance, change and grow characters, and difficult parental relationships explored through fiction. this felt a little disjointed sometimes, or rather the changes of heart or opinion were kind of sudden, but i suppose that is a part of the human condition so not much to be upset about really! just personal preference. and honestly kudos to them for doing a huge reno together in the state they were in! (legos and hanging pictures are trials in my marriage.)

thank you to netgalley & st. martins press for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

I think this is an unpopular opinion because so many people on bookstagram love this one. I loved Funny Feelings, but I didn’t connect to the characters in this book. It was sweet and spicy but not a fave. The middle was way too slow for me. Marriage of convenience also isn’t always my fave! I did like the foxed proximity and second chance aspect however! The home renovation aspect was fun, and I enjoyed the connection the MCs had through their grandmothers. I just wish I believed more in their love and story. If you’re a fan of marriage of convenience I think you may like The Co-op!

🔨marriage of convenience
🔨dual POV
🔨dual timeline
🔨home renovation
🔨spicy

The Co-Op was such a fun read. I love that Tarah gives us these incredibly insightful and deep characters, that we get to unpack while reading swoon worthy love stories. I couldn’t help but fall in love with both Deacon and LaRynn from day one and rooting for their love.

If you like the following this one is for you:
Second chance romance
Found family
Overcoming family struggles and expectation
Finding connection in grief
Volleyball mishaps
Home construction and romance

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book!
I liked this story when I first started it. I thought it was cute with some spice and fun banter. I did find myself a bit bored towards the end as I never fully enjoyed either MC. Overall, it was a cute read and I would recommend it!