I attempted to read this twice and just couldn't get into it which makes me sad. I typically love Christina Lauren but their last two releases haven't been great for me... it just didn't intrigue me from the beginning. Because of this, I will not be leaving a review.

This is almost an anti-romance of sorts. During this intense journey we are experiencing the implosion of a marriage that started strong but when fame came knocking, Melissa, got lost. Rusty, her husband, is frustrated that his wife can’t see what is truly happening to their marriage and lashes out in a hurtful way. Their team realizes that they will need chaperones on their book tour to make sure everything runs smoothly and that they will place nice wit each other. This forces Carey and James, their assistants to attend when they were both looking forward to a week of vacation. Carey has been working for the Tripp’s for 10 years and has become an integral part of their success. The sad part is that she allows Melissa to bulldoze her which just reinforces her low self-esteem. James is desperate to rebuild his career after the firm he worked for imploded from a scandal. He was hired to be the engineer on the projects but ends up as Rusty’s assistant. Now Carey and James start out rubbing each other the wrong way but as the volatile book tour continues, they find themselves needing each other to survive the avalanche that is Melissa and Rusty Tripp. This is the romance, Carey and James’ slow burn during the turbulent book tour on a bus. The quiet moments when they find common ground in their passion for building as well as the beauty in their differences. But Carey’s journey to finding her voice and standing up for what she wants and what she is truly worth provides a wonderful reminder to each of us to not be afraid to pursue your passion. Will James find a way to be a part of Carey’s future? Or will his own ambitions get in the way? I enjoyed this book though it took me a while to really get into the rhythm of the story and be fully invested in the characters journey. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book because I love the other Christina Lauren books that I have read. However, this book is just okay for me.

Let's start with the premise of the story. Carey and James work for home renovation stars, Melissa (Melly) and Rusty Tripp. The Tripps are experiencing trouble in their relationship, so Carey and James are given the difficult task of keeping the couple from revealing their troubles to the public. My first issue with the plot is that the Tripps are written in a way that they are too similar to a particular real life home renovation couple. I do not like the close comparison at all. Additionally, the story line of the two assistants having to basically parent the older couple is annoying to me. It is clear at the start of the book that these two people are not going to fix the relationship.

The characters of Carey and James are likable enough. Their blooming relationship is fun to watch. They are cute together, and their banter is sweet and funny. There is a lot of dysfunction in the relationships in this book, though. It is a little hard to understand why Carey allows herself to be used by the Tripps for so long. Her relationship with Melly is highly dysfunctional, with Melly taking credit for work that Carey does. It is also odd that James, an engineer, actually allows himself to be treated like a personal assistant.

The writing style, as always with a Christina Lauren book, is very easy to read. The story flows at a nice pace. It is a pleasant, enjoyable read. I just do not love the plot and characters as much as I usually do with books by these authors.

Carey Douglas is looking forward to a much-needed vacation. She's spent nearly ten years serving as an assistant--and much more--to Melissa Tripp, one half of Melissa and Rusty Tripp. The Tripps are co-owners of the store Comb+Honey and best known for their home renovation TV shows and books. They have a new solo show, Home Sweet Home, about to launch on Netflix, accompanied by a book about their happy marriage. The only issue: Melissa and Rusty can't stand each other. So instead of giving their assistants--Carey and Rusty's assistant/engineer, James--a break while they go on book tour, the couple's behavior requires they be babysat so their mutual self-hatred does not go viral. Suddenly Carey and James find themselves stuck together on a tour bus, watching over two very irritable and often hateful people. James needs the engineering contacts and a job where everything is on the up-and-up--something his last couldn't offer. Carey requires health insurance and believes Melissa needs her more than anyone else. And who knows, the more time James and Carey spend together, the more they might wind up finding some good in all this mess.

"You wouldn't know from scrolling through their idyllic Instagram feed that Melly and Rusty aren't quite as sweet on each other anymore. Looking back, I'm not really sure when they decided their marriage mattered less than their brand."

