The Co-Op is slow burn, second chance romance with fabulous character development. LaRynn and Deacon find themselves as co-owners of their grandmothers’ house. It’s in dire need of repair, and the two undertake the project while relearning about each other and themselves.

LaRynn is a strong female protagonist, however pain in her past keeps her from healthy communication. I loved this detail in the book. Too many contemporary romance characters are too perfect, finding strength when many of us would shy away. LaRynn feels real, with real fears and real shortcomings.

There’s no silly miscommunication, just real people with difficulty putting their feelings on the line.

My only negative comment is that this is a dual POV book and LaRynn and Deacon did not have distinct internal voices.

Tarah DeWitt is an auto-buy author for me after reading her exquisite story, Savor It and The Co-Op did NOT MISS! WOW!

This story is an absolutely beautiful portrayal of finding yourself in the midst of grief. The love story is a second chance romance, which I do not always love, but in this book, it is done so well! The main characters first meet when they are very young and their grandmothers fall in love, yes, you read that right, go grannies! With youth comes emotional immaturity and a lack of communication and coping skills. Into adulthood, LaRynn and Deacon are forced together in the wake of losing their grandmothers after inheriting their home in Santa Cruz.

This story has major fixer upper vibes regarding not only the building they inherited, but their friendship, and themselves. LaRynn shows major growth throughout the story and Deacon is such a kind and very attractive love interest.

The Co-Op does a wonderful job at making you believe in second chances and that there is life and love to be had even when you can't see it for yourself.

a cute read!! I love when a book allows you to just turn your brain off and enjoy the story. Likable characters and a well written story!

3.5 ⭐️ (Rounded down) This is a re-release with a new publisher. I was told there are some rewrites to the story to make it even better but having not read it before I can’t validate what the changes are and how it changed the story. I also think it got new cover art. I wanted to LOVE this book but the fmc was really hard to like, she has so much built up childhood trauma that makes her very harsh and her actions drove me bonkers so that alone made me take off 1/2 a star. Otherwise it is a pretty cute book about LaRynn and Deacon, who had a Summer love at 19 years old but it ended with broken hearts. They come together almost a decade later after their grandmothers (who were married) passed away and left them shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz beach house. The two must come together to restore the home so they have a chance at selling it for large life changing profits for the both of them.

The story has its emotionally charged moments but overall I found it hard to connect to these two characters since they had so many flaws. The story of how quickly these two have to enter into a marriage of convenience is pretty laughable and we are just supposed to just go with it. It felt super clunky. I did love their banter and flirty hijinks and I loved their neighbor Sally. Dual POV is also always a plus for me too, I love knowing what each person is thinking. Overall I enjoyed the book I just wanted more and wished I liked our main characters just a tad bit more.

Main Book Themes:
* Second chance love
* Home renovations
* Marriage of convenience
* Miscommunication trope
* Slow burn
* Childhood trauma (emotional parental abuse)
* Grief and death of a loved one (grandparent)

Thank you to Netgalley, Tara DeWitt and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. This re-release will be out November 12th, 2024.

5 stars!!
The banter. The banter. The banter!!!
I absolutely devoured The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt! Marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes and this specific spin on it was so creative! The dual POV helped me relate to both characters and their personal struggles.
I loved LaRynn with my whole heart. She is a character of depth and she'd worked so hard to hide her vulnerability through a cold exterior. Deacon is a character with his own battles and life struggles he needs to overcome. Throughout the story we see two messy people with messy pasts working together while falling in love. I believed in their love and their growth as individuals and as a couple.
Tarah DeWitt knows how to make you laugh, feel 20 emotions all at the same time, make you want to shake the characters and demand "why" but she always wraps up her stories with a nice bow and a happy ending. Her love stories are of realistic humans battling realistic issues. She writes in a way that keeps readers begging for more from the characters long after the story is over.
Please pick up this book if you love romance books with banter, tension, second chances, and a beautiful HEA! <3

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for the eARC!
I have attached a link to my Goodreads review and will do the same for Amazon when the title becomes eligible to review on its release date of November 12th.

