WOW, I’m officially obsessed! 😍 This was my first read by Tarah Dewitt, and I’m already adding her entire backlist to my TBR! Deacon and LaRynn’s story was EVERYTHING – emotional, hilarious, and oh-so-swoony. 💖

The marriage of convenience? 🔥 Add in a second-chance romance with a dash of enemies to lovers and you’ve got the perfect storm of angst and comedy. These two had me laughing out loud with their banter (and the wild renovation moments 🙈) while pulling on my heartstrings with their journey of healing and growth.

The slow burn between them was chef's kiss, and their chemistry? OFF. THE. CHARTS. 😏 But what really made this story special was watching them tear down their emotional walls and finally find the love they both deserve. Oh, and that epilogue... cue the happy tears! 🥹

I seriously felt all the emotions with this one – I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and I smiled non-stop. 💕 If you’re a fan of heartfelt romances with some laugh-out-loud moments, The Co-op is an absolute must-read!

Thank you again Tarah and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Co-Op tells the story of how a shared connection can lead to heartbreak but also healing. A second chance romance steeped in hurt, emotional baggage and sexual tension, LaRynn and Deacon take us through their ups and downs as they explore what went wrong and how the loss of their grandmothers and desperate financial circumstances brought them back together. At times, I found LaRynn's resentment of Deacon was a little too intense and it was hard to see past all her hurt and anger to empathize or even root for their romance. Once the sexual tension began to manifest into something more it certainly changed my outlook on LaRynn and their relationship.

It's a super cute contemporary romance that will be sure to have you in your feelings, but perhaps just didn't resonate with me personally as much as Tarah's previous novel., Savour It, was able to.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had a brief, tumultuous fling as teens, but now, a decade later, they’re forced to reconnect when they inherit a rundown property in Santa Cruz from their grandmothers. The catch? They need each other to make it work. LaRynn has the money but can’t access it without being married, and Deacon has the skills but not the funds. Cue the perfect setup for a marriage of convenience—at least, in theory.

I quickly became a Tarah DeWitt fan after reviewing Savor It last year, so I was super pleased to see The Co-op pop up on NetGalley. Although I think it may be impossible to upstage Spunes, I really enjoyed the atmosphere that she creates here. Second chance romance meets forced proximity is already a promising combination, but their grandmothers’ backstory made it feel so much more layered and nostalgic. The renovation theme ties in nicely with their personal growth, as both characters have to learn how to tear down their defenses and build something lasting. To top it off, the spice was well-paced and beautifully written. Another win for Tara!

I thoroughly enjoyed this enemies to lovers book. LaRynn is wonderful. I know she's a bit messy with baggage, but once she started letting down her walls, she blossomed. She was relatable on so many different levels, and I loved how great of a friend she was to want to help her best friend's business. Deacon was sarcastic but a Greek god type of man, so I enjoyed it. Especially when his true colors started showing as he's an amazing guy. Sal was honestly my favorite character. She's a little firecracker, and her little sarcastic comments had me giggling.

I received this ARC from St Martin's Press and NetGalley to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

ARC Review

The Co-op
By Tarah Dewitt
Publish date: Nov 12, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sending me a copy to review.

I enjoyed the slow burn between Larynn and Deacon and their banter.

My one critique is I wish there was better communication between Larynn and Deacon.

I enjoyed Tarah’s writing style it was captivating and drew me in from the start.

Read if you enjoy:

🌻 Marriage of convenience
🌻 Forced Proximity
🌻 Enemies to lovers
🌻 Second chances

It was so good to read the renovated Co-Op. I love it! I think Tarah did such a good job! Marriage of convenience to force proximity to small town romance, it check so many troupe boxes! It's so easy to love LaRynn and Deacon! From the banter to there vulnerable and how they communicate to them falling in love, it was wonderful! High recommend!

This was a cute small town, enemies to lovers, second chance, forced proximity situation.

I enjoyed this sometimes, but feel like the entire book was one big miscommunication. Only bonus is there was no third act break up, however, if I had to deal with miss LARYNN I would have dumped her immediately. I did come around to tolerating her toward the end though.

Over all this was okay, I would recommend to the college aged kids, they would probably relate a little more than I did.

2.5 stars. This one was just not for me.

I never really felt pulled into the story. Even though the main characters had this encounter years earlier, they really didn't seem to have chemistry. LaRynn really grated on my nerves, and Deacon just took so long to develop that he was ultimately two-dimensional. There without really being there. The miscommunication that caused so much conflict could have been resolved so much sooner. The flashbacks didn't really seem to provide a whole lot of added oomph. Just a bit flat.

That said, the writing is really great. Enjoyed the style and word choice.

3.5/5

This was an enjoyable read, but it wasn't anything spectacular.

