4.5 stars

The Neighbor Favor is the first adult fiction novel by Kristina Frost and she wrote a standout romance that hooked me from the beginning with characters I cared about and all I wanted was them to find their happiness. This story is a romance yet it was more than that, it was two people finding their place in the world and finding the person that loved them without wanting them to change.

Part one and basically the first fifteen percent of this book was written in epistolary style when Lily Greene, a shy bookworm working as an assistant to a non-fiction book editor, sends an email to N.R. Strickland her favorite fantasy author who disappeared after writing one book that ended in a cliffhanger. Mr. Strickland (you can call me Strick) replies and they begin a 6 month email friendship where Lily opens up quite a bit to Strick and it is easy to see that both are beginning to have some feelings for the other, and then he ghosts her (as this is in the synopsis, it’s not a secret). I cannot tell you how much that affected me, in fact I think I was probably more affected that Lily, well maybe not, but since we didn’t really see her until five months later we didn’t really see how she felt which is kind of a shame.

Part two begins and we see Lily avoiding social situations and being used and abused by her boss that refuses to join this century and dealing with her family not understanding her chosen profession and wanting her to do something more with her life. She has a great family, she really does and it is easy to see they love her but between her sisters setting her up with men who she has nothing in common with, her social awkwardness, and constantly being berated for not having a “good enough” profession sometimes they are just too much for her. After seeing the new “fine as hell neighbor” a few times including once reading a book she loves and the other giving another neighbor a pep talk about how to ask out the woman he’s crushing on, Lily decides he is someone she’d like to know better, but after sharing an amazing kiss Nick bolts leaving Lily confused.

Once inside the apartment Lily shares with her sister, Nick begins putting two and two together and realizes Lily is his pen pal he ghosted and although he didn’t want to pull back after they kissed he knows she is better off without someone like him in her life. Someone who created a completely fabricated bio for his pen name and someone who worries every day if his father will show up to ruin something in his life.

I’ll admit I was a bit miffed that Nick didn’t come clean right away with Lily and I think he truly intended to keep his distance but Lily came to him for help in getting a date for her sister Violet’s wedding and he just couldn’t say no to her no matter how much it pained him to be around her as she dated other men.

The thing is I loved Lily and Nick together despite his deceit and considering how much I hate liars, I just couldn’t hate Nick. It was easy to see his pain from the past and how it affected him and the guilt he felt about ghosting Lily plagued him daily. This was not a man who ghosted for a thrill but for self preservation no matter that it was misguided.

This was a book with a full and rich plot, characters that took up residence in my heart, and a hard won happily ever after. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up The Neighbor Favor, but what I got was a wonderfully written, unique romance that I found impossible to put down.

The story begins with Lily Greene, a shy bookworm who works in non-fiction but dreams of being a children’s book editor, starts email correspondence with her favourite fantasy author, N. R. Strickland. After months of intimate email exchanges, “Strick” suddenly ghosts Lily. Sometime later, Lily desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding and, after witnessing his matchmaking skills in action, enlists the help of her handsome neighbour Nick…who’s secretly a fantasy author with the pen name N. R. Strickland.

The Neighbor Favor is a contemporary adult rom-com featuring the pen pals/secret identity, “friends to lovers”, and forced proximity tropes. I would highly recommend The Neighbor Favor to fans of “books about books” such as By the Book by Jasmine Guillory, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman, Booked for the Holidays by Chelsea Curto, or Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. Some themes present in The Neighbor Favor include communication, companionship, escapism, empowerment, family, fear of failure, love and heartbreak, isolation, and overcoming fears. Some trigger warnings include cheating, toxic relationships, death of a partner (in the past), and absentee parents.

First off, being a huge book nerd myself, I loved how “bookish” this book was as the main characters are both bookworms working in the writing and publishing industry and they bond over their love of books and reading. I enjoyed reading about Lily and Nick’s almost soulmate-like connection; they are both introverted or closed off, but they are inexplicably able to come out of their shells and be themselves whilst around each other. I also appreciated that, even though there was some miscommunication, once the main couple finally got together, they didn’t really have a third-act break-up.

The biggest downfall for me was that The Neighbor Favor was very slow to start and hard to get into seeing as the first forth of the novel consisted of Lily and Strick’s email exchanges; it seemed like the email section should have been shorter as perhaps we had to wait too long to get into the main action of the story. Overall, the plot wasn’t really what I was expecting…the plot was almost Hallmark-y (but with some spice!), and not very action-packed. Lastly, the miscommunication/secret identity plotline caused this sense of impending doom as you are waiting for the inevitable fallout that would accompany Lily discovering Nick’s secret.

