While delirious from heat, Lily shoots off an email to her favorite fantasy book author and is surprised when he responds. They two correspond for months, discussing their love for books and their lives. Lily is convinced that there might be something real between her and the author until he leaves her heartbroken by ghosting her. Lily is determined to move on with her life, convincing her new hottie neighbor, Nick, to help her find a date for her sister's wedding. What Lily doesn't know is that Nick and the author she emailed with are one and the same.

Building chemistry between two characters via email exchanges is not easy but Kristina Forest did a really good job with this one. Lily and Nick's emails were sweet and heartwarming and it was easy to see why they were beginning to feel something for one another even though they had never met before. I liked that Forest kept the storyline moving through their emails as they shared with each other what was going on in their lives.

I couldn't wait to see how they would react to one another when they finally met in person. Even though they didn't know that they were Lily and "Strick" from the emails, there was an inexplicable draw towards one another. I loved their electric chemistry from their first kiss and I was disappointed when the kiss ended. I wanted more for them so badly! But they had to go through a circuitous journey to their HEA because of their complicated history and circumstances.

This is the first Kristina Forest book that I've read and I am impressed! I haven't read her other novels before because I don't read a lot of YA, but she has seamlessly made a transition into adult romance. I look forward to reading more of her work!

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥
⚠️: addiction, infidelity (not between the main characters), mention of a fatal car accident

The Neighbor Favor is a delightful romcom with charming characters. Kristina Forest puts her own creative twists on a “I didn’t know you were my pen pal confidant” plot to create a satisfying, modern romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lily is having a rotten day when she impulsively emails the reclusive author of her favorite fantasy book. She’s stunned when he actually responds. Nick wrote one book under a pseudonym a few years ago, but now works as a travel writer. He is drawn to Lily’s message, and the two begin a regular correspondence where they share their innermost feelings. Once they decide to video chat, though, Nick ghosts her and Lily is devastated. Months later, she runs into her gorgeous new neighbor and starts a tentative friendship. Nick seems really familiar…after a few clues, Nick realizes that Lily is his pen pal. But how can he admit it to her? Especially when they are clearly attracted to each other?

The epistolary beginning to this book is a great way to get to know all these characters. Lily and Nick are both genuinely nice people who sometimes have a tough time connecting to others. I felt for awkward Lily, who just wants someone to like her for herself, and for Nick, who doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. This book is a natural slow burn, as these two navigate their feelings and gradually work up the self confidence to be vulnerable with each other in person.

Another wonderful part of this story is Lily’s complex relationship with her family, especially her sisters, and their definitions of Black excellence. All three women are completely different and strong in their own ways, all while supporting each other. And anytime I read a book with three sisters, I’m always excited when it looks like we’ll eventually get everyone’s story.

The Neighbor Favor is a delightful romance. I loved all the three dimensional characters, especially Lily and Nick. Aside from being slightly shy and awkward people, it’s their innate kindness and chemistry that make this story a pleasure to read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read this if you like: Dual POV, emails, neighbors, miscommunication trope, You've got mail vibes

This was so cute! I love the concept. It reminds me of You've Got Mail. The email format was great but a bit long. Still, it quickly pulled me into the story. The book, in general, was too long. It could have lost a hundred pages and the flow would have been better. I loved the characters. They were developed perfectly. Lily's sisters are great. I would love for them to have books. I highly recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Berkley for the gifted e-book ❤️

What a sweet and delightful novel. The brightness and cheer with this cover caught my attention but the emails and relationship building kept me reading. This was a wonderful novel about a woman who works in publishing while she communicates with her favorite author...who she will end up meeting. This reminded me so much of You've Got Mail and it made me chuckle and smile reading the emails between the two characters. The slow burn in this one made it lag a bit and felt too long, but overall this was a fun romance for the spring.

Don't we all wish we could move somewhere and have a neighbor like Nick?

I really liked these characters and the author's writing style. I think the author did a fantastic job of endearing not just our main couple to us, but also all the side character who were also a lot of fun!

I will definitely be coming back for the next book in this series which follows Lily's sister, Violet. I loved her character here and can't wait to read her story next!

