Probably 80% of this book is Isadora's inner dialogue with herself and I found myself skipping through many paragraphs at a time. Very predictable story line, with not original characters, although I did like Delilah.

|fantastic, from the very first page, what more can I say. Go get your copy and enjoy this from cover to cover. Highly recommend and I give it 5 stars. Sorry, I can't give any more.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a book I really enjoyed reading. Yet, for some reason, I did not LOVE the book. I should have, based on the fact that I love Isadora and I can honesty say, I really enjoyed the writing. I think it might be because I expected more from the ending. This book took me through a Rollercoaster of emotions! One minute I'm laughing, then I'm crying. I absolutely adore Isadora. Her social awkwardness, her brilliant mind! I admire her desire to find happiness. I love her inner voice. I was literally laughing out loud.
This book is very difficult for me to rate. On one hand, I enjoyed the journey of reading this book. On the other hand, I was somehow disappointed 😞. For writing, dialog and character development, I'd give it a 4.5/5. Overall I've rated it a 3.5/5. How I feel after I've read a book, does influence my rating. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! Mainly because I think there are a lot of people who can benefit from the messaging in this book. This is my first time reading a Courtney Walsh book, and I have enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy from publisher via NetGalley. My review was not required or influenced.

“I don’t want to write the end of this story prematurely. Because this story … is my life. And for the first time I can remember, I actually want to go out and live it.”

“The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley” has a really fun premise. University researcher Isadora, who’s nursing a heartbreak and trauma from her rough childhood, buys a cheesy women’s magazine on a whim for her 30th birthday to conduct an experiment using the bright cover clickbait only supermarket magazines can master: “Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy.” She decides to undertake the exercise to disprove the author but, as she slowly adds people to her isolated life and begins coming out of her shell, she realizes that there is no small part of her hoping to prove the experiment right.

Absolute transparency: This book wasn’t really for me, but it might be for you. I loved the premise, found the characters easy to root for and had high hopes. The writing and tone weren’t too my personal liking: too much of a heck-and-shucks vibe. And the pacing was a beat too slow. But readers who like a gentle story with faith-driven undertones (overtones, really) might enjoy this book a great deal. And this book, out now, is capturing high ratings on Goodreads and Amazon.

I had high hopes for this book as I have enjoyed quite a few of Ms. Walsh’s books in the past. Isadora Bentley is a researcher at a university and she's an introvert who would rather work alone, stay in her comfort zone and is not great around people. She comes across this article entitled ‘31 ways to be Happy’ and on a whim she picks it up and decides to work on proving it wrong by performing each of the 31 steps. The first step is smile to a stranger, through that one little action she meets a stranger, and they end up becoming friends. She then meets somebody else, and her friendship circle continues to grow. When she starts this project, she is not very happy and pretty much alone, we watch her find friends and grow. I did enjoy seeing how other people impacted her life and pushed her out of her comfort zone. She ends up doing a lot of things she would have never done if she hadn't tried this project. The more I think about it I liked the side characters more than I did Isadora and I went into this thinking I would relate to closely to Isadora. What I did not like about this book is that Ms. Walsh has written strong faith stories in the past and it is promoted as Christian fiction but there is pretty much no faith in this story. It ends with Isadora saying happiness is a choice and I need to choose to be happy. This felt like a new age, self-help kind of book to me because she was really relying on herself. Someone tells her he wants to make her happy and she responds you can't make me happy I need to make myself happy. Due to the subject matter, there was a huge opportunity here to include the One who is the true source of happiness. I am disappointed with the way this book went.

What a lovely read!
To me, The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is the perfect combination of romance and a story about a woman coming into her own.
The character growth throughout this book is fantastic. Isadora is so easy to fall in love with and seeing her navigate meeting new people and having new experiences is both enjoyable and endearing. As a reader, you want so desperately for Isadora to get everything she deserves, but you can also relate to her standing in her own way. Her growth to get over her long standing fears is something we should all take note of.
The romance in this story is lovely! It's relatable in the best ways. The personality, understanding, and kind heartedness of the love interest is perfect and makes the reader swoon for him! He definitely gets the best fictional boyfriend award.
The side characters in this story bring so much to its pages! I love that these characters allow for representation of multigenerational friendships and show the importance of found family at any age.
I can't recommend this book enough! My hope is that you fall in love with it as much as I did.

This was such a sweet book. Isadora is an academic researcher who has closed herself off and keeps to herself. She comes across an article in a magazine about ways to be happy and she sets out to disprove it. She learns alot along the way about herself and that maybe you can be happy. She makes some great friends and meets another professor who might possibly be able to pull her out some.