At the end of the book, there was a sneak peek at Violet’s story so I assume that there will be at least two more installments of this series (one for each of Lily’s sisters). If you’re a bookworm, enjoy “books about books” and have always fantasised about befriending your favourite author, then you should definitely check out The Neighbor Favor.

I was so excited to see Kristina Forest try her hand at an adult romance, especially such a bookish one! This book is Definitley written for book lovers and I loved it. Lily is very shy and doesn't feel like she lives up to the fabulous lives her sisters are living, though she loves them and is close to them. She is working as an editor's assistant, but she dreams of being a children's book editor. One day she decides to email the author of her favorite fantasy book. And he responds. Nick hasn't written anything since that book and is a travel journalist now, but he can't help but email Lily back and they start an email relationship. I really loved this part of the book and how they opened up to each other and started falling for each other. But Nick gets scared and ghosts Lily, so Lily moves on from her life and chalks it up to another embarrassing dating story. Until Nick moves in down the hall and neither of them know who the other really is. I loved how both Nick and Lily had a crush on each other after seeing each other in their apartment building and how they both had their own struggles to get through before they could fully go in a relationship with each other. And I loved Lily's family!! Nick visited Lily's family and I loved their dynamics so much. I do think Nick took a little too long to finally go after what he wanted, but this was such a cute romance!

I love a book about bookish people and this one totally delivered! I was totally sold from the beginning watching the emails between these two unfold, and I was just as in love in the second half of the book watching them come together in real life. The love story is sweet, and set against the backdrop of the publishing world, it was everything I could ask for and more!

I WANTED to like this and think it might be worth a read from someone else... It's a New York story and I really like that Nick is a Black fantasy author.

Lily is working in publishing with bigger dreams of getting into children's publishing ever since she read a book by Black fantasy author N. R. Strickland. She wants to publish authors writing similar works for children, fantasy featuring Black protagonists. Strickland abandoned his series, though. One day Lily finds his email on Google and the two form an epistolary friendship that leads to some flirtation - until Strickland says he's not who she thinks he is and ghosts her before their planned video call.

Nick is Strickland. He was somewhat lying about who he was as the name was a pen name and his bio was a false identity. Now he has acquired a deal with the publishing house Lily works for - though he doesn't know it’s the same girl he fell in love with over email.

So, Lily is going to ask her hot new neighbor Nick to be her date to her sister’s wedding and I can’t make it that far. The first part of this novel is told entirely via their emails and it is a lot to get through before we get into the story itself. And I just don’t see how these two fell in love over a handful of emails. They weren’t even flirty except for the last few. It doesn’t work for me. I also just found it hard to root for Lily because she has a passion and a dream job and is just stuck in the grind of a job that's making her miserable instead of going after what she wants.

I adored the premise of The Neighbor Favor before I even started. We all would love to be able to tell our favorite author we loved their books. To tell them truly how much they meant to us. And for Lily, not only does she do that, but in their email exchanges they begin to open up to each other. I'm a huge fan of letters in books and the email exchanges in The Neighbor Favor swept me off my feet. We witness Nick and Lily not only getting to know each other, but also having realizations of their own. By this point in the book, I was smitten.

We can infuse so much personality, narration, into our emails. There's a sense of using emails as a journal entry, as places to pour late night thoughts. And then there's the added benefit of someone you might not even know responding back to us, sharing that same intimacy. Can you tell I had and was an e-mail penpal before? But where The Neighbor Favor picks up even more steam is after the emails. In the ghosting. When we feel like maybe we didn't actually have that connection, or something went wrong. All the maybes that lie in the dust.

This was a very cute slow burn romance. My favorite part was the fact they were both bookworms, but a close second was how they handled the inevitable problems that show up in romances. It was mature and not as eye roll worthy as many of the other romances I've read of late. I really liked Lily's entire family and I look forward to reading the love stories of her sisters in future books.

Definitely worthy of a read if you're a romance lover!

I was so excited to see Kristina Forest try her hand at an adult romance, especially such a bookish one! This book is Definitley written for book lovers and I loved it. Lily is very shy and doesn't feel like she lives up to the fabulous lives her sisters are living, though she loves them and is close to them. She is working as an editor's assistant, but she dreams of being a children's book editor. One day she decides to email the author of her favorite fantasy book. And he responds. Nick hasn't written anything since that book and is a travel journalist now, but he can't help but email Lily back and they start an email relationship. I really loved this part of the book and how they opened up to each other and started falling for each other. But Nick gets scared and ghosts Lily, so Lily moves on from her life and chalks it up to another embarrassing dating story. Until Nick moves in down the hall and neither of them know who the other really is. I loved how both Nick and Lily had a crush on each other after seeing each other in their apartment building and how they both had their own struggles to get through before they could fully go in a relationship with each other. And I loved Lily's family!! Nick visited Lily's family and I loved their dynamics so much. I do think Nick took a little too long to finally go after what he wanted, but this was such a cute romance!

