I loved this book so much!

It had so much heart to it. The writing was so easy to fall into and get connected to the characters. You feel for them throughout the years and are watching them grow, make mistakes, and take chances!

I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and I don’t always love duel timelines but this one felt well done. We don’t spend a lot of time in the past but just enough to understand where our characters are at which I really enjoyed!

This was my first Tarah DeWitt book and I’m so excited to pick up more!!

This book is for the second chance, marriage of connivence, and forced proximity romance lovers! I’ve read most of Tarah’s work, and this was by far my favorite of hers, and it was easily a 5 star read.

I related to LaRynn in so many ways and saw myself in her and the struggles she went through. I related deeper to her than I expected, and not only are we similar but I also want to be best friends with her! I felt empathy towards a lot of what she was going through; she was a STRONG woman and grew a lot.

Deacon was protective, sweet, and had a lot to work through like LaRynn, but was always so supportive and put her first. I just adore them both separately, and together, which made the book that much better.

Watching them go from not being able to stand each other to trusting each other more than anything in the world was so special.

No third act breakup, a swoon worthy epilogue, and steamy scenes!!! I loved this book so so much.

Tarah Dewitt is a romance game-changer; her books are spicy, relatable, and so fun! I’m excited for everyone to get to read this book.

Thank you so much to St Martins Press, Netgalley, and Tarah Dewitt for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the plot and characters of the book. The flow of the book didn’t work well for me though. I felt like it jumped around a lot from scene to scene.

This book was a captivating read with engaging characters and a well-paced story. It’s a charming blend of romance and personal growth, making it a delightful escape.

I absolutely loved this book! Larynn and Deacon were so perfect together. I loved they already had a past with each other when entering the marriage of convenience. It added a whole new layer to them faking being a couple. There was so much additional drama! I loved getting to read their feelings towards each other slowly start to change. This one was sweet, spicy, cute and funny.

I love a marriage of convenience and a second chance romance. The beginning of the story hooked me, but I think I got lost in the execution.

A dual timeline in a second chance romance can add so much tension, and make the book a page turner, but honestly the conflicts both past and present did not warrant an entire book. At the end, I kept just thinking “that’s it?!” I feel like the past chapters also didn’t really add much to the book, or give us that different of a perspective into their relationship, and lives as teens.

Overall, I was underwhelmed with this one.

This was a really fun, sweet and compelling romance. I love a golden retriever MMC, and Deacon delivered. Their relationship trajectory felt believable, their challenges realistic given their history and current circumstances, and I appreciated that there weren't any "cheap" major miscommunications that romance novels often rely on.

My one critique, which is more of a personal preference, is that I found LaRynn's personality to be a little abrasive (bordering on mean), but it did lead to funny moments and banter between her and Deacon.

I would definitely read another book by this author. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley; this was my first e-ARC read!

When both their grandmothers pass away within months of each other, LaRynn and Deacon inherit their dilapidated beachfront apartment building. LaRynn and Deacon have history, a summer fling ended badly kinda history, but they now must try and work together to salvage that apartment building and fix it up before they can sell it to make a profit. One big snag? Deacon is barely getting by with his job alone and LaRynn cannot access her trust fund until she gets married. Simple solution, they get married to get the money to fix it up. As they both live and work on the money pit, they confront their past decisions and feelings and attempt to find a balance of not trying not to kill each other and also trying not to fall back in love.

The tension in this book! They hated each other but the chemistry was leaping off the page. Her almost cruel lack of care for anyone but herself and his faux charm and sharp comebacks both paired with their bad tempers let you believe that these two were never going to come to an understanding. LaRynn seemed to be an ice queen but she had her reasons and Deacon was a charming jerk sometimes but it's because he had preconceived notions of her and she didn't let him in.

I enjoyed each of their inner dialogue working out how to respond in certain situations and how the other person might be feeling. Gave some depth to each character and really made you understand their struggles and wanting to change for the better. When “tensions” are finally released is when the real fun in this book happens. They have a mutual understanding and are able to get the bulk of the reno done in a book montage that is worthy or a movie scene set to upbeat music. It's only then we see the real personalities of both characters come out. The understanding man and the misunderstood women.

I also loved the “before” flashbacks that showed their young relationship and how things you perceive at 19 years old can be seen through a completely different lens even just 5 years in the future.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this book’s digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book through a digital ARC from NetGalley
Author: Tarah Dewitt
Genre: Romance, historical fiction, mystery
Troupe: Forced Proximity, Enemies to Lovers, Marriage of Convenience

Home renovations can strain even the strongest marriages, but what if the marriage was only for convenience and you cannot stand each other?

Crackling with tension, The Co-op is a slow-burn, second-chance romance about two people renovating a house and their broken relationship after a teenage summer fling went sour over misunderstandings seven years previously. LaRynn and Deacon’s chemistry shines as they grow from hurt to true partners who have each other’s backs. DeWitt flips the 'grumpy/sunshine' trope, making LaRynn the prickly one, shaped by parental neglect and her father’s emotional abuse, plus grief. Deacon is the steady force, also nursing his own grief over his father's infidelities and death which, along with his and LaRynn's soured fling, shaped his views on relationships. Though the added flashbacks felt unnecessary, this updated version from the original 2022 is still a beautiful, swoony read.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Every single time I read a Tarah DeWitt book, I am blown away. Literally nobody is doing it like her. The humor! The emotion! The heavier topics! The banter! The character development! The romance! The way she makes me cry and feel SEEN!!!

The Co-Op has everything you could want in a cozy romance - picturesque setting, lovable side characters, flashbacks, iconic banter, healthy communication between the main characters, quick witted humor, and so much heart all while balancing topics of grief and the angst that comes with a second chance romance.

