I have enjoyed every one of the sister duo Christina Lauren's books so far, and this one did not disappoint!

The Honey-Don't List is a story of a marriage falling apart due to fame and success, as well as a story about a younger couple finding themselves in their careers, as well as finding each other. I found the book humorous at times, as the married couple, Melissa and Rusty were not getting along while having to put on a front for their fans. I was also rooting for James and Carey's budding romance.

I would recommend this book to fans of Christina Lauren. It is less of a steamy romance than some of their previous books, but I think most will enjoy the sweet love story.

The honey dont list is about “the dream team” couple the Tripps. They are home designers, authors and have their own renovations show. But their relationship is not all as perfect as it seems. The are having some major marital problems. Assistant Carey, who has been working for the couple for since she was sixteen (ten years) and newly hired engineer/assistant James must go on the book tour with the couple to help keep the Tripps marriage together and keep up appearances that the couples marriage is a solid as everyone seems. Neither Carey or James were supposed to go on this trip and neither want the job as chaperons. As Carey and James spend more time together things start to heat up between them and he helps her to realize there is more to life than the Tripps and her job.

This book was not exactly what I was expecting. But in a good way. It is not the perfect fluffy romance, in either relationship. I really enjoyed this book, it was unpredictable and had you needing more. Carey has a very complicated relationship with the Tripps and it made me feel really bad for her and root for her to grow into her own person. The ending wraps up great without being the perfect unrealistic happily every after for the book.

I am already recommending this book to friends and customers where I work. I will definitely be picking up a copy when it comes out.

I am a huge Christina Lauren fan but this book just didn't do it for me. I enjoyed Carey's character but didn't like that she let Melissa walk all over her. I didn't like that so much of it was focused on the Tripp's and wished James and Carey's characters and their relationship were developed more. I just didn't find myself as invested in their relationship as much as I would have liked. The investigation aspect seemed a bit out of place and made it seem like some major crime had been committed which was strange for a romance book. All that aside, I will still read anything this duo puts out and if you are a fan give this one a try it wasn't for me but it's a quick read and definitely worth a try!

*Was provided a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I love Carey and James but I never saw them fall for each other! All of a sudden - bang, they were hot for each other. If there was more romantic development, I'd give this a four or even 4.5 because it had everything else, and I really enjoyed it. But contemporary romance should really have some more romance in it so 3 it is. But I really love your stuff, Christina Lauren!

Book Review: The Honey- Don’t List by Christina Lauren

This story is a lovely romance filled with wit, home design references and a bit of drama. You’ll love how Carey and James get to know one another while having the daunting task of insuring that, while on tour to promote their latest book and tv show, everything is sunshine and daisies for the highly loved “perfect” couple that is their bosses. Sounds easy, right

I love to read Christina Lauren books. They are always my favourites! This one was good, but it wasn't the best one.
The main people James and Carey were sweet and feisty.
The other characters Rusty and Melly were not good people. I think that Rusty tried, but Melly was a character that I couldn't like at all. She was mean and selfish.
I wish that the characters had more development. They had been living the same lives for 10 years, and all of a sudden noticed that there were problems.
I'm looking forward to the next Christina Lauren book, and will probably re-read a few of my favourites in the meantime, so I can remember why I love them again.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley -- My first, but not last.

This book is about Carey, a hardworking young adult who works for a home remodelling and design couple, the Tripps, for many years. Along the way, Carey has helped them in their successes, but behind the scenes is facing many struggles keeping everything together, and keeping many life changing secrets. James, one of the Tripps engineers turned personal assistant, and Carey are told that they must join the Tripps on their book tour to "watch over things". Carey and James reluctantly head on the road trip, not knowing what to expect, but knowing it will be difficult. Along the way, while dealing with the difficult Tripps and keeping their secrets, the two become close and develop their own relationship, not knowing that soon, everything will be at risk.

