Christina Lauren strikes again! This was just the book I needed to pull me out of my reading slump. The authors perfectly intertwined the relationships in the story, mainly those between Carey and James, Melissa and Rusty and Carey and the Tripps. The authors kept us guessing what the issue was with Carey's health and also planted many seeds from the beginning hinting that Carey and James would become involved. The format of the book was also interesting with the story starting off with police transcriptions, hinting that a crime or major event was ahead. I thought the relationship between the two assistants was a little rushed and happened unrealistically fast, especially considering they seemed to strongly dislike each other in the beginning. However, overall I really enjoyed this one and flew through it quickly.

I was so excited to get an arc of this book. I was surprised that the first half of the book was very slow and even boring at times. I did really like James, but I don" feel like I got to know enough of him or Carey. Some character development was lacking. Halfway through this book., I actually wondered if Christina Lauren even wrote it. I was fascinated learning about distonia because I had never heard of it before. I think if it had been elaborated on sooner, I would have felt closer to Carey. The arguing between Melly and Rusty was annoying and way too long, in my opinion. I read this all the way through but it was a push.

While I loved the story line and the characters in this novel I found that Christina Lauren succumbed to the 'lets wrap this up in the last page or so' trend. I really didn't feel the characters had a chance to get past their differences and it left me kind of hanging.

Basically tasked with managing a marriage, The Honey-Don't List tells the story of two assistants, Carey and James, and their ups and downs in both their professional setting, as well as the relationship between the two.

I really enjoyed Christina Lauren's The Unhoneymooners, and was hoping for the same feel in this read, but I was left wanting more. James was rather detached throughout and Carey was a bit frustrating in that she could never stand up for herself. A lot of the book was about the book tour stops and I would rather have gotten to know the characters better. Overall, I did like this book, I just felt that there were too many details about the professional aspect of the characters and not enough on the romance side.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren.

I always enjoy a Christina Lauren book. James and Carey were adorable. I loved how she kept poking at him because of the whole engineer/assistant thing. I loved how James really SAW Carey. She was so used to being pushed into one box, but he gave her a different vision. I will say Melissa and Rusty gave me some real heartburn. I was stressed reading about their antics, I couldn't even imagine having to deal with that crazy in real life!

Christina Lauren has done it again - made me laugh and cry within the pages of the same book. This romantic comedy is very timely as it is being published, as it follows a famous husband-wife team who remodel and redesign houses for a tv show - think Chip & Joanna Gaines. Only this husband and wife team really can't stand to be around each other, and they are working on their newest project - a book about marriage. How ironic?! Rusty can't keep his hands (and other body parts) off of other women and his wife, Melissa (Melly), is a control freak prone to angry outbursts. Her assistant, Carey, is the brains behind all the design, but Melly has always taken credit for everything, leaving Carey feeling hopeless, after working for the Tripp family for 10 years. Rusty's new assistant, James, is actually an engineer, but due to a scandal at his previous company, his resume is pretty bad currently. He needs a job where he can prove himself and work his way up, and he's hoping that being Rusty's babysitter/assistant will be the route to help his career move forward. The real fun begins when the producer sends the feuding couple on a book tour with explicit instructions to make the public think they are head over heels for each other and to always be watching out for the cameras and smiling. Carey and James are along for babysitting purposes, and they don't really get along with each other at first. But as they get to know each other, the dreaded book tour with Rusty & Melly doesn't seem too bad after all. You'll have to read it to find out what happens with the Tripps and with their young assistants! I highly recommend this book and all books by Christina Lauren.

I feel kinda bad about this since I received an arc, but I did not care for this book and ended up DNFing it. I just wasn't feeling the romance at all. The two main characters started getting feelings for each other out of the blue and I feel like the development of their relationship went way too fast for me to get into. Also, the main female character's boss was very abusive to her, which I know was done on purpose, but it was too frustrating to read about so I just didn't.

I don't rate books I don't finish, but NetGalley requires a rating so 1 star.

