Pleasantly angsty lovers-to-enemies-to lovers story.

Years ago, LaRynn and Deacon hooked up over a summer, each falling in love with the other while--to protect their own feelings--maintaining it was just a fling. LaRynn admits her love and is shut down by Deacon, after which she doesn't speak to him for the next seven years. Now, though, she can't avoid him: their grandmothers, who married late in life, have left them equal shares their beloved if poorly maintained home. They have to sell or rent out the property, but first they need to renovate and bring it up to code--but with what money? LaRynn has a trust fund, but to access it, she has to be married. Cue the rivals agreeing to a marriage of convenience that is decidedly inconvenient.

Since the book is told in dual first-person perspectives, I liked them both from the beginning. That said, it really picked up steam for me as a romance once they started talking to each other and not just needlessly agitating the other. The whole story was engrossing, even if I wanted to tell them to stop acting like the hurt kids they once were and talk to each other like adults. They figure that out on their own, though, and from there the angst takes on a new dimension--will they stay married once the renovation is done and they have nothing left to force proximity?

Overall, another good read from an author to watch.

👵🏻🪚🏖️🩷🪴

Thank you St Martin's Press & netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute!!! I love a second chance romance! I really enjoyed that this book had a nice mix of plot and romance. It deals with heavier themes of grief, loss, neglect and heartbreak, while also having a balance of romance, angst and love. I enjoyed reading about Deacon and LaRynn reconnecting and falling in love all over again. I know that their grands would be so proud of them 🥺🥺🥺

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel good read!!

Tropes:
- slow burn
- second chance romance
- forced proximity
- "it's always been you"

Pub date: November 12 - get your copy with this gorgeous new cover now!

I found it really hard to get into this, it just felt slow. I usually read a good chunk of a book when I pick it up, but this took me a few days to get into.

I thought this had a lot of potential, but I found myself bored. LaRynn was just mean to everyone. Both her and Deacon had serious communication issues. I get they both had a few reasons to act a certain way but most of the time I felt like they were whining.

Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, but am interested in reading other books by the author!

I received an ARC from Summer Stars Publishing through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I don't normally like second chance, but I really enjoyed this. I love a marriage of convenience. Tension was fantastic

Great for fans of “Beach Read” by Emily Henry.

Includes:
🛠️ FWB to Enemies to Lovers
🛠️ Marriage of Convenience
🛠️ Summertime Setting
🛠️ Forced Proximity
🛠️ Complex family dynamics
🛠️ Spice was a slow burn with lots of sexual tension, but very open door toward the end.
🛠️ “My Wife” trope 😏

While this book had a consistent plot surrounding the renovation of the home, it definitely was a more character-focused story surrounding their growth as individuals and familial impacts. There were time jumps to their past relationship throughout the book. It was building to a catalyst event which ended up dividing them. My main complaint would be that the readers were not given much of that catalyst scene in the end. It felt a little anticlimactic in that way.

However, I felt like the author did an excellent job of making these two main characters genuinely hate/love each other for a majority of the book. Their development together wasn’t rushed and their complex personalities were well drawn out.

I enjoyed so much about this book! A marriage of convenience, forced proximity and a summer fling when they were 18 until miscommunication happens, hearts get broken and then they reconnect close to a decade later. I think it’s safe to say it’s also a second chance romance.
I absolutely loved the setting of this book. I grew up going to Santa Cruz, Capitola and Aptos every summer. It made reading this book so fun for me. Deacon & LaRynn start off not being able to stand each other and have to build the trust between them (again). A lot of miscommunication to start but along the way, things just start to click for them. I love that there was no third act break up. My only drawback is that the build up was so incredibly long (even though you knew what was coming) and then once it there, it finished at warped speed. The epilogue was so so so good!

**huge thank you to netgalley + St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book🫶🏼**

The beginning was a bit slow and deacon gave me the ick at first but then it just seamlessly transitioned into this fast paced - easy read I don’t remember when I stopped hating on deacon and fell in love but that’s besides the point LOL

It was honestly such a cute and fluffy book the characters felt realistic and their story easy to follow. I feel like even though we didn’t personally see their past together, it felt like I had read all about it and knew these characters from the very start.

The development in their relationship throughout the story just felt so real. I loved it.

