Cover Image: The Neighbor Favor

The Neighbor Favor

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Member Reviews

The Neighbor Favor was so adorably charming and a cute contemporary romance! I think this was the author’s first adult romance, before she had done YA, and this was such a sweet surprise with two bookish main characters!

Lily is a shy, bookworm who is being overworked as an editor’s assistant for an uncaring boss. She dreams of being a children’s book editor one day and loved reading fantasies. One day while trapped on a subway, she notices her favorite fantasy author—who wrote one book and disappeared—finally has a website with an email form. So she reaches out and can’t believe her luck when he responds back! Nick is the man behind the screen and he and Lily form an email/penpal friendship that carries on for months! They don’t share photos of themselves, Nick never gives his name (he writes under a pseudonym) but they share so much more and become friends. One day when they’re going to finally have a live chat, Nick ends up ghosting Lily and she’s crushed.

Months later, Lily meets her new charming neighbor who ends up being Nick, she just doesn’t realize it since his author name was a pseudonym when they did chat. Lily and Nick feel pulled to one another right away, but when she makes a move and invites him back to her place, he realizes who she is and ends up saying they can’t be more. Lily ends up asking Nick for help instead, in scoring her a date for her sister’s wedding. Lily says she needs help in flirting and offers to help Nick furniture shop for his apartment in return.

These two were so cute together! I love bookish characters: Nick is a fantasy author and Lily works in the publishing field, with both being avid book lovers as well. I loved seeing them book shop and talk books and Lily’s discussion about female fantasy authors was so great too. The secret identity-penpal trope is always a fun one and I just loved the angst layer that added to their growing friendship. While I do think he should have told her sooner his actual identity, I can see why he held out too. I loved Lily’s family and just the overall slowburn of the story.

I received an ARC from the publisher (Berkley Romance). All thoughts in this review are my own.

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Lily found an email address for her favorite obscure fantasy author, and sent a message, just in case it was legit. But when he ghosts her instead of meeting her on a video chat, Lily is embarrassed and frustrated but knows she needs to move on. Her meddling sisters won't stop pushing men into her way, and she makes a bet that she can find her own date for the family wedding. If only she could find the courage to talk to the hot guy down the hall. Little does she know, he's the author she fell for.

The storyline is fairly classic. Nick figures out pretty quickly who Lily is, and while I know that holding the secret is the conflict issue that has to be held off so there's drama on the book, it drives me nuts when the characters withhold that info instead of getting it handled. I know it's part of the trope, but it still drives me nuts. BUT! The writing is good, and the story is well done. It's fun and mostly light-hearted, with just the right amount of angst. There's a decent amount of smutty goodness too. Really sweet book.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

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Solidly enjoyable albeit a little long and drawn out.

Part 1 is epistolary yasss -- this is such a fun way to get engaged in a relationship!

And throughout Forest pays tribute to amazing contemporary BIPOC fantasy/sci fi writers 🔥🔥

I like stories about writers and editors, but can find them cliche sometimes, and I didn't get that feeling from this at all. Secret identity (and not coming clean about it) isn't my favorite trope, but overall, I still enjoyed the book!

Check this out if you like
❤️ epistolary
❤️ characters who love books
❤️ city living

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First of all, the cover is beautiful and so striking - love the yellow and purple together. This is a lovely, sweet romcom between a shy publishing employee and her favorite writer. I've read all of Kristina's books, and they are always incredibly sweet and fun. Loved the inside baseball of the publishing plot lines and commentary on the industry. Lily and Nick are a very cute slow burn romance.

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this was a cute and fun rom com, i just didn’t find myself completely invested in the story

the entire premise was interesting to me and i was really excited to read it but it somewhat fell flat in a way?

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The Neighbor Favor was such a surprise. I enjoyed this romance in the sense that it is more mature and the issues are real and relatable. The reason I did not rate it higher is because there were times that the story felt like it was repetitive and could not move past the roundabout. The romance was also very PG, nothing wrong with that, just keep that in mind. The characters were cute and I appreciated that they were both bookworms.

