The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've read all of Kristina's Forest's novels so far and I did an interview with her on here awhile back. In that interview I has asked her if she would be writing an adult romance soon. So I was very happy when she announced this book and eager to read it. Thank you Berkley for sending me a finished copy.

Lily is an assistant who works for a non-fiction publisher but she has big dreams of moving on to children's publishing and editing fantasy books with Black main characters. Nick is an author who goes by the pen name N.R. Strickland. He's created this persona as an anonymous British fantasy author whose book has recently been acquired by a major publisher in a big deal. He and Lily had been emailing back and forth months prior and we supposed to meet via video chat but he ghosted her. Now he's living in New York in the same apartment building and she has no idea that her hot neighbor is the hot author who broke her heart. 

The email section were interesting I just wish they were incorporated in their day to day life vs being all in the beginning in their own separate section.

If you've read Kristina's YA books Lily and Nick are similar to the types of characters she usually writes just grown people doing grown folks things. So there's a little steam. And they're navigating careers and complicated family relationships. Lily can't stand her job or her boss who dumps all her work on her. And she's struggling to find a new position. It's a very slow burn story so it takes awhile for them to get together because Nick swears he's such a fuck up who is incapable of having a serious relationship. But they have a very easy chemistry.

Since they both work in publishing it's heavy on the behind the scenes dynamics and mentions of their favorite real life fantasy books. It was a little meta and lengthy for me at some parts but overall a cute read. And we're introduced to Lily's sisters in this story and get a preview of the next book.