Few things make me happier than getting the chance to read and review ARCs of authors that I admire. One of the many things I adore about CL is their ability to give each character an authentic and unique voice. I had no trouble determining character perspectives even during excerpts of the Tripp’s book; you have no issue identifying each voice.

Carey’s long time working for the Tripps ultimately has left her in a hard spot. She is loyal but, honestly, they take advantage of her. Optimistic and hardworking, Carey is one of those down-to-earth heroine’s that makes you wish you were friends. Not that she would have time to meet up with her schedule. James, on the other hand, is a bit of a grouch with a backstory that makes you think “Maybe I’m okay with his grumbling because I would be SO much worse.” Their relationship is a milder form of enemies-to-lovers. I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of police interviews and twitter. It added an extra level of tension, leaving readers wondering when everything was going to hit the fan.

While I loved the sweet and spicy romance between our h/H, I also loved the underlying messages in this story. Relationships are often messy and take work. No matter the age of a relationship, new or old, communication is key. Most of all, if you aren’t in a good place, then get some help. I loved the representation of mental health in this lovely rom-com.

The Honey Don’t List was exactly the lighthearted, sweet and sexy romp that I needed during this time of uncertainty. Carey and James failed to oust Josh and Hazel (Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating) and I am always Team Olive (The Unhoneymooners) but this was such a fun read!

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a solid effort from the prolific duo. It's better than Twice In A Blue Moon but doesn't touch Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating-level of greatness. Seamless writing and editing as usual. There was too much focus on the unsympathetic Melly and Russ and not nearly enough romance between James and Carey. The police interview was an intriguing set-up device but turned out to be confusing once you've read the book in its entirety. It gave the book a suspense/mystery feel that didn't fit. The black moment was tight. The rise after it needed more - more grovel from James, more punishment for Melly, more emotional payout for Carey.

Carey Douglas has worked for Melly & Rusty Tripp for ten years. She was there at the beginning working in their home design & decorating store Comb+Honey, and she's been there when their designs caught the eye of the HGTV world and they shot to DIY super-stardom - she became Melly's assistant. She's also been there for the slow, yet determined, deterioration of the very thing that draws in the viewers and makes them marketable (besides their designs): their happy marriage. This is a fact that is known only to those closest to the pair as normally Melly and Rusty are able to keep up the facade that their marriage is healthy and happy. But they're getting ready to go on a book tour for their soon-to-released book about happy marriages, and an incident just before they leave has tensions running high. Everyone's jobs and careers rely on Melly and Rusty staying together and looking happy. Carey is tasked with accompanying the couple on their tour and making sure that nothing slips about how unhappy the couple are together. Carey has help with this from Rusty's new assistant James McCann.

James has only been working for Comb+Honey for two months and he was hired to be an engineer for the Tripps's "brand". Being nothing more than an assistant makes him cringe, but he needs this job on his resume. James is resigned to working with Carey to make sure things go off without a hitch which is easier said than done when a long-held secret could be the undoing to their entire empire.

There is a lot packed into this book, but I felt like Christina Lauren handled all the various components pretty well.

Carey is the most prevalent character despite being told from both James and Carey's points of view. I felt like the narrative, even in James's voice, was geared more towards Carey. Which, considering she's been in the thick of things for ten years, is understandable. But no one really knows how much Carey actually does for her boss. How the success of the brand itself hinges on Carey's presence.

Understanding that Carey has gone above and beyond to keep up the facade of everything the Tripps have built, you can just feel the stress and tension she goes through dripping off the page, and the relationship Carey has with the Tripps is unhealthy at best and down-right abusive at worst. The fact that Carey suffers from a chronic illness and the amazing health benefits is just one reason why Carey hasn't actively looked for a way out of her situation. The fact that Melly has exploited and prayed upon Carey's insecurities doesn't help matters either. That's why I think James's perspective was so important because he provided the reader with an outside look into the dynamic that Carey couldn't really be relied upon to give clearly because she's been so ingrained with the notion that Melly is right, Melly is nice, Melly is there for her that she's somewhat blinded to the way their relationship, which formerly bordered on a familial-type, is now so toxic.