This book had lots of things going for it that I love to see in my romcoms: romance between people of color, email exchanges setting up the stage, a book about books (the main character works in publishing, her love interest is an author and they both are big readers). I always love some family drama and I especially liked the contrast between the two different families here. Because of these things my attention was immediately caught.

But there were a few things I didn’t love: the mc behaved very young for her age, the love interest had way too much baggage, and it took way too long for the romance to actually happen.

I found this to be a great palate cleanser between heavier books and it held my attention throughout. Overall this was a cute read that I’m sure true romcom fans will enjoy.

This was an engaging story with likeable main characters. I liked seeing the characters grow over the course of the book.

This was cute; I really enjoyed the slow burn. It is a charming slow-burn light on the spice that was a super easy read. Nick and Lily had the sweetest chemistry, and I love the way just having each other in their lives encouraged both characters to grow and be better.
I would recommend this book if you like cute slow-burn romances.
Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publish Group for this Arc.

This breaks my heart to even say, but this one just wasn't for me. I had a hard time connecting to either main character, the foul language felt out of place, and the emails were so, so long.

It's a DNF from me but I'm happy to hear that so many others loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for my complimentary e-arc of this book. All opinions here are my own.

I adored this book. This one definitely had a You've Got Mail vibe.

Lily works in publishing and is also an advid reader. She has an author she has loved, but he hasn't put out a second book. She discovers he now has a website and sends him an email. She's surprised when he answers, and she and Strick become email penpals for months. There is flirting and she is enjoying their online relationship. He breaks things off on the day they were planning to meet and the communication ends.

Flash forward months later it, Strick/Nick is living in NYC. Lily keeps bumping into her hot neighbor, Nick. They start a little flirting. But then - her cat, her tattoo, and a few other things tip him off and he realizes she's THAT Lily and tells her he isn't in a place to have a relationship. They agree to be friends while he assists her in flirting and finding a man to take as her date to her sister's wedding. And we all know how that goes. But it isn't smooth sailing for Lily and Nick.

Besides the romance, I loved the family dynamic of the Greenes, as well as the family issues Nick has. Lily's interaction with her sisters was very real and her emotions of not feeling like "enough" compared to them also was real and raw. Lily's boss was also something else!

This is a new to me author but I loved her writing and will definitely be watching for more to come! And the sneak peek at the end makes me think we are getting the stories of Lily's sisters, which I'm excited about.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group/Berkley Romance for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

In The Neighbor Favor we meet heroine Lily as she hits send on an email to her favorite author just as she faints in a crowded New York subway car. More surprised than anyone, the author responds and the two begin a months-long epistolary friendship that turns romantic. Just as the two are scheduled to video chat, the author bails, ceases replying to her emails, and eventually deactivating his account. A few months later, still heartbroken and sick of her sisters trying to set her up on dates, she bets them she can find her own date for her sister's wedding, and when she does, her sisters will have to lay off on the matchmaking. Lily has her eyes set on her hot neighbor, Nick, but despite an obvious connection between the two, he swears he can't date her because he's not in the place for a relationship. Little does Lily know, Nick is the author she had corresponded with, and he's too scared of breaking her heart again.

This story is absolutely charming. As a big reader, I always appreciate books starring book lovers--and Nick and Lily are certainly that. With Lily's former job at a bookstore and current job in publishing, and Nick's work as an author and travel writer, and their constant conversations about books, it's, well, endearing. The first kiss between our leads felt incredibly random and sudden, but the book was otherwise stellar. I loved the main characters and I loved them together. I also enjoyed the sections of the book, namely, the prologue, emails, and the aftermath.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

What a deeply enjoyable contemporary romance! Strong YOU'VE GOT MAIL vibes, minus the corporate greed -- Lily and Nick's love letters (love emails?) set the stage for a slow-burn IRL romance that bucked standard romance structure. For a book premised on miscommunication, Lily and Nick are surprisingly good at talking to one another, which helps to avoid the typical frustrations of YGM-style romances. Also loved that Forest is definitely setting up a trilogy centering on Lily's sisters -- they were very fun side characters, and I'd love to see each of them take a turn in the spotlight!

