BLURB:

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…

MY THOUGHTS:

This book is causing quite the ruckus on BookTok, and I caved in to the peer pressure and snagged a copy from my library. Let me tell you, I had a blast reading the email exchanges between Nick and Lily. I mean, I could have happily devoured the whole book with just their hilarious email banter. I was sitting there, grinning like a goofball at the pages, eagerly waiting for the moment they’d finally come face to face. But, oh boy, things took a nosedive once the email correspondence dried up. I gotta admit, I did enjoy Nick’s reaction when he found out that Lily was “THE LILY,” but I did find myself speed-reading through a few pages and chapters. It’s a cute book, no doubt, but it’s definitely a SLOW burn, I mean snail-paced slow! It dragged on, and that’s just not my cup of tea when it comes to romance novels. It sort of gave YA vibes. This book had so much potential, I mean, SO MUCH, but it fell flat for me. I could have gone for more pining, more touches, more conversation, MORE. On the spice scale, I’d give this book half a chili pepper – it needs to turn up the heat! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a charming addition to your to-be-read list, but I prefer my books with a bit more sizzle. Nonetheless, it’s the perfect book, if you are looking for a romance book without spice.