————

"I love you and I know I don't always…I've been trying to show you. I thought it was more important to show you, first, and I promise I'm going to keep doing that. But I also wanted to say it first."

Overall I loved everything about this book and would absolutely recommend to anyone


Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6958505766

4.25⭐️ 2🌶️ When I tell you I binged this book, I mean I freaking devoured it in less than 12 hours!

This book has some of my favorite rom-dram tropes: second chance; marriage of convenience; forced proximity; black cat FMC/golden retriever MMC; and all with a non-linear timeline that keeps you on edge! Loved the beach side setting, and how complex and well-developed both the main and side characters were. I appreciated the major subplots on learning how to deal with grief and family dynamics in a healthy way, and how this impacted the main characters relationship. The Co-Op was a major, tortuous slow burn but SO worth it in the end.

The Co-Op is how we meet our two MCs, Deacon and LaRynn. Their grandmothers became spouses and moved into together when Deacon and LaRynn were teenagers. There is first loves finding each other again, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and mutual friends tropes for these two. We have flashbacks that form the present. I root for their love story and like them. It’s about letting someone you love down because of youth, family born hang ups and redemption. It about becoming a stronger and braver version of yourself as you grow with your person. There is tension, respect, resistance, heat and passion. This is an enjoyable read I highly recommend. Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin, Tarah Dewitt and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

This was sexy and cute! Love the cover and tension! Thanks for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is my favorite from Tarah DeWitt yet!! I have loved her other books, Savor It and Funny Feelings, but this one holds a special place in my heart. A story of losing one’s you love, yet finding ones worth the wait, our main characters go through life with a lot of family baggage only to find peace in each other. With a lot of banter and soul searching moments, I laughed and cried and had such a full heart at the end of this read.

This was such a cute read. I wasn’t entirely sure about it at the beginning but I really warmed up to the characters as the book went on! I wish we could’ve gotten more of their story rather than a time jump at the end but overall a very good light read.

I really enjoyed this second chance romance! A bit of a slow burn but this allowed for proper character development and no whiplash from the romance. This is my first from Tarah DeWitt and The Co-Op has me interested in reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy. The Co-Op publishes on November 12, 2024.

There’s always something refreshing to me when an impenetrable woman meets a golden retriever

Because that’s care, loving someone at their best and their worst and everywhere in between

I remember the same feeling when I read the indie version and loving the banter, the tenseness of the interactions, the want to scream at them, that blossomed into a warm conclusion.

The forced proximity was unique and essential to the story in a way I hadn’t seen before which hones in on the idea of renovation being an uncovering.

Also… I LOVE EPILOGUES

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read the Co-op!
The Co-oo is a second chance at Romance, with grief, family issues, communication, and friendship! This was a wonderful introduction to Tarah DeWitt and can’t see what they write next!

5✨ it’s smart, it’s sexy, it’s fun, it’s full of banter and longing and pining and sarcasm and it’s absolutely amazing

i felt such kinship to larynn. she’s bold and badass and beat down and broken in ways that i have experienced and felt down to my bones. i just resonated so deeply with larynn. i know all too well what it’s like to have that summer home, summer place, summer friend(s) that mean the world to you…but that continue to go on without you when you’re not there. the feeling of missing it & them and knowing it probably doesn’t go both ways. and that is honestly a devastating and sobering feeling. it’s something that never goes away. i admired how she fought and tried every damn step of the way. it was heartwarming and encouraging. she’s sarcastic and moody and will give as good as she gets, if not more. and the way she loved deacon was honestly beautiful. the longing, the pining, the first love, first everything feelings that never went away. the aching need to get things done right and not lose it along the way. i just loved her. she’s strong and sassy and beautiful and so fucking capable. she made me ugly cry.