Sweet story of second chances and growing up together. I appreciated the dynamics of what a real relationship in these circumstances might be. Quick read. Lovely couple.

Cute and great quick read. Love the to main characters and the plot. So much fun tension and important things they work though. I definitely enjoyed the book and will be reading more from this author

*SWOOON*

What an expert writing of a forced-proximity / second-chance / friends to lovers / marriage of convenience (and yay for ALL the tropes!). Bravo Tarah! This story has LaRynn (aka Larry) and Deacon coming together to fix an ancestral home, even if it's "just" the top floor of a duplex by the beach. This duo has history and their own personal arcs that they wrestle with throughout the entire novel, DeWitt really keeps us waiting but then doesn't torment us with that dreaded third act break up so I guess we're even?

LaRynn and Deacon must fix up and sell the flat to accomplish their other dreams and move on, BUT the plan changes when they give in to the feelings and desire that's pulled tight between them. A great story.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free advanced copy of this ebook to review. All opinions are my own.

I thought The Co-op was such a cute love story. Deacon and LaRynn really fight for themselves and their relationship. I love to see how they grow personally, and with each other.

I loved the prologue as well, getting to see deeper into the life they built.

Thank you Tarah DeWitt and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book via NetGalley!

LaRynn and Deacon. It's been a while but I know that when I read the original version of their story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But now? NOW?! I am absolutely IN LOVE with this renovated version. So if you've read this when it was indie published, you *still* have to read this new version bc there is a newfound depth that will have LaRynn and Deacon seeping deeper into your heart.

THE BEFORE CHAPTERS. I loved the addition of this dual timeline!!! I loved seeing their young selves and getting the story of how their relationship ended up the way we find them at the beginning of their reunion. We got their highs, their lows, their smiles, and their bruises. It showed us the insecurities that would ultimately lead them to part ways bc sometimes being young makes everything hurt that much more. And then to see these same issues crop up in their present? It meant we had context for and a deeper understanding of their actions. It also offered opportunities for these two to address and overcome those roadblocks. And it's the interplay of all these parts that made those vulnerable moments between them so much more intimate and emotional.

THESE TWO. Watching these two wade through their shit was HARD. LaRynn, who has always been scared that giving more of herself will burden and be too much for someone to love. Deacon, who gives and gives and gives but doesn't seem to be enough for anyone to keep. See??? DO YOU SEE??? 💔 So this second chance? It was a second chance at finding their joys. It was a second chance at making a home in each other. It was a second chance at nurturing the love that never left. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

CN: open-door romance, parental abandonment, emotional abuse, past deaths of family members, infidelity (side characters)

The Co-op takes a unique approach to love and construction, intertwining romance with the challenges of renovation. While I appreciated the premise and the chemistry between LaRynn and Deacon, I felt the book was a bit too long. The pacing often dragged, especially with the miscommunication between the characters lasting longer than it needed to, which detracted from the overall flow of the story.

However, there were definitely some highlights! The internal monologue was rich and engaging, offering a deep dive into the characters’ thoughts. I also loved the witty banter between LaRynn and Deacon; their exchanges often brought a smile to my face and even led to a few laugh-out-loud moments.

Overall, The Co-op is a charming story about restoration—not just of a building, but of relationships as well. While it has its pacing issues, the engaging dialogue and heartfelt moments make it worth a read.

**Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this copy in exchange for an honest review!

After only a few minutes I feel her eyes on my back: another one of those wonders of marriage---the way you start to become so accustomed to the other's presence that you recognize the way spaces shift when they walk into a room. A personal source of gravity.

4.25 stars

This was a really fun read. The dynamic between these two was pretty great, and the constant attempts to get under the other's skin for the fun of it made me laugh constantly.

I had some small issues in the beginning. LaRynn took some getting used to, but getting to see more and more of her past and her internal thought processes helped me to understand why she was the she was, and she developed fairly well over the course of the book.