This book was such a warm hug! I've always loved Courtney Walsh's rom coms, so I was excited for her to branch into women's fiction. I really enjoyed Isadora's methodical approach to disproving this "31 Ways To Be Happy" article.

I loved Cal and Isadora's romance and thought they complimented each other perfectly, but the side characters in this story were unmatched. Delilah was my absolute favorite! It warmed my heart that Isadora was able to forge so many wonderful intergenerational friendships.

Read this book if you're looking for the feel-good feelings you got from A Man Called Ove.

This was so delightful and heartwarming! I always enjoy a story about a lonely person forming new relationships and coming to appreciate the power of human connection and that was done really well here. It follows a woman who wants to live her own isolated, organized life and just focus on her research job. But on her 30th birthday she comes across an article about ways to be happy and decides to prove it wrong through her own experiment which doesn’t go quite how she expected.

I loved all the little moments that brought Isadora closer to others and helped her find joy. Isadora was an endearing main character with her blunt, straight forward approach without any malice behind it. The side characters were wonderful and I loved the collection of unlikely friendships that worked so beautifully. The realizations Isadora has throughout the story were touching and satisfying.

Pick this up for a sweet journey of self discovery, friendship, and romance!

Trigger/content warnings: past bullying, narcissistic and unsupportive parent, grief from loss of family member

Hilarious! Amazing! I love the rhythm of the whole book. The dialogue is so relatable and realistic. It’s genuinely funny. Not in a forced way. I found myself laughing out loud a lot! The metaphors and word choice are on point. The characters are normal people, not fake-written but like people I actually know or want to know. Isadora is so funny. I love her personality. Love her story. She’s brilliant.
This book is great. You should read it. Or listening to the audio book is even better. The reader is perfect for isadora.
I received a copy from NetGalley. I was in no way required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

📝GUMPTION 📝
Summary:
Isadora is turning 30, and she is NOT flirty and thriving. IYKYK
When she’s having her annual junk food binge birthday, she happens upon a magazine article titled “31 Ways to be Happy” by Dr. Grace Monroe.
Isadora is determined to conduct an experiment to prove Dr. Monroe wrong. She’s going to try every single item on the list and show what a fraud this doctor is.

Thoughts:

🥰Happy sigh. This book was all the feels. I would actually call this book solidly found family which is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite character. I can’t. I won’t.
🖤Marty. The septuagenarian who eats lunch alone on a bench everyday.
💙Cal. The bookish, kind professor.
♥️ Darby. The neighbor/yogi/mom.
💜Delilah. The 10-year-old kindred spirit.

All. Of. Them.

✨This book is a solid kick in the pants, and if you have struggled with anxiety, depression, or a negative mindset, this is THE book for you. It’s comforting and funny and sweet, but speaks truth.

✨The book doesn’t say, but I felt like Isadora may be on the spectrum, and I LOVED that representation. It was beautiful. 🥹

🌟Similar vibes🌟
The Very Secret Society of Irregular witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Holiday movie with Kate Winslett and Cameron Diaz ( this is why I said gumption at the beginning. Again - IYKYK)

Okay, sorry for rambling.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book. Looks like I’ll have to buy the paper copy anyways. 🙃

"Are there really thirty-one ways to be happy?
Ridiculous. It's the same magazine that is telling me that eating chocolate in the morning will fix my metabolism. Which, incidentally, I'd totally be willing to try."

After a milestone life event, Isadora Bentley realizes that she is living a narrow life. When she reads an article suggesting 31 ways to be happy, she scoffs. So she decides to disprove the steps. Is she right that there is not a clear path to being happy?

I was skeptical of Isadora at first. She was a bit too blunt. But over the course of the book, I came to appreciate her honesty and genuineness. Not only did she grow on me, but throughout the book, she transformed. I could identify with Isadora feeling awkward and out of place at times. One could not help rooting for her to continue to realize that she never wants to go back to living such a solitude life.

With an eclectic cast of characters, this book was an unexpected joy on so many levels. At times, I wanted to cry, and I also laughed often. I am with Isadora that yoga should never make the happiness list. But I loved that she kept trying, and when she wanted to give up, her new community wouldn't let her. Pretty sure that this is my favorite book by Courtney Walsh , and that is saying something since I have read almost all of her titles. I loved it and highly, highly recommend it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for letting me read an advanced copy. I requested to read this book. All opinions are my own.

Isadora has reached another birthday...alone. As she loads up on junk food at the grocery store to celebrate solo, she catches a headline on one of the checkout line magazines about living a happier life. Being a researcher, Isadora is compelled to buy the magazine just so she can disprove that misguided author. And so ensues a social experiment to try the suggestions.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Isadora has been voluntold that she will be assisting a professor in writing a book. Flashbacks of a similar arrangement that left her doing all the work and receiving ZERO credit come to mind. She reluctantly participates and what is truly annoying, begins to be attracted to the guy.

