While I liked the idea of this book with a second chance romance with an arranged marriage, this book just didn’t draw me in.

They say love and construction don't mix.
By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.
Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.
But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they're thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but to access her trust, she has to be married.
Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.
A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, they quickly learn that it's easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But, with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks) they'll also have to learn what it means to truly co-operate as a team

This book. This book has left a mark on me forever. It had all the tropes I absolutely love: second chance; lil enemies-to-lovers; grumpy/sunshine, but she’s grumpy; marriage-of-convenience. And Tarah nailed every single one (construction pun intended?).

What I loved:
- Deacon and LaRynn’s banter at the beginning was perfection. They were so petty and snarky to each other, but it made that push and pull and tension SO fantastic.
- The slooowwwwww burn! Holy. Cow. This was one that I thought was going to make me spontaneously combust. And let me tell ya—the wait was so worth it.
- LaRynn might be one of my favorite FMCs that I’ve read recently. I love a misunderstood grumpy FMC. I related to her a lot, and I loved to see her growth.
- The playlist! Incredible. Perfect.

A sexy romantic comedy that has the tried and true plot of former young lovers reunited by tragic circumstances where they have to work together and live together.

Okay hear me out….this was actually a really good book overall. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline and the pining. I think where it lacks for me is just the fact that I was able to put it down and go on about my day. I didn’t miss not reading it and I felt like a lot of the storyline was slightly repetitive. But truly overall I did enjoy this book. My mom loves to read books like this and I am definitely going to recommend this to her when it releases.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a sweet second chance romance from DeWitt. I enjoyed the characters and their complicated backstories. At the times the transitions between past and future weren’t as seamless as they could be. It took a while to get into the book as well which is why I gave it 3 stars. Thank you Net Galley for the advanced digital copy.

tara has a way of writing romance books that contain all of the tropes i love without making them seem too corny or intentional. this book had everything. i loved the history between the characters and their banter. i found myself laughing out loud multiple times. i wasn’t sure about the setting at first because it seemed like it could be too predictable, but the well-developed characters kept me hooked!

2/5⭐️ 2.5/5🌶️

I really, really wanted to love this. Truly. I loved “Savor It” and I love a good Second Chance/Marriage of Convenience. This fell flat for me. The pacing felt stilted and awkward. You know when you have to meet a minimum word count for school? About a hundred pages could have been remitted and the outcome would have been the same. The Forced Proximity and jilted ex-lovers could have been more developed if there had been more in-depth descriptions of the actual house remodeling projects. The story dragged on with little action occurring.

LaRynn was overall mean and unapproachable. Deacon felt similar. The spice scenes were done well, but they fought like teenagers. They both read as immature. There were some sweet moments between them, but I found myself skimming through the majority of the book and just wanting to be done with it.

Expected Publish Date: November 12, 2024

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I enjoyed everything about it, from start to finish. I loved the dynamic between Larynn and Deacon. They both had difficult baggage from their past that they had to work thought. It wasn't a fairytale relationship in that sense. I loved how real it felt. This book had me laughing and crying. This is a book I would choose to read again in the future. I will also be watching for more books by Tarah DeWitt as well!

The Co-op follows LaRynn and Deacon, ex childhood family friends/hook-ups. Their grandmother’s were partners that owned a beach house together. Both grandmothers passed away and left the house to LaRynn and Deacon. During their childhood they had a summer fling that ended abruptly and they were not longer technically cordial. LaRynn finally decides to go to the beach house after Deacon threatened her with a lawsuit if she didn’t start contributing to the rapidly declining home. Previously LaRynn was supposed to be going for a law degree to follow in her fathers footsteps, but once she decided to can that idea her father decided to take her inheritance away, as well as her car and financial support. I don’t want to give away too much of what happens in the book but it turns into a marriage agreement between LaRynn and Deacon so that they can get her inheritance to remodel the beach house and sell or rent out later. As they spend more time together it is quickly seen that maybe they might actually care about each other, and might have unfinished business. I really liked the premise of the book, but unfortunately only gave 3 stars due to the fact that LaRynn drove me a little crazy. I found her very whiney and hard to deal with. I would absolutely still recommend, as everyone’s tastes are different though!

