Authentically, Izzy is a delightfully bookish romance. I hope other avid readers will fall in love with the story the way that I did. Told primary in an epistolary fashion, the novel was full of book quotes and had bookish references galore! Izzy and Brodie were enjoyable characters with the sweetest romance. The side characters were also lovely!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

This book was such a fun read. I’m a HUGE fan of epistolary fiction, so that, along with the cover design, immediately drew me in. The banter was witty, heartfelt, and encouraging. I loved the sibling relationships and the lessons the characters learned along the way. There were definitely some strong themes and character arcs in this book that I sooo loved.

I’d recommend reading this book in addition to another one to enjoy it fully. Sometimes, the banter between characters in emails can feel a bit too much if you’re reading dozens of pages in one sitting. I alternated between two books and definitely enjoyed it more.

All in all, an enjoyable, clean, faith-filled read!

Favorite quotes:

“If someone loves you, she should encourage you to become the best “you” you can be and share in your dreams instead of rearranging them to her own designs.”

“Loneliness can be a scary place until we stop being afraid to be alone with ourselves.”

At first, this book was too dull for me. For approximately 60% it was written through emails, which I find interesting but I prefer to read it as an extra and not as the complete writing. But then this changed, and it was written like most books. This was bittersweet for me because it made it much easier to read and entertaining, but I also felt as if the author had exhausted herself from writing emails and decided to change everything suddenly. In any case, that allowed the story to move forward and the reader to empathize with the characters. When at first I only knew the characters through emails, they all seemed very unreal and annoying to me, I don't know anyone who speaks like them at their age and the protagonist was a little irritating for me with books (you read and you like it, we get it.) The final problem of the book, with which the love is finished reaffirming, seemed to me that it unraveled too quickly.

I usually like epistolary fiction, but this one was really hard to get into and I didn't finish. There were too many letters and texts going around without establishing who these people were... it didn't help when a lot of them had the same last name, too. The plot moved much too slowly. Through, I hate to give up on books I'm reviewing, I just couldn't continue.

I received an advanced readers copy of this boom thanks to Netgalley, unfortunately I just could not bring myself to finish it. I’ve somehow only gotten through chapter three after 2 weeks. I really think I just could not get into this book because of the style it was written in through emails and texts, it was hard for me to keep track of who each person writing was and who they were writing to. It also rubbed me the wrong way that somehow Lord of the Rings was being used as something only nerds would know about, even if you didn’t read the books those movies have been out 20 years now, it honestly seems like a stretch that so many people wouldn’t get the obvious lord of the rings reference you were making.

Did not finish. Although I really tried to, I just couldn’t bring myself to keep reading. Others would probably enjoy this writing style, it just wasn’t for me.

Surprisingly, I liked this very much.

I have to start by saying I had no idea it was a Christian romance, which is what made me drop one of the points because of the constant talk about God. However, this is also on me because I haven't done my due diligence when requesting and only focused on the description. I do have to say there are no toxic values to it and my own personal values affected my rating.

The second star I dropped from a perfect score is for the writing style. More than 50% of the book is written in e-mail form. While I have no issues with this style (I absolutely loved Cecelia Ahern's <i>Where Rainbows End</i> aka <i>Love, Rosie </i>). But there was so much narration that it just made me skim over everything going on.

I was not a fan of two of the side characters, Josie and Penelope. Josie was the absolute worst, but Penelope was at times sufferable. But, seriously, how can there be people who had no idea about Gandalf or The Lord of the Rings characters? You don't even have to see the movies, it's just pop culture.

Other than that, I absolutely loved the love story between Isabelle and Brodie and how they brought the best out of each other. I liked that Izzy was her own person and she grew and learned from her previous relationships. I would've loved to get to see their chemistry in a steamier environment, but, then again, it's a Christian romance.