I loved Isadora's relatability--having been spurned in love, prefers numbers and data to people and conversation, and has a guard on her heart that seems impenetrable. Definitely not someone who has it all together. When she agrees with the arrangement to have the prof help her test out the happiness suggestions in return for her help with the research analysis, it seems like maybe there is hope for Isadora after all. Until she finds out that this guy who she's beginning to really like was referred to her by the lowlife loser who stole her analysis and presented it as his own. Will Isadora ever learn or is she destined to be the sucker yet again?

I liked the dual storylines with Isadora's research partnership going on while she also is testing out the suggestions for increasing one's happiness. Her personal experiment may yield some interesting results--you'll have to check out the book to know for sure! A pleasant story with no objectionable content--a great summer read for the beach or poolside.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are my own.

I don't think I've ever related more to a character than I do to Isadora. Feeling invisible, she sets out to prove an article wrong. 31 one ways to be happy? No way. (Way)
It can come across as a self help book at times, but not severely enough to make you rethink reading it.

Have you ever felt invisible? Have you felt like you don’t belong? Then you can relate with Isadora Bentley. She is a researcher for a university in Chicago and is more comfortable with data and statistics than with people. Her life has been a series of disappointments and she believes she is better off alone. While spending her thirtieth birthday alone she comes across an article promising 31 ways to be happy. Believing herself incapable of being happy she decides to do her own research project to disprove the article. At the same time she is assigned to help a handsome professor research and organize the book he is writing. Her project starts with her doing little things like smiling at people and exercising regularly. In the process of trying these steps she makes some very unique friends, such as a kind elderly widower, an exuberant mom of 5, and a 9 year old who doesn’t quite fit in with her peers. Along with the professor, this group of unique individuals help bring Isadora out of her shell and discover true happiness.

Isadora Bentley’s story spoke to me on so many levels. I related to her life-long struggle to fit in and be accepted by others. I also understood her fear of rejection based on the rejections she experienced in her past. I see a lot of myself in her and surprisingly I see a lot of my husband in Cal. His ability to enjoy life in the now and his ability to read others is just like my husband. Opposites truly do attract each other. Her realization about the main cause of her unhappiness is true for all of us. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I had to reread it right away. When I like a story that much I give it 5 stars.

This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to give a favorable review. I also immediately bought my own copy as soon as I finished this ARC.

Are there really 31 ways to be happy?

That’s what Isadora Bentley wants to find out after coming across a magazine article. With her background as a researcher, she puts her skills to the test.

Within the first few pages of reading, I knew Isadora and I were going to have a lot in common. I turned 30 last year, and had a lot of these same questions, taking a good look at my life and where I wanted to go in the next 30. I also work at a university, though not as a researcher. But, I digress.

Maybe that’s why it took me a few times before sitting down to devote my time to reading through. Whenever a Courtney Walsh book is involved, I tend to devour it in one sitting, which I eventually did.

This is one of the most real and practical love stories because Isadora, as a researcher, sees things through the lens of science — sticking to data, facts and the probable outcome. She “works better alone” and in some ways, has become good at self-sabotaging, leading herself to believe that she won’t ever be happy, because of XYZ — That’s what the outcome was before, so why would it be different this time?

Working through the past, with a little help from the new friends she collects along the way, pushes her out of her comfort zone by tackling a list of activities and exploring new opportunities. She likes her safe bubble, which I can really relate to, so this hit very close to home in a way that I haven’t experienced in a long time.

While it isn’t necessarily the story of daydreamy romance and whimsy, it is a story with a lot of heart and characters that make you FEEL. It is real life on display. Yes, life comes with pain, but that’s no reason to hold back and try to stop living from happening.

This is a story with an important message about happiness and essentially, what it means to keep that childlike faith and wonder for life as we get older. It’s a story with many nuggets of wisdom and one-liners that will leave you thinking, long after you’ve read the last page. It’s been a couple days since I finished, but I keep going back to the feeling I held onto while I was reading.

Here are just a few of my favorite lines from the book:


“Being alone isn’t a bad thing when it’s your choice. But a lonely life, chosen or not, really isn’t living. And frankly, I’m tired of my own company.”

“If happiness is a state of being, how does a person continue to exist in that state? How do I hold onto it when it seems so fleeting?”

“Happiness isn’t that hard to find, you know? It’s everywhere. It’s all around us. But it’s not something that happens TO us. It’s something we seek. It’s something we pursue. And you’ll never find it if you never let it in.”