I think that's one of the more heartbreaking aspects to the book. The small, almost minute, glimpses you get of the people Melly, Rusty, and Carey used to be - on their own and together. You see the affection for each other. You see the love for the craft that they're so famous for now. Then you turn the page and you see how absolutely horrible everything has gone, see all the fame monster has consumed, and how it continues to spiral.

It's one of the reasons why it's so difficult to get a beat on Melly and Rusty. I mean they've played the game so long, you can never tell when they're being genuine. It makes for a slightly unsatisfying conclusion for them. As much as they've relied and taken from Carey, I never really felt that they truly got it how much they took advantage of her. And I'm not sure they would have cared if they did, indeed, understand.

Alas, though this is Carey's story, I felt like hers is so linked with the Tripps that - like her character experiences - it's hard to pull her away to see her on her own because she's for so long been so wrapped up in these people. Because of this James's characterization suffers somewhat as well. It's like these huge forces that are Melly and Rusty Tripp just jump right off the page with their big, conceited personalities and overshadow everything else.

The moments of "quiet" or the moments when Melly and Rusty are not around, mainly the moments when James and Carey are alone together, are great and you can seriously feel a weight being lifted off the narrative. The ease in which James and Carey interact, I loved. The way they fit together. I would have liked more of these moments to balance out the rest a little more.

If it sounds like this is just a horrible read, it's not. I sped through it. The story setup begins kind of at the end. Meaning, we begin by knowing that something bad has occurred between the Tripps, but we don't know what (although you can imagine) and that little tidbit drove the story forward for me as I was waiting to figure out how things aligned at the end. And strangely enough when we get there, it's a whole new beginning.

I thought the commentary on fame and family, mixing the work and personal, and how easy it is for people to get stuck (in a career, relationship, etc) despite when red flags present themselves because of other underlining factors was interesting. That sometimes it takes someone on the outside to show us the cracks in the facade.

A slow burn romance that any HGTV fan would love.

Two couples: Rusty and Melly, who are essentially Chip and Johanna Gaines but if they were not..the best people. And James and Carey, their assistants. Watching these couples either unfold, or come together, over the course of this book makes for a great read. Having the background of HGTV makes it even more intriguing and adds such a fun layer.

Christina Lauren’s spring release, The Honey-Don’t List, with its coworker hero and heroine who don’t like each other until they love each other is - and I mean this in a complimentary way = a less intense, and in some ways more thoughtful, if lower-grade, The Hating Game.

Carey Duncan works for Rusty and Melissa Tripp (Chip and Joanna Gaines), founders of Comb+Honey (Magnolia), a Wyoming (Texas) home-design company and HGTV subject New Spaces (Fixer Upper). Her coworker, James McCann, is an engineer whose latest engineering project is to find a way, with Carey, to support the multimillion-dollar illusion that Rusty and Melissa are doing great, and that James and Carey didn’t “just witness Rusty and his swinging balls” having a grand old time with the New Spaces host, who is NOT Rusty’s wife.

This is a first-person, dual PoV story, and Carey and James are a complex couple. Their differences aren’t just in personality; they have socioeconomic/class differences, too. Carey is a high-school grad who says her “crowning achievement in high school was a C in AP Lit”. She joined Comb+Honey at sixteen, and Rusty and Melissa have been, for all intents and purposes, her parents. James, “Mr. Morality McEngineeringPants”, as Carey calls him, used to work for a prestigious company that imploded (I envisioned it as the design version of Enron). One of the things I liked about the book was how thoughtful it was about working life. It tackles not just what it means to have a quality professional life, but also creative ownership, the value of education, and the realities of economic luc

As a heroine, Carey can be painful to read about. She has a relationship with Melissa Tripp that James characterizes as “abusive” and he’s right. Carey has accomplished more her in life than that C grade in AP Lit would indicate but after years of working with the Tripps, she still allows them to act as if treating her with basic human decency is optional. Because this is romance, Carey gets out of that place, but if you don't want to witness that sort of character arc, The Honey-Don't List will be a bit of a challenge.

