The Neighbor Favor

By: Kristina Forest

Narrated by: Keylor Leigh, Malik Rashad

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, in this sparkling and heart-fluttering romance by Kristina Forest.

Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming a children’s books editor, but she’s been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion in sight. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favorite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over email turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else Lily won’t let herself entertain—until he ghosts her without a word.

Months later, Lily is still crushed, but she’s determined to get a hold of her life, starting with finding a date to her sister’s wedding. And the perfect person to help her is Nick Brown, her charming, attractive new neighbor, who she feels drawn to for reasons she can’t explain. But little does she know, Nick is an author—her favorite fantasy author.

Nick, who has his reasons for using a pen name and pushing people away, soon realizes that the beautiful, quiet girl from down the hall is the same Lily he fell in love with over email months ago. Unwilling to complicate things even more between them, he agrees to set her up with someone else, though this simple favor between two neighbors is anything but—not when he can't get her off his mind...

©2023 Kristina Forest (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] warm and welcoming new contemporary...the book breathes easily and pulls you right into its world. Especially recommended for anyone who ships Janine and Gregory from Abbott Elementary."—The New York Times Book Review

“The Neighbor Favor is the type of charming, feel-good story that reminds me why I love romance. I dare anyone to try reading Lily and Nick’s adorably awkward encounters without smiling. Impossible.”—Farrah Rochon, New York Times bestselling author of The Hookup Plan

"Forest expertly balances this perfectly matched duo’s emotional connection with their physical chemistry, making them easy to cheer on. This is a winner."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Loved it!

This is an adorable story with a quirky title. The storyline about the e-mails and the characters’ work in the literary world takes leaps ahead of the aspect of the story about them being neighbors. I am sure I will struggle to remember the title in a week or so, but the misplaced title doesn’t take away from the sweet story. Apart from that, I loved the story and the performance.

Enjoyed

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this love story, and I plan on listening to some of Kristina Forest's other books. If you dare to purchase, you won't be disappointed.

Good

This one started a little slow for me. It picked up and enjoyed both the book and the narration.

Good book, wanted a different narrator

Loved the book. Cute light and a rom com book for the ages! But the narrator needed to match the female character.

Light cute book

The book was cute light nothing to heavy cute loved I don’t want to type 15 words to save my review

Refreshing

After spotting this book repeatedly during my visits to Barnes & Noble, I decided to give it a listen on Audible, and I am so happy that I did. After researching the author I found that this was her first venture into adult fiction after primarily writing for young adults, which really is awesome. What stood out to me most was the emphasis on character development rather than relying solely on sex scenes, which can often overshadow the narrative in a lot of books. Although the intimate scenes were well done, it was the depth of the characters that truly captivated me. Overall, it was a refreshing read, and I eagerly look forward to exploring more of the author's works in the future.

Cute ROMCOM

I love this book! It's the sweetest story without so much drama to get this part we have been severely hoping for since the story began!!

Slow Burner but Worth the WAITTT

Absolutely loved the narrators! Amazing story line. Definitely a few moments where I was like, "...really?" But nonetheless the experience was lovely. I stopped reading romance for a while, but this scratched my itch in such a satisfying and fulfilling way. 10/10 recommend!

I enjoyed the twist in the story

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but the performance was lackluster and the narration did not match the words of the book. I would actually urge the author to have the narration redone as I almost stopped listening.

Great read

This book has been on my TBR for months. I’m so glad I listened. It was so refreshing and relaxing. Just an overall light read. I’m so glad Nick overcame a lot of the things that held him back. Now I’m invested in the entire Greene sisters series.