This was a fun and engaging Christina Lauren read. I'd rank Carey and James as one of their good couples, though not perhaps in the great category. They are cute, however, with plenty of chemistry and lots of sexy banter.

"Your only job for the next ten days is to keep the Tripps from falling apart."

I enjoyed the HGTV feel of this book and the Tripps had a "Chip and Joanna Gaines" feel, if the Gaines went off the rails, or we were able to see their dark side. Things get a little repetitive in the middle, as the Tripps fight and Carey and James struggle with the "oh but we need our jobs" piece, but overall the book is humorous, tender, and fun. Sure, Carey and James are desperately thrown together and you have NO IDEA what will happen, right? It's all good; it's why I love a good romance. Their journey is enjoyable and the side characters--mainly the Tripps--are, well, a trip. Let me tell you, Melissa (Melly) is downright scary at times.

We also get the story told from both Carey and James' point of view, which I like, plus some police report excerpts (oh yeah) and parts of blogger and tabloid pieces. Our fabulous duo does a great job at putting us in the middle of the Tripps' scandal, and one of my favorite things about this one was that not only did we get to enjoy Carey and James' romance, but we felt like we were a part of the trainwreck sensation that was Melly and Rusty.

3.5 Stars! Honey Don’t List was an easy to read story with a unique storyline that I enjoyed. I did have a bit of trouble initially warming up to the characters but as I got used to their quirkiness I found them more endearing while they had to make the best of the interesting situation they found themselves in.

I was hoping for an escape from the realities of our world and I thought Christina Lauren's new book would offer a brief respite. Sadly, The Honey-Don't List was. a letdown for me. I just didn't like Melissa and Rusty Tripp at all and I just wasn't interested enough in Carey and James as characters to enjoy the story. I have liked so many other titles by these authors, but this one fell flat. I just really couldn't immerse myself in this Chip and Johanna-esque redux. I would definitely recommend other Christina Lauren titles, but sadly, not this one.

OMG! How I missed the cute characters of Christina Lauren!



Carey and James have a lot of chemistry together and make a wonderful couple with a lot of interaction. They end up getting closer thanks to their complicated bosses, the famous couple Melissa and Rusty.

Carey has worked for them for a long time and can no longer get her own life back. Having lost her dreams and identity, she lives to satisfy Melissa who doesn't value her to the same extent.


With the growing tension between the couple over a Book tour and a TV show, Carey finds the support she needs in James who has the same task as her: make the famous couple doesn't kill themselves before the start of the next season of the show.

I loved Carey too much and found myself in her shoes several times, incredible how I managed to identify myself so much with a character, but I swear I expected a stronger attitude on her part at the end towards Melissa that oppressed her for many years.

The book alternates the protagonists' pov, with testimonies at the police station and gossip on social media.


I loved it!


5/5 stars

Perhaps I’m easy to please, but the latest from Christina Lauren is absolutely incredible. The novel follows the lives of (and eventual romance between) two assistants, Carey and James, who keep America’s favorite home renovation TV couple going.

The writing was extremely well-done, and this book gave me more The Un-Honeymooners vibes rather than Twice in a Blue Moon ones, which I wasn’t in love with. Instead, this gets back to that witty, cheeky romance that’s seemingly both lighthearted and serious that I also loved The Un-Honeymooners for.

Highly recommend giving it a read if you’re looking for something fun!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

By 16 pages in, readers are already hooked: What happened to the home improvement crew that fated night the police are asking about? Christina Lauren takes it back to the beginning of the team's fame and acclaim as you realize what happened along the way to end up here. The writing is so captivating, you just want to find out what happens next! For fans of renovation and interior design shows, this story is for anyone who's wondered what life is like behind the scenes. After seeing something that could deter their bosses' sugary-sweet PR image, longtime assistant Carey and newbie hire, nerdy James, tag along on their book tour to keep everything going smoothly for their brand. It's a quick, engaging read and Carey and James have such a strong enemies-to-lovers spark from to get-go.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for this free ebook ARC in return for an honest review.