I really liked James. He’s a sort of Clark Kent personality, perpetually in glasses and suits, the latter of which bugs Carey until it starts to work for her. (“Have I ever noticed the sound of a belt before? Because right now the slide of leather and click of the buckle are bordering on obscene.”) He’s a ‘rooting for you, babe’ hero, who brings out the best in Carey for herself. One of my favorite things about them as a couple was their Grade-A physicality. The best romance authors, in my opinion, get that people with great chemistry have it 100% of the time, and it comes out in little ways, and is not just a we-only-touch-in-bed thing. James and Carey are a couple that like to hold each other, and I loved how it feels like, as Carey once says, “the perfect combination of safe haven and dirty fun.”

I have one Honey-Do and one Honey-Don’t from this book. Christina Lauren, do keep it up with the ‘faux reality’. The Honey-Don’t List is peppered with excerpts from the Tripps’s marriage/self-help book, Twitter threads (“@1967_Disney_bound is it bad that knowing they hate each other makes me want to watch the show like ten times more?”), and transcripts of police interviews (!). The Twitter threads especially, with all the random handles in their bizarrely capitalized glory (“@aCurlieee_doll”) were a personal favorite of mine.

My Honey Don’t, or rather, my, why? for the book was why Christina Lauren decided to make Melissa Tripp the bleached-blonde, Botoxed, “Walmart Reese Witherspoon” villain, and leave Rusty, a boozing cheater, as The Good One. If Madeleine Albright is correct and “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”, then Melissa Tripp will be roasting at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for a long time to come. If you’re going to put stereotypes in a book, why include the one that says women in power are rabid and natural enemies of all other women? It felt weirdly sexist (not to mention pre-twenty-first century) for a book by two female authors.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading The Honey-Don’t list, primarily because it was centered around a hero and heroine who were nice in the best way (not in that dreadful “oh s/he’s nice” as in “I never want to go out with them” one). If you’re looking for a romance that’s low-key without being sexually neutered, then Honey, get yourself a copy.

Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent bookstore
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Does anyone know that song by Maren Morris, Bones? The one that goes ... “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter ... the house don’t fall when the bones are good.” It is seriously one of my favorite songs and it immediately came to mind while I was reading The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren.

Carey and James both work for Honey+Comb designs, their boss’ are Melissa and Rusty Trip. Carey’s title is an assistant to Melly even though she does so so much more. James was hired to be a structural engineer but his role is more of an assistant to Rusty, a title he despises. The Tripp’s are the next Chip and Jo Gaines ... or at least they want to be. They have a show that just wrapped, another one they have filmed that is about to be released very soon. On top of that they are about to set off on a book tour with their latest book about marriage.

To most people the Tripp’s new book doesn’t seem shocking but to those closest to them, it seems crazy! But let’s just say their bones aren’t good, and it does not take long before everyone else sees the cracks as well. Carey and James are put in charge of the relentless task of keeping everything held together while on the book tour. They start to see each other in a new light, and are relying on each other more than every before. But are Carey and James able to keep the book tour going or does it all crumble before the tour is over, you’ll have to read to find out.

I really liked this latest CLo book, a must read if you are a fan of theirs. I especially loved the police interviews scattered throughout the book. They definitely built up the intensity as to what was going to happen because I keep reading to find out what happens all while racking my brain to figure it out along the way.

Is The Honey-Don’t List my new favorite CLo book, probably not (Love and Other Words still holds that torch for me) but that didn’t stop me from devouring it in just two sittings. I couldn’t stop until I knew just how Carey, James and the Tripps’ story unfolded.