Special thanks to Net Galley for providing me with a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am not a fan of books being written or stories being told through email rather than a narrative. Also, so many NA books today are being told in dual perspective third person and I much prefer first person so this felt like a double disconnect. A great idea but not executed up to my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Izzy is a librarian living in the US who doesn't have the best track record with men. When her cousin sets up her profile on a dating site, Izzy isn't particularly thrilled - especially when she suspects that the seemingly perfect foreigner who strikes up a conversation with her is actually her cousin in disguise.

The premise of this story was very nice and would capture any booklover's attention. We've got two main characters who are avid readers and work in a book-related sphere - Izzy is a librarian who dreams of opening her own bookshop and Brodie is an actual bookshop owner. But I found the execution rather disappointing.

The novel starts out as epistolary with the characters exchanging mostly emails - which I could believe for Izzy and Brodie but found very strange for Izzy and here cousins. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to call each other or at least text instead of sending lengthy email messages back and forth?

To make matters worse, around half way through the book, the author introduces the third person point of view for both Brodie and Izzy while also continuing to include emails between various characters, which was so confusing and ruined the pacing for me.

There's also a miscommunication trope which I am not a big fan of most of the times.

I wish I could say that the love story stole my breath away but alas! It was really mediocre.

I wanted to like it more but it didn't give what I wanted it to give.

I was truly so excited for this book. Two bookish people falling for each other sounds SO cute. Unfortunately, this was so painful to read through.
I am a huge fan of a letter, email, or even chat exchange in a book. This epistolary novel had none of the good, and all of the bad of taking on this style of book. The letters were unbearably long at times, and even then there was no heart to them that made me want to sit through and read it. I ended up skimming through too much of this. Don’t even get me started on the insane amount of quotes the author put into this book. It was TOO much.
Considering Izzy was talking to her cousins through most of the book, their conversations felt STIFF. Nobody speaks like that, and it was exhausting to read through these conversations. They sounded like robots half the time. Not only that, her cousin was absolutely awful to her and I was getting tired of it, Izzy only stood up to her about 60%? Of the way through.
The characters did nothing for me. Basham wrote two people who are fairytale perfect for each other, but I felt none of the romance that should have come from that. Also, there was a second love interest but he felt so irrelevant to the overall plot. He really could have been cut and I wouldn’t have felt a difference.
Last note, I wish I would have known more about this author before starting. There was quite a bit of religious narrative that didn’t feel any bit relevant, and was not something I was really enjoying.

I’m sure this book may be someone’s cup of tea… just not mine

I loved the plot and the cover! The book started really well, but everything was in a message or email format. The messages got longer, which made me want to skip it all! I read around 1000 pages and was still stuck with the same. I just couldn't read anymore.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC!

This was my first contact with Pepper Bradshaw's writing and it couldn't have been better. Funny, cute and cozy, reading through emails and family dynamics was absolutely charming.
Izzy and Brody's relationship building is so beautiful that it's hard not to get attached.
I loved seeing how Izzy grew through the story and learned value from her.
Authentically Izzy is a passionate book in an unconventional way, and that only makes it better.
Read Authentically Izzy and prepare to fall in love❤

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Two book lovers bond over their mutual love of LOTR on a dating site - sounds like my kind of read.

And it really was. A delightful romance about learning to truly you see yourself and all the worth you bring to the world just be being you.

I will say I did struggle to really get into the book, it seemed like time would slow down while I was reading and was going no where slowly despite the content being right up my ally. It did also seem to wrap up a bit too quickly in the end.

But if you looking for a literary romance that’s delightfully sweet then give this one a read.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for the ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #AuthenticallyIzzy

Epistolary novels can be really annoying because the whole book is being told to you. And I'm not sure what it's enhancing to the plot. Also, I'm not clear what time period we're in. If it was Modern day, then most people have some understanding of Lord of the Rings. But since so few people know about this LotR series, and yet there's online dating and texting, I guess this could be the late 90s? Either way, I find it hard to believe, if this is set currently, that no one knows Lord of the Rings. Also, there's not that many characters, but I'm having trouble tracking who all Izzy is emailing and how they're related to each other. Do people email family this much these days? And the entire premise doesn't make much sense, but that might be because the story lacks a lot of verisimilitude. It's weird to sell a book as nerds falling in love and then spending so much time bashing nerdy things; even the protagonists bashes some nerdy things like comic books. I didn't care for it and it makes me wonder who this book is for?