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I really enjoyed this book. I liked that the emails allowed the reader to get to know the characters while they were getting to know each other. I really loved how much the different personalities of Lily’s family members were developed and I can’t wait to read what seems to be Violet’s story next. I also thought it was great that they all had flower names but it never came across as cheesy, it was just endearing. I appreciated that the author managed to do a good job of portraying both Lily’s “perfect” family and Nick’s not-so-great family without turning it into a dramatic element to create conflict between them. It was refreshing to not have the drama stem from characters not understanding each other’s family life - they both acknowledged their different experiences and how that affected them. I did find some parts of the book slow, especially in the earlier parts after it switched over from the emails to their lives in New York, but the overall flow was enjoyable.

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In this heart-fluttering romance by Kristina Forest, a shy bookworm enlists her charming neighbor to help her score a date, not knowing he's the obscure author she's been corresponding with.
This was a super cute, super cheesy exploration of a catfishing gone right. Lily and Nick had super good chemistry and their friends to lovers journey was a delight to read. I don't love Nick's lying and though the story tried to justify it I still think it was silly and went on for a little too long. Still a super sweet romance!

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I listened to this title as an ALC through Libro.fm.! I really enjoyed the audio book and we ended up purchasing this and still hand selling it in our independent bookstore! I loved it!

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This was a cute read that left me smiling. Both of the main characters find their way to each other, to their confidence, and to achieving their dreams. I loved the references to the fantasy reads in the book - and I am now curious to read some!

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Summary: When shy bookworm Lily seeks help from her equally introverted, but very sexy new neighbor Nick, she has no idea that he is the beloved fantasy author she has been corresponding with for months.

Thoughts: This is such a sweet read with major Shop Around the Corner/You’ve Got Mail vibes. I loved the use of the epistolary format during the opening chapters, that helped us get to know the characters, while also furthering the plot line. Right off the bat, the strong connection between our MCs, Lily and Nick, really stood out and that connection remained during the entirety of the book.

Read if you like:
•neighbors to friends to lovers
•book about books
•epistolary format
•you’ve got mail
•open door romance

Thank you to Berkley Romance and PRH Audio for my gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

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Do you ever read a story and love the writing, but not the trope? The author did a great job building the characters and had so many details to bring the story and people to life. I really enjoyed the main characters and felt for them BUT the trope drove me bonkers. It’s a personal choice, and I know tons of people will love this story because of it. I do NOT like miscommunication and lying story lines.

Other than that, the book was cute. The characters were so authentic. I did the audiobook and the narrators were perfection.

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Such a charming read. Love a book that takes place in the book world and this one was done particularly well with fun details about the publishing industry. Also thought the characters had great chemistry and were easy to root for!

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Nick and Lily are just adorable! I loved the opening section of the book with all the emails - they showed a lot about each other's characters without us actually seeing any of their lives or choices. It was an interesting way to introduce us to the characters and show six months of their lives in a concise way. I loved the ones where they both felt embarrassed about something they said and panic-sent multiple emails in a row trying to explain.

A few things I LOVED were that the secret came out before they got together so that Lily could walk into the relationship with all the information and no third 👏🏻act 👏🏻breakup 👏🏻!! I am always here for when the FMC stands up for herself to her family and explains that she is going to do things at her own pace.

The spice is low in this book but it isn't a fade-to-black. I felt like the story had a vibe where I didn't notice myself missing the spice in a good way.

If you just need a make-you-smile romance between two book lovers look no further! I can guarantee I will have my eye out for when Violet's and Iris's stories come out...

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This is a really sweet You've-Got-Mail style romance, also for book lovers. I enjoyed Kristina's YA work and was looking forward to this move up in age range. I was not disappointed whatsoever.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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