I did really like the book, and I love the authors. It was cute, very sweet and an easy read to get into and stay in. I do wish the book was longer and the story and characters more developed! The storyline and the characters were so interesting and likeable and I would've loved to read more. Everything in the story, especially the relationship between Carey and James developed extremely quickly (almost too quickly to be realistic), that it felt as though it wasn't as deep as it was written. I loved Carey's transformation throughout the story and the support from James. I was invested in Carey and frustrated with her at the beginning but closely followed along her journey, constantly rooting for her. Good book!

Really enjoyed this book! It felt like I was reading a reality tv show, but in novel format. It also had an element that thriller novels do - leaving you wanting to find out what happened in the end! I also liked that it wasn’t a cheesy love story and instead the love story was just an add-on to the storyline of 2 HGTV reality stars navigating their long-lasting fame and what that means for their team. A perfect beach/vacation read - a light, feel good book. Hoping there will be some type of follow up book! The characters were very likeable, who had hardships instead of unrealistic, perfect lives, so it was more relatable. Would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I started reading Christina Lauren last year and fell instantly in love with their books. They are the only romance authors I read regularly. So as soon as I saw this here on NetGalley I had to try to get my hands on a copy.

This book was very different from what I am used to with Christina Lauren, but not in a bad way. This was a slowish burn hate to love romance. The romance isn't the entire book which threw me off, however, I loved this book a lot. The characters in this book were all very different and unique, the love interests could not be further opposites if they tried. This novel seemed very realistic compared to some of their other romances which I definitely enjoyed.

This was just an all-around a wholesome love story and I adored every dang minute of it! I definitely cannot wait to see what this writing duo comes up with next!

Home makeover stars, assistants, and drama galore - the makings of one epic and hilarious tale.

The Honey Don’t List is adorable. Cute and funny and really pulled me into the story. I enjoyed the characters and the story’s overall progression but found The ending felt a bit rushed but it still worked and enjoyed how things were tied up.
Carey is such a fun, independent female character, and I loved getting to see her grow from chapter to chapter.
I also really liked having chapters from James’ POV - I always love getting to see both sides of a story/relationship.
Melly - good character, love to hate her, hate to love her.
Rusty - I wish we knew more about him. He’s pretty understand other than being a catalyst in the story.

A cute love story. It was a quick read and character development was good.
Recommended as a nice light read.

*I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

4.5-5
i just want to start off by saying this book is not perfect at all it has it's flaws, but the way i could connect to it and could understand some of the characters made me think that this book deserves a high rating.

i haven't read all of christina lauren's work, but i do know that this is different from what i have read from them. i think in this one they really branch out with their creative side and instead of focusing only on two people falling in love they kind of show two people falling out of love as well & i appreciated that.

the whole concept is unique, i love how they incorporated this "i want the world and nothing less" mentality in melly because the reader could identify the realistic issues that could cause & how strenuous it is on a marriage which it was in melly & rusty's case. the work life balance concept is always appreciated because it's a real issue that i think a lot of people struggle with & having that concept being worked out by carey makes her someone the reader can relate to. i feel like this book also brings you down to earth and makes you realize what's truly important in your life. family, friends, personal goals, self discovery & self care are all elements that carey ends up realizing are important for her in her own life.

i love how none of the characters are perfect i think that's one of my favourite things about this book. you can clearly see how flawed all the characters are and how they're all still so loved.

i'm indifferent to the setting of the book because it constantly changes, the presentation and order of events could have been a bit more organized, but the way i could relate to this book meant more to me & that's why i gave it the rating i did.

This was so unexpectedly charming! I wasn't really thinking that this was going to blow me away, but it was a really entertaining read - which is very on-brand for Christina Lauren. I could picture the events of this book quite vividly and it was pretty realistic. I thought Carey was such a cute character and her blooming romance with James was sweet as heck! A solid romance! Definitely recommend to anyone who already likes this writing duo, or is in need of a sweet, quick read.

The Honey-Don’t List is Christina Lauren’s latest hit. Anyone who is a fan of any of the countless home improvement shows will enjoy and appreciate this book and the behind-the-scenes reality of some “perfect T.V. couples”.
This was definitely a fresh, new concept for a book, it was well written with likeable characters and then those characters you love to hate.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

I enjoyed this book for the simple reason that there was a storyline I was interested besides the romance of the two main characters. I couldn't help but imagine that the home renovation power couple was inspired by the Chuck and Joanna Gains, which sometimes took me outside the story, but also made it a little scandalous for me.

