From the New York Times bestselling author behind the “joyful, warm, touching” (Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author) The Unhoneymooners comes a delightfully charming love story about what happens when two assistants tasked with keeping a rocky relationship from explosion start to feel sparks of their own. Carey Duncan has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and … remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and–more than anyone would suspect–has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.
James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.
Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along–and start playing for keeps–they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…
From the “hilariously zany and heartfelt” (Booklist) Christina Lauren comes a romantic comedy that proves if it’s broke, you might as well fix it.
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3.5 STARS!
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren was one of those reads that had great potential; but sadly for me I was a bit let down.
There were plenty of funny moments which I found to be refreshing. Carey, the heroine, was fun and witty. James was nerdy and cute. In the beginning he was kinda stand-offish but once he opens up to Carey, you see another side to him–a sweet and sexy side. These two couldn’t stand each other! The close proximity of being stuck together with the disastrous Melly and Rusty really brought them closer together. So, you definitely get a bit of enemies-to-lovers between these two as well as a slow burn.
Though I felt the moments they shared to be sweet, there really wasn’t much romance between Carey and James. The whole plot focused entirely too much on the Tripps and not enough on the main characters. Also, the moment their relationship has a slip is so obvious and if I’m being honest, it was pretty much unnecessary drama. However, the opening scene in this novel added an element of suspense and mystery which I rather enjoyed. We realize something happened but we aren’t clear what exactly it is.
I’m a huge fan of Christina Lauren’s older works but this one just wasn’t a favorite for me. Fingers crossed the third time in this new era of the writing duo is a charm!
This was an entertaining enemies to lovers and forced proximity romance. I enjoyed Carey, James, and the crazy shenanigans by the Tripps, but unfortunately, I didn’t love it. It took a bit for me to feel invested in the story and characters, and by the time I really felt anything, the book was more than halfway over. Part of that is due to the way the book is formatted. The tweets, police transcripts/interviews, and book excerpts really took me out of the story at times as I tried to piece everything together. Those parts of the book ended up confusing me more than anything.
The chemistry between James and Carey also left me wanting. I didn’t feel much build up between them and that playful banter and ribbing was missing. Things seemed to change so abruptly between them that I was afraid I missed a chapter. I did love them together though and wish more of the book had been spent about their budding relationship, instead of the implosion of Melly and Rusty’s marriage. I really liked how attentive and sweet James was. He seemed to really see Carey for who she was and I think that’s why the miscommunication drama later on didn’t work for me. The book wrapped up quickly, but I liked the steps that Carey took to really stand on her own. I also appreciated the care that Christina Lauren took in discussing and highlighting dystonia. It was refreshing to read about a heroine with this condition and also very informative. Overall, this was an entertaining story, but I didn’t love it as much as I hoped.
*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*
I just adore these ladies and their writing style, which is smart, funny, and totally engrossing. This story revolves around a pair of assistants, Carey and James, who have to babysit and run interference for a couple made famous by their home reno show. These celebs are known for being madly in love and having the perfect, decades-long marriage (their new book is about that very subject!), but the truth is they can barely stand the sight of each other.
The lengths these assistants must go to in order to keep their bosses’ careers, and their own, on track are at different times hilarious, cringeworthy, and poignant. Along the way, Carey and James develop an unexpected bond along with romantic feelings, which may or may not survive the inevitable implosion of the Tripps’ carefully cultivated image.
All of the characters in this book are well-drawn and fascinating, but I want to give a special shout-out to the authors for what a wonderful job they always do with their heroes whom I always fall a little (okay, A LOT) in love with and James was no exception. He was intelligent, sensitive, and sweet, but also human and flawed, which led to him making mistakes. He felt like a real person, not some idealized fictional hero, and I was rooting for him to figure things out and find happiness as much as I was Carey.
3.5 Stars
You won’t catch me passing on a book written by my favorite duo. The idea of this story is great and had me intrigued. I liked the story of The Tripps. Once I saw all of these little puzzle pieces of what went wrong, I wanted to put it together. I did feel like the book was mainly about them while Carey and James felt like side characters. I didn’t get invested in their relationship like I should have. Overall, it was a cute read I enjoyed it. Sadly, It isn’t one of my favorites from them. That being said, I’ll still be there on release day ready to read the duos’ next book.
Definitely not my favorite work by Christian Lauren. Very surface level and spent more time reading about the Tripps terrible sham of a marriage that was beyond falling apart. I would have preferred it to just to be more about James and Cary with the Tripps being background noise.
Why did I wait to long to pick this one up? Loved it!
This entertaining book is full of realistic characters and is driven by the question what happens when a couple’s success destroys the relationship that made them successful? When keeping that success at all costs including abusing the trust of someone who helped create the success results in a loss of self?
The story moves quickly and was engrossing.
I’ve yet to read a bad book by Christian Lauren. I adore their mix of sweet, humor, and spice. The combination makes for a tasty treat of a read. If you like that mix in your romance, I highly recommend reading this story!
