My first book from this author and sure won't be my last. She wrote such an amazing second chance romance. I cannot wait for this to come out so I can also buy it as well.

The Co Op by Tara Dewitt

Tara knocked it out of the park again. I was lucky enough to read a gallery of Savor It and was absolutely thrilled to get the chance to read her latest book. I love it even more than Savor It, much to my surprise.

I fell in love with the two main characters, LaRynn and Deacon, to the point where they truly seem like old friends. We get to see them in flashbacks as teenagers, which really helps get to know who they are and why. Neither had a perfect childhood (who does, really?), and that causes them to struggle in their relationship as teenagers and adults. My favorite thing about this book is how real it felt while they worked through their issues. It may have taken time, but they both ended up addressing their individual problems and supported each other through it. It felt so real and honest, and was so relatable. Though unconventional, their romance was one of my favorites. And the slow burn! My lord. 🔥🔥🔥

We only got to see glimpses of "the grands" (their grandmothers), but I instantly fell in love with them, too. They seem like such lovely, fun, encouraging people. I would honestly read a book about their story, too.

This book is early in production (I think), so there are some grammar issues, but they were few and far between. Hopefully, those will be corrected before it's release.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. I adore it and absolutely recommend it for any romance readers.

I absolutely adored Savor It so I went into this one with high hopes. Unfortunately, I was a little let down. I think my main issue was the FMC. I just didn’t love LaRynn. I know she had her reasons and normally I’m all for a firey, somewhat bitchy attitude but hers was too immature and over the top for me. I did however really like the MMC, Deacon. He was fun, sweet and charming with a bit of mischief behind his eyes. And although Tarah’s writing is great and the storyline had real potential, the romance felt a bit forced. I just didn’t think Deacon and LaRynn had great chemistry.

Overall, I didn’t love it or hate it. It was a fun story and I do love a good marriage of convenience trope. This one is set during summer so I’m glad I hit it this season. I’m giving her 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

a beautiful second chance story, I loved the addition of the “before” timeline and will always have a soft spot for deacon & larynn

Tarah Dewitt has a beautiful ability to imbue humor into her stories that make it so much fun and impossible to put down! I love a second chance romance, and Deacon and LaRynn have so much history and unresolved tension that you can feel it dripping off the page. I was crying and laughing and sweating my way through the whole thing. Definitely one of my top books of the year.

I am a fan of Tarah DeWitt's work, and I was surprised to discover I had read this one last year. I remember really liking it, so I settled in to read this new edition. I was not disappointed.

LaRynn and Deacon's grandmothers have passed away, and they have inherited the Santa Cruz home they both love. LaRynn and Deacon end up living together to facilitate the house renovation before selling. Despite the painful end of their past relationship, they can’t deny they still have chemistry. There is a lot of personal growth and hot shenanigans.

This was a great close-proximity, second chance romance and I’m so glad I opted to read it again. 4⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A classic lovely romance by Tarah with some deep feelings regarding the loss of beloved family members, which I can relate to very well, I loved the setting! Everything felt summery and sun kissed and slow and perfect.

this book exceeded every expectation i had going into it and i have never been more happy because of it.

larynn and deacon were both such real and relatable characters which made it so easy to get swept into their story. they showed so much about grief and communication and even though i wanted to smack their heads together quite a few times, i absolutely adored this book from start to finish.

i am ashamed it took me so long to dive into tarah’s books but now that i have, i need all of them.

thank you to netgalley for this arc <3

Simply sensational. She has quick wit and depth like no other author I’ve ever read. This book is real and entertaining in every single way

Deacon and LaRynn have been connected through their grandmothers since they were teenagers. After a whirlwind teenage romance and heartbreak, they haven’t seen each other in years. Now they’ve both been left their grandmothers’ home and they need to renovate it in order to sell it, but Deacon can’t afford to on his own. LaRynn has the means to fund it with a trust, but only if she is married. This leads to a marriage of convenience between the two of them while they fix up the house that holds so many memories.

I absolutely loved this book! I never read the original version so I’m not sure how much it has changed, but it is so heartfelt and such a beautiful story of young love, grief, and rebuilding relationships. There are dual timelines of their teenage love story as well as the current timeline, which builds background and helps the reader understand both characters’ perspectives. It is definitely a slow burn to build up the tension, but once the spice hit, it was steamy! I enjoyed the tropes of forced proximity, marriage of convenience, second chance romance, and grumpy (her) /sunshine (him). I feel like I need to read all of Tarah DeWitt’s books now after enjoying this one and Savor It so much!