Deacon was pretty fabulous most of the time, though I don't really understand why he responded to her the way he did at the end of their relationship the first time. The thought process there didn't make much sense to me, so I feel his part in their breakup seemed heavier, more unnecessary than what she admitted to being responsible for.

But all that aside, they really seemed to develop their relationship and themselves well and I liked the pacing of it all. And for those who enjoy this just as much as me, NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP 🔥

I really loved this. It took me a while to get into the story because of the dual timeline, but I really did start enjoying it once things got going. Having only read this new version that is being re-released, I can't compare the two, but I can say I found this to be emotionally poignant with palpable yearning and significant character growth. I like that Tarah writes characters who want to be good to one another, even if they also like to torture each other a bit like LaRynn and Deacon did. I also find her quippy banter so enjoyable to read. I love a quick witted MMC, and Deacon fit the bill and was seductively charming. Delightful. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins for the advanced copy. 4.5/5

This was a cute story! It was fun, it was easy, it was sweet.

This was my first read by Tarah and I can definitely see how she has captivated her readers!

Although the premise was cute, and the first half left me wanting more…the second half lost me. I found the relationship between Deacon and LaRynn to be obnoxious.They just didn’t make a ton of sense to me. But that’s okay. Some people may fall in love with their love!! I just felt more exhausted by their relationship than intrigued!

It was cute…but not super memorable for me!

I will continue to read anything Tarah writes, but this didn’t wow me.
What to expect:
✅second chance romance
✅marriage of convenience
✅ forced proximity
✅dual pov and flashbacks
✅slow burn, but 🌶️🌶️
This was fun and I’m glad I read it, but there’s no way that these two idiots are end game.🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review date: 10/19/24
Publication date: 11/12/24

I wanted to like this one more than I ultimately did. It’s a second chance marriage of convenience romance between two people who inherit a house together and have to rehab it in order to get it on the market.

LaRynn and Deacon were great characters, they’re both big people with big personalities. They’re kind of mean to each other (LaRynn especially, but Deacon likes that) which I really enjoyed, and it felt realistic especially with their history. I loved the setting and the construction details though I really could have used more of those to be honest.

It was just a very character driven story, these two are orbiting around each other with a lot of hurt feelings from the past and it felt like nothing happened. It was a slog to get through without a lot of payoff. We get hints that things went really wrong for them when they were teens but the big reveal is not a big deal, it was a bit of a let down.

Overall though if you like a story about two exes trying to cohabitate while rehabbing a house without a lot of other plot to distract you, maybe this will be a real winner for you!

This is unfortunately the first book of Tarah's I've ever not liked. I just couldn't get into it, and these two bickered like the teenagers they once were. It's like their relationship never made it out of their 19 and 20 year old selves, and if they'd taken one moment to stop and communicate like the 29 and 30 year olds they were, this book would've been a hell of a lot shorter. I also don't tend to think that if two people are screaming at each other the way they did before they were even together, that they should be together at all. They would definitely break up after the book ends.

I thought this book was perfect! I just finished and when I started I didn’t know the journey I was going to take with these characters. There was tension and slow burn that when it finally got spicy it felt right and well worth the wait. I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next J will for sure be reading it ASAP

This has the most wonderful beach/ HGTV vibes. I really enjoyed LaRynn and Deacon. Their characters were both full of emotion and love. Their banter and chemistry was written so well. I loved their character development together and as individuals.

Thank you to St. Martins and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh boy, my second ARC of the year. I know what you’re thinking—it's a good one, right?

I read the original publication of Co-Op at the beginning of the year and really liked it but it felt like it was missing something. These new editions are everything. This is exactly what I wanted.

I am deeply in love with the new flashbacks. They are incredibly placed throughout, adding so much history to the story without taking away or slowing down the present timeline.

Also as a dyslexic girly myself it was so cool to see that represented through LaRynn.

By now everyone knows I am the world's biggest sucker for a second-chance romance. And this one honesty is perfect.
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