After the intense, emotional experience of reading Purple Hibiscus I needed something a little lighter. The Honey-Don’t List is a romantic comedy about Carey and James, two overworked and stressed out personal assistants to a celebrity couple on the brink of divorce. As they struggle to keep the relationship between their bosses from publicly imploding, the two find themselves bonding and romance naturally ensues. Honestly, the bits of this I found most compelling were the tirades about being overworked and burned out rather than any of the romance. If, like me, working remotely is getting to you and you need some light reading that won’t make your exhausted brain think too hard then this might be a good book for you to pick up.
If my favorite HGTV couple secretly hated each other and it was up to their assistants to keep the loveliest ruse alive, that would be the plot of The Honey-Don’t List, a fun romantic comedy that forces assistants falling in love to take care of their falling apart bosses. It’s no secret I adore Christina Lauren books, but this one may be my new fave.
2/5 Steam Rating
This was a fun romcom, perfect to read during the month of love!! It has enemies-to-lovers and co-worker tropes, with the addition of a character with disabilities; which I’m totally here for!!
We start the book off with a transcript of a police interview, which instantly sets the scene of intensity and has you craving for more information. What happened? Did someone die? Why are the police involved? These were just a few of the questions that coming through while reading this. You know soooomething of going to happen, but you have no idea what or to whom.
There were only two things that I wish would have been a bit different. First, I wish there was more steam… I just didn’t feel like I had enough of it between Carey & James (though this does make it a good book for those that aren’t a fan of much steam). And second, I wish it showed a bit more of the build up between Carey & James. We saw the after effect of their time together, but we didn’t get to experience the as much of build up of the relationship for yourselves.
: This book is told from alternating POV of Carey & James and has a narrator for each person, which I LOVED!! Both narrators brought the characters to life and were clear enough that I was even able to crank up the speed on the audiobook!
The Honey Don’t List was just so much fun! I adored escaping into James and Carey’s romantic-tension-filled world. I laughed, I teared up, and I curled my toes. It just really doesn’t get any better than that.
I absolutely adored this story. Parts of this felt like they were a real celebrity couple and I was reading about them in People Magazine.
Carey Duncan has been working with the Tripps’ (Melissa and Rusty) since she was 16. Now she and Rusty’s assistant, James, are stuck babysitting the couple while they are out promoting their book tour.
Both Carey and James are manipulated and stuck into their positions. Commiserating over their helplessness, Carey and James become close. But the closer they become the more things start to fall apart for the Tripps’.
Can Carey and James keep up the shame and keep their jobs? And what about Carey and James together?
Definitely one-click this emotional, funny read.
This was super cute! My second book by these authors and I’m glad I kept reading. I really enjoyed the whole reality home improvement couple set up, and watching the two MCs grow closer together and really supporting each other. I worried about how Carey’s disability was portrayed, but reading the acknowledgements shows the authors know people with the same disability and had them approve the representation.
All in all, a cute and enjoyable read!
Christina Lauren’s romances center on flawed characters with real problems and that’s what makes them wonderful. The challenges faced by the hero & heroine here aren’t just arbitrary obstacles that keep them apart until the page limit is reached, but well-developed facets of their personal and professional identities that need reckoning with. That said, there’s also plenty of fun here! Especially if you love all those basic cable home renovation/flipping/fixer-upper shows.
This novel does it right in describing the lives of assistants. I should know; I’ve been one for twenty years. I loved this book so much, I’m going to talk about it in an upcoming episode of my podcast, Nerdy Romantics Podcast. Stay tuned for it! https://ymnelson.com/nerdy-romantics-podcast
First time reading this author. Loved the slow burn between Carey and James. Thanks for the thoughtful and entertaining read. Will try some of the other books now. Excellent book!
Did I like this book? I did! There are so many things I think this author-duo does so well with their storytelling, and near the top of this list (for me) is how their books aren’t cookie-cutter versions of essentially the same story. Every standalone I’ve read of theirs feels different from everything else they’ve written, and I am so impressed by this.
THE HONEY-DON’T LIST is a more typical contemporary romance, with alternating POVs. I loved the integration of the heroine’s movement disorder (this was SO WELL DONE!), and it’s impossible for me to not love a hot, nerdy engineer hero. I also think the secondary couple was also written extremely well.
Did I love this book? Unfortunately I didn’t. The setup is fantastic, but the execution just wasn’t there. The pacing was uneven, and the whole story lacked the usual sparkle and charm I’m used to from a CLo read.
BOTTOM LINE
If you’re looking for a typical laugh-out-loud CLo romcom, you might be disappointed with THE HONEY-DON’T LIST—it’s a quieter kind of romance, and a fair amount of the plot does not focus on it, especially at first. Still, the writing is solid, and more mainstream fiction readers may find it hits the mark for them.
RATING: B- (3½ stars)
(Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.)
I really enjoyed the characters in this Christina Lauren novel. They were unique and easy to relate to, even though they were living in the world of fame that not everyone can relate to. I really enjoyed the action brought by the crazy couple and how perfectly it was ended.
Enjoyable…these two main characters were so fun to read about. Reading about them and seeing their interactions was very entertaining. They go through it together and feelings start to arise. But will they make it or will it be doomed. We get everything we enjoy in a romance in this story.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.