I’m stuck between a 2.5-3. The storyline was okay, the character build both solo and as a group was good. This book could have been 100 pages less and I would have been happy. We didn’t need the details of everything on the bus in between each stop, it really didn’t add to the story... and that was a solid 40% of the book that I found myself skimming. I wish the whole book would have been more focused on the connections and conversations between the characters. It was relatable because it wasn’t overly dramatic when it came to the twist.. but it took way too long to get to the solution, and then once you got there it was like BAM yeah everything’s cool.. and that’s all. The potential for a stronger female lead was there, but never happened. she was made to seem weak to seem relatable, she found strength in a man rather then herself, and she let literally everyone walk all over her. Not all of which needed to be a bad thing, but again.. when it all got cleared up, it just cleared up. BAM.

The Honey-Don't List was just an ok book to me, I liked The Unhoneymooners better but I still want to read more of Christina Lauren's books in the future. I just couldn't get connected to the characters or the plotline so it fell flat to me, but it can still definitely work for other readers. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

A really cute read that also addressed deeper and more difficult subjects. I always enjoy Christina Lauren books, and this was no exception. Thank you SO much for allowing me the opportunity to review this one!

To start, I read this book in a single sitting. I could not put it down once I started - it was such an enjoyable read!

The story start out focused on two assistants - Casey and James - who work for a very famous and popular home improvement husband and wife team. The story goes back and forth between their two points of view and the book does a really good job differentiating between the two perspectives. I really loved the relationship between Casey and James.

The writing was very humorous at times and I just found myself wanting to keep reading. The story line kind of reminded me of a rom-com movie, but in a good way. The story of struggling assistants with a love/hate relationship, and crazy bosses, on a bus tour...very rom-com. But thankfully, this was done really well.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable, easy read. Perfect for a relaxing weekend, or a beach read!

The Honey-Don’t List is a story of Fixer Upper meets romance. Carey Douglas has worked for Comb + Honey since she was sixteen. Practically overnight the small design store exploded, resulting in a fictional take of Fixer Upper. Unfortunately, the show’s stars, brand, and marrieds Melissa and Rusty Tripp have a rocky relationship that they need to hide from the public. With a new book on happy marriages set to hit stands, Carey is thrown into their tour bus to help referee the mess that is the Tripps’ marriage while on their book tour.

But she’s not alone. Enter “engineer” James who has been demoted from Engineer/Assistant to “handler.” He resents this handler role as much as Carey and the two struggle to keep the marriage and show from imploding on the book tour.

I really enjoyed the story and setting on a fixer upper style plot. The writing was good and was similar to what I expected following Unhoneymooners. Overall, I found The Honey-Don’t list to be a fun and entertaining read. I was also thrilled to discover that she wrote other titles that I recognize (and plan to immediately add to my TBR pile)!

Christina Lauren’s The Honey Don’t List is a timely story about a home makeover super couple with a new TV show and a book tour, but not everything is perfect in remodeled paradise. Assistants Carey and James have been tasked with getting the book tour and the couple’s marriage running smoothly. This is an impossible task from the start. While I enjoyed the overall storyline of The Honey Don’t List, the writing and characters were one note. There was never a hook that got the story rolling, it just kept going without any ups and downs. There were some chapters that were really good and the pacing would increase, but it didn’t last. The story takes place over the span of about a week, but it just felt disconnected, jumpy, and rushed. Normally, I’m a fan of Christina Lauren’s books, but this one fell flat for me. It was just okay. I would recommend it for someone who wants a lighter, fluffy romance book while they’re in between more serious reads.

Such a good book!

To be honest, I was a little hesitant because I hated their last book, but I'm a big Christina Lauren fan, so I wanted to give this one a shot. I'm so glad I did. They're back on form, and the book is excellent. I loved everything about Carey and James and their relationship. It was great to get the sneak peeks into the entertainment industry. And I'd never heard of dystonia, so meeting a main character who had it was very interesting.

Thanks for the free review copy.
(Also posted on Bookbub but I can't see where to get a direct link)

The book has a very nice cover that I love, the synopsis got me hooked, and it’s from my favorite authors, so this is definitely a book to read. The book was very well written, and has the point of view of Carey and James. The beginning was very interesting because it started with a mystery or an investigation. However, there were times that I was bored, some eyerolling, and I admit was skipping some pages that I almost did not finish it. I was ready to give up, and then I thought 🧐 🤔 these women are the best of the best when it comes to romance and contemporary writing, so there must be something unique in this story. Plus the fact that I don’t like not finishing a book.

