This book starts off with an email exchange between Lily, a publishing assistant, and Nick, her favorite fantasy author who writes under a pen name. After six months of nonstop email banter, Lily asks to meet in real life only to get ghosted. Fast forward and fate brings the two to the same apartment building in NYC and after becoming friends, Nick realizes that Lily is the girl from the emails. The only thing is Lily doesn’t who Nick is.

This was a beautiful and lighthearted strangers to friends to lovers story. I loved Kristina Forest’s writing style and how even though there are many books set in the book world, this felt totally unique. Nick and Lily were two introverts that brought out the best in each other and their passion for reading was everything. The only negative for me is that I didn’t love the open-door scenes and honestly feel like they were a bit forced within the context of the story.

What to expect:
-BIPOC representation
-NYC publishing world
-You’ve Got Mail trope
-Bookstore dates
-Close proximity: same apartment floor
-Hero who is a fantasy author

Thank you to Berkley for the copy of this ARC!

How stinkin cute is this book!? A bookworm and a fantasy author as main characters? SOLD. Kristina Forest writes really dynamic characters, and I love the entire cast that she created in The Neighbor Favor. The friendship and romance was a mix of sweet, fun, and gentle, and I thought Nick's background storyline was absolutely excellent and showed how people can change over time. The little bookish gems and fantasy references took this next-level for me. I love romance with plot, and this was a winner!

Read if you:
- want a guy who can read The Fifth Season in a day
- like You've Got Mail vibes
- enjoy books about books
- like plot with your romance

This was just not that great for me. I had a hard time seeing the connection between the two MCs because of their exclusive email contact at first (which went on way too long imo). The writing style also wasn’t for me tbh

3.5/5, rounded down
I really liked the premise of this book! I love the good old "internet pen pals that don't know each other irl" trope. I particularly enjoyed how Kristina twisted the trope a little bit (no spoiler though!). However, I think the characterization of the characters was very flat and 2D. We barely know anything about the characters aside from 2 or 3 defining things that are repeated throughout the book. It felt half baked.

I loved this book immediately. The emails really sucked me in! I read this in about a day and a half. Loved it loved it loved it. Definitely will be picking up a copy!

When Lily reaches out to her favourite anonymous fantasy author via email, she definitely doesn’t expect him to reply again and again- or for them to develop feelings for each other. When he ghosts her in the midst of her work and family drama, she’s heartbroken but is soon moving on and trying to find a date for her sister’s wedding with the help of her next door neighbor, Nick. Nick realizes that Lily is the fan he was corresponding with but she has no idea who he is. Will he be able to put his feelings aside and help her find a date for the wedding?

What I loved:
-the emails! So sweet and probably my favourite part of the whole book
-portrayal of family relationships
-books about books! Lily is an aspiring editor, Nick is an author
-commentary around representation in books
-seeing Lily’s growth and self confidence increase throughout the book

This had huge potential to be a favourite read for me but I didn’t really get a strong sense of chemistry between Nick and Lily. Overall, a cute read but lagged in spots for me.

3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced reading copy!

I absolutely loved this book.

This is a gorgeous depiction of Black love, where both characters do not fit into the "typical" mold of how people view Black people. Both characters having their own struggles and dealing with them throughout the book was perfection. The story, the concept, the execution was all so damn good.

The Neighbor Favor was a delicious second-chance romance with a twist, only one of the people involved know they used to be in love. This story was sweet, gentle, hot, and an all-around good romance novel. I especially loved that it revolves around a solid cast of characters who will undoubtedly have subsequent books of their own. I can't wait to read them.

I loved this book so much! The FMC worked in publishing and her depiction of her career struggles was so real. I also appreciated that their conflict was dealt with and not a 3rd act breakup. It gave them a more realistic relationship trajectory

3.5 STARS

When you’re looking for a romance and you get more of a friendship with a very slow burn sometimes it takes a while for you to get into the story.

I love the main characters and I connected with them quite well. This story has a huge focus on family which takes up much of the plot. Of course, the sister connection is all fine and dandy, but I really wanted more of the love story.

We have two aspects in this book- one as a pen pal/love story and the second as a falling for your neighbor love story.

The crush is there, the heat is building, and yet when all is said and done, they have a wonderful time, but there was no heat and fire.

Maybe it’s just me, but the passion is definitely lacking in this book. The author chose to write it in a very traditional method with the physical romance coming in at 80% of the story.

The story is very entertaining and very family oriented but don’t look for open-door romance because that is just not there. I really miss the heat and the spicy love connection that this story needed with all of the angst and mental buildup we went through. It would’ve taken this to a five-star read for me.

Overall, The Neighbor Favor is an entertaining, fun story, but I’m here for the romance – all of the romance.

