3.7 Stars
One Liner: A good read (with a few issues)

Isadora Bentley is socially awkward, reclusive, and an anxiety-driven thirty-year-old academic researcher. She deals better with data than people and wants nothing to do with anything remotely human or (even