This was a quick and engaging romance. I'm a sucker for a bookish couple, and love between an author and a publisher just hits the spot. There was pining, tension, second chances, discussions of mental health, depictions of complex family dynamics, and so many other things I enjoyed seeing play out in this black love story.

I loved this story. Great characters, wonderful dialogue and interesting story line. Kept me engrossed through to the end. It is very well done and that is rare enough to warrant 5 stars.

My favorite thing about this book is how it had me hooked from the beginning! The beginning of this book was very different from other romance books I’ve read, in a great way! I really enjoyed how unique the beginning was and how you got to see how it affected things later on in the story. I also LOVED the side characters sooo much! They added so much to the story and made it super entertaining and fun to read! I think this book is an incredibly fun book to read and I definitely recommend it!! Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Fun fast read, love books about book people!! Who doesn’t love a happy ending! Family is not always about blood!!

Holy crap. POC romance? Neighbors? SPICE? I ate this up like it was CANDY and I need so much more from Kristina forest. These two have my HEART.

One million stars. I was OBSESSED with this book- I read it in about 4 hours. Lily and Nick are the newest heartthrobs. I loved the self discovery and love and acceptance that Nick had to go on in order to prove to himself that he deserved to have Lily in his life and I loved the journey that Lily had to go on too- standing up for herself and what she wants.

Give me more of them- there was some spice but this was, at its core, just a heartfelt, feel- good time romance and I loved it.

I'm a sucker for an It Happened One Night/She Loves Me/You've Got Mail Knockoff and this is no outlier to the formula.

Get ready for a feel-good, literary love story.

Lily is an assistant at a floundering publishing imprint in NYC. While her day job focuses on supporting the chaotic and borderline abusive demands of her boss, she dreams of someday landing her ideal job editing diverse fantasy books for youth. Her own favorite fantasy book is an obscure novel written by a reclusive author no one has ever seen. Upon Googling his name one day, she comes across his new website and impulsively decides to reach out.

Nick is a travel writer trotting his way around the globe penning human interest stories about the daily lives of nondescript strangers. He briefly connects with people, but soon leaves them behind for his next assignment. However, when he receives an email from a fan of his one-hit wonder fantasy novel from years ago, he is compelled to respond.

Part One of the book highlights the initial long-distance connection between Lily & Nick in epistolary format, which grabs the reader and draws them into the couple's original (virtual) meet-cute. This fades to black when Nick suddenly ghosts Lily just as they are really starting to connect.

Cue Part Two, wherein our unlucky-in-love protagonists find themselves not only living in the same city, but in the same apartment building, without realizing it. Paths cross, sparks fly, and both experience a sense of deja vu. However, when Nick discovers his beautiful new neighbor is the woman he connected with via email, he does everything he can to keep her from figuring out exactly who HE is.

In this novel, the author does such an excellent job of writing believable, authentic characters with solid backstories and amazing chemistry, including the supporting actors. (Well, okay, the villain is kind of one-dimensional, but she's not supportive at all, so she doesn't deserve her own story arc.) And, based on the excerpt at the end, it looks like this is the beginning of a series (or at least a trilogy), so we'll get to spend more time with the characters in future installments.

If you love diverse, contemporary romance, this book is a must-read. Highly recommended for fans of Jayne Allen, Charish Reid, and Denise Williams.

I love reading books about readers and bookworms. This one was a very cute rom-com type story. It is predictable but heartwarming. I would recommend to someone who wants a sweet, touching story,

This is a cute book with a very cute premise, but unfortunately I don't feel like it lives up to its complete potential.

The book starts out strong, with the emails back and forth between Nick and Lily, but then it sort of hits a wall. The characters motivations are iffy, from Lily forming a bet with her sisters to find a date to her sister's wedding without help, to Nick finding out pretty much immediately that Lily is the same Lily he'd been emailing with and ghosted... there aren't many stakes here. And for this genre there obviously dont have to be stakes, but after a while, too quickly, really, the plot becomes repetitive and stale.