This book is definitely a slow burn because only until reading 45% of it, then the story started to change and the main couple finally got into the action of things. So if you’re reading this book, hang in there and your curiosity will be fulfilled 🙌.

All in all this was a good read, especially if you love reality shows, hgtv, and “Set it up” Netflix movie.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel. I adore Christina Lauren, and this romance was another great novel. Although predictable at times, it was also like sinking into a good movie, where everything around you goes dark while you sink into the novel.

The Honey-Don't List starts with superstars Melly and Rusty who are interior designers and ready to expand their stardom. But what everyone doesn't know is that Melly's assistant Carey, who has been with the couple for over a decade, might be the brains behind the whole operation. The secret is safe until James the newly hired engineer comes on board and falls for the unappreciated assistant.

3.5 stars

Thank you!

I needed this fun book after a long sci fi book. Assistant Carey and engineer James work for a home decorating tv couple. They travel together to keep the couple's marital problems from being public while on a press tour. At first Carey and James don't like each other but you know things are going to change between them.

"I am clearly the Pigpen to his Schroeder."

"Right now I'm looking at Carey's face, thinking it's like a song I've heard a few times now, and every time I hear it again I like it more."

This was just OK for me. I love love love the book Love and Other Words (I'm a broken record on that one) and none of their other ones has been quite as memorable for me.

First, I had never heard of a Honey-Do list. Am I the outlier on this? Second, I was almost more interested in the trainwreck of the secondary characters' marriage than the love story, which had lots of Gaines vibes, if the Gaines were awful people. Third, the love story happened too fast. They went from zero to well...ya know...in like two weeks. I would rather it had taken place over at least the span of a month.

Overall, I felt only mildly interested in the main characters, particularly James, our down on his luck civil engineer. Carey was more interesting due to her longstanding relationship with the HGTV couple from hell and her own present struggles, but I also didn't quite get the differences in her personality. The story was fine burt I was particulalry annoyed with all the references to Carey having no money and lugging around a derelict suitcase. She's the right (and left) hand of one of the biggest home reno TV couples in the country who have product lines and books and she can't afford anything (but then buys something pretty big at the end). That did not add up.

I did find the ending fairly satisfying though.

Another standout contemporary romance from Christina Lauren! The protagonists, Carey and James, both work for the Tripps, the stars of a home renovation show (think the Gainses of Fixer Upper, but add at least a dozen heaping teaspoons of resentment and destructive behavior). Carey has worked for the Tripps since she was a 16 year old working in their first store. A decade later, she's Melissa Tripp's assistant, a role so demanding that she has no time to see her family or foster friendships, let alone pursue romance. James is an MIT-educated engineer who took his job with Rusty Tripp out of desperation (his previous job went up in flames after the company's white collar crimes were exposed), and he seems to feel the role is beneath him. After Carey and James catch Rusty cheating on Melissa, they're forced to follow the couple on book tour (for a book about their supposedly-great marriage!) and focus all of their energy on preventing a public blow-out. The book switches between Carey and James's perspectives, interspersed with news clips, tweets, and police transcripts (which suggest that, in spite of Carey and James's best efforts, everything will eventually go wrong). This was super charming, full of wit and heart. The hint of mystery helped to up the pace of what may otherwise have felt more like a slow-burn romance.

Rusty and Melly are the sweethearts of the media. They are remodeling or building their way into stardom.
James is their assistant, but don't tell him that. He claims higher aspirations.
Casey has been the cornerstone of the Rusty, Melly saga. She comes up with the designs for the show. Not caring that her efforts are trivialized and Melly takes the credit.
The perfect couple are an example to millions. Their TV series and books proclaim their love and undying devotion to each other.
This latest hook tour is the end of the pretense. Cracks are showing in the living couple facade. James and Casey are in charge of they couple. Their new job....to not let the fans see the cracks in the relationship Melly's temper and Rusty's drunken confessions keep everyone on their toes. Until it can no longer be hidden. The bickering and backbiting spreading to James and Casey's new budding romance.
A hilarious read. Full of fun!