The Co-op

Tarah DeWitt

LaRynn and Deacon shared one intense, heartbreaking summer fling as teenagers in Santa Cruz, then didn't see each other again for a decade. When their grandmothers pass away and leave them joint ownership of a run-down building, LaRynn needs to marry to unlock her trust fund money and Deacon has the construction skills to fix the place up, so they strike a marriage-of-convenience deal. Living and working together forces them to confront the old wounds from their past while a slow-burn, forced-proximity romance rebuilds between them. It's a banter-heavy second-chance story about rebuilding trust alongside a literal house.