I enjoyed this book. It had characters that I felt connected well with. I like the second chance storyline and was really into how they were going to work things out.
The house renovation was interesting, and I liked how it was handled.
This book will have the attention of many readers. For me it is a book that I will not think about for too long after I have now finished reading.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of The CO-OP.
This is my personal review.

This was a second chance, enemies to lovers, and marriage of convenience all in one. My top favorite tropes all in one book. So did I enjoy every second of it?! The answer is yes, I definitely did!!! The banter in this book was hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions. Such a fun read.

I enjoyed this book and liked the fact that the book would go from present day to back when they were teenagers. I was confused at first by the fact that their grandmothers were married but realized that they weren’t related. The book was well put together and had some moments that made me laugh and others were I thought awww that’s sweet.

ahhh!! Tarah added so much to this story and made me love it even more. I'm so happy we got more context to Deacon and LaRynn's past, it added so much more to the story and their rekindling.

I love a marriage of convenience so much, but add in all the angst and old feelings from their previous relationship that ended in heartbreak?!? Truly, fantastic banter, tension you could cut with a knife and a second chance romance that has you rooting for these two to get it right this second time around.

I was really looking forward to this read. I’m afraid I hyped it up a bit too much and it ended up falling a tad flat. Don’t get me wrong this story definitely had its good moments. And I adored the last 30% of the book. But both main characters had moments when they were insufferable. Their consistent lack of communication throughout the first half was infuriating.

This was my first Tarah Dewitt book and the fact that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hope was disappointing but I won’t let it hold me back from trying her again. Sometimes you just have some duds. Such is life.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the e-ARC of The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt.

Such a fun second-chance romance! LaRynn and Deacon are part second chance, part enemies-to-lovers. When they inherit a dilapidated beachside condo from their grandmothers, they must get married in order to access LaRynn’s trust fund to renovate and flip the property. Renovating a home with your teenage fling turned husband—what could possibly go wrong?

DeWitt skillfully weaves several popular romance tropes—second chance, marriage of convenience, a bit of enemies-to-lovers—and makes you root for these characters to be together without it feeling overly formulaic. Though the book shifts between timelines, I found it easy to follow.

I really enjoyed this book. It offers a unique spin on contemporary romance, and I found myself emotionally moved several times, especially by LaRynn’s backstory.

Tarah Dewitt knows how to write cute romantic comedies; that’s for sure! I think the premise of two people coming together after their grandmothers left them a house is absolutely brilliant. I think some of the tension and slow burn was very well done in this book. If you love angst and witty come backs, I highly recommend picking this one up!

Where this one a fell a little bit for me was the immaturity that screamed off the pages of this one from the main characters. It was pretty constant stupid arguments and outrageous blow ups over more childish things. Instead of coming off as more lovers to enemies to lovers, it was too much immature ways of handling conflict and problems.

Super cute read, but fell a little flat for me!

Thank you for the advanced copy!

LaRynn and Deacon have a second chance at romance, but they will have to work together to renovate a home that meant so much to both of them. They will have to put their past hurts aside to live and work together, but will they be able to?

They get into a marriage of convenience, and when they spend time together, old feelings start to come back. It's a slow burn romance, but then, it gets spicy! Wow, was this a spicy book!

I loved the dual timeline because it was great to see what happened to them in the past as well as the present. The story is also dual POV, and I loved being in the mind of both characters.

LaRynn and Deacon's story kept my attention the whole time, and I just wanted to root for them so much. Their chemistry was off the charts, and their HEA was so amazing to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

TARAHHHHHHHH! MA’AM how did you make me fall in love with LaRynn and Deacon even more than the first time?!?! Y’all know I absolutely love a second chance, dual timeline, dual POV book and THIS DELIVERED 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 the banter, the tension, the pain, the hurt, and the character growth where phenomenal!

DNF - I DNF’d this book at the 43% mark. I really tried to stick it out, but I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t mind the FMC but I absolutely loathed Deacon. So many people love this book. What am I missing????

I am obsessed with these two. The banter is top tier and and I love a marriage of convenience. I wish we got a sequel with these two because I need more. The pace was perfect for this book.

