Kristina Forest's books, to me, are the book equivalent of the best netflix rom coms. The Neighbor Favor is no different. The vibes were immaculate, the romance the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and the inner dialogue 110% relatable. Highly recommend for all the romcom lovers out there!

When Lily sends an email to her favorite author, Nick, she never expected him to reply. She also never expected to develop an intimate relationship with him, only for him to ghost her right before they were set to meet. Months later, Lily is living with her sister and unbeknownst to Lily the new neighbor she's crushing on might just happen to be the author who ghosted her. Nick can't help but feel drawn to Lily, but when he realizes who she is, he tries his best to steer clear. What better way to convince himself he made the right choice by distancing himself from Lily, than by helping her find a wedding date to her sister's wedding.

This was such a charming and easy read. The story kicks off with emails between Lily and Nick, as they mutually strike up a virtual friendship. All the emails are at the front of the book and while it was fine to read them that way - I've heard they're a bit hard to grasp if you're listening to it. From there we experience how their relationship grows, stalls, and starts back up. I liked that Nick realized early on that his neighbor Lily, was the same Lily he was emailing and felt that his reaction was fairly realistic. The BIG REVEAL to Lily also felt appropriate and not OVER done, which I appreciated.

The romance itself was a little slow to deliver but I thought the chemistry between the two was sweet. While they both had some family drama going on, neither side plot overshadowed the romance plot line and overall, this is a cute read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I recommend this book for anyone who loved A Cosmic Kind of Love or Got Mail.

The Neighbor Favor comes out February 28, 2023. Huge thank you to Berkley Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

** Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. **

I loved The Neighbor Favor so much! Beautifully flawed characters who find a kindred spirit in each other. The plot moved at a nice pace, the characters felt like your friends and Lily's sisters reminded me of my own siblings. Moderate spice level and a delightful slow burn.

Book lovers will adore this upbeat romance between a shy publishing assistant, Lily, and her favorite fantasy author, Nick, who become pen pals. The two unknowingly become neighbors and soon become close but Nick’s true name remains secret. The pair’s emotional connection encourages them to grow into more capable adults, both learning to go after what they want professionally. The sweet pair will have lots of fans.

This book was super sweet and cute! This was such a great flirty and slow burn story. I loved all the characters and the great dynamic that they had with each other. Nick and Lily were just two book lovers who found their way together with a few up and downs. Tomcat, Lily's pet cat, was absolutely adorable! Also, the Greene family sounded so awesome and fun. I totally wanted to watch their annual fashion show. And I would love to read more about this family!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

"He wondered if he could ever look at Lily and not feel like he'd been struck by lightning."

The Neighbor Favor was SO CUTE!!! The novel starts out with a very swoony epistolary section as our main girl Lily, begins emailing back and forth with her favorite author. That is until he ghosts her...

Flashforward to our main guy Nick's big move to NYC after his first novel has been bought by a major publishing company. He can't stop thinking about his neighbor Lily, a girl who has a lot of similarities to the fan who he struck up a flirty email exchange with a few months ago.

Nick is a character who desperately needed to go to therapy, but his feelings for Lily are so so sweet. I highly recommend this romance to fans of Book Lovers and You've Got Mail!

“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.“

Awe. This book was adorable.

I loved the layers of the story. The beginning, where each character reveals themselves slowly over email, was sweet and genuine. The rest, Enemies (?) to Friends to Lovers was a fantastic slow burn.

The secondary familial characters, both biological and found- added so much to the story, and I’m hoping to meet many of them in books to come.

I thought Nick’s inner turmoil about “messing everything up, just like [his] dad” got a little tired by the end, but I like that, while it wasn’t completely resolved, he was taking steps (therapy FTW) towards health.

The only thing I found lacking was the sex scene. There was one, but it wasn’t super-titillating.

I loved the 100% Enthusiastic Consent, but as to the rest: very little foreplay, Mild Discomfort, and everyone has a happy (synchronous) ending. Has the author written YA in the past? Those are the vibes.

Thank goodness sex isn’t everything. Maybe by the time they get around to Iris and Violet’s stories, there will be Heart- but also Front Bottom-Flutters for all.

Honestly, though, I’m here for the sequels, regardless.