Nick and Lily are great characters and on their own, I think they could have been even stronger. But as matches for one another, the situationship they find themselves in almost immediately feels forced. For a character that states she's typically anxious, she quickly makes moves and decisions that seem out of character. And for someone who has ~thinks to hide~ Nick doesn't do all that good of a job staying away from Lily. That's obviously not the point. The point is for them to get together as quickly as possible. But even when they do and Forest tries to interject some drama, it FEELS manufactured.

All in all its a cute beginning that just doesn't live up to its potential.

Lily Greene needs a date for her sister's wedding, but is tired of having her family try to "help" her. Her publishing job is nowhere near as glamorous as her sister Violet's stylist for the stars or her sister Iris's high-pressure corporate job. She does love fantasy stories, especially the work of N.R. Strickland so when she has the chance one day, she emails the author to share her appreciation. This starts a correspondence that blossoms into an online relationship--until the author ghosts her.
Months later, with her sister Violet now engaged to a Hollywood agent, Lily runs across her hot neighbor down the hall, but is too tongue-tied to speak up. That neighbor is Nick, aka N.R. Strickland, except that neither one initially realizes it. They gradually become friends, and Lily asks Nick to help her find a date for Violet's wedding. That's when complications ensue.
Both Lily and Nick have so much self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness--Lily because she isn't as successful as her sisters although she is truly loved by her family., Nick because of a dysfunctional family situation that has him feeling he's just no good. It's interesting that while both characters are coming from opposite sides of a nurturing/not nurturing upbringing, the sense of self-doubt is very similar. How they are able to see the best in each other and help each other grow make this second-chance romance a very satisfying read

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group, for the ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 💕

So I am new to Kristina Forest’s work, but now I feel behind because TNF was EVERYTHING.

Let’s start with this outstanding premise. Two BLACK MCs falling in love over books + two BLACK MCs that are in the publishing world falling in love over books + a You’ve Got Mail-ish virtual meet cute + a serendipitous physical meet cute = to quote the bald RnB (cheater) legend himself: “you’re the best thing I never knew I needed” (i.e., Ne-Yo for the slow people in the back).

ANYWAY…apparently this is Kristina Forest’s first adult romance book…and can I say…I wish I had a more eloquent statement than cliche millennial high praise…but SHE ATE!

The Neighbor Favor is packed with plot from the beginning, yet there was not a single dull or drawn-out moment. I fell in love with Nick and Lily from the beginning. She takes the classic You’ve Got Mail trope and turns it on its head, managing to write a uniquely relatable story with uniquely relatable characters that you are invested in and want to see win from the very first page.

She gives us black characters and families, character that underscore the fact that black people are not a monolith while giving heart and soul to what makes us…us.

I think Nick’s choice of occupation, avoidance of his past, geographical and emotional separation from his family, and Lily’s journey to learn how to speak up for herself in her personal or professional life were adequately explored. I liked that while both characters have relationships with their families at two very different ends of the spectrum, they both realize that they need to enact the same thing: setting boundaries rather than avoiding them.

I LOVED everything about this book. I recommend that every book lover who loves reading books about books pick this up when it comes out on February 28, 2023.

Note: I’m so excited that we will be getting books for all of the Greene sisters because if TNF was a taste of Violet and Iris, I cannot wait!

This is the first book I’ve read by Kristina Forest. (I own Zyla & Kai but yall know TBR piles be piling). Anyway!! This was such a cute romance novel!! It was just what I needed to get me out of a reading slump.

It had all the makings of those rom coms that make you blush & smile and wish you can teleport and become a part of the story.

I LOVED LOVED the email correspondences. Very old school but they formed such a good bond during these emails.

You really got a feel for all of the characters and their development.

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest was an enjoyable read. Although the story istarted off a little slow, It did manage to pick up and turned out to be a really good story!

This had me hooked from the start! I didn't want to put it down and I would have finished it in a day if it wasn't for you know adulting.