Christina Lauren is my favorite author duo. I have loved so many of their books, so this was an automatic request for me. I picked up this book a couple of months ago, and ended up putting it down. It had a Chip and Joanna vibe that I didn't like, so I stopped for awhile. I decided to pick this book back up, and I'm glad I did. It definitely is different than the famous design couple, and I ended up liking it.

Even though I liked the book, it fell flat for me compared to their other books. I don't think it had as much depth throughout the whole book compared to most of their other books.

I give this 3.5 stars.

This book was a true delight to read, like the Netflix movie "setting it up" mixed with a home renovation couple that we all see on TV and in magazines. It was refreshing to see a main character who doesn't come from an upper middle class background with a college degree. I loved watching her confidence build with some support from romantic lead James. This book was funny and sexy, definitely the kind of book you want to be cuddled up with in these times.

Are you a fan of HGTV and home remodeling? Then, this is a book for you! Carey and James are personal assistants, or engineers, for the famous home remodeling TV and book publishing couple, Melly and Rusty. As Carey and James are tasked with keeping the couples infidelity and image from imploding during a book launch tour, Carey and James realize that there is more than meets the eye with both their work and personal lives.

A different way love is found! Elizabeth @ Carolina Chic’s Read

Loved this slightly different story of two people thrown together in close quarters who find that they just do not want to live without each other. They are both attractive and quirky people who are thrown into a situation that is so far out of their control that the only thing they can do is to find a little happiness in each other.

4 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Carey and James are assistants for Rusty and Melissa "Melly" Tripp, a husband/wife duo who have taken the home renovation world by storm.  After Rusty is caught in a compromising position, the two assistants must cancel their own plans at the last minute to accompany the Tripps on their book tour, which is meant to set the stage for the announcement of the couple's Netflix reality show. While the rest of world is fooled by the Tripps, Carey and James are given the almost impossible task of hiding the Tripps' crumbling marriage from the world.

This is only my second book from this author duo, and while I did enjoy it, I couldn't help but compare it to Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating. I absolutely adored that book last year and found it absolutely hilarious. The Honey-Don't List does not feature as many rom-com tropes and it wasn't nearly as funny as Josh and Hazel. The romance actually took the backseat to the drama of the Tripps and had a more serious tone most of the time.

I am not a huge fan of reality TV, but I will admit I've watch my fair share of Chip and Joanna Gaines' show on HGTV. The fictional duo featured in this book were obviously modeled after the Gaines, and it was a nice change up for the terrible boss to not be a high powered exec in an office setting.

The beginning of the book takes its time, but the romance between the assistants and the climax of the story are rushed. This was a 3.75 star book for me, but I rounded up to 4 stars on Goodreads because it did help me push through a reading slump! If you want more romance and comedy from a book, you may not fully enjoy this one. But if you are like me and don't mind a lighter romance, then I encourage you to give this one a chance!

DNF at 40%.

I’m sorry but no. In my honest opinion, Christina Lauren has been going downhill since The Honeymooners, which is utterly frustrating.

In this scenario, we get the enemies to lovers teaser. However, you have to trudge through the bs that is the failing marriage of Rusty and Melissa Tripp who’ve been created in the image of Chip and Johanna Gaines. This whole farce of a marriage with cheating spouses and delinquent rich kids that needs to hold up false pretenses for the sake of reality TV is for the birds. You can keep it.

Yes, I’d love to see what happens to James and Carey because there is so much potential between them, but I’m not willing to continue to trudge through the remaining 60% of this book to see if it actually happens or not. Do readers a favor and get rid of the reality TV sideshow because while it may be an escape for some people, some of us find it cheap and uninteresting.