7/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publish Group for this charming ARC.

I absolutely adored The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest. Is there an actual trope for bookish characters and bookish settings? Because, if not, there really should be!

Lily Greene is a lifelong book lover who works in publishing. She’s not quite where she wants to be, which is to work as a children’s book editor, but she’s trying to get there. One day she decides to email her favorite fantasy author, N.R. Strickland, and they begin a months’ long correspondence that becomes the highlight of Lily’s days. They have wonderful conversations and really open up to one another, to the extent that it has Lily imagining what life could be like if she were to meet him in person, a new friendship or possibly more? That is until he abruptly ghosts her and deletes his email account with no explanation. Shocked and a bit heartbroken, Lily moves on with her life.

I loved Lily. She of course scored points with me immediately by virtue of being a book lover, but I also just really admired her determination to keep going after her dream job, as well as her perseverance when it came to taking control of her love life. Up until N.R. Strickland (or Strick as she called him) ghosted her, Lily had been caving in to her sisters’ endless attempts to set her up her dates that went nowhere, but after getting burned by Strick, she decides it’s time to bring her sisters’ meddlesome matchmaking efforts to a halt. I also very much related to her social awkwardness and loved that this awkwardness is what actually ends up driving the plot of the story because in order to find a date, she turns to her new neighbor, the sexy and charming Nick Brown. He’s not looking to date anyone but is happy to help Lily find someone and get her sisters out of her hair. Unbeknownst to Lily, her new neighbor is actually N.R. Strickland.

I honestly wanted to hate Nick for ghosting Lily, but the more we get to know him, he has very real reasons for doing what he did even if he went about it the wrong way. I went from wanting to hate him to very much wanting him and Lily to see that they were perfect for each other. I also enjoyed getting the glimpses into Nick’s journey as a reclusive author trying to complete a sequel to his best-selling fantasy novel, which also happens to be Lily’s all time favorite book.

The chemistry between Nick and Lily is wonderful and I enjoyed all of their scenes, from fun and silly ones trying to buy Nick furniture at IKEA to more poignant and heartfelt ones as Lily tries to help Nick deal with some long-standing issues he has with his father. And don’t even get me started on the adorable bookish dates they go on. Be still my book loving heart!

This was my first time reading a novel from Kristina Forest and I very much look forward to reading more from her because The Neighbor Favor was just a pure delight!

4.5 stars! Kristina Forest has become one of my favorite authors and continues to impress with her adult romance debut! I loved to see both Lily and Nick's growth throughout the story. I could totally see this as a Hallmark movie. Can't wait to read Violet's story next!

Shy and bookish Lily dreams of becoming a children's book editor. Writer Nick is used to hiding behind his pen name to keep people at a distance. When Nick moves to New York to revive his black fantasy series, he soon realizes his new neighbor is the girl he fell in love with over email. Great for lovers of You Got Mail!

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest was a fantastic read! The perfect amount of sweet and spice. I loved the section of emails that Lily and Nick shared in this book and the awkward realization/reunion scene in this one. Our staff loved this one and ended up making it one of our monthly book club picks!

I have been waiting to read this book as soon as Kristina Forest announced it last year on Instagram. I always love reading about book lovers, especially in romance books. It touches close to home. Plus, it’s a diverse romance book as well!

The Neighbor Favor brings Lily more out of her self as she recovers from being a catfish at the beginning of the book. What she does not know is that the same person she was talking to was not cat fishing, just holding a few truths from her; and they are closer to her ever aka her neighbor aka Nick.

Nick cannot believe his luck when he runs into Lily, who is the same Lily that he was talking to a few months ago. He may think it’s the worst luck as ever, but life can be unexpected when it’s meant to be. Yes, he may have hidden a few truths from her, but once you read about his family and his childhood, then you will understand why he lied. I can’t imagine what he has gone through and achieved what he could. But what I do believe is his true love for Lily. He may struggle with it, but he always loved her from her first email and seeing her again. He was even willing to help her find someone else since he believed he was undeserving of her.