The start of this book was so unique because it was told in email correspondence - you have Lily a book lover who happens to reach out to one of her favorite authors via his website. There is little known about him because he uses a pen name and is very much in the shadows. They begin to write back and fourth for months, revealing things about each other and developed feelings BUT before it gets more serious Strick completely cuts all ties from Lily. Leaving her heartbroken and confused. Strick is [what he thinks of himself as] a one hit wonder and no longer writes books after his first book was published and tanked. He's a travel writer for a magazine and decides to move to NYC to switch gears back to writing books after his book was resold to a new publishing company. He chose NYC because he wanted to feel closer to Lily even though he had ruined things with her so royally.

Lily was stuck in between a rock and hard place, when it came to a job she hated, relationships that went nowhere because they were all blind dates she didn't want to go on [but her sisters insisted]. Lily came up with a brilliant plan to get herself out of the cycle of getting set up by making a bet with her sisters that if she can find a date for Violets wedding they would stop meddling and let her pick her own dates.

Fast forward to Lily being obsesses with her "hot ass hell neighbor" Nick that makes her tongued tied anytime he's around her. After weeks of awkward elevator interactions between them they become friends and its like they've known each other all along... Lily has a crazy idea to ask him to be her date but his reaction was not ideal, they reached a compromise in which Nick helped her find a date instead. But when does that ever work?!? You know they obviously like each other because the chemistry between them was AMAZING! You have a steamy "friends to lovers" second chance romance that was so fun to read!

HOWEVER one of my favorite parts was the way Lily and Nick helped each other overcome barriers they thought were impossible - they made each other better and thats one of my guilty pleasures in books; this was so well written. I truly enjoyed every second of it, and will be looking forwards to reading more books by this author.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. The premise of this book is based on a huge coincidence, but if you can overlook it, it’s a very sweet and heartfelt story. Lily and Nick are pen pals who struck up an email friendship after she wrote to say how much she loved the fantasy novel he authored about a family of Black elves. But Nick hasn’t been telling the whole truth about himself, and rather than meeting up with Lily like they planned, he ghosts her. And then realizes several months later that his cute new neighbor in NYC is none other than the same Lily.

I love a good book about books. The two main characters are big readers and love talking about their favorite books and authors. This book reminded me a bit of Jasmine Guillory, in that both Lily and Nick take their work seriously and support each other’s careers. Their friendship is lovely and their chemistry is super hot. I look forward to reading the next books about Lily’s two sisters.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This romcom was super cute and had me feeling warm and fuzzy. Although it didn’t quite grab my attention the way I was hoping it would, there were definitely some stand-out moments that had me swooning. In the first part of the book, the main characters communicate strictly through email, and although I found the structure refreshing, I hoped to get more of a glimpse into their lives outside of the emails (in the first part anyway).

Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. Look out for it when it releases Feb 2023.

This is a sweet, bookish romance. The first third is told through emails, and this was easily my favorite part. The book moves slower after we get away from the epistolary format, but not enough to lose the charm of the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

A fun, romantic read I thoroughly enjoyed. The emails were fun and the way they fell for each other IRL. A great read!

Lily and Nick have been emailing for months. What began as an email from Lily to her favorite author, turned in to a budding friendship, that morphed into something more. When Nick suddenly stopped emailing Lily, claiming he wasn't who she thought he was, she was devastated, just another potential relationship down the drain.
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When Lily makes a bet with her sisters that she can find a date to a wedding, Lily turns to her new neighbor who give amazing peptalks in elevators, not realizing this neighbor was the man she fell for via email. When Nick realized who Lily is, he has no idea what to do. He can't tell her. But how can he NOT tell her. Let the chemistry and tension begin.
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The Neighbor Favor is such an amazing read. The emails between Nick and Lily felt so real, Nick's insecurity in his writing ability, in himself really was equal parts heartbreaking, and refreshing to see. So often we see men as gruff, strong and silent, strong and confident. I really appreciate that we're beginning to see such well-rounded male characters.
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Lily... oh Lily so many of us have been you. So many of us have felt less than, underachieving, unimpressive.
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Watching Nick and Lily work their way through a friendship growing into more (despite their attempts to stop it) was lovely. Watching their relationship grow, first, via email, then in person, felt so authentic and I am grateful to Berkley and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read it.