This will post on the site Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/

THE HONEY-DON’T LIST – Christina Lauren
Gallery Books
ISBN: 978-1-98212391-8
March 24, 2020
Contemporary Romance

On the Road in the Western USA – Present Day

Carey Douglas has worked as an assistant to popular remodeling and home design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for ten years, but few people know what really goes on behind the scenes. Namely, that the Tripp marriage is on the rocks. With the release of their latest book, which happens to be about marriage and relationship advice, a book signing tour is about to take off from their home base in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Already Carey is dreading it. She will have to keep Melissa and Rusty on track by making sure they act happy with each other. That won’t be easy. Luckily, she has the help of Rusty’s assistant, James McCann. Or, maybe James will prove to be a distraction for Carey.

James has a degree from MIT and working as an assistant to a remodeling and home design duo should be beneath him, but he’s up a creek after his last job ended in scandal. Not that he was part of the scandal, but he can’t put who he worked for down on a resume without getting “that look.” He hopes to either move up the chain with the Tripps or move on, whichever comes first. But right now, James has to join Carey on the book tour escorting Melissa and Rusty, all the while hoping that the married couple doesn’t come to blows with each other. James and Carey form a friendship, which soon leads to something neither expected…a mutual attraction. How will things work out on a tour bus trip all through the west coast and back to Wyoming?

THE HONEY-DON’T LIST is a cute and funny tale about life on the road. Carey has been with Melissa and Rusty since she was sixteen, and now ten years later, she knows as much as Melissa does when it comes to room designing. However, she remains behind the scenes because she really needs the health insurance due to a medical condition she has. The last thing Carey wants to do is upset Melissa, who is self-centered. Rusty, meanwhile, can’t keep his pants zipped, which only angers Melissa. The marriage is rapidly falling apart, but in order to sell books and promote a new television series, they have to pretend they’re happy. Unfortunately, things don’t work out the way everyone wants it to…

James and Carey work together as a team, though they barely know each other despite working alongside each other for the past several months. James is a caring person and sees the good in Carey, even if Melissa still treats her badly. Carey tends to keep a part of herself hidden from others, but he senses things about her that prove to be true. She is not used to trusting people and it takes a few chats talking to each other before she trusts James. Add in that they’re attracted to each other—knowing that their employers might frown on their fraternizing—they don’t know where things between them will go.

It’s a roller coaster ride for readers in the hilariously funny THE HONEY-DON’T LIST. You will laugh and you will cry. Don’t miss this fun tale.

Patti Fischer

t this point, anything Christina Lauren writes is an auto-read for me. They write female characters that are unique, strong, and loveable. The male characters are always adorable, respectful, and lovely. The dialogue is snappy, and the romance is swoony. So I was pretty excited to get a chance to read an ARC of The Honey-Don't List, and I was not disappointed.

The way I've been describing this book to people is "Set It Up" meets "Fixer Upper" (although if I ever find out that Chip and Joanna are anything like the characters in this book, I will cry). Also "Set It Up" plus "Fixer Upper" is the combo I never knew I always wanted. Bless you, Christina Lauren and your fabulously creative minds.

Carey and James are the assistants to Melly and Russ, the beloved stars of an HGTV renovation show. Little does America know, Melly and Russ can't stand each other. So as they head out on a book tour, it's up to their already overworked assistants to make sure they keep up the healthy marriage charade. As Carey and James begin to spend more time together secrets are revealed, and their feelings for one another begin to grow. Like most CLo books, I read this in about two sittings, because it's too fun to tear yourself away from. I highly recommend checking this out.

The description drew me in. There have been remodeling shows on TV that we later have found out the hosts did not like each other.

I liked how Carey and James planned to work together to keep their jobs. I also enjoyed the blossoming relationship between them.

I found this an entertaining read and plan to add this author to my reading list.

I am a huge fan of books by the writing duo known as Christina Lauren. Two of my favorite books of all time, Love and Other Words, and Roomies were written by these ladies. I love these two books so much because they're beautifully written and gut-wrenching and can make you laugh one page and cry the next. This means that I hold books by CL to a higher standard. Unfortunately, The Honey-Don't List didn't live up to those standards.