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the eARC copy, to read and provide an honest review.

I have not been reading much lately. I have had a hard time concentrating due to world events. So when I started this book I was not sure if it was a good time to attempt to read it. Well, it turns out it was the best time. I needed a nice, fun, light hearted read. And who doesn't like any number of home makeover shows on TV. This gives you a little idea of what it may really be like.

Casey is a young girl working for a famous makeover duo. Casey has been with then for about 10 years now. She takes care of every need that Melissa may have. Then you have James a new employee hired to be Rusty's personal assistant. However don't call him that, he is an engineer without any engineering. These two get forced to go on a book two with Melissa and Rusty as their baby sitters. Because yes there is trouble in paradise and no one is to know. BUT can they keep the Duo in line long enough??

I loved this book. I did go in blind so I was not even sure what it was truly about. It is a great fun read and I recommend it to anyone who would like a good laugh, smile and chuckle.

This all-star writing duo never fails to captivate me from page one. Their books are addicting, fun, swoon-worthy, and entertaining. As soon as I started reading The Honey-Don’t List, I couldn’t stop. Fast forward a few hours later, not only have I finished the book, but my heart was happy, and there was a huge smile on my face. Trust me, you can’t go wrong with a Christina Lauren book.

Our two main characters are Carey and James. Carey has worked for Melanie and Rusty Tripp, the latest duo in HGTV and home remodeling, for the last 10 years. James, on the other hand, has only been working for the Tripps for two months. He’s an engineer yet somehow he finds himself working as Rusty Tripp’s assistant.

This book follows Carey and James as they are forced to tag along to manage the unhappy couple. In reality, Melly and Rusty aren’t the picture-perfect couple they appear to be on TV. It’s up to Carey and James to ensure the public never finds out.

Along the way, the two assistants grow closer and begin a friendship that soon blossoms into a romance. Will the constant stresses and pressures of their jobs push them apart or closer together?

The authors wrote the story and characters extremely well. It’s very easy to like and connect with Carey and James. You root for them throughout the whole story! They also depict how an unhealthy relationship can take form in ways that seem benign and normal. The relationship between Melly and Carey is hard to read sometimes, but it’s so incredibly authentic and real. Watching Carey learn how to stand up for herself is one of my favorite things about this book.

My only complaint is that I wish the romance was the main focus. At times, it felt like the romance took a backseat to the drama of Melly and Rusty. I would’ve liked to have more sweet scenes between Carey and James.

I recommend this book--and all of Christina Lauren’s other books--to you if you like books that read like a rom-com. This book is full of humor, romance, and friendship. I can’t wait for their next book to come out!

The Honey-Don't List is an enemies to lovers trope by the dynamic duo that is Christina Lauren. Honestly, this was not my favorite of their books but I will keep reading whatever they write. If you haven't read Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, I highly recommend that one!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. When I first read the premise of this book, it sounded so cute. There's four main characters: husband and wife, Rusty and Melly, and their assistants, James and Carey. Rusty and Melly essentially have a Chip and Joanna Gaines thing going on, except Rusty and Melly are terrible people in a terrible marriage... despite making their living off having a great marriage.

The reason this book fell short for me was because there was too much focus on Rusty and Melly's relationship and too little on James and Carey. It wasn't until the last 1/3 of the book that we even got anything James and Carey related. There was some steam once we finally got to it so if you're like me and felt like Twice in a Blue Moon was a little too YA for you, The Honey-Don't List definitely is not YA.

This was a quick, light read and if you're a Christina Lauren fan, definitely still read it. Even more so during the current times, this is a great book to enjoy witty banter and be consumed in a book... but it isn't my favorite book of the duo. Thanks Netgalley, Gallery Books, and Christina Lauren for my eARC in exchange for a free review!

Do you like slow burn romance? Do you like HGTV? Then this may be the book for you. I wanted to love this book SO MUCH because I loved "Love and Other Words" by this same duo, but I was disappointed.

