Review of The Honey Don’t List

When the going gets tough, reach for a rom-com! This book had a lot going on (which can be an issue for me) but was also HGTV inspired (big plus), so …. what did I think? Find out in my review of The Honey Don’t List!

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The Honey Don’t List by Christina Lauren. To be published on March 24, 2020 by Gallery Books. A review copy was provided to me by the publisher.

Synopsis: Carey has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. James was originally hired by the Tripps as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. 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. Both James and Carey are forced to go on a book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus. 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…

Review of the Honey Don’t List:

I’ve read most of Christina Lauren’s books, and I divide them into two categories: the classic romances, like Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, The Soulmate Equation, and The True Love Experimentand the books that feel more like women’s fiction or chick lit, where the romance plays a more peripheral role, like

The Honey Don’t List fell into category B, with a plot that revolves around the crumbling marriage of a famous home design couple (think Chip and Jo or Tarek and Christina from HGTV) and a romance between the couple’s assistants (think Set it Up on Netflix).

The book takes place on a road trip tour that the couple is taking to promote their new book and show. Poor Carey and James are constantly trying to keep this couple — who seems so lovey-dovey on screen — from imploding in public. The book has some epistolary elements (in the form of transcripts of police interviews for some incident that’s kept secret until the end) that reminded me a bit of Big Little Lies.

This book is really the story of two couples – Rusty and Melly and Carey and James. The tone was mostly light and comic, with more emphasis on Rusty and Melly’s hijinks and characters that weren’t super well-developed.

It was a quick read and, for someone like me who loves home design shows, a fun one. If you go into this expecting a swoony romance, you might be disappointed. If you go in expecting a lighter, more comic book. I think you might enjoy it, as I did!

Other romances with home improvement themes: The Suite Spot by Trish Dollar and The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews.

Love rom coms? Check out all my rom com reviews here!