I felt as if not much really happened throughout the course of this book and what did happen was rather predictable (but that could also be because of the genre it's in, it tends to be a rather formulaic genre, but that formula can be spiced up and made unique).

These characters weren't the most likable for me, I found them to be a touch annoying at the very beginning and the very end of the book. But their banter and picking at each other between the beginning and end was really fun!

At first, you don't really know what's going on between these character, why they behave that way with each other (what the unresolved, past drama is) and that was attention-captivating. By the end of the book, all has been revealed and the reader understands what's up with the two.

But there is quite a bit of miscommunication in this book. And I am not the biggest fan of that. It makes me want to shake the character and scream at them "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER! USE YOUR WORDS!" But that was a massive part of their past and present and the movement of the story, so I guess it has to be there.

This is a rivals to lovers situation, which is always fun!

Overall, this was fun, quick and easy reading experience. I wish there was a bit more going on besides just their bickering and relationship, but I would still recommend this to someone who wants a fun lil romance to read and giggle over.

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My review is up on Goodreads and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Tarah DeWitt creates these flawed characters that make me want to hug them and give them a shove in the right direction.

The Co-op is no different.

"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."

We go back and forth in time meeting LaRynn and Deacon where they are now and the crack in the foundation that led them there. It's a poignant journey as we grow with them and see each of them learn more about themselves as they get older.

There's banter and spice, but above all there's heart and perseverance -- the things that always make me love her books.

First, thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book!

I really struggled with this book. It was slow to get going and even once I got into the main part of the story, it just fell flat for me. The characters didn't seem to have a ton of chemistry. The flashbacks didn't seem to provide much to the story, to be honest. I kept waiting for a big reveal, but it just never came.

As adults, they continued to act like teenagers. I get having animosity towards someone over hurt feelings, but at the end of the day, they're adults now. The marriage of convenience wasn't really anything except those actual words. It wasn't really a main driver in the story, other than them marrying to gain access to her trust fund.

Some of the dialogue did get me to laugh. I do love good dialogue, so I'll give credit where it's due.

This one just wasn't for me!

This started out strong. I am a sucker for second chance romance and marriage of convenience trope, so I definitely thought this was going to be the one. But it was just okay.

I usually love dual timelines, having that before and after but even though the chapter said “before” it felt confusing and took me a bit to realize it was the “before”. A couple of times I did have to go back to the chapter to see if I was in the now or “before”. I think that is why I couldn’t connect with the characters.
Their miscommunication was getting on my nerves but the emotional level they needed to work things out was lacking as well. They didn’t grow from when they were teenagers, especially LaRynn, I just felt like she was still a teenager even though she was an adult. The constant defensiveness for no reason whatsoever was getting redundant. You would think that after 8 years, they would have been able to work through their issues that they did as stupid teenagers but it’s hard when you still act like one.

I had high hopes for this story, but the execution wasn’t there. The only thing I really liked was the epilogue and had to muster through the rest. I do want to read her other books that have better feedback from what I’ve seen.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

I really wanted to like this one, I truly did. I am a sucker for second chance romance stories (but not for marriage of convenience ones outside of Christina Lauren's "Roomies") and they usually get at least 3 stars right away. I had such a hard time with it, though, for several reasons. First off, the timeline for this book was super clunky and hard to follow. I am fine with an author jumping around a bit but it has to be done well.

The FMC was thoroughly unlikeable. Spending $95 on a single throw pillow? GTFO. I would have been furious too. Maybe she was the main reason I had such a lack of investment in this book altogether. I think it was also because I couldn't "see" this story. Normally I have such a clear picture of the setting/houses/etc. but there was none of that for me in this book. I also thought there was an extreme lack of visual for the MMC to the point where it felt on purpose. Between all of this and the story stuttering, I couldn't honestly rate this one above 2 stars.

Ms. DeWitt can do no wrong. Every release of hers just gets better than the last. The Co-Op was funny when it needed to be, heartfelt & emotional at the right times, and kept my attention from the start to the very last page. I loved this book so much I have pre-ordered it.

This was ok. I had high hopes for it - marriage of convenience! Second chance! Forced proximity! But a lot of things just fell a bit flat.

I know this is a re-release, and some things have been changed from the initial publication- which I haven’t read so I can’t really comment on that.

I found the MFC incredibly selfish - money was tight, they were trying to fix up this house, but she’s out there buying $95 pillows and candles for every surface of the place?

Deacon was ok - minus his complete ability to communicate during their summer fling when they were 19/20 (but that goes for LaRynn too).

The premise had potential, and I didn’t hate the writing (this was an ARC copy, so there were some editing/grammatical errors that I imagine will be caught before the official publication date) - and I am interested in checking out other books by this author in the future so that’s always a win.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Cue Nick Miller: stop being so mean to me or you’ll make me fall in love with you.

