A cute story in a different type of format-- its critical for readers to understand this is an epistolary novel, which reads differently than standard POV format.

My personal preference is traditional, third person Deep POV, but the characters are charming and the story is well-written.

“Authentically Izzy” was truly an ode to all literary lovers and hopeless romantics out there❤️ This epistolary novel perfectly captured the yearning single woman have to find their “great love,” while also conveying the importance of trusting in the Lord’s perfect timing🙏🏻

I truly adored Izzy’s character. Her growth and development throughout the story was absolutely beautiful🥹 I really appreciated seeing Izzy learn that she doesn’t always have to please others, especially if it means making life-altering decisions that aren’t right for her💕 And her book-loving heart made me smile from ear-to-ear the whole story! I loved seeing all the literary references and bookish quotes😍

And Brodie❤️ We ALL need a Brodie Sutherland in our lives🥹 His humor and literary smarts just melted my heart into a puddle😭 And all the descriptions about his homeland (Skymar) had me wanting to purchase a one-way ticket to Scotland ASAP🤩

Side note: Brodie’s accent in the audiobook was absolutely SPECTACULAR and totally swoon-worthy😍 I highly recommend listening to it even if you don’t typically enjoy audiobooks. The epistolary nature of the novel makes it a fantastic audiobook since it’s basically listening to back-and-forth conversations!🤩

Overall, this was an absolutely wonderful read❤️ I loved the doggos in the story and Izzy’s cousins were an absolute HOOT! I highly recommend you check this one out if you enjoy books with online dating, Scottish settings, literary references, and book boyfriends who wear sweater vests🤣😍😍😍

🚨TW: mentions of losing parents
🚨CW: this is a clean romance with NO language and NO implied intimacy… just swoony kisses and Christian themes💗🙏🏻

Oh my goodness. This book! I’ll admit I had to give it a couple of tries. I discovered that epistolary isn't my style to read. But I listened to the audio and fell in love. Oh the accents. The descriptions. Everything was wonderful.
Basham’s story of a modern day romance that happens by letters, or in this case emails, is so fun. To learn how they met (can you say set up?) and how they came to really meet, ah you may as well swoon now.

Fun, quirky characters who love each other dearly, a romance with an ocean between them, and an incredible bookstore. What’s not to love? It’s not all swooning and fun and games. We see Izzy’s need to walk out her emotional healing and learn to trust…herself. Incredibly well written. Please do give it a chance, either by reading or by audio.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

Good but could be better?

The Story:
Izzy is a bookworm working at a library (have we ever heard of this trope before?) She has all the usual trappings - introvert, sarcastic, etc., etc. She hates flying, too. Here I'd like to point out to authors that not all bookworms have these qualities. Also, no bookworm throws around bookish quotes all. The. Time. Bookish heroines seem to find it mandatory to fulfil these conditions, though.

Anyway, her sister sets up a matchmaking profile for her without her permission. Surprisingly, it works and a man starts talking with Izzy in the way she likes. But to meet him, she will have to fly over to his place.

Will Izzy be able to overcome her fear of flying and visit him? Is he the one? Will he be able to accept Izzy the way she is?

What I Liked:

1. I love epistolary novels so this was an automatic positive point for me.

2. I loved the descriptions of the (fictional) island.

3. The camaraderie between Izzy and her group of cousins was heartwarming.

4. The book quotes were amazing and made me want to Google them up endlessly.

5. It was a clean romance (not even kissing).

What I Didn't Like:

1. I don't think _ANYONE_ writes this way in emails, chats, or letters. It all seemed so artificial I wanted to shout.

2. There is too much "will they won't they" going on that wears thin on the nerves after a while.

3. The book was too long by half. Some tighter editing would have worked wonders.

Final Thoughts:

If you are looking for a clean Christian romance about a booklover, this is the book you must pick up. It is quite similar to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson - Fiction for the ARC.

Izzy meets Brodie via an online dating site, after her interfering sister set her up a profile. He is half a world away and she doesn't like to fly, so should she settle for someone closer to home, even if he does have his own agenda?
Took me a while to get in to how this is mainly told through letters and text messages, but I did enjoy reading this.

Basham is courageous in how she tries different genres and each one comes off. I was a little unsure about 'Izzy' for a little while as I read page after page of email and text messages (contemporary Epistolary fiction rather than letters) shared between four 'siblings'. But gradually, I began to develop strong feelings for these characters and eventually fell in love with them. And in the end found the entire reading experience quite delightful.

It's written in three parts and the first two are entirely epistolary and then in Part 3 we get some narrative. I enjoyed how Basham moved into narrative and then weaved the epistolary in and out in the final third of the story.

Izzy Edgewood is a delight. The character arc we experience with Izzy is fabulous. A self-doubting, struggling to believe she has to earn a right to be loved by those who adopted her which has such a negative impact on Izzy's relationships with men. But Brodie and her brother, Luke, help her come to have the courage to both receive love, to believe she belongs for who she is, and give love so generously.

