I was looking for something breezy, romantic, and fun with a guaranteed happy ending. The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest delivered on all fronts!
The book opens on shy, stuck-in-a-dead-end-job junior nonfiction editor Lily sweating in a subway car, a couple moments aways from literally passing out from heat and exhaustion. In her near-delirium, Lily shoots a fan email off to her favorite fantasy author, a recluse who wrote one little-known book years before, and who has only recently created a website with a contact form. To her surprise, the author replies and the two strike up a long-distance friendship, which becomes increasingly flirtatious…until the author suddenly ghosts her!
Flash forward to a few months later, and Lily is still quietly nursing a broken heart when she finds out that she needs to find a date for her sister’s wedding. The pressure is on, because Lily always feels like she is lagging behind her two sisters, whom she sees as perfect models of Black excellence. Thankfully, a cute guy named Nick recently moved down the hall from her. As the two begin seeing more of each other, Nick realizes that Lily is one and the same as the woman he had been emailing with months before! How will he explain why he ghosted her before? Can he make it up to her? Will he overcome his trauma and make a commitment to Lily? Will Nick find the confidence to step out from behind the shadow of his nom de plume!?
This book was exactly what I was looking for: a quick read with relatively low stakes and thoroughly likable characters. I loved how the two main characters were book nerds who kept on throwing out their favorite novels. Knowing that we were fans of the same YA fantasy authors helped me immediately root on a happy ending for them! Some of the twists fell a little flat for me, but only because the characters handled them with remarkable logic and maturity, so I was never too worried that things wouldn’t work out between them. It was really lovely and easy to care for them both.
I recommend The Neighbor Favor for any romance fans who are looking for a fun, fast read.