So when I first started this book I thought that it was going to be a 3 star read for me, but I was pleasantly surprised that it turned into a 4 star read for me! I found both of the main characters to be fun and charming. The reason I dropped one of the stars was because I feel like a lot of the issues in this book came from lack of communication and I find that to be one of the more frustrating tropes. I really liked a lot of the resolutions in this book, as well as the epilogue as well! I’m always a fan of good epilogues that satisfies my want for information on the future!

Forced Proximity, Second Chance, Marriage of Convenience, this book was chock-full of tropes and I loved every one!

I had such a great time reading this book. Deacon is a top 5 book boyfriend for sure. While there was definitely some miscommunication in the beginning I appreciated that once they got it together that stopped and the tensions for the book came from other places in their lives.

I related so much to LaRynn and I appreciate how realistically she (and really all of the characters) were written. If you’re looking for a book that balances deep emotions, spice, and fluffy fun romance this is the one for you!

This was a fun take on the forced proximity trope and had a great enemies to lovers vibe to it as well. This was the first time I have read something by this author and I am definitely going to check out more of their books in the future. This is a bit of a slow burn, but well worth it. Would highly recommend.

So this one took me a MINUTE I’m not going to lie. I felt like it was a touch too long? Once the slow burn stopped I feel like it really picked up and the pace was wayyyyy better.

LaRynn felt really relatable - stubborn and angry with the world and unwilling to let others in. Deacon is a total babe and I mean, how could you not fall in love with him? Seeing their present predicament having to flips the grand house and maneuver each other in the process was funny at times and also painful.

Their POVs got harder to read as their story was just so sad sometimes. Two ships passing in the night? Or just kids who didn’t know what love looked like or how to share it? Either way, beautiful to read.

All in all, sign me up! They get freaky and I loved it.

A marriage of convenience with forced-proximity romcom that has a fun twist to it! This was a good read! This book will just give you all of the feels and you'll close the last page of the book with big smiles. I really liked our main characters and their relationships together, but also their relationship apart as individuals. I think that's so important for a healthy relationship. I think this is a perfect fall read and anyone who just wants to kick their feet and giggle!

This is the story of LaRynn and Deacon. It is a second chance romance, which i normally do not enjoy, that was absolute gold.
The CO-OP is a mix between the present and the past. In the past, LaRynn and Deacon hooked up for a summer, and LaRynn got her heart broken. Since then, she has stayed away from her beloved grandmother's seaside home where Deacon also lives. In the present, both of their grandmother's passed away within months of each other. The house that they lovingly shared was bequeathed to both LaRynn and Deacon equally. What ensues is a rebuilding and reshaping of a home, two hearts, and maturing.
I really enjoyed this book. I gave four stars because in the beginning, it took me a little bit to get into it. If it is the same for you, I definitely recommend continuing to read, as I couldn't put it down once it got going. I definitely recommend it.

This book is about two people that inherit a house from their grandmothers. The main characters were in a relationship when they were younger. Now they own a house together. There is banter and forced proximity. This book was okay. It didn’t pull me in right away like other books.

I like this authors writing style. She pulls you in to the characters minds and grips you with emotion. It was sweet and swoony!

I enjoyed this book, though I found the pacing confusing at several points throughout the story. There were details that didn't feel fully explained or jumps in time that were hard to follow. However, I still enjoyed reading the book and I'm sure other fans of Tarah DeWitt will find it to be a really fun read.

This was a great comfort read however I liked funny feelings a lot more. Despite that i was very invested in the characters arc. This is the dumbest gripe but i hated the name larynn

I’m torn about my feelings for this book. While I definitely enjoyed it, I loved Savor It and Funny Feelings way more. For the most part this book just felt very drawn out. The renovations take up a lot of the plot, which made me upset when they said they couldn’t totally finish it and would need to sell (I know they ultimately didn’t but whatever). The flashbacks were neat to get more of their history, but they weren’t always well placed and stopped at some point in the book—should be more consistent. Finally, the miscommunication was a little too much for me. They were so antagonistic to each other and then when they finally had a talk about their past, it was easily resolved. Why did they not have it SOONER???