I had the opportunity to read the original print of this. This is reworked with some more modern pop culture references.

I can get behind a second chance romance (HI WREN AND ELLIS WE CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU!).
However, the attraction between Deacon and LaRynn continues to be surface level. They don’t know another personally, even after all these years. Leading the attraction to be physical with dashes of emotional from their whirlwind summer romance as late teens.
Tarah does rework them a bit, and once the cards are on the table, it’s easier to love them both.

Second chance
Forced proximity
Marriage of convenience
Lovers to Enemies to lovers
Black cat/Golden retriever
Show burn

Overall: 3.5 ⭐️/ 1.5 🌶️

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this eARC.

This story follows LaRynn and Deacon who experienced a summer fling as young adults and are flung back together when they discover they currently share ownership of a fixer upper, left to them by their grandmothers. When their income stream runs dry a marriage of convenience is their only choice, but soon they realize it may be convenient for their wallets, but not their hearts.

I loved the dual POV that switched back and forth between present day and before. The before chapters were filled with fun and anticipation and I loved the lightness of it even knowing that there had to be a fall out coming. The forced proximity of LaRynn and Deacon in the apartment had the tension pulled taught and the slow burn was spicy and trust me, while the burn is certainly slow…you catch up.

I loved the realness of the characters in the story, both LaRynn and Deacon as well as their friends and parents. Both of their journeys through grief, self discovery, and determination to fix up the house was done so well and the end was sweet and satisfying.

"I always though tif I could do everything expected of me, if I was good, if I caused as little inconvenience as possible and needed as little as possible, then maybe I'd fit somewhere between them."

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC. I loved this book! I love Tarah DeWitt.
The book follows LaRynn and Deacon who had a summer fling when they were younger, which ended very poorly. But 10 years later, their grandmothers leave them co-ownership of their house. Larynn has the money and Deacon has the construction knowledge. But they are forced into a marriage of convenience to access the money. As they deal with the wreck of the house and their relationship, they soon come to realize the feelings are just for show.

"what a f**ing treasure he is, to want all the pieces of the people he cares for, the inconvenient and painful parts, too."

Such a good book! I love this author's writing and I'm so happy that I understood the callback to Funny Feelings! I really enjoyed this one too.

will start by saying I don't like to read the synopsis before I go into a book, so my only preconceived conception came from the title and I was lost on was this book was about. Typically a co-op housing situation involves more than 2 people in a much larger space but this felt more like a small condo situation. And I hated the characters up front. Dont play hard to get then be upset when they walk away. I liked going back in time but I learned nothing except these characters have massive pride problems on top of their poor communication problems and still barely learned anything by the end. It all felt so unlikable and strange to me. And the marriage was way too sped up to be believable like come on. Not to mention some phrasing was strange and made me slow down to reread quite a few times.

And one last thing, dont include the Playlist which I love, if it's going to be out of order!!!!

But on a positive note, I did laugh out loud a couple of times! I love the witty one liners laced through out this book.

Childhood friends/first loves to strangers to lovers is quite possibly my all-time favorite romance trope and it is executed to perfection in Tarah Dewitt’s The Co-Op, which is being re-released in November (interestingly, it was originally indie/self-published last year but Dewitt made the decision to do a major re-write before its traditional publishing release). The Co-Op follows LaRynn and Deacon who first met as teenagers when their respective grandmothers married one another (love!) Seven years after an intense summer fling that ended badly (they were 19/20 years old at the time), they have jointly inherited the falling apart duplex their grandmothers owned (of course they did!) and decide to renovate it together in order to sell or rent it. Complicating things further is that LaRynn’s estranged father has made marriage a requirement for accessing her trust fund (of course he did!) and she’s currently broke, so they enter into a marriage of convenience in order to help fund the reno. Living and working together forces Deacon and LaRynn to confront their past and their present feelings (of course it does!) to determine whether they have a future together.

Often times these types of books are dual timeline and here we do get flashback chapters that help us as readers understand how things got to where they are. I thought these chapters were done really well and the dual POV was really important in understanding the depth of feelings LaRynn and Deacon felt for one another, what they ultimately kept from each other (as dumb teenagers/early adults are want to do), and the pain they caused each other as a result. LaRynn in particular is dealing with a lot of baggage as the result of her parents/home life but she was very good at hiding it as a teen; it’s not until she and Deacon actually communicate (shocker!) in the present that they are able to let go of the past and realize what they have in one another. Yes, there are a lot of familiar tropes/plot points in this book but they are done so well that it still feels fresh. I also want to put a plug in for an epilogue that is set many years into the future; it was great to get a glimpse of what their HEA looks like—I wish authors did this more often!

The Co-Op is out November 12th; thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the e-ARC all thoughts and opinions are my own.