deacon. leeds. ladies & gentlemen may i present you to a class A book boyfriend. a man who gives you the chicken wings and takes the drumsticks because he knows you prefer them. a man who will stop by just to say hi. a man who will work with you, play with you, support you, love you, cherish you, do anything with you. a man who calls you <i>love.</i> a man who just wants to be able to fix and build things. a man who will dance you around the kitchen and kiss your palm when you lay your hand on his cheek. he is a man who knows you so perfectly, he helps you see who you are. a man i am so down bad for. he just wants to play house with her. he’s so painfully aware of her of at all times. his feelings are so big and bright and beautiful and clear as day to everyone except for larynn. his before just feels like an innocent unavoidable attraction to her. he’s goofy and sweet and funny and just wants to make the grumpy girl smile and it’s simply heartwarming. his pining and longing and desperate desire was so wow. his realization at just 21 about how he wants to love & be loved after everything he’s experienced and been through was incredible. the depth and dimension it added to his character was just beyond. i cannot say a single bad thing about this beautiful, sunshine, golden retriever man. he’s honestly just such a good man. there’s no way to not love him.

deacon & larynn’s relationship and their love was special. i was so looking forward to seeing their relationship heal. to see them heal with each other. and tarah did not disappoint with it. the way they feel about themselves and each other and the struggling and mental exhaustion and wanting to open up but shutting down just broke my heart. it made me so sad and so emotional. for them, for myself, for everything. they way they grew together only to grow apart and then together again in such a different way was depicted magnificently. they’re antagonizing each other by flirting and trying to top one another and i absolutely loved it. they both just want to be in each others lives. however they can. in whatever capacity. and it’s beautiful. but what’s even better is when they realize they can’t just to do that, can’t just be friends. they need everything from each other and honestly they deserve it. they deserve to love & be loved the way they did the second time around. i want to be loved and seen and enough the way they are for each other. i mean come on, they’re dancing in the kitchen and i think i might cry. and he kisses her palm when she lays it against his cheek. i’m done for. they’re so proud of one another. proud to be with each other. it’s such an epic and stunning evolution in decade+ long relationship development. they’re perfect. they broke each other only to put each other back together again.

tarah just really hit it out of the park with this. like she always does. but i know when i read the original co-op, it didn’t quite do it for me the way funny feelings and rootbound had. i don’t know if i was delusional then or if the renovated version is just so elite, but this was five star read without an ounce of doubt or question. i honestly can’t decide if this is topping savor it as my favourite TD book. i don’t even want to pick cause it feels wrong cause i just love these characters so much. the plot and the entire renovation and the working together and everything outside & in between was spectacular. incredible banter and pining and emotional, honest conversations. it was a story of maturing and growing both alone and with your person. they. are. beautiful.

thank you so much tarah & netgalley for the arc!!!

This book is fantastic, funny, sexy and so witty
Enjoy reading it a lot ✨
Larryn and Deacon They have become one of my favorite literary couples 🛐
And (oddly enough) I have no complaints! I genuinely enjoyed every page in this book.

Oh my GOODNESS this was a gorgeous exploration of past hurts and misunderstandings mixed with a marriage of convenience and home renovation, all with a side of a summer at the beach!!! Tarah you have done it again (or before?!)!!

LaRynn and Deacon’s grandmothers fell in love as apartment neighbors, and so they found themselves with new families, new summer spots, and new pains in their asses! Through strong emotions, family traumas, and lack of conversation, the two hurt each other deeply- and now it’s seven years later and both grandmothers are gone, and the house is left to them! Having to actually work together and communicate pushes these two back into each others lives- and showcases the right person/wrong time mentality- when they’re able to get the right timing!!

I loved the way that both Rynn and Deacon showed their own self-growth, to learning how to healthily communicate needs and letting go of the little things. The PINING in this book is UNREAL, and makes it all so so worth it for that beautiful life in the epilogue!!!

Thank you so much to Tarah DeWitt and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review before the new edition comes out later this month!

First, thank you for this ARC read in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have read many books by this author and while I have loved them all, this one was not my favorite. The pace felt a bit off and the characters didn’t connect the way I wanted them too. I’m all for a slow burn but this was tragically too long.

Overall it was just okay for me.

A second chance romance, miscommunication, fake marriage romance with a bit of steam. LaRynn and Deacon had a thing when they were teens and then they didn't. Now, years later, they've been pushed into a corner over the house they inherited from their scheming grandmothers. She needs to be married to get the money they need to renovate, which Deacon can do but again he needs money too. Naturally, this leads to a fake marriage and eventually to.....For some reason these two keep talking past one another and avoiding talking about their history (that of course is part of the trope but I found it more annoying than usual). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.