3.5
I really enjoyed this book which is rare for me for second chance romances involving young love. Some parts of this book had me laughing out loud. I thought the chemistry and the development of their relationship were done well. I appreciated how the characters were self aware and flawed. Their back story though made sense for their reactions.

I did find certain parts of this book slow though. Overall I thought it was cute though.

i love tarah dewitt, but i could not bring myself to love this book. i don’t know if it was not being able to relate to the characters or the miscommunication or the second chance romance, but i just couldn’t do it and wanted to dnf this one several times.

thank you so much to SMP/SMG and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

Having read all of Tarah DeWitt's books to date, THE CO-OP is one of my favorites! As they're forced back together to restore the house their grandmothers left them, LaRynn and Deacon pull off some classic romance tropes with style, including forced proximity and second-chance romance. I loved their relationship, and while I wish there had been more communication around why their first relationship together went south, I enjoyed reading about the house project bringing them back together and how they slowly rebuilt their love alongside the house (what a perfect metaphor). Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC!

I absolutely love the new cover! The banter between LaRynn and Deacon was amazing! The characters in the book felt so real, and it was refreshing to see them talk about their feelings instead of constantly misunderstanding each other. The house renovation kept me interested, because I just wanted them to keep the house so bad. Overall, this was a fun read, and I loved all the changes :)

Thank you to SMP and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an Arc of this book.

3 stars! 🌟

I will say that between this one and her book Savour it, I like the premise of this one better. Which seems like an unpopular opinion.
We have Deacon and LaRynn as our mains who have known each other for years as their grandmothers were in a relationship in the later stages of their lives. This book is set in a dual timeline of the past when they were young, and the present day in the aftermath of both of those grandmothers passing. They both have to come together to save the house that means so much to their grandmothers while in the beginning of the book they aren’t particularly fond of each other. But due to LaRynn getting money from a trust, they have to get married to secure the money to fix up the house they are so desperate to save.

This book was a fun ride, it reminded me in parts of love and other words by Christina Lauren with the past lovers aspect…

LaRynn and Deacon were very interesting main characters given how both hard headed they were on a lot of things but then of course Deacon is the one who falls first and well we all know how that ends. I would say that the banter was pretty funny, and there was some good quotes about life and memories… the spice was about a 1.5 🌶️, it was there but not as intense as other works.

I will continue to read Tarah DeWitt as her books are a good palate cleanser… it was a quick and enjoyable read.

Still a fun read the second time around. I actually don't remember too much from the writing style from the first time I read it, but it definitely feels a little smoother!

Thank you for netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

this book was absolutely amazing!! i loved the dynamic between LaRynn and Deacon!! will definitely be getting this for my shelf

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Tarah DeWitt for the early access copy of The Co-op.

The Co-op is a dual point-of-view, second chance romance following LaRynn and Deacon. When LaRynn and Deacon were young adults they had a sultry summer fling that left its mark on both of them. After a decade of no contact, and the passing of their grandmothers, the two are left with co-ownership of the dilapidated home. The pair are left with the choice of working together to rebuild the beloved home or sell before the gritty work is done.

Tarah DeWitt has an astounding way of writing intense chemistry and building tension amongst her characters. LaRynn and Deacon both are flawed and relatable characters. The dual POV does a beautiful job of demonstrating the complexities that people go through and what hiding behind emotional walls can do to your respective partners.

Tarah DeWitt is a must-read author. I cannot wait to read more from her.

This charming novel is a delightful blend of second-chance romance, fake marriage and forced proximity. I loved the emotional growth with laugh-out-loud moments as Rynn and Deacon attempt to navigate their fake marriage and undeniable feelings. The renovation project becomes a metaphor for their relationship, with hidden layers revealed and a beautiful transformation unfolding. You'll be captivated by the sizzling tension and will root for them to remodel their happily ever after.

LaRynn and Deacon messed things up years ago. They are brought together when their grandmothers left them their home after they passed. The home is falling apart and they don't have the money to fix things properly. LaRynn can access her trust fund if she gets married and Deacon volunteers. They are living together and fixing up the house. They try to avoid each other, but it finds to be impossible because of course they were both in love with each then and want each other now. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the progression of the plot. I just wish that we got to the important conversation quicker than we did. Still a forever fan of Tarah Dewitt.

This was a sweet palate cleanser romance. I’m not the biggest fan of second chance romances but I love marriage of convenience so I figured the tropes would kinda cancel out and I was right. The banter was fun and believable but nothing about this blew me away. Nothing life changing here but a great book to pick up if you’re in the mood for a quick fun read!

4.25 stars!- I had read the original version of this book a year and a half ago and I was excited to dive back into this story! First off I am in love with the new cover. I enjoyed this book even more the second time I read it! This was a quick read for me and I really liked reading the character development/growth between LaRynn and Deacon. The banter between them was so fun to read. Tarah DeWitt is becoming a must read author for me and I highly recommend this one!