I’ll be honest, I had a hard time getting into it at first. The first half kind
of dragged. The second half of the book is what made me fall in love with the story.
In the first half of the book we get the story all through e-mails and text conversations. The second half is also mixed in with a 3rd person POV as well. I think that’s what made it so much more enjoyable.
I love a book worm story and Izzy was delightful as she started coming out of her shell. The romance was sweet, the humor was well done and I loved the theme of strong family bonds.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This read was so cute and wholesome! I felt like I could relate to the main character so much, it was witty and funny, I lol-ed in real life at certain parts cause the main character was so relatable. The pace in the book is fast and overall I enjoyed this read very much!

I had just a bit of a hard time getting started with this book only because I have only read one other epistolary story before. Once I got into it though, I absolutely loved it and loved the style. Izzy was such a fun, quirky character. Of course, I loved her love of books. She has had a difficult life and never felt she truly belonged anywhere or that anyone could love her. After she ends up on an online dating site, she meets Brodie. He is wonderful! I enjoyed watching their friendship blossom into more. The secondary characters were great also. I can't wait for Penelope's story and really, REALLY hope Luke gets his own story as well. It really was such a fun book, and I highly recommend it.

**I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Oh, what a delightful book to read. It was like living in these characters’ lives because of the way this author wrote!
This book was mostly written as an Epistolary novel. We get all the feels of the fun crazy relationships these characters have through their emails and texts back and forth. I truly loved this way of telling the story. Even though it was mostly emails and texts, the story flowed smoothly and each of the characters came alive in their conversations. I could just hear their banter and relate to many of their struggles and joys.
Now, the whole “online dating” isn’t something I’ve ever experienced, but it really sounded fun.
If you like stories that are packed full of wonderful quotes from movies, and books, and if you dream of visiting the land where Hobbits lived, as well as the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, then this is the book for you to pick up.
Pepper Basham presented a charming tale that actually had depth and humor all wrapped up in the conversations these characters had. There were also bits of wonderful life lessons that deeply touched my soul.
I’ve not read many books written by this author, but I plan to change that. I look forward to picking up more of her books and digging into them.
I highly recommend you pick this book up for a delightful read. You just might find yourself dreaming of taking a trip across the ocean to see rolling hills and white cliffs.
I was given this book by the publisher which did not influence my review in any way, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will always be drawn to a book revolving around a book lover. It makes the reading experience that much sweeter. And I can say the same for Authentically, Izzy. The story is told primarily through text/email communication, which did throw me at first, but I adjusted quickly.

Izzy is an introverted book lover who meets Brodie, a fellow book lover, online, before their romance brings him to the states and eventually takes her to Skern, where she transforms his family bookstore by becoming the book matchmaker.

I think the concept is cute and the characters were fun, but overall, this story fell short for me. I don’t think the email format for most of the book was a fit for me, but I still thought this was a fast-paced, heartwarming read.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a quick read that I didn't 100% LOVE. I'm all for having flawed characters, but these two were almost too toxic for each other. There was almost too much hinderance for them to be together that had me thinking "why should I finish this book?". I normally enjoy correspondence in books, but something about this didn't quite do it for me.

I'm going to start by saying, I adored this book. It tried to make me hate it, but it failed. Here's why. I could not deal with the entire first half, if not more, of this book being written in email, and text form. I found it annoying, I couldn't get past the format. BUT! Once the author switched over to a more traditional writing format, I very quickly realized, there was absolutely no other way to introduce us to the characters! The creativity is just jumping off of the pages, just as Izzy's creativity jumps out of her once given the changes.

I adored Izzy in all of her authentic self. The fairy tale she lives is a true dream for every bibliophile. Living in world of books her whole life, introverted, witty. She finally finds herself in a world far away from that she knows so well when she meets the man of her dreams and he helps her realize and find her true authentic self in a world of books!