"The Honey-Don't List" by Christina Lauren

This is the fourth book that I've read by the co-author duo who go by a combined pen name of Christina Lauren. I must say their novels have been getting progressively better, and this one is their best one yet. I am honestly scared to read any of their earlier work! The reason I think it is their best work is because it is so much more than a romance. I think hints of their branching into more than romance were in their previous novel Twice in a Blue Moon, even though I did think the plot of that book was not believable.

The Honey-Don't List tackles the issues so many will relate to: being stuck in a stressful job, having an extremely demanding and abusive boss, being unappreciated and overworked, feeling lonely and desperate. The book also takes a look at the underbelly of reality TV and the hypocrisy and lies some celebrities end up living. In this book the two main characters Carey and James work for an HGTV celebrity couple Mellissa and Russel Tripp, whose marriage and professional life has become a hot mess. Carey and James end up babysitting them and trying to keep them from making fools of themselves in the public, as the duo launches a new Netflix show and starts a promotion tour of their new book on relationships (out of all things).

I loved this book. The story was interesting. The characters were relatable and real. It had the right amount of romance in it, and I appreciated all the other more substantive issues the authors tackled in the book. My one complaint is that it was hard for me to distinguish between Carey and James. But for the headings of the chapters, I would not be able to tell which on of them was "speaking". Nevertheless, 5 out of 5 stars. This was a pleasant surprise.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com