Sue’s Year in Books

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2023

3,446

pages read

books read

Sue Trowbridge

Shortest Book

288

pages

Longest Book

403

pages

Average book length in 2023

344

pages

Most Shelved

309,186

people also shelved

Least Shelved

16,544

people also shelved

Sue’s average rating for 2023

4.1

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.09 average

Sue’s first review of the year

it was amazing

This is YA author Kristina Forest's first novel for adults, and it's a wildly impressive romance debut. "The Neighbor Favor" manages to combine the heartfelt emotional character backstories a la Emily Henry with the witty banter of a Jasmine Guillory novel—and since those are two of my favorite authors, that is high praise indeed!

"The Neighbor Favor" grabbed me immediately, as Lily, who has a low-level publishing job, strikes up a correspondence This is YA author Kristina Forest's first novel for adults, and it's a wildly impressive romance debut. "The Neighbor Favor" manages to combine the heartfelt emotional character backstories a la Emily Henry with the witty banter of a Jasmine Guillory novel—and since those are two of my favorite authors, that is high praise indeed!

"The Neighbor Favor" grabbed me immediately, as Lily, who has a low-level publishing job, strikes up a correspondence with fantasy author "N.R. Strickland." The man Lily knows as "Strick" is actually Nick, a travel writer who is on the run from his past and his dysfunctional parents; when he was in his early 20s, he wrote a novel called "The Elves of Ceradon," but his dream of becoming the Black George R.R. Martin was dashed when the publisher promptly went out of business, making Lily one of the few people who actually owns a copy of the book. A website his friend set up provided Lily with the means to contact him, and for several months, they exchange increasingly personal, sometimes flirty, emails. But when it's time for them to video chat, Nick chickens out and deletes his email account, making a distraught Lily feel she's been catfished.

Nick eventually settles down in New York, and because Lily had mentioned the Union Square neighborhood in her emails, he finds an apartment there. Of course, because this is a romance novel, it turns out he's living right down the hall from Lily, who is rooming with her sister Violet, a successful celebrity stylist. When they run into each other in the elevator, Nick and Lily feel the sparks fly... but Nick comes to realize his attractive neighbor is the Lily he'd corresponded with, and realizes she can never find out the truth. Lily, meanwhile, wants Nick to be her date to Violet's wedding, even if it's just fake dating, in order to win a bet with her sisters, who are forever trying to set her up with potential mates.

The complications only grow from there, and Forest deftly juggles all of the plots and subplots, as well as giving Nick and Lily complex personal journeys. Lily needs to learn to stand up for herself at work, while Nick has to come to terms with his family background and realize that while his father and grandfather were not the best of men, biology is not necessarily destiny.

Forest has created two truly lovable protagonists and a plot that breathes new life into some familiar tropes, making "The Neighbor Favor" a delight from start to finish. ...more

SUE’S 2023 BOOKS

it was amazing

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller

really liked it

Sue’s last review of the year

really liked it

Most of Freya Sampson's "Nosy Neighbors" takes place within the walls of Shelley House, an apartment building which was once a mansion, but was subdivided into 6 units and is now rather worse for wear. Some tenants have lived there for decades, like Joseph Chambers in flat 1 and Dorothy Darling in flat 2; others are newcomers, like 25-year-old Kat, who is subletting a room in Joseph's apartment. Dorothy keeps tabs on all of them, logging their co ...more

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