Casey and James are assistants to popular "HGTV" stars, Melly and Rusty Tripp. The Tripp's marriage is falling apart, and Casey and James are tasked with trying to keep them "under wraps" and out of any negative publicity because they have a book coming out and a new show starting.

I did like the slow burn way Casey and James' relationship grew...barely talking/knowing each other, to chatty co-workers, to growing closer as friends trying to figure a way for their careers to take off apart, into showing interest for each other then into a sexual relationship. I wouldn't say it was insta-love but they did fall for each other in a pretty short amount of time. Difficult circumstances (working under pressure for their bosses in this case plus keeping their relationship together) can bring people closer together for sure.

As far as the Melly and Rusty Tripp and their part in this story.....I really didn't care, but if you are an HGTV fan, then I can see the draw to "behind the scenes TV" and how that world works.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Normally, I love this author duo. I have enjoyed all the books I have read by these two very talented women. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me.

James and Carey were very likable characters. I loved their backstories and I loved the two of them individually. Even though I could feel their chemistry, I thought their relationship was not as developed as it should have been. I thought it was just thrown together last minute and I didn't really get how they went from hating each other to being a couple. It was too fast for me. Most of the book revolved around Melissa and Russell, a dynamic home renovation duo who have a TV show, book deals, etc, etc. They manage to fool the public, but in private, they are very abusive people. Both Melissa and Russell were selfish and toxic. And yet, I did understand why Carey stayed with them for so long. She had been working for them since she was sixteen, before they were famous, so she thought of them as surrogate parents. I liked Carey's growth and her growing ability to stand up for herself. But honestly, the romance in this one was a bit underwhelming for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Christina Lauren for the opportunity to read their latest romantic novel - a fun way to escape from all the crazy world news lately. 4 stars!

The book is told in two viewpoints - Carey and James, working for a famous home renovation husband and wife team. Carey is the real behind-the-scenes designer but is only ever seen as the assistant to Melissa. James is an MIT graduate in structural engineering, looking for a way to salvage his resume after his previous company was embroiled in a nasty case of embezzlement, hired as an engineer but is actually just the assistant to Rusty, the husband. As they all set out on a book tour to promote the duo's new book on marriage and their new TV show, all is not well between Rusty and Melissa. Carey and James are tasked to babysit the couple to make sure everything stays on track. While at first not liking each other, they start developing feelings for each other as they go along. However, interspersing police interviews with the couple show us that not all is going to end well.

Just another ride for this writing duo that makes romantic escapism so much fun!

“... more than just seen, I feel visible for the first time in maybe forever”

I’ll be honest if took me a few pages to engage in this read. Once I did....I couldn’t put it down. Wasn’t sure if it was the book or just things going on in life that were distraction me. I usually devour these authors books from the start. Glad I kept with it ~or I’d have missed out on a great story.

“...focus on making plans rather than beating myself up about the past—and to start finding a way to make each of them happen.”

So many life lessons intertwined with humor, loyalty, frustration, self discovery,self worth, acceptance, beginnings and endings. I wish we could get a glimpse of a few years down the road to see where everyone’s journey takes them (hint, hint).

“Contentment comes in a trickle, though. It’s like a faucet dripping; slowly, my bucket is filling.”

3.5 Stars Rounded up to 4 Stars!

Like every other book I have ready by these two authors, The Honey-Don’t List is a fast and enjoyable read. It was more of a contemporary romance than romantic comedy, but it still kept me entertained. This book had drama, romance, and some serious tension between few of the characters. I loved Carey and James as a couple and I wish we got more story of their relationship and less of the tension between the secondary characters like Melissa and Rusty Tripp.