The romance seemed to develop naturally in the midst of a tumultuous side story and was a nice mental break from the stress of the other characters.

In all, it was a pleasant read and one I'd recommend.

This tells the story of two assistants for reality show stars (think HGTV). It's a dual perspective from Carey (the wife's assistant) and James (the husband's assistant) as they are forced to go on tour with the seemingly perfect couple who is actually constantly arguing behind closed doors.

The characters are unique, the book has decent pacing, and I overall really liked the plot and romance. The first half was a bit boring at times, but I couldn't put the second half down!

I didn't like this book as much as The Unhoneymooners, which was one of my favourite books of 2019 and gave me all the feels. This one was still a lot of fun, but I wasn't as connected to the story as much as I would have liked. I think my main issue is that the book was too short.

Overall, my rating is 3.5/5 rounded up because I did overall enjoy the book, there were just a couple of issues that I had with it.

This was my first Christina Lauren novel. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and slightly nervous, as I don’t read a lot of romance. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book!

Carey and James are assistants to famous decor/home reno couple Melly and Rusty Tripp. As Melly and Rusty squabble, Carey and James are tasked with accompanying the couple on their book tour to ensure everything runs smoothly and that they put on a good front to the public, as the Tripps have a new tv show premiering soon.

I loved the alternating points of view, as well as the articles, Twitter excerpts and police interview transcripts that were dispersed throughout the book. The romance was very tastefully done and the storyline was a really cute and easy one to follow. I was hooked from the beginning, as the book opened with one of the police interview transcripts. I am off in search of the next Christina Lauren novel to read!

Thanks @netgalley for the opportunity to review!

arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review


This book was cute but definitely not my favourite Christina Lauren book. It took me awhile to really connect to the characters and the story and the relationship and that did hinder my overall enjoyment of this book.

I’m always happy to see disability representation so that was something I really enjoyed. I liked that it wasn’t something made out to be terrible and bad and something negative about Carey but that it was just there and something she lived with and that she wasn’t any less Her for it. I also loved James’ response to it and how he was with her.

Their relationship took me awhile to like and get into but once I did, it was super sweet and I wish we got to see more of them together. The whole Melissa and Rusty thing was pretty annoying but I can see why it was such a huge part of the story— it was a huge part of Carey’s life and journey and seeing her character development was satisfying!

Overall, this was an average read for me but I still look forward to anything and everything Christina Lauren writes!

3/5 ⭐️

I have yet to read a Christina Lauren book that I don't fall completely in love with! This one is no exception, I absolutely loved this book!! I'm already so excited for others to read it so I can talk to them about it. I loved the dynamic, the storyline, just everything...except Melly (Gosh, she was horrible). I absolutely adored the two main characters, and how their story progressed. I think the one thing I wish this had was an epilogue just to show where everyone ended up down the road. So that was a little disappointing, but not enough for it to affect my rating. I can't wait for this to come out in stores, I already want to Staff Pick it and tell everyone about it!!

My first Christina Lauren book was Twice in a Blue Moon and then I devoured Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating (which was my favourite so far). So when NetGalley came a callin' with this one, I was all over it. Until I wasn't.

Let me explain... The duo are a gift and I completely understand why they are so popular and have legions of fans (including me), but this book fell completely flat in the romance department. I don't think the romantic storyline was given enough legs. It was completely derailed by the drama surrounding the Tripps—it didn't feel fresh and I don't know whether it is because home improvement shows seem to saturate the specialty channels, or because society has an obsession with reality TV, but I struggled to maintain interest in Rusy and Melissa's story. And quite frankly, I didn't care enough about them.

I was also confused at the genre, I assume it's classified as "romance," but there was this mystery/thriller vibe with the police interviews that were dispersed throughout the book and I wasn't sure where that was going and assumed someone died.

Christina Lauren, I wanted more! More romance, more spark, more attraction, more banter, more tension, not more Tripps with their overdone TV shows and ridiculous book tour.