Lily deserves the whole world. I truly love her even when I get a bit frustrated with her at times. She truly does her best in believing in herself even though she is struggling in her work and personal life. At work, she may not feel appreciated as she should be, but it pushes her to find something more for herself. It may struggle at first, but things go her way when she reaches her breaking point. For her personal life, she may need to gain more confidence about being herself if she wants her person. It may not be what her sisters expect, but she will need to be the one to tell them off (which she will). And thankfully, she finds it with Nick.

I will warn you that their romance is a more slow burn than ever. They genuine form a true friendship even though they faced the truth in the middle. Keep that in mind as you read this book. I don’t want to disappoint you if you are expecting a steamy romance from the start.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly February New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: toxic relationship with parents, sick pet (gets better)

This was a soft and sweet romance. I really loved how their enjoyment of books really brought them together.

Steam: 3

I found there were more pop-culture references than I was hoping for, but overall a really sweet romance to root for!

The Neighbor Favor begins with an email exchange between a awkward, insecure author and a fan who praises the book he wrote five-years ago. I honestly struggled through the emails as it felt as if Lily was much younger than she was portrayed throughout the book. I also felt they would've been better served shared throughout the book rather than a big dump in the beginning.

The characters love of books and the world of publishing were the most interesting bits of the story. This romance is the quintessential story we often read in this genre, and highly predictable.

I'd welcome future reads as it appears this book is prepping us for romances featuring LIly's two sisters.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the complimentary copy.

I thought that this was we written and the characters were well developed. I struggled with him catfishing her and for letting their relationship progress as much as it did before he told her that he was who she’d been talking to. I wanted a little more development of their relationship outside of the email exchanges.

I’m excited to see who’s story is next!

Ahhhh this was such a cute romance! I enjoyed all the bookish parts as well as the relationship between the sisters. I thought the relationship between Nick & Ivy was super cute and was so glad for the minimal 3rd act angst. I am looking forward to reading more books from this author!

This was a cute story about a young woman who works in publishing and an author. They have this You Got Mail situation where they were emailing back and forth and started catching feelings. Then the author(Nick) ghosted her(Lily). Months later Nick has moved to New York and finds out he and Lily live in the same building after they start talking. He decides not to tell her he's the author she was emailing with and instead deciding to tell her, he keeps it quiet and tries to help her move on by finding her a date.

I thought they had really sweet chemistry and I liked reading about them becoming friends and then lovers. The email section in the beginning though a little lengthy got me hooked. I needed to know what happened next!

I wish she would've dialed back just a little bit on the publishing industry stuff and discussions of their favorite books and sped up the pace in the romance. There's slowburn and then there's this glacial thing where it no longer makes sense for the two characters push each other away. Plus Nick has family drama going on throughout that felt like it wrapped up very quickly and smooth even though it was years of feelings of neglect. If the book would've been shorter I would've loved it more.

Another gem from Kristina Forest. Looking forward to Violet's book!

This was SO CUTE!

Lily works in publishing as an assistant and has dreams of one day being a children's book editor. One day, right before she passes out on a hot train, she randomly sends her favorite author and email, he answers back and they start a friendship. Then right before they are to meet...he ghosts her .

Fast forward, Nick( our author) has moved to New York and keeps thinking about Lily while noticing that his new neighbor is cute. Nick figures out that his new neighbor is his Lily but of course, in the way of romance novels he doesn't tell her. She asks Nick to help her find a date for her sister's wedding and let the story begin.

I loved it. It was a good steady pace and a good read and such a cute love story. Perfect for a quick weekend read.

Thank you to net Galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book came recommended by a fellow book club friend and I'm SO HAPPY I read it. Told in part email correspondence, the story follows Nick and Lily, who communicate through each other from Nick's author email trail. Lily just thinks she's emailing one of her favorite authors, N.R. Strickland, and unbeknownst to her, Nick comes knocking on her door. They quickly become friends, as he's enlisted as her helper to find a date for her sister's wedding. When he puts the puzzle pieces together on who Lily is, Nick determines if he should spill the secret or enjoy what they have.
I loved this story. It was so heartwarming, so captivating, so easily just to immerse myself in the character's stories, that I wanted to keep reading it until something finally happened. I thought the pacing was well done and it was a great testament to friendship, love, and self-worth. I can't wait to tell others my feelings about it as well.