We begin with THE NEIGHBOR FAVOR (Berkley, 416 pp., paperback, $17), Kristina Forest’s warm and welcoming new contemporary. Nick’s epic fantasy novel with Black elves could have been a hit, if his publisher hadn’t shut its doors a month later. Now he has a huge new contract to finish the series — if only he weren’t so distracted by his gorgeous new neighbor Lily, a book editor. He doesn’t dare explain that he’s not only the guy she flirts with in the elevator: He’s N.R. Strickland, the author who ghosted her after an intense email romance earlier in the year.

Lily’s still feeling bruised from the breakup, and frustrated to be stuck in nonfiction when she’s dreamed of editing children’s books. But most of all, she’s dreading her sister’s upcoming nuptials, because her family will not stop setting her up with men who are entirely wrong for her. Her hot neighbor Nick would have been the perfect wedding date — if he hadn’t turned her down with a bit more panic than seemed warranted.

This book gestures at several tropes — a dash of fake dating, a soupçon of epistolary — but primarily it’s one of my favorite romance plots: These enjoyable people deserve better, so let’s watch as they discover it. Lily’s battered optimism and Nick’s guarded sadness both mesh and conflict at just the right times, and for all its coincidence-dependent premise, the book breathes easily and pulls you right into its world. Especially recommended for anyone who ships Janine and Gregory from “Abbott Elementary.”

I was so caught up in this beautiful story between two vulnerable characters- I couldn’t help but cheer for them throughout the book! Highly recommend for any bookish lovers!

Thank you NetGalley for a digital ARC!

I really enjoyed this book! With plots like this one, I always feel a bit like I'm on a runaway train. There's gonna be a crash. I know it, the author knows it, it's only a matter of time. Lily was going to find out Nick's secret, so the whole plot is relying on being entertaining enough that making it through the crash is worth it to me. And honestly, I did love it. I loved Lily's family dynamics, I loved Nick's found family, and I loved their interactions with each other. Is this friends to lovers? Second chance romance? I don't really know how I would describe it. I found myself a little underwhelmed there at the end, and that's the only thing that's really keeping this from being a 5-star read for me. Definitely a cute romance read.

Two introverts fall in love over their shared love of books against a New York City backdrop? Perfect! And a charming cat playing a vital role in bringing them together 😍

I really enjoyed this rom-com. I was rooting for Lily + Nick the whole time and thought their relationship was quite sweet. The story of them meeting online first and then meeting in real life, but Lily not knowing who Nick is, was reminiscent of <i>You've Got Mail</i>. And the dynamic between them, as pointed out in the NYT review, was reminiscent of Jeanine and Gregory from <i>Abbott Elementary</i>. So, all around, pretty perfect.

I also loved the New York City setting. Few rom-coms get that right, in my opinion, and Forest did. I will be heartily recommending this one to all rom-com lovers.

A shy Lily turns to her neighbor Nick to be her date to her sister's wedding. It turns out Nick is the author of a fantasy series that is Lily's all time favorite. He uses a pen name has been in contact with Lily for months regearing his books he offers to set her up with someone else but realizes she is constantly on his mind.

There are few things I love more than two people falling for each other when they don't know who the other person truly is! That secret identity trope is just so delicious and Kristina executes it perfectly in her adult debut. Smart, fun, and sexy!

This book was absolutely ADORABLE and I loved it! It was the perfect blend of funny, sweet and heartfelt. While lighter overall, it had just the right amount of emotional depth to make me really root for the characters and absolutely loved seeing their growth! Not only were Lily and Nick amazing leads, but I loved all the side characters too and am so glad this is going to be a series! My #1 favorite thing was the celebration of fantasy written by Black authors. I screamed about the ones I’ve read and loved, added more to my tbr, and was sad to discover that Elena Masterson is fictional because I want to read all those books aha. What a joy, thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Cute, Cute, cute! This story was adorable - a classic friend-to-lover. Lily and Nick were pen pals before knowing each other as neighbours. Nick knows Lily as the adorable woman he ghosted and Lily doesn't know that Nick is her mysterious penpal or why he ghosted her

I thought Lily and Nick were cute together. I loved their backstories as well - Lily wants to be a children's editor but she isn't there yet and she feels like an underachiever compared to her family

Nick's family situation is not good and she is running away from it. The main and supporting characters were remarkable - I am hoping for a second book with each sister.