Deacon and Larynn are one of my favorite Tarah DeWitt couples (behind Sage and Fisher!) I stand 10 toes down behind my girl, Larry!!!!!! She is everything to me and is ME!!!!! I love how Deacon loves her the way she is. Also I just love Deacon.

I read the original of this book back in March of last year after reading Rootbound and Funny Feelings and I just want to live inside all of her books. 1000% percent my favorite author.

✨Read if you love
- second chance
- beach setting
- black cat fmcs
- marriage of convenience
- my wife
- forced proximity
- home renovations
- bickering and banter
- he has a hand tattoo
- dancing in the kitchen
- a spicy mirror scene
- good boy
- no third act breakup
- iconic playlists
- dual pov and multiple timelines

What I loved most about LaRynn and Deacon was their complicated, messy and difficult relationship. I enjoyed watching their relationship unfold backwards as they fell in love, to fall out and then find each other again. This book showed the reality of life, its messiness with families, with grief and finding the person who loves you despite it all. In the Acknowledgements Dewitt said she wanted to know what it would look like to make two people fall in love while undergoing a house project and wrecking out their previous history. It was chaos, angst, and ugliness but it was also beautiful, tender and sweet. It was perfect!

I originally read this book 2-3 years ago, I think, when it was independently published, and since I enjoyed it so much I wanted to re-read it anyway, I was curious to see if I enjoyed it as much the second time around... I did not. I don't know what changes, if any, the manuscript went through from its original publication to this one, but I found I didn't enjoy the characters as much. Where at first I found LaRynn complicated and prickly, this time she seemed immature and a little annoying. Before, I felt it was a cozy, quiet romance with characters I was rooting for, and this time it seemed to adhere to conventions I didn't love. I'll still read anything Tarah Dewitt writes, but this wasn't my favorite.

This book was okay, definitely not a favorite. A story about people who don't know how to communicate for a good 70% of the book.

loved this book!!! the forced proximity, marriage of convenience, & top tier banter make this book so bingeable. not to mention the second chance aspect! i loved seeing larynn & deacon grow closer and getting to understand more about both characters from the past pov’s. my fave thing was how deacon appreciates larynn for exactly who she is and loved getting to see them support each other.

LaRynn and Deacon have history…and neither of them want to revisit it. When they inherit a house, they’re forced back together. It’s badly in need of renovations, and LaRynn has the means to make it happen. But to get access to her trust, she needs to be married.

What angsty dreams are made of! I loved these characters and the journey (past and present) we got to dive into. I would highly recommend this read!! The chapters were paced perfectly and I LOVED the epilogue!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC

Gah. It took me a long time to get through this one. I enjoyed the overall story, but I was so bored it just wasn’t a priority to pick this one up and finish reading it.
I just wanted it to end so I could move on to my next read.
I loved the previous book I read by this author; so this won’t be my last. The Co-Op just didn’t do it for me.

ARC for rewrite: I found myself growing just as attached to the house as they were!!!

I haven’t read the first version of this book, but the rewrite is amazing! If you like any of her other books, or even like Emily Henry, then I recommend this book.

Details: remodeling, forced proximity, grief, trauma from parents, second chance romance, one bed trope, volleyball, barista, campground, fake marriage

This is a dual POV with past and present time jumps. The author does a great job at appealing to the senses with food and music accompanying the entire book. This book had all of the best tropes and the renovations seemed realistic to me (as a former avid HGTV binge-watcher).

The dialogue was so good that I’m not sure if I followed what was happening in the background the entire time, if bits were left out, or things were meant to be assumed (ex: when did these other people come into the room?). The gentle bullying and banter had me kicking my feet and squealing.

**ALSO, if you’ve read Funny Feelings, there’s a freaking breadcrumb in this book at about 75%!!

I'll be the first one to say that I'm an easy reviewer. I give out 5 stars left and right. If I have a good time and a book makes me feel emotions, I'm going to give it 5 stars. But this one, if I could give it MORE than 5 stars I would. This story made me laugh, made me kick my feet and giggle, and in the end made me cry. (I'm talking like ball my eyes out-cry, can't actually see the words of the book anymore-cry... but I'm easily brought to tears, so don't get mad at me if you don't also turn into an emotional mess)

Deacon and LaRynn are perfect, they are messy, a little petty, sappy, romantic, and meant for each other, this story is a second chance romance, and I'm such a sucker for falling back in love with an old love.

All-in-all, read this book if you need a feel good sappy rom-com book. If you like Emily Henry, Ali Hazelwood, or Hannah Grace, you'll like the writing style and premiss of this book. Just read it. Add it to your TBR, 11/10.

4/5 stars!

I'm surprised by how much I really liked this! I saw that someone had explained this as Beach Read meets You Deserve Each Other and that is the perfect way to describe this book!

It was so cute and so much fun! So much swoon, so much good content and character development :) I Thoroughly enjoyed in and I think many other readers will as well!

I was really pumped to read this one after loving Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt. It's a cute book at times, but honestly, the slow burn and flipping timelines kinda threw me off. I was sitting there eagerly waiting for the enemies-to-lovers moment, but just when things were heating up, the sexual tension vanished—talk about a tease! The slow burn ended up feeling more boring than romantic. There was this confusing moment where LaRynn had to be married to tap into the Trust, but she didn’t tell her parents she was married until way later, so how did she even access it? Also, that courthouse wedding scene just didn’t vibe with me; the FMC came off as such a grump. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I felt like one or two flashbacks would’ve been enough instead of dragging out how LaRynn and Deacon became friends. I was really hooked at the start, but my interest just dropped as the story went on, and finishing it felt like a chore. I totally get where other readers are coming from when they say the FMC wasn’t their favorite—I just couldn’t connect with her. This book had a ton of potential but, for me, it kinda fell flat.