The Co-op is an enjoyable enemies to lovers romance with inter-generational supporting characters. The two main characters meet as teenagers when their grandmothers marry. The novel splits between present day and the main characters’ teenage romance. In the present day, we see them as enemies, but they need to pool their resources and enter a fake marriage to get the house they jointly inherited into shape before selling.

What I liked were the various ages of characters and the male lead’s caring of the older women in his life. We eventually get to see why the characters parted when young and why there is animosity. They rise above the dysfunctional family backgrounds that they both share.

What I didn’t like was that the main female’s character is initially so angry and mean, but the reader doesn’t really know why. This made it difficult for me to like the character. I also think the novel is a bit too long. All the second guessing and endless details about their backstories could have been edited a bit more.

Still, this a diverting and entertaining read.

the co-op (the renovated version) is a special story, highlighting the healing a community can offer and how certain loves never leave you.

larynn and deacon, once young and fumbling through a palpable connection, return to each other's orbit once again a decade after their summer romance. thanks to unusual circumstances, they are soon sharing a home and a convenient marriage certificate. whether they're ready or not, the construction zone they live in won't be the only thing they'll have to rebuild.

while I read and enjoyed the original version of the co-op, I commend tarah for tackling this daunting rewrite. she took the assignment and ran with it. the inclusion of flashbacks and further emphasis on deacon and larynn's friends both served as great enhancements. there was tension and banter and vulnerability that felt raw and honest. these characters are in their twenties, navigating love and loss and the big questions that scare us all.

this couple found each other in the mess and fought for their healing and happiness. though larynn can be prickly, deacon loves her soft and harsher parts equally. seeing appreciation for a strong, determined, flawed woman is always something I can get behind. the ways they expressed their respect and admiration for the other were so special, resulting in tons of swoony dialogue and intentional showings of support.

for lovers of the original book, this reimagined romance still provides all those good bones but cranked up a notch. and to those who may be new to larynn and deacon's story, there's so much to adore about these hot-headed legends. forced proximity, second chance, marriage of convenience???? there's something for everyone.

endless thanks to tarah for the opportunity to read an early copy of this new version. additional thanks to st. martin's press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading second chance romances, I read this book in a day. I loved it so much. I could not put the book down. Tropes in this book were forced proximity, marriage of convenience and slow burn. I love these tropes a lot. It was a very good book.

I loved The Co-Op. Tarah Dewitt’s writing is great and her characters crawl right into my heart every time. The tension in this story is excellent. Love to see this getting trad published and in more readers hands, romance readers will love it.

To be completely honest, I very nearly DNF'd this book around a quarter of the way through. While I love the enemies-to-lovers combined with a second-chance romance plot, the beginning of the novel left me with confused looks on my face several times. For one, I find it a little odd and off-putting that the MMC and FMC are somewhat related through marriage, yet that's never addressed as unusual. Even in the flashbacks when they are teenagers who only meet through their grandmothers who fall in love and get married, no one in their family - who all know they are together as teens - have anything to say about them being semi-related? Of course it isn't like they're blood cousins or anything, but it felt odd as a reader, and odder that it didn't seem to feel odd to any of the characters. In the first few chunks too, the tension felt pure enemies without much hint of enemies to lovers. I couldn't really figure out why they were at all interested in each other now until much later on. This all said, the second half of the book took it from 2 stars or a DNF up to 3 stars. As the characters figured out the source of misunderstandings past and present and came together, the spice was 10/10 excellent and the romance grew incredibly sweet. The first half of the book could have set up for this loveliness much better than it did!

Disappointing overall because I adored Savor It by the same author, but I have high hopes for her other books as well!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

LaRynn and Deacon meet as teens when their grandmothers marry eventually having a passion filled summer relationship that was supposed to be only physical but evolved into more. Their inability to communicate led to breaking up and no communication until they are reunited after inheriting their grandmothers’ home and need to restore it in order to sell or rent it for income. To further complicate things they marry to access LaRynn’s trust. Through the rehabilitation of the home and grieving the loss of their grandmothers they explore the things they are holding onto from childhood both personal and together.

The Co-op is a fake marriage and forced proximity romance that explores the heavier dimensions of a relationship.

Through no fault of the author, this book was not for me. I have a hard time relating to the characters and references to their generation and its cultural icons. If I was younger I would have related to the characters and their references.

Tarah has a knack for making you emotionally invested in her characters, and the Co-op is no exception. She brought forced proximity and miscommunication to another level by giving Rynn and Deacon depth and even though I expected the HEA, I was still stressed enough about it to anxiously await each new chapter!