Anyways I had a blast - it was cute and entertaining and the supporting characters were awesome. The spicy scene was super spicy.

I would highly recommend and I am holding my breath for the other books in this series

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you Berkley Publishing and Penguin Random House Audio for advanced copies of this book.

I really enjoyed the start of this book with the email exchange between obscure author, N.R. Strickland (Strick) and super-fan, Lily Green. On audio it was a bit bulky to listen to the emails with the headers but the build up of their connection via email was very enjoyable to me. That is until, of course, Strick ghosts Lily when they are finally supposed to "meet" via video chat.

Fast forward and Lily is still trying to recover from the ghosting by a relative stranger while also trying to break her sisters habit of setting her up with all the wrong men. Enter Nick, the new neighbor who catches her eye and seems to be a kind approachable man. The problem is that he isn't up for dating anyone.

I'm sure everyone knows where the story is going as it goes with romances but this was a cute, fun read. If you don't enjoy the hidden identity trope or lying avoid this one but if you're open to it then check it out for a book with good representation and plenty of bookish charm.

Berkley always prints the cutest romantic comedies with just enough spice to "season" the story. I love that the MCs are diverse, interesting people. I love their innocence that is creatively mixed with their quiet confidence that doesn't overpower their love story. Plus, who doesn't love reading about two bookworms (an inspiring editor and an author) falling in love with each through emails & then again in person. Loved it!

Ok so y’all know I couldn’t let this book pass me by! As soon as I saw it on the app I downloaded it. Kristina Forest is one of my favorites and it’s also about books? Of course I had to read this immediately. Although it’s a YA author moving to adult, I felt the usual iffy feeling, but I needn’t have worried. Kristina Forest does it again.

Ok so the first thing I liked about this was the book about books. I don’t know, they’re like my guilty pleasure. Books about books are my jam. And this one was pretty amazing because she knows the ins and outs of the publishing industry as an author. It was pretty cool to see the part of it before it’s a book tho. I also love that she had dreams about being a children’s person. As someone who once thought about publishing and in children’s things, I felt this in my spirit. Definitely relatable. Alas, I ended up going the librarian route so I didn’t have to move to NYC.)

I also liked the characters. Like I liked them apart, but maybe not so much together? I don’t know how to explain it. Like I get why he lied, but that doesn’t mean I liked it. I just didn’t feel like it was a reason to ghost her or even to keep that lie going. As for Lily, I thought she was the sweetest. She didn’t deserve any of that. *steps off soapbox* In all seriousness, I really liked her and I liked her growth too. She was a boss at the end. I was proud how of how she finally stood up for herself.

The romance itself was cute tho. I was a little worried about how Forest would transition to adult, but I shouldn’t have. It seemed to be seamless. The smexy times were open door, but it was only like a peep, which I was expecting. I don’t usually expect authors who previously wrote YA to suddenly write super smexy stuff, so I was happy it didn’t seem like she was trying too hard. But it did get smexy tho, don’t think she didn’t deliver. It just wasn’t alot and it wasn’t over done.

The writing style I was already expected to love. BUT there was a time when I thought it was a little bit slow. It was only during the email phase. Which is weird to me because I usually love those. But I think it was the fact that he ghosted her. Definitely had nothing to do with it, but it still annoyed me lol And this was a slow burn too. And y’all know how I am about them. I am not the audience for them lol But I did like this one.

The audio of it was amazing tho. I have listened to both narrators before. Malik Rashad has only done one that I’ve listened to and Keylor Leigh has done A LOT of audios I’ve listened to. And both of them captured the character they were portraying. I really enjoyed listening to them.

This book was cuteeeeeeee! I really hope she continues with the series. Like the sisters? Or even the friends? I don’t know. Whatever. As long as she continues lol I really liked it. It was very sweet and very funny. I hope you all pick this up soon!

I really enjoyed how this started off with an email exchange between Nik and Lily (though Lily knows him as N. R. Strickland, her favorite author). Unbeknownst to her, she also falls for her cute neighbor. Nik soon realizes Lily is the person he ghosted and decides to help set her up for her sisters wedding. It is a bit of a slow burn and I sometimes got frustrated with Nik for keeping his secret for so long, but overall this was cute, interesting and entertaining. The audiobook narrators brought the dual POV to life and I enjoyed it!