The Neighbor Favor is a sweet contemporary romance primarily set in NYC. The author plays with the tropes and we are given a friends-to-lovers and second-chance-romance. The story starts with Lily and the writer of her favorite fantasy novel getting to know each other over email without having ever met. I liked the Epistolary portion of the book as it allowed up to really get to know our main characters quickly. Nick has a difficult past and Lily is socially awkward.. After the two finally meet, we get a nicely developed relationship. This is a nice romance and a I am looking forward to what Kristina Forest writes next

This is just such a delicious premise -- 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, I loved every page and rooted for the characters and was just enchanted by this story.

Epistolary setup between two lovely people dealing with anxiety and finding confidence in themselves. Lily and Nick are two gentle souls whose love for each other brings out the best in each other. Writing was a bit clunky in places, but I found myself devouring most of it in a single gulp during a bout of insomnia.

✨I mean, who doesn’t want to bang your hot neighbor who also happens to be your favorite author???✨

Reading The Neighbor Favor felt like having someone in your life who takes you to a bookstore and NOT ONLY buys you books BUT ALSO knows which books you want.

Nick took Lily to Barnes and Noble, disappeared for a little while, and came back with a book he’d already purchased her. If that’s not peak romance I simply don’t know what is!!!

The Neighbor Favor was a charming love letter to all things bookish. Lily was an aspiring children’s book editor, Nick was a fantasy author, and the reader (me) was smitten. There wasn’t much happening in the plot to distract from the main couple, and it was pretty low angst, while still being engaging.

✨

The story started off in an epistolary fashion, when Lily emailed her favorite author’s inbox. Strickland aka Nick and her started emailing each other daily and got pretty serious…only for Strick/Nick to ghost her (for reasons). Fast forward to the neighbor part of the book…because DUN DUN DUN her incredibly sexy new neighbor wasn't such a stranger after all. Nick found out pretty early on, but Lily was none the wiser.

I actually really liked the placement of when Lily found out and how she reacted to it! I think it was both a mature reaction and an honest one. It happened with a good chunk of the novel left, so the pacing didn’t feel rushed. I know some people can get uncomfy with lying and probably the ghosting, but I wasn’t too perturbed. The ghosting/lying wasn’t really necessary, but I didn’t mind it.

Before Lily finds out about Strick’s identity and after Nick denies his attraction to her because of said ghosting knowledge, they become friends! While the favor of this book was Nick helping Lily find a wedding date, it felt more like a sub plot. I was never really invested in the wedding date search because by that point, there was already extreme chemistry and attraction between Nick and Lily. But since Nick was hot and cold (for reasons we knew but Lily didn’t), it just didn’t make a lot of sense for the rest of the story.

✨

So while I wasn’t 100% invested in the plot, I was definitely in love with Nick and Lily together. Nick could bake, was a reluctant cat dad, and chose to buy a bookshelf before any other piece of furniture. Lily was such a lovely person and I think most readers will see a lot of ourselves in her. She was deeply in love with books

I also LOVED the way we were introduced to Nick’s POV in the present. Him waking up at his neighbors house had me HOWLING. There’s also a point when Nick says “I’m really sorry, I gotta go to IKEA” and I could ONLY think of the iconic “see you in chemistry” line from Drake and Josh.

Overall, I found The Neighbor Favor to be a mid-2000s romcom in the purest, most delightful sense. I could see this being a movie that I’d finish and then immediately hit play on again. Plus, I just know the dynamic for book 2 is going to be pure gold. The sneak peek we got had me hunting down the release date.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶️🌶️.5**/5

**We got two open door scenes! They were both pretty short but felt in line with the vibe of the book. To get a sense of the scope, you’ll get hits when you search the word “nipple” but not “cock.”

This was an enjoyable read. I liked the narrators. I particularly liked the part where Lily and Nick were corresponding by email. I wished it could’ve gone on longer. I’m very torn by Nick’s lying. If he would’ve stopped and not lied after they met I would’ve felt better. It was a little bit of a red flag for me.

Other than that, I really enjoyed seeing Lily and Nick and their chemistry. I also loved seeing the publishing background. I liked seeing Lily’s family and how they interacted with Nick. I will definitely check out more books by this author.

This is YA author Kristina Forest's first novel for adults, and it's a wildly impressive romance debut. "The Neighbor Favor" manages to combine the heartfelt emotional character backstories a la Emily Henry with the witty banter of a Jasmine Guillory novel—and since those are two of my favorite authors, that is high praise indeed!

"The Neighbor Favor" grabbed me immediately, as Lily, who has a low-level publishing job, strikes up a correspondence with fantasy author "N.R. Strickland." The man Lily knows as "Strick" is actually Nick, a travel writer who is on the run from his past and his dysfunctional parents; when he was in his early 20s, he wrote a novel called "The Elves of Ceradon," but his dream of becoming the Black George R.R. Martin was dashed when the publisher promptly went out of business, making Lily one of the few people who actually owns a copy of the book. A website his friend set up provided Lily with the means to contact him, and for several months, they exchange increasingly personal, sometimes flirty, emails. But when it's time for them to video chat, Nick chickens out and deletes his email account, making a distraught Lily feel she's been catfished.