Thank you so much to Tarah DeWitt and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC and opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved this novel. The characters were wonderfully vulnerable, the town was perfection, and the tension developed in such a satisfying way.

Definitely pick this one up!

4.5 Stars— I enjoyed the absolute heck out of this.

LaRynn is snarky, strong, and an absolute pain in Deacon’s side. And I love that. She doesn’t let him get away with anything and holds the plot together nicely.

Deacon is lighthearted, bull-headed, and caring. He finds himself in the most unlikely situations but he won’t let LaRynn back down from their chemistry.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved both main characters but LaRynn was amazing. She was such a hard ass on the outside but a complete sweetheart on the inside. Deacon got on my nerves just the tiniest bit but overall his character was great too. The banter! *fans self* woo the banter was glorious. They could each dish it out in spades.

The side characters were a great addition as well. Sal.......she said the craziest shit sometimes but I loved it! Jensen and Elyse were great friends to the MCs and had some spunk of their own.

This story is about two grandmothers who fell in love and married. With that LaRynn and Deacon would visit or stay with them over the years which is how these two meet. Both make assumptions about each other but over time tolerate each other then go on to hook up. Feelings get involved. Anxieties spike. Hearts break. Then years later the "grands" pass away and leave the house to the two grandkids. They need to fix it up but there's a lack of funds that can only be accessed by LaRynn if, yes you guessed it, shes married. They come up with a fake marriage plan to access the funds and fix the house. But old feelings are still raw and miscommunications happen along the way.

I was truly enamored by this whole story. I shipped the fuck out of Rynn and Deacon. I got aggravated over misunderstandings and fears but that added to the story to make it this amazing. Its what was needed for these characters to see their mistakes and grow. And grow they did! LaRynn especially. I'm only a reader but even I was so proud of her. I felt their connection and their pain.

Only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because of a scene where Deacon wants to remain friends without complicating things but then says I know a relationship is not on the table. Like dude you made that stipulation not to expand things. Thats the only part that really irritated me.

Overall, read this book. Their love story is worth it. And so is that beautiful epilogue.

Thank you so much Netgalley for the ARC. I loved it.

Loved this one. I love second chance. I really loved how they were both fractured and put themselves back together later on. Great characters. This is my first Tarah DeWitt but it will not be my last!

Straight gobbled this up in less than 24 hours!!! NO BECAUSE I LOVED THIS SOOO MUCH!!! This surprised me, although I had a strong feeling I would enjoy the story, I had no clue I’d fall head over heels for LaRynn and Deacon. I’m a feral racoon for them and I could literally give Tarah that fattest smooch for writing this masterpiece of a book.
This book literally kept me so well fed, it had forced proximity, marriage of convenience, top tier banter and moments that had me laughing out loud, AND A DASH OF SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE.
Dare I say YUMMY!!!!

"Be my wife. Stay my wife"

I heard about this book for quite a while now and I was never interested, but I read Rootbound by this author and I love that book so I opted to request for this one. Thank you Netgalley!

LaRynn returned to her grand mother's house after she half-inherited her house. She shared the house with Deacon and they decided to renovate the house and rent it out.

The whole book was messy, full of angst, banter and tension. There are a lot of miscommunication or shall I say, them not communicating too much in the first half so we just saw them juggling their feelings while in close proximity of each other.

I honestly got frustrated with them for so long, it kinda ruined the book for me because they don't communicate much due to their history together and their traumas. Understandable but at the same time, they are both adults that I just want to grab them and force them to talk.

It's very nice to see their growth as we go along the book! Overall, a good reading experience and I did love the angst and the tension all throughout the book.

Where do I start?!?! This book was everything I hoped it would be and more! The story of LaRynn and Deacon, both present and past, had me invested right from the start. The feelings are there.....the tension is there......i just kept waiting for them to give in! They both have baggage and seeing how they navigate through everything had me glued to every page. The exact ending I was hoping for that left me feeling all the feels.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

DeWitt has solidified herself as a must read author for me with this book.

LaRynn and Deacon met as teenagers (thanks to their grandmas getting married), had a Summer fling a few years later, and then outright avoided each other because of how things ended. When their grandmothers leave their home to both LaRynn and Deacon, they're forced to reunite after nearly a decade apart. It turns out that the house is falling apart and the only way to fund the repairs would be to tap into LaRynn's trust... which she can only access if she gets married.

