I wanted to like this book more but I just couldn’t. I almost didn’t finish it a few times.
I really liked the hero of the story but the female main character I just didn’t like her. Didn’t understand her. I also felt like there was a lot of miscommunication over the past and things could have come together sooner.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Griffin for access to this re-release via NetGalley, and thank you to Tarah DeWitt for LaRynn and Deacon!

Guys. Marriage of convenience, construction zone wars, bitterness about the end of their relationship the first time, and some grandma's who are meddling for the grave... it's all amazing.

This book has all the complex emotions we've come to expect from DeWitt, with fun, self-discovery, healing, and spice all mixed in.

I particularly enjoyed Deacon's pursuit of LaRynn. He knows he messed up when they were in high school, and she never came back. He carries his own bitterness towards her at the beginning, but once he finally saw through her cracks, his understanding of LaRynn transformed into the most beautiful love for her.

I also loved that this book made me laugh. There were heavy topics here, but Tarah always seems to find a way to make them real and important and impactful, and she's done that again here.

Five stars! Out in November!

Okay this book has SO many of my favorite tropes- second chance romance, marriage of convenience, forced proximity- all within the context of a home renovation, which I’ve been loving lately. The plot, will not the most unique, was hilarious, entertaining (lots of pranks/banter) and filled with so much love. I LOVED THIS ONE!

A Tarah DeWitt book has been on my to-read list for a long time, so when I got the opportunity to read Co-Op I was really excited. The description of the book largely summarizes what it's about - two people who had a previous relationship are forced to live together under not so pleasant circumstances. I enjoyed that the book didn't shy away from the impact neglect had on children in different forms, and how it can alter the way we behave as adults. And sometimes that made the main characters a little mean to each other, but as readers we are supposed to understand why. It actually took me out of the book - I've never read a book before where the two main characters actively dislike each other for so long. The length of time it took them to be even neutral with each other took the majority of the book, and the piece of the story where they actively work to get along with each other and then build feelings felt minimal in comparison. Because of this, I would rate the story a 2.5.

if there is one thing about tarah is she is going to make me feel so unbelievably seen with her characters!!
if you love black cat + golden retriever, marriage of convenience, and characters that will hit you hard read this book!!
I was lucky enough to read the new trad version and it did not disappoint. I loved seeing the growth between the indie and trad!!
La Rynn and deacon have a lot of history with each other. not everything has been easy for them. watching them learn to be vulnerable with each other and begin to create a new and better friendship was so special. their relationships had it’s ups and downs but they pushed through and worked on them together. deacon is such a sweetheart. I loved that he loved La Rynn for who she is and didn’t want her to change.
now I loved watching them fix up this house. I thought it was something so different and fun to read about. I highly recommend this book and any book tarah has out there 🤍

I rated this book 4.5 stars, but I'll round up because Tarah DeWitt has a remarkable talent for evoking deep emotions in her readers. While LaRynn and Deacon’s turbulent relationship started off slowly for me, I eventually grew to love both characters. The portrayal of family dynamics and how childhood experiences shape adult relationships resonated deeply. My only minor critique is that the French theme felt a bit overemphasized at times; there were moments when I thought, "We get it, she’s French!" However, as I became more immersed in the story, this aspect became less noticeable. Tarah’s previous book, “Savor It,” was what drew me into romance novels this summer, and I’m eagerly looking forward to exploring more of her work. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC of this book. I loved it! The author did a fabulous job of building up tension throughout the beginning of the book. I was rooting for LaRynn and Deacon to get together. I couldn't wait for it. When they finally did the book did not disappoint. It had everything I wanted and had been waiting for. I love that the book wrapped up in a beautifully happy package and that they got everything they wanted. A lot of romance books have that moment where something happens and you just aren't sure the character are going to get together and I'm so happy this story didn't have that. I love that they got together and the author gave them their happy ending uninterrupted.

I love Tarah’s books so much. Her characters are always interesting and her storylines are addicting. This is one of my favorite books of hers. The enemies to lovers, the banter and hijinks were hilarious and made for such a fun time reading it! I love a home renovation rom-com because what can go wrong will and it makes for amazing tension! I highly recommend this book and all of Tarah’s books for that matter!