Nick eventually settles down in New York, and because Lily had mentioned the Union Square neighborhood in her emails, he finds an apartment there. Of course, because this is a romance novel, it turns out he's living right down the hall from Lily, who is rooming with her sister Violet, a successful celebrity stylist. When they run into each other in the elevator, Nick and Lily feel the sparks fly... but Nick comes to realize his attractive neighbor is the Lily he'd corresponded with, and realizes she can never find out the truth. Lily, meanwhile, wants Nick to be her date to Violet's wedding, even if it's just fake dating, in order to win a bet with her sisters, who are forever trying to set her up with potential mates.

The complications only grow from there, and Forest deftly juggles all of the plots and subplots, as well as giving Nick and Lily complex personal journeys. Lily needs to learn to stand up for herself at work, while Nick has to come to terms with his family background and realize that while his father and grandfather were not the best of men, biology is not necessarily destiny.

Forest has created two truly lovable protagonists and a plot that breathes new life into some familiar tropes, making "The Neighbor Favor" a delight from start to finish.

I absolutely loved this book! First of all, I love epistolary novels and although it was only a small portion of the book, it drew me right in. I've also discovered that the unanimous communication trope is one of my favorites and it works so well in this book! Lily and Nick are absolutely adorable together and the build-up to their love story tugged on my heart strings. I'm a New Yorker and this book is also a love story to Manhattan, particularly Union Square, one of my favorite neighborhoods. The sister relationship in this book is so believable and a great build-up to Violet's story, which I cannot wait for. Finally, any book set in a publishing environment has my interest. Seriously, this book has it all and I suspect it will be in my top ten romances of the year.

From beginning to end, this book was adorable. I like how the book began with their exchanges over email, though I do think it would have been cute to have them spread out to correspond to matching moments during their blossoming — in person — romance. I also love how refreshing and cheesy this was. It dabbled in family struggles, in both together and broken homes, and we got to see the characters deal with their own internal conflicts. This gave it a bit of depth while still holding that overall cutesy vibe.

Overall, a very easy read ( took me less than a day lol).

When Lily emails her favorite author, she never expects him to message her back, but Nick is enchanted by Lily, and an online relationship begins. But when Nick suddenly ghosts Lily, she is devastated. Moths later, Lily meets Nick in the elevator of the apartment building where they both live. Not knowing Nick is the author who ghosted her, Lily begins to fall for Nick and invites him to her sister’s wedding. When Nick declines, Lily convinced him to help her find a date, but is that really what Nick wants? Afraid to get into a relationship, Nick keeps trying to push Lily away, but he can’t deny his ever-growing feelings for her. How will she react when she realizes that Nick is the man who ghosted her all those months ago?

I loved Lily and Nick’s story! They are both such fantastic, layered characters. Nick and Lily have very different backstories, and Nick especially struggles with trusting people and letting his guard down. He’s afraid he’ll make her life worse. He’s got such low self-esteem and a lack of worth. Even when he talks about being an author, he disregards his talent.

Lily, on the other hand, comes from a very supportive and loving if often smothering and over helpful, family. I especially like her relationship with her sisters. Though they are all so different and at different phases of their lives there is a wonderful bond between the trio. I love their texts and conversations and how they band together during the good times and bad. Lily knows that there will always be people there for her when she needs it. It takes his growing relationship with Lily to realize that Nick has this too, though it’s with his friends, not his family.

Though this is primarily a love story, there are some amazing messages about sisterhood, setting boundaries, starting over, and opening oneself up to love. Nick and Lily grow and change a lot as they make career, family, and relationship obstacles. I love that Lily starts to take charge of her career situation and begins to speak up with those who often steamroll right over her. And Nick faces relationships in his past, which changes him. Both have baggage and fears and struggles, but their arcs are excellent, and they show tremendous, healthy growth over the course of the story.

This was a great contemporary romance. It was fun and flirty and heartwarming, and there are some fantastic pop culture and literature references. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Oh my heart. This was adorable.

Short Synopsis:
Lily Greene is shy, a little awkward and has dreams of being a children’s book publisher. After a hard day, she emails a favorite obscure author, only to start a constant email chat with him. Until one day he disappears and puts a stop to the emails.

Nick keeps his past hidden and doesn’t let anyone get too close. But when he moves to New York, he instantly is drawn to and can’t stay away from his new neighbor.

My Thoughts:
This is my first book by Kristina Forest but it absolutely will not be my last. This one was so cute. It had me cracking up and my heart swooning.

The characters were both loveable, and even though they had their conflicts, they handled it in a mature and adult way.

I loved the ode to fantasy books too!

If you need swoon-worthy romance, grab it!

Read if You Like:
📚 Books about books
📚 Flirty email exchanges
📚 Meddling sisters
📚 Strangers to flirty to neighbors to friends to lovers romance
📚 Fantasy book references 🫶