The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was in desperate need of a book that could provide levity and humor. The Honey-Don’t List delivered!

Carey Douglas owes a lot to Melissa and Rusty Tripp. They gave her a job at 16 and have been quasi-surrogate parents for the past 10 years. So despite being overworked and given very little credit for all she contributes, she’s very loyal and devoted to the couple and the Comb+Honey business the Tripps have built – which started as a store in Jackson, Wyoming and is now a whole brand with a huge TV following.

But things are not good between the once loving Melly and Russ. And they are about to embark on a two-week bus tour promoting the release of their new book about marriage, when in reality they can hardly stand each other. So Carey and James, Russ’s assistant of two months, are sent along on the tour to make sure Melly and Russ play nice.

Not only were Carey and James looking forward to a much deserved couple weeks off, they don’t particularly like each other. James – and his MIT engineering degree – unintentionally make Carey feel inadequate and inferior, and because James was basically duped into assistant duties (think fetching coffee and performing all-around gopher duties) when he was expecting to be a design engineer, he’s generally grumpy around Carey.

But there’s nothing like a common goal to bring two “enemies” together to face insurmountable challenges!

Overall, I found The Honey-Don’t List to be an entertaining, charming story that touched on sweetness in the midst of a difficult situation caused by a narcissistic woman and her hapless husband. Carey was a fantastic heroine who, at the age of 26, was just coming into her own and learning to stand up for herself. James was a fantastic hero who saw Carey for who she is and wanted to support and encourage her to be all she could be. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them see who the other truly is and watching their relationship develop.

Was this book without some shortcomings? In my humble opinion…no. Transcripts from police interviews are sprinkled throughout the book that – while funny – didn’t have as much importance to the story as I thought they would. (What does it say about me that I was hoping the book would end with a heat-of-the-moment murder?) Also, realistically speaking…no one would make two lowly assistants responsible for keeping such a volatile situation from completely blowing up. And the ending, including the big conflict with the hero and heroine, felt rushed and less developed than it should have been.

But those things aside, this book was exactly what I needed right now – lighthearted and funny. It touched on some deeper subjects (health issues, verbal abuse, settling for less), but I don’t need every book I read to take me and my emotions on a roller coaster. I read Christina Lauren for the laughs. For the hilarious dialogue. For the poetic wordplay. On those counts, I wasn’t disappointed in the least!

* thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Pocket Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review