Do yourself a favor and grab your copy today, and search for your own happiness along the way.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for the advanced copy of this book.**

I'm not super great with words - but this book - I adored it. The cast of characters, the personal growth of the main character, the sweet romance, the fun adventures - this book has it all! If you are looking for a sweet read that makes you feel as happy & cozy as when you take your warm laundry right out of the dryer, then pick this one up & give it a big hug when you finish it.

4.5 rounded up!

Isadora Bentley has been living life on autopilot for as long as she can remember. She learned from a young age not to trust others, and has lived an insular life since, with the exception of her ex Alex two years ago, which ended in heartbreak. On her 30th birthday, Isadora purchases a magazine at the supermarket checkout with an article listing 31 Ways to Be Happy. Isadora is skeptical and sets out to prove the author wrong, showing that some people are just predisposed to unhappiness. As Isadora starts going through the steps, she begins to make friends - an old man in the courtyard at the university where she works, her neighbor, and a professor who seeks out her help as a researcher on a book he's working on. As Isadora gets further along in her list, she finds her notions challenged and her comfort zone shrinking.

This was SUCH a sweet book. I loved watching Isadora - sometimes reluctantly - come out of her shell and start engaging with the world around her and realize people weren't as bad as the nasty ones she'd come into contact with before. There were so many amazing characters in this book, from her neighbor Darby, Darby's daughter Delilah, Isadora's lunch partner Marty, and of course Dr. Cal Baxter. There was such a strong sense of found family and a reminder to enjoy the little things in life, which turn out to be the big things. While I wouldn't call this a true romance, there was a love story, which was also so precious.

TW: Narcissistic parent, mention of a heart attack

This is one of those reviews where my thoughts are swirling every which direction, and I’m going to try to rein them in but probably won’t succeed. Just fair warning that this will likely be a review where I babble on incoherently about how much I loved this story and you’ll be like, “Ok. We get it. Wrap it up” and I’ll be like, “But I still haven’t talked about this or this or this.” So… yeah. This is where we’re at. Lol.

Isadora is a delightfully neurotic and socially awkward protagonist who has Sir David Attenborough narrating her internal monologue and is smart about everything except relationships. Like… with anyone. Not just romantically. In fact, she’s never really had any friends, her parents give her zero emotional support (actually it’s more like negative zillion than zero), and her only significant romantic relationship to date ended in a dumpster fire of humiliation and heartbreak. Because of these things, she isolates herself even from her colleagues and pours her energy and time solely into her work as a research scientist. She’s endearingly irritating but you can’t help loving her, like with a Sheldon Cooper or Temperance Brennan type of character. I adored her. I laughed over her, I grinned big over her and yep I even cried over her. I would almost say that she single-handedly took me on a roller coaster ride through every last one of my emotions… except it wasn’t single-handedly. And that, dear readers, is the beauty of The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley.

When Isadora sets out to disprove the “Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy” article, she never would have predicted that her solitary existence would soon be overrun with people. And honestly, neither did I as a reader. This book took me by surprise in the very best ways. It’s a romance, yes, and whew I’m still swooning over that part of it. But it’s so. much. more. The supporting characters in Isadora’s story make this one of my hands-down favorite reads of the year and my absolute favorite of Courtney Walsh’s books (and I’ve loved all of hers that I’ve read). Martin twisted my heart every time he was on the page, not out of sadness – I promise this is a very uplifting read lol – but because I just adored him so much. I fell head over heels for him, and no he’s not the romantic lead. Darby filled my heart with laughter, her ‘i will barge into your life and force you to be a friendly human’ attitude exactly what Isadora needed even though I would have honestly been tempted to run from her at first. I gave mental standing ovations to the role she played in Isadora’s life and for her refusal to let Isadora quit on her new relationships. Delilah – oh be still my heart. I loved that little girl & related to her so much. And then there’s Cal… but on second thought I’m going to let you discover him for yourself.

Bottom Line: The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh is a truly enjoyable and heart-tugging read from start to finish. There’s laughter and love and friendship … even chocolate and homemade cookies. There’s also an exploration of loss, regrets, and isolation, and after the pandemic I feel like this story is a timely reminder that happiness can rarely be achieved in seclusion. To be honest, as an introvert, I allowed the shutdowns to give me the perfect excuse to hibernate (my default setting) and over the last couple of years I’ve struggled to force myself to get back out and do things with friends and family. Isadora’s journey gave me a lot to think about for my own life, too, and I can’t properly express how much I loved this story Walsh has told.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

This was such a cute book! Isadora might be one of my favorite characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading! This was such a deep heartwarming story. Isadora is socially awkward, and very intelligent. This is her story of finding herself, confronting her past, being happy. Everyone should read this book!