The Neighbor Favor

On a whim, Lily Greene, a shy editorial assistant, emails her favorite fantasy author N.B. Strickland, who emails back. During several months of correspondence, Lily shares her dread about blind dating and her aspirations of being a children’s book editor. Strickland discusses his global travels and his self-imposed anonymity. Then, Strickland suddenly ghosts her. Several months later, Lily runs into her new neighbor Nick Brown and musters up the courage to talk to him. They hit it off instantly, and that is when Nick realizes that, as his pseudonym Strickland, he ghosted Lily. With attraction growing between them, it may be time for Nick to finally come clean. Keylor Leigh and Malik Rashad narrate YA author Forest’s (Zyla and Kai) gratifying adult debut with aplomb. Leigh’s optimistic vocalization of Lily is the right match for the bookish co-lead. Lily feels less accomplished than the rest of her Black, affluent family but looks on the positive side. Rashad’s down-to-earth yet elusive Nick doesn’t feel worthy of Lily because of his past. However, he finds their bond too irresistible to break.