I love how this author writes characters. They are all beautifully flawed and relatable. A marriage of convenience. A dilapidated house left by a scheming relative. And two people who really don’t want to give in.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the second-chance romance trope and the flashbacks to the first summer LaRynn and Deacon got together. This book had some deeper themes such as grief, depression, and family issues; but this book was a lovely and mostly light hearted read! I would recommend this to anyone who wants a second-chance, marriage of convenience romance!

I adored this book. I usually get frustrated with second-chance romance, when one character forgives the other so easily it feels silly, but it felt like LaRynn and Deacon both made mistakes and had room to grow after their original relationship. I loved getting to see their growth happen on the page, especially as it brought them together. I also liked that LaRynn was so hands-on in the renovations--this is definitely in my top 3 renovation romances.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of The Co-op in exchange for an honest and independent review.

The Co-op is a close proximity, second chances, enemies to lovers romance novel for the ages! All my three favorite tropes rolled up into one beautiful work of art. I loved that fact that LaRynn and Deacon have a solid history to build upon along with their connection through their adorable grandmothers. Almost a decade ago, LaRynn and Deacon had a brief but intense summer fling that ended in heartbreak and feelings for each other that would linger for a lifetime. When both of their grandmother's pass away (who were married to each other), their house on the coast of Santa Cruz is left to LaRynn and Deacon to oversee. In hopes of turning a profit that would benefit them both, they mutually decided to renovate the home and cash out big, no string attached. However, it's impossible to renovate this size of a house with no funds. Never fear, there's a catch! LaRynn has a sizeable trust fund waiting for her on the grounds that she is married before she can access it. Queue a shotgun wedding at the courthouse for LaRynn and Deacon, which is ironic considering they cannot stand to be in the same room together for more than mere seconds. This could go from bad to worse quickly.

Over the next several months, they will push each other boundaries and feelings to the limit and rehash what happened between the two of them almost ten years ago in hopes of avoiding the same mistakes in the future. Can the two come together to successfully renovate their grands home and NOT kill each other in the process? Are they able to put their last time together behind them for the sake of building a new future together filled with love and second chances? With these two in charge, literally anything is possible and I loved every moment of their journey.

LaRynn is such a strong female lead who has realistic anxieties and short comings. Her character is incredibly relatable in the sense that you cannot always tell a book by its cover. On the surface, LaRynn appears to have it all in her younger years: the car, the mansion, the clothes, the legs. Under the surface she feels abandoned, unloved, manipulated, anxious, confused and just lost. She wants a soft place to land with people that love her. Deacon is a striking male lead that wants nothing more than to help build LaRynn into the woman she desires to be and he'll do anything for her. They support each other and build each other up in a way that's healthy and natural. She is his biggest cheerleader, even after all of these years. All in all, I love their story and I just couldn't help but root for them the entire way. I loved the ending to the book and felt like as a reader, we received perfect closure after becoming so invested in their story. This will be the perfect read to curl up to by the fire this fall. The Co-op releases Nov 12th and I highly recommend you add this one to your upcoming TBR list!

Probably a 3.5. An enjoyable second chance romance! I loved how the story centered around the two main characters relationships with their grandmothers. For someone who had a special relationship with hers, it really hit home. This was a little too much of a slow burn for me. For a book that comes with a note about sex positivity, there wasn't much of it. I loved the well written banter and that there wasn't a third act break up which I had anticipated.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

Tarah DeWitt’s renovated and remodeled (pun-intended) edition of The Co-op is a second chance romance that explores what happens when physical and metaphorical walls are coming up and being torn down, all while grappling with the inherent messiness of life, love, and construction, as two people who had a contentious summer fling in their teens are forced to work together on a house renovation after their grandmothers pass away and leave the two of them their dilapidated building.

LaRynn Lavigne doesn’t want to be back in Santa Cruz. She also doesn’t want her life to be falling apart at the seams, but you can’t always get what you want — if you even know what you want, which, if she’s being honest, she doesn’t. Still reeling over the loss of her grandmother, and barely speaking to her parents, she reluctantly shows up at Santa Cruz to help deal with the house that her grandmother (Cecelia), and her grandmother’s late-in-life partner (Helena), bequeathed her and one of Helena’s grandsons. The house, and the memories it contains, mean everything to her, but going back to Santa Cruz also means reliving moments of her life that she wishes she could forget, and needing to interact with the person who she opened herself up to a decade ago, only to have her heart smashed to pieces.