I enjoyed how complicated and messy their situation was. You have two people who genuinely cared about each other but were too young and ill-equipped to handle those feelings. Both LaRynn and Deacon had poor examples of what love and family should be and are ultimately damaged by the time they're adults.

It took a second to get into the rhythm of the book but this was a beautifully complex story. When LaRynn and Deacon aretogether again, the attraction is there but there's a hatred that's festered since their Summer romance. The dual POV allows us to really get into the grittiness of each's backstory. 
The home is such a nicely done metaphor for not only LaRynn and Deacon individually but as a couple.

LaRynn comes across as mean but she's learned not to become too attached to anything while Deacon's view of love was shattered. Both characters are flawed but they're doing their best. As they learn to conquer their insecurities and confront their issues, they're able to communicate with each other and together realize how things went wrong all those Summers ago.

This is my first by this author and definitely will be reading more!
I loved the mutual pining by both the main characters in this second chance / lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers story. I love that they secretly want each other throughout their whole renovation process. Their dialogue and how they approached their marriage was so REAL. And so PRACTICAL. Like first things first, make a budget, join finances, get on my insurance etc. I love that they just didn’t immediately jump into bed together. ALTHOUGH! I feel ROBBED. The author puts a blurb at the beginning about how there’s lots of sex between them at the beginning when they’re 19 and 20, but HARDLY. They just talk about how they do have some sexy times but we don’t get anything open door until lateeeeee as their reunion is a SLOW BURN. But that’s okay, totally worth it, but the blurb at the beginning is a tad misleading.
Also a marriage of convenience is so fun. Like of COURSE she needs to get married to access her trust fund. I loved that though. And this leads to forced proximity which I loooooove.
Our female lead LaRynn was a very angry gal. She was super mean to Deacon very often. But I understand that she does have a difficult past when it concerns feeling worthy and needing to be loved. And maybe feels left out / encroached upon when Deacon comes into the situation at her safe haven with her grandma. Anytime she’s embarrassed though she lashes out so much. Their altercation with the grocery list when they’re younger creating a feud for years?? He had no idea she was dyslexic!! Anywho she’s angry but I guess maybe sort of justified.
Deacon!!! SWOONY!! He’s so funny. And like always consistently funny. Like a big goof. When she throws out his towels and he just struts around naked? And then dries himself on HER. Hilarious, cackling at him. He’s so realistic about everything too. And the “my wife” instances. 10/10 love him being possessive.
The side characters were amazing. I want a whole Elyse story. I wanna know more about the cafe and her relationship with the Jensen brother. I love that they got together right away because Deacon broke LaRynn’s nose.
Also I feel fairly justified in being SO confused by the Quebec references. I listened to a podcast with the author and she mentions she didn’t have a big reason to pick Quebec and the French language for the grandmother. Totally okay, BUT as someone who lives right in the border between Ontario and Quebec, I find it hilarious that she thinks her Quebec grandmother wouldn’t dare eat non-fancy cheese or jell-o. Like it’s Quebec, not France.
Big fan she throws in a friends quote and an office reference. Oh how the turn tables. Hilarious. I use this in every day conversation, too.
📢 no third act breakup!

✨ … anger became my quiet companion, something l'd wear like a shroud. I'd take their love where I could get it, which usually came in the form of pride whenever I did manage to do something impressive. I'd like to impress myself for a change. ✨

✨ I don’t care about a wedding. I’d rather have a kitchen floor ✨

4 ⭐️ (sort of miscommunication trope, overlying theme throughout the book about the I love you scene), 3🌶️

✨4.25✨

if you’re a nesta girl (iykyk) this one is for you

she is messy and sometimes mean with a big ass heart and a whole luggage set of trauma but god i loved her

after the loss of both their nans (happy married elderly lesbians?! need more of em) our fmc and mmc are left a home in need of some serious home repair in order to be sold and the only way to get the cash from her trust…marriage 😏

and this is no ordinary man she’ll be renovating marrying and living with, it’s none other than her first AND ONLY love- Deacon

deacon…swoon. he is a dichotomy of rugged handyman/electrician/overall fixer of things and soft emotional puppy who wants to be loved by her so badly🥹🥹


there is so much to unpack between them and this author navigates it like a pro, emphasizing the journey of grief, the different ways trauma is expressed, and what years of miscommunication can do to people who love each other so much

you’ll laugh, you’ll love and maybe even cry

would recommend