Such a fabulous ride. LaRynn and Deacon have already been through so much as this story begins and it continues to escalate as they are faced with a home reconstruction project with no end in sight. This story is pure chaos, which is so fitting because any home repair project has similar ups and downs. LaRynn has (life) mess that she needs to handle and seeing Deacon again presents her with so many memories interwoven with her mess. Deacon is an adorable hero, their banter and fighting worked so well. I really enjoyed watching them grow and rebuild together. Lots of spiciness as well, which was great! Would recommend this and all of DeWitt's books, she's a go-to for me!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC (for the re-release).

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how we got to better understand LaRynn throughout the book and she her grow. I really liked reading and seeing Deacon and LaRynn’s relationship change and flourish.

The FMC was annoying at times.
It took me a while to start this because of all the emotional drama she brought.

The writing was a bit confusing too, when we were flashing back to years ago vs now.

The story, or idea of was sweet, but I don't felt it played out as well as I'd hoped.

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice🌶️🌶️🫑
Tropes
🔨 Enemies to lovers
🏡 Marriage of convenience
🔨 Second Chance-ish
🏡 Duel POV & timeline
🔨 Forced proximity
🏡 Summer fling
🔨 Black cat fmc / golden retriever mmc

This was ADORABLE. Good god im such a sucker for a second chance. I loved this book from the get go! The characters were great and their development was so so so good!! I really felt connected to LaRynn. She was so misunderstood and Deacon was so important to her healing! So good!! I can’t wait for more from Tara!

A construction romance? Sign me up! I enjoyed this romance. It had the perfect amount of spice! I was deep in this story the entire time and couldn’t put it down!

The Co-op

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This was the first story that I’ve read by Tarah DeWitt, and I’m so glad that it was. It’s a romcom set inside a home renovation show, but make it spicy. What makes it better is that this is a renovated version of the story. If you’ve read the co-op I’m sure that you will love the extended scenes and extra chapters that you find in this newly released version. Deacon and LaRynn have a lot to overcome after having been in an adolescent situationship and it’s a beautiful read. I really really loved how their grandparents came together and also brought them together.

Pick up this book if you enjoy:
Home Reno shows
Spicy romcoms
Second chance romances
She falls first, he falls harder

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and the galley for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

“Marriage is about you and your person.”

I don’t know if I’ve read another book that so beautifully captures the importance of unlearning the toxic beliefs we have from our past traumas and relearning healthy ways to accept love and life in all the ways we truly deserve the way The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt does.

This beautiful story is a second chance, home-renovation romance that’s filled with insecurities, grieving those who truly made you feel loved and safe, and bonding with the only other person in your life who might actually get it. There’s fun banter, an enemies-to-lovers vibe, and a marriage of convenience to boot.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this story since the moment I finished reading it. LaRynn and Deacon made me laugh, cry, and hug them.

As someone who has lost a grandmother who meant the world to me, this story has held my heart captive with the amount of love they share for their grandmothers. Their desire to fix up their house because of how much it meant to them. Their ability to put their differences aside (mostly) for a common goal.

I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time to come. It’s an empowering and heartwarming one, for sure.

You’ll love this if you like:
- Marriage of convenience
- Second chance romance
- Home renovation projects
- Mutual love for grandmothers
- Mutual pining
- Found family
- Enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy. Unfortunately I did not finish The Co-op by Tarah Dewitt. I could not get into the story and I could not relate to the characters.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.
This is my second book from Tarah DeWitt and it was good ( slightly steamy) fun. I found it a bit slow to get into as the difficulties the leads faced seemed too apparent, but the ending drew me in so perfectly.
LaRynn certainly comes into the story with a lot of baggage that she is very aware of and wants to be more than the sum of her history. But she is definitely young and hasn’t reflected much on how she has impacted other people. She’s not wrong to be where she is, but she is immature and knows it. I did appreciate that a great deal for her as a lead and the growth that we read she has already undergone in recent times.
Personally, I read Deacon too simply. He seems too plainly written and didn’t surprise me at all. I wish that he had a slower reveal for elements of his past, as LaRynn does. But he is a solid lead.
As someone who has also recently lost a beloved grandparent, I was worried about getting overwhelmed by the grief in this story (and even took a break to try to avoid it). However, while the grief is present and did feel real, it was not overwhelming. It honestly felt comforting to read an authentically human experience similar to my own (wow, almost like that’s a huge reason I fell in love with reading!).
And the romance is there. Their past, from meeting during high school to a summer affair, is represented in flashback chapters that meld well with the narrative. And they are humans, but definitely trying to be reasonable-ish adults, aiming for the good.
I enjoyed The Co-Op and will definitely check out more from DeWitt!