Deacon Leeds is in a bind. He’s been single-handedly dealing with the deteriorating home that his grandmother, Helena, and her partner, Cecelia, left to him and LaRynn. Deacon is a construction guy and knows how to work with his hands and fix almost anything, but he doesn’t have enough hands, enough hours in a day, or enough money to deal with their grandmothers’ house on top of his job and other obligations. He can’t do it all by himself — trust him, he would if he could — but the person who is supposed to help him is the person who he doesn’t want to see. LaRynn is haughty, mean, and a closed book — a total brat, in Deacon’s opinion. But he wants to do right by their grandmothers, which means doing right by their house, which means he’ll have to work with LaRynn, the woman he hasn’t been able to get out of his head for years, despite the disastrous way their summer fling ended.

Trouble is, in order to access her trust fund, LaRynn needs to be married. LaRynn and Deacon agree to get married to access the money for the renovations. They’ll work together to fix up and sell the house, collect the money from the sale, then split up.

Easier said than done. As the house’s walls are coming down, LaRynn and Deacon are hiding behind walls of their own, trying not to prod at the still sore wound of how their previous relationship ended. But the renovation project necessitates that they set aside their gripes and grudges and learn how to work as a team. As they navigate the difficulties of construction, living in close quarters, their grief at the loss of their grandmothers, and the memories they both have of Santa Cruz, their grandmothers and their house, and each other, their own walls begin to come down. In the mess of renovations, they’re forced to confront their own complicated past and the ways they hurt each other, their personal vulnerabilities, and truths left unsaid. Perhaps you have to tear everything down until all that’s left is the frame and the foundation in order to build up something more sturdy, solid, and true.

I read The Co-op in less than a week, a fact which I think speaks for itself. DeWitt wastes no time getting the story rolling, dropping us in the middle of the messy situation the characters find themselves in. The dual timeline of the book — present day with the construction project, and “before” during LaRynn and Deacon’s summer fling — helps provide context to their messy history while keeping the pace of the plot moving. Messiness is a core theme of the book, and I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the big messes that are the main characters of The Co-op. LaRynn and Deacon are flawed and messy, and this not only makes them realistic but also makes them characters that readers will sympathize with and root for. They have tempers — which flare (often) and clash (also often) — they’re unafraid to be petty, they contain multitudes and layers, they make plenty of mistakes, and they have their own personal shit that they have to reconcile and learn to live with, in healthy ways. They are well-rounded, well-developed, unique, and have strong and complicated inner lives. They have to learn to accept, love, and appreciate their own messes, as well as each other’s messes. Life, like construction, is messy; instead of wishing the mess away, we really start living and appreciating life when we’re able to embrace and lean into the messiness and the often perpetual work it takes to better ourselves, our relationships, and our homes.

“Just like the house that once felt like it would never be done, like there was more to fix or address around every corner… even in the mess, I think this is still livable, too. There’s something to love here, in this place where our relationship exists. And maybe if we keep working at it, eventually it will be somewhere comfortable — maybe even lovely – too.”

The underlying message of The Co-op is that life and relationships are projects — like construction renovations — that we’re perpetually working on, building, and making better. This metaphor runs the risk of being overdone and feeling forced, but DeWitt strikes a great balance between subtlety and obviousness, and the risk undoubtedly pays off. The frustrations and setbacks of LaRynn and Deacon’s home renovation intertwine well with the ups and downs of their rocky relationship and project partnership. There are moments where it feels like for every step forward, they wind up taking three steps back. Sometimes the renovation is going well, construction is moving quickly and they’re able to stay on budget, but they’re fighting left and right, their relationship at a low point. Other times, they seem to be making strides in getting along and understanding each other, but the construction project is grinding to a standstill, parts unavailable or backordered, the work taking longer than expected. Renovation projects and relationships both take work, they both require patience, they both can be frustrating and emotional and tiresome. And with both, you have to try: try your best, try to be patient, try to understand. Not every moment will see harmonious agreement and unobstructed progress, and there will always be something else to work on, something else to improve, but caring and trying make all the difference. Despite what they might say to the contrary, Deacon and LaRynn both care deeply, and they are learning to try: for their grandmothers, for each other, and for themselves.

“The trying was what it was really about. I’d begun to believe that trying was its own love language. Trying to understand a person, trying to make them happy, trying to make yourself happy, too.”

I highly recommend this book — it will make you smile, it will make you laugh, it will pull at your heartstrings (and maybe make you cry). The Co-op celebrates and honors the messiness of life and the vulnerability it takes to pick yourself up off the ground and continue to try, try, and try again.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of this book before its (re)publication.