This story had a couple things going against it for me, through no fault of the authors. I'm not a fan of books about "famous" people: rock stars, movie stars, TV personalities. It's just not my thing. I think a lot of the things in pop culture that fascinate most of our population are trite and shallow. I don't care who dated who, or who cheated on who, or who was caught at the grocery store without makeup, or how many pounds so-and-so has put on. Secondly, I'm not obsessed with home improvement shows like a lot of people are. This book is about famous people on a home improvement show!

It was well-written, as all CL books are, but it lacked that gorgeous word play that can be found throughout many of their books, including the two favorites I mentioned earlier. I read this book on my iPad, and I hardly highlighted any phrases, which is the sign of a good book for me. I finished it just to finish it, not because I really cared that much about how it turned out. It definitely lacked the angst and conflict of an excellent CL story. There was a moment in Love and Other Words where I literally had to put the book down and go take a break for a few days. (The same thing happened with Dating-ish by Penny Reid.) This book had none of that. I don't want that in every book I read, but usually there is a sense of urgency and drama in a CL book, and this time, there wasn't.

By no means will this stop me from reading books by these great authors. But perhaps I should lower my expectations a bit for their next one, because I hate being disappointed that they're not as good as my two favorites.

Designer Carey Douglas has worked for Melissa and Rusty Tripp for ten years, from a small town shop to HGTV megastardom. Her ideas are the heart of the show and she gets no credit, she works 24 hour days for Melissa and gets nothing but stress. She's looking forward to a well earned weeklong vacation as the married couple travel the West Coast to promote their book on how to have a happy marriage. The problem? The couple can't be near each other without fighting. Now Carey is stuck on the tour with engineer/assistant James to try and keep the reno world's favorite couple from killing each other, and their brand.

Remember the movie America's Sweethearts? In public, John Cusak and Catherine Zeta-Jones were the world's perfect couple. In private, they were a disaster and it was up to Julia Roberts and Billie Crystal to keep the fiction going. Take that idea and blend it with HGTV renovation shows with cute married couples and you have an idea of The Honey-Don't List. Only worse. Poor Carey Douglas has been working for the Tripps since she was 16 and pretty much sees them as her second family. But now Rusty is an alcoholic womanizer who doesn't seem to care if he gets caught and ruins the brand image, and Melissa is a tightly wound, abusive perfectionist. Carey is loyal despite the insane hours, the constant stress, and the fact that all the ideas and designs are hers and Melissa is taking all the credit. That's what you do for family, right? It takes newcomer James McCann to make her confront the situation as it really is- and to look at the changes she might want to make so she can actually have a life.

James came onto the show as an engineer and was instantly made Rusty's assistant. Great job if that means working on projects, lousy job when it means picking up his dry-cleaning. He resents the role and sees it (and Carey) as beneath him- until he's forced by the show's Powers That Be to join the Tripps' road tour and realizes just how much work Carey does as Melissa's assistant. It's the first time the two have really been around each other and they go from not really liking each other to very definitely liking each other. I enjoyed how their relationship moved very naturally- there was no insta-lust, no I-hate-you-now-love-you. It was two people locked in a stressful situation working together to contain the complete dumpster fire that is their bosses' marriage, and discovering each other, and themselves along the way. Having worked in stressful jobs with abusive bosses, I have to say that I thought Christina Lauren hit the nail on the head with Carey's conflicted relationship with her job (and Melissa). At what time do you have to emotionally disconnect from something you built, knowing the situation will never get better? When do you acknowledge that you owe yourself something before the job and the people doing nothing but taking from you? James helps Carey allow herself the confidence to stand up for herself, which was both sweet and empowering. Of course he messes things up too, and there isn't smooth sailing for Carey and James, but where would be the fun in that?

The Honey-Don't List has the humor, wit, and occasional wackiness I've come to look for from Christina Lauren (The UnHoneymooners). It's a sparkling, fun read and perfect to lift your mood at any time! A must-read!


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review