I LOVED this book! It is full of everything I enjoy in a rom-com: bookish elements, great side characters, and lots of banter. Lily works for a nonfiction publishing division but dreams of editing children's books. She sends an email one day to the author of her favorite fantasy novel and much to her surprise, he emails her back and they begin to have an email friendship. All until he ghosts her and Lily is devasted. Months later, Lily keeps running into the cute stranger who lives down the hall, Nick. They begin to become friends. One day, Nick realizes that Lily is the woman who he had been emailing for months the year before- the woman he ghosted. As Nick tries to stay away from Lily, they continually are pulled back to one another.

Both Lily and Nick have lots to work on. Lily is not confident in her own abilities and Nick is worried that his past is going to affect every choice he makes. This is such a sweet story about overcoming fears and healing wounds. Nick and Lily's relationship is so sweet, I was rooting for them the whole time. There are so many bookish elements in this story and I loved all the scenes where Lily and Nick talk about books. Plus- the side characters were so wonderful! This is one of my favorite romances I've read this year so far! I can't wait to press it into people's hands.

This one was SUPER interesting in terms of structure — it starts off epistolary and then obviously brings these two characters into each other’s orbit before they know who they are to one another, only for them to fall in love again. I was also really fascinated by the pacing of the story; the couple reconciles but then there’s still a good 20% of the book left for them to navigate other larger problems together, which I just found to be a really neat change-up from how a romance is typically plotted out. (Nick could’ve done with more groveling, IMO, especially given how flip-floppy he was with Lily, but that’s a minor complaint overall.) A true love letter to book readers too, with so many titles namedropped that I added a few to my TBR!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an adorable read that I thoroughly enjoyed.. I loved the prologue and seeing Lily and Nick before they even started writing back and forth. I loved that they learned about each other via emails first before even knowing what the other looked like. I know that Nick did participate in a lie of omission but honestly I could understand why given his family situation and he earnestly had Lily's best interest in mind. I also liked how there wasn't really a third act break up and that the misunderstandings they had were believable and easily resolved. Can't wait to hear more from this author's adult novels since I'm confident there will be one for every sister.

This was alright. I felt like it needed more from the characters and the plot. It didn’t have that build up I like in romances and the characters were a little annoying.

Loved it ! It read very much like a 90s romance movie. I loved the emails at the beginning to give us a head start on the romance. The two characters were perfect for each other. I honestly would love to see this as a a movie

This one was so cute! I loved Lily and Nick, their love for books and the fantasy genre spoke to my heart! The romance was great and that slow burn was so worth it! The connection built through email correspondence and then friendship was really sweet and I was definitely rooting for them! I really liked Nick’s backstory and seeing him get more confident with his craft. Lily was kind and adorably awkward, so seeing her find her voice and path was great. I loved that Kristina Forest gave us characters and conversations with so much depth, they felt so real to me. I also appreciated the maturity of these characters and I also loved that the conflict was resolved rather quickly and we were able to see get quite a bit more storyline after. Loved it!!

A cute love story involving two people who love books - yes please! I ate this book up; the chemistry between Lily, an assistant at a publishing company, and Nick, a travel journalist/fantasy author, is just too good. It gave me all of the feels, and then some! Rom-coms are hit and miss with me, the reliance on tropes can make it too easy to guess what is going to happen and therefore take any surprise or suspense out of the reading process. The Neighbor Favor is well-written, heartfelt, and lovely. We have two people who doubt themselves, who find each other, and help each other to grow and mature and to believe in themselves. I love Lily’s family and NIck’s friends; they add a lot of fun and depth to the story and to the main characters. And while the story focuses on the rom-com aspects, it does not shy away from dealing with some deeper issues, such as broken family relationships. I love Lily and Nick and was rooting for them from the first page to the last.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars

3.5 stars!!

Soooo cute and endearing. I loved the story of Lily emailing her favorite author only for him to end up her neighbor, Nick. The plot twist - she doesn’t know they’re the same person.

Their friendship was fun and I enjoyed watching their relationship progress.

Some parts were slow and the ending seemed anticlimactic?

But overall enjoyed!