Overall, this was a great and relaxing read. I recommend it to all Christina Lauren’s fans even though it was not as much fun as The Unhoneymooners.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and the authors for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Carey Douglas works as an assistant to the famous home renovation duo, Rusty and Melissa Tripp. The couple has a seemingly perfect life on their show, as well as in their new book about their marriage. The only problem? They actually can’t stand each other. Carey and structural engineer, James are asked to tag along on the book tour so they can play referee to the bickering couple and help them keep up their loving facade. Can they help the Tripps rekindle the love they have lost? Or will an unexpected new love blossom in the midst of the chaos?

Here’s another lighthearted comfort read for you to add to your list during these crazy times! While this CLo book didn’t grab my heart as much as The Unhoneymooners did, I still really enjoyed it. I did have to try really hard not to picture Rusty and Melissa as Chip and Joanna. But I loved how the chapters alternated between Carey’s and James’ perspectives. So I guess overall, I liked this one and would definitely recommend it to Christina Lauren fans or to anyone who needs a quick, lighthearted read! Look for this one next Tuesday, March 24th! ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Simon & Schuster for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I can always count on this fabulous duo for a fun romantic romp. Plus with this one they bring together our obsession with renovation shows.

Carey has been Melly’s assistant for 10 years but she’s really more than that as we find out. James was hired to engineering but really he’s a glorified assistant. So when things go haywire between the dynamic duo, Carey and James are thrown together.

What we get is some fun and some serious but it always makes for a great read.

Aside from the fact that I will automatically read anything Christina Lauren puts out, the premise of this book had me immediately interested. We have a couple, Rusty and Melly (essentially Chip and Joanna Gaines if they were awful human beings behind closed doors). And we have their assistants, James and Carey. Melly and Rusty are set to go on a book tour but, since they are at each other throats, James and Carey are forced to tag along and babysit them.

Like I said, I loved the premise here. I also enjoyed the little snippets of tweets, book excerpts, and even police interviews. And, as always, we had some romance and some steamy moments.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering, why is my rating so low?! And it hurts my heart to say this, but I did not love this one. There was so much focus on Rusty and Melly and I have never hated CLo characters more. They are toxic and I wanted less of them and more of James and Carey! I wanted everything I’ve come to love from CLo: all the snark, all the romance, and a stronger connection between the couple.

I liked the story overall and it did touch on some heavier topics. So, if you love Christina Lauren as much as I do, don’t skip this one! Just know what to expect going in. Also, don’t skip the acknowledgements at the end! I enjoyed the story slightly more after learning about Lauren’s personal connection to it.

I love Christina Lauren and I’ve read all their books, however, with The Honey-Don’t List I couldn’t connect with the characters, but the story itself I did enjoy and it had the typical Christina Lauren humor. Carey and James are personal assistants to two TV renovation stars whose marriage is imploding, however, while trying to keep their bosses sane they find love and support in each other.

I wanted to love Carey, I really did, however, she frustrated me so much. I constantly found myself yelling at my kindle for her to stand up for herself and get the attention she deserves. Towards the end I did like her more, but it took so long to get to that point. James, I did enjoy. He was hard working and supportive and just wanted to recover from the loss of his previous job.

Melissa and Rusty (the bosses) almost seemed like the main focus of this story at times instead of Carey and James, which took a lot away from the story. It was a slow burn, there was some romance, but this story felt more women’s fiction. Not saying I did enjoy the story, it just took me longer to read than most books because I couldn’t connect.

The duo behind Christina Lauren is one that I can depend on for delivering an enjoyable read and The Honey Don’t List is no exception.

Carey and James are the couple at the center of our story. They have the unenviable job of keeping TV’s “it” couple together while their “perfect” image unravels.

Both Carey and James were easy to like and fairly easy to relate to. I think almost everyone has woken up at one point and asked themselves “how did this become my life?” I appreciated the growth both of them went through. Carey’s was more internal and had a “why this and what’s next” vibe where for James it was more an issue of him starting to look outside himself and taking control.

Whether intentional or not, the Honey Don’t List includes several poignant messages for anyone. The ideas of standing up for yourself, looking out for others, and not losing the good things for the next thing are all woven into this well written and entertaining story.