LaRynn and Deacon's story is a complicated one filled with lust, heartbreak, and anger. Through the hardships and the looking back on the past they find a solace together. Being stuck in a house together they must find out how to work together to fix up the place that was left in a trust to them. Find out how they come together and the hurdles they jump though to finish the renovation and find love along the way. Read the Co-Op today!

I had the opportunity to get an arc for The Co-Op and I am forever grateful because I loved it! It’s the second book I’ve read from Tarah Dewitt and it did not disappoint. I feel like Tarah does a really great job at creating complex characters that you can’t help but root for. LaRynn and Deacon: where do I even start!! The spice! The dancing! The bickering! Their love!! I’m obsessed with them. Both LaRynn and Deacon grow so much throughout this book, but LaRynn’s character growth specifically was so impactful to me. By the end, she understood that being honest & vulnerable isn’t a weakness; I felt so proud, I just loved her so much! The Co-Op tackles heavy topics like grief and abandonment, but there is so much resiliency and love and laughs. I actually laughed out loud a few times while reading this, especially when LaRynn makes a joke referencing The Office lol. Discovering Tarah Dewitt has been, in a way, life changing. Mainly because her books suck you in and her characters are so relatable that you can’t help be feel ✨seen✨. The Co-Op will be available on 11/12/24 so be sure to pick up a copy!!!

Another beautiful love story from Tarah! Following these characters as they overcome their fears and open their hearts was a giggly, teary-eyed journey. The writing as always draws you; bringing the characters to life. Could not recommend more!

1.5 stars
what a disappointment.

Three hundred something pages about 2 people who don’t know how to communicate and express their feelings with each other :/

This a rerelease book and author mentioned that she changed almost everything I think, so I don’t know if the previous publication was better or not…. but this one was bad.

The fmc was SOOO selfish, I understand that she had her reasons but omggg she was so infuriating and childish, the switch in how she acted every other scene was making me go insane, I’m not even going to talk about the toothbrush scene, she would snap at anyone who tried to get closer to her, I don’t really know how the mmc could stand her. I disliked Deacon too.

The story had so much potential but it just fell flat it was bland, boring, it was like a roller coaster.. I would like one chapter and then I would hate the next 6 chapters. The whole reason behind everything was stupid.
(spoiler)and don’t get me started on the name on their daughter name. DOT? SERIOUSLY? the worst name ever, even Nara Smith chooses better name for her kids😶

I can’t believe that this is the same author that wrote funny feelings. I wasted my time reading this.

i think the low rating is a me thing. i wanted so deeply to enjoy this, but something didn’t click. i liked the characters enough and the setting, just something wasn’t there. one of the biggest things i appreciate though is how far the epilogue went out.

thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this arc.

Tarah Dewitt is the queen of tension! This book had me wrapped up so tight! And I. Was. Here. For. It.

The Co-Op is about two people finding themselves and fighting for the love that they really want in each other, when they’ve never been given great examples of how to love and to gain emotional maturity. LaRynn and Deacon, both grandchildren by marriage of their “grands” would spend summers and holidays together at their grands. The summer before college they have a fling. It’s not supposed to go anywhere, but at the end of the summer one says I love and the other doesn’t. Years later, the hurt and bitterness is still there, but now the grands are gone and they’ve left their run down apartment to both Deacon and LaRynn. Now they must come together, work through their emotions and renovate the apartment so they can sell it. Old hurts, feelings of rejection from parents and each other, love and new feelings all develop. Their histories made them, but they are choosing to change what could be to something better. What you get is petty behavior (that will make you laugh out loud), snarky banter, teasing and phew it is hot!

“Oscar, you remember LaRynn from the other night?” I blurt. “My wife.” Jensen snorts before he starts laughing silently. LaRynn slow-swivels my way with a look that is no doubt meant to eviscerate me on the spot.

“I mean,” Jensen laughs, “Peeing on her would’ve been more subtle, man.”

And, a fake marriage, “my wife” scenes and feelings feeling just do it for me!

This is a must add to your TBR. And while you’re at it, add Savor It, another of my faves of Tarah’s.

Tropes:
Marriage of convenience
Second chance romance
Forced proximity
Slow Burn

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Tarah Dewitt for allowing me to read an advanced complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.