Josephine, Penelope and Luke are brilliantly crafted in their uniqueness. We read wonderful 'conversations' between them all which helps build much depth in the three of them.

Brodie Sutherland is not your classic romance story hero. In fact, some would suggest he is almost an anti-hero. Yes, he has a strong masculine voice and smells good but he is a book nerd (his family's in the book business) and wears sweater-vests. But he loves Izzy courageously, vulnerably and so tenderly. At times, his repetitive encouragement grated on me a little but his heart was always in the right place.

So much to enjoy about this story. The book quotes shared between all the characters, alone, was fun. I've never highlighted so many lines in a fiction story before. And any avid reader will appreciate the bookish-isms throughout the story. But it will be the well crafted characters that linger long in my memory.

I was very fortunate to receive an early ebook copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This has no bearing on my review and appreciation of the story.

I had to DNF :( Not a fan of the writing format. Nothing wrong with the story or plot, it's just that the ''email'' correspondant style it had wasn't for me.

Izzy’s meddling cousin Josephine sets her up an online dating account. Izzy does agree to give it a shot. She starts an email relationship with Brodie who she connects with due to many similarities.

The majority of the book is told through emails and text messages which I did enjoy. I really like how close of a relationship she has with her cousins.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I had been seeing this book everywhere and was dying to give it a try. I am new to this author and went in with high expectations because of the amazing buzz surrounding it. When it started out as only emails and a few text messages as the text I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but as I settled in I have to admit I really liked what I read.

I've read epistolary novels before (who hasn't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society...PS I loved this one so much more!) and have enjoyed them; and with this one being a more modern twist consisting of emails and text messages. The characters were fun-and their close relationships created some amazing banter which I am always a fan of.

At 55% in I was super excited to have the style change and get different points of view to read as a traditional style novel, but was glad the emails and texts didn't go away. I had actually grown to love them and couldn't wait to finish every post script, post-post script, and post-post-post scripts lol.

I also loved how perfectly bookish the two main characters were. Never have I ever seen a more perfectly suited bookish couple. Their romance was sweet, entertaining and I was excited to turn every page and see how everything would play out.

I will be checking out all of the previous books written by this author and I can't wait to see what she has coming next!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Probably one of the most interesting books I've ever read! This was the first book I've read in an epistolary format which I wasn't sure about at first, then ended up loving!

This book is sweet, romantic, and all the things that just make me happy.

Authentically Izzy is a sweet contemporary romance. I didn't realize it was an epistolary novel until I started reading, and it initially took me a few chapters to get into the writing style, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I appreciated that, while most of it was written through emails and texts, we also got a decent chunk of "normal" writing were we got to see Izzy and Brodie interact in person.

Introverted librarian Izzy's well-meaning but meddling cousin has signed her up for an online dating service. After all, as a happily married soon-to-be-mother-of-twins, Josephine can't imagine why Isabella isn't desperately searching for love. In an effort to placate her cousin, Izzy agrees to give online dating a shot despite her misgivings. It doesn't take long before she starts corresponding with a man who is so perfect that there's no way he's actually real, and is far more likely to be Josie in disguise. And even if he is real? Well, he lives an entire ocean away...and Izzy doesn't travel after the accident that killed her parents. While Izzy and Brodie get to know each other through long emails filled with bookish quotes and heart-to-heart talks, a real-life-and-in-the-same-country man walks into the library and begins to try to win her heart as well.

I loved Izzy and Brodie, even when I wanted to give them a good bop on the head to knock some sense into them both. Their conversations were witty and enjoyable to read, and I loved their chemistry together. As for Anders? He was just unnecessarily mean and negative, and I genuinely hope his character is redeemed in a future book. I also wasn't a huge Josephine fan, but she did become a bit more likeable by the end. Izzy's cousins, Luke and Penelope were both fantastic side characters. I loved how close she is to her cousins and the bond that they shared. I wasn't thrilled with the way Izzy handled the conflict near the end of the novel, but the ending made up for it.

I'd recommend Authentically Izzy to anyone who enjoys sweet contemporary romance. If you're like me, the epistolary style may take a little getting used to, but it's worth it in the end.

*I received a complimentary copy of Authentically Izzy through the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. My positive review is not required.

Was everything I hoped it would be! In fact, I loved it so much I've read it twice and recommended it to everyone I know. I am turning into one of those Pepper Basham fans that just cannot stop gushing about everything she writes.

I desperately wanted to love this book: Izzy is our daughter's nickname, the premise of this book is right up my alley, it's written in an epistolary format (told in the form of letters, emails or texts) which I normally enjoy, and there are references galore to books.

Overall, the story is sweet and wholesome. My main issue however, was that I did not feel like these 30 year olds were adequately represented. Had this been told in the form of text messages, maybe. But I honestly don't know many people under 60 who communicate via super lengthy e-mails as extensively as these characters did. In addition, I didn't really get any warmth from the characters, they felt stiff and emotionally detached.

Finally, the ARC I received had the publisher's logo all over the place making it very distracting and difficult to read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

While it took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of the epistolary style enough to entangle me in the story and hold my squirrel-brain attention, I did get there eventually. Izzy and Brodie are quite the pair, and I adored all of the nerdy bookish references and quotes throughout.

Pepper Basham’s unique brand of humor brings light and life to the characters, who are all such fun personalities that I’ll certainly be reading Penelope’s book just to keep up with them all. Each email/text sender’s voice is unique and distinct, which did help in keeping them straight since the NetGalley ARC I received was a confusing hot mess of formatting issues (too common and the publisher shows no interest in correcting the problem beyond a short disclaimer).

I was especially happy when my brain got a break from all the letters/emails/texts about halfway through, and we were treated to more standard narration. The notes continued through the rest of the book, but I found myself enjoying them more with the alternating epistolary/narrative style. I’m not typically a fan of epistolary novels, but those who are will certainly find this ode to book lovers a treat worth devouring.

Brilliant.

Creative.

Funny.

Romantic.

All things bookish. 

The majority of the book is in emails and text messages. While I enjoyed it, other readers said this format pulled them from the story. So, if you don't like a more dialogue-driven/epistolary story, this one might not be for you (although you will be missing out on a GREAT story)!

Authentically, Izzy is split into three sections. In the first section, we get to know our main female character, Izzy, and her cousins, Josephine, Luke, and Penelope. In the second section, we get to know our main male character, Brodie, his mom Ellen, brother Anders, sister Fiona, and cousin Brynna. I thought the way this worked was simply brilliant! Also, in the second section, we enter "real" life, so to speak, where we are not just in an epistolary style but in regular story mode. The third section was a mix as well. 

I loved Izzy's relationship with her cousins. I laughed so much at her conversations with Luke and Penelope, and I experienced her angst and annoyance in her conversations with Josephine! 

I am not a book-boyfriend person, but if I was, Brodie would be him. He is adorkable in a nerdy kind of sweet way! I loved his care and compassion for his family.

This story had so many things to love and enjoy. The librarian. The bookstore owner. The pregnant hormonal cousin. Castles. Laugh-out-loud humor. Tons of bookish quotes. This story is a contemporary romance book lover's dream!

My only disappointment is the book ended, and the second book, Positively, Penelope doesn't come out until August 2023 😭 I invite you to join me in my sadness by reading Authentically, Izzy, and then come back and commiserate with me that we have to wait so long for book two 😂

Thank you to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to read Authentically, Izzy. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off, special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. The idea of a book nerd like me getting on a dating app to find the perfect book husband irl is a great concept! As someone under 30 though it was a lot harder to relate to Izzy and her adventures, although I bet plenty of other people could see themselves in her. This book I think just wasn't a good match for me personally, but it was very well written and the characters are lovely.

Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham stole my heart!

From the very first page I knew this book was perfect for me. As a result, I made sure to take my time reading (since you only get the pleasure of reading a book for the first time once). This was a true five star read, but if I could, I would have rated it higher.

The premise of the book is any single woman’s worst fear. Izzy, a 30 year-old librarian,is unknowingly put on a dating website by her overbearing cousin. While Izzy is content living a rather quiet life working, spending time with family, or reading a good book, others feel that she is missing out on the best life has to offer.

The book was written in an atypical format. Basham brilliantly parallels the concept of dating or communicating in the 21st century by writing the majority of the book through the emails and text messages. The smart banter exchanged between the characters made for a fun, fresh read.

As a book lover, I love books about books! I especially enjoyed all of the book references. There was a plethora of quotes from famous authors. Reading them highlighted some of my favorites and reminded me of ones I am in desperate need of getting to.

This book has so too many positives to list. I could go on and on about it for days. The bottom line is, this is a new personal favorite. I highly recommend reading it if you are a looking for a heart-warming read that highlights the themes of family, purpose, and being open to love. An added bonus is that it is written by a Christian author!!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in present day, Authentically Izzy is a delightful contemporary romance. Told primarily through email or text messages between the two main characters or their strong supporting family members, the story follows Izzy's life over the course of about six months. She meets a guy over an online dating site, but it turns out they are in different countries. The reader is brought into Izzy's world as she reconciles feelings for him, as well as for her family, as she begins to do some self discovery.

There are good laugh out loud moments, as well as times when the reader may ask themselves what was the character thinking! Given it is in text and email format for most of the book, I recommend reading it vs listening. Once I familiarized myself with the style and noted who initiated the written message, I delved into the story and couldn't wait to see how it all would work out.

(I received a copy of the book from Net Galley and have written an objective review)

On a different situation the story could go very slow, but the author find a way to make the story interesting and keep us interested.

Interesting format, emailing between characters, at first I was unsure I haven’t read before. The story progresses quickly, although I miss direct dialogue between the characters emailing works just as good, we get a glimpse into multiple POVs sort of. Love the plot and the characters. Sweet and charming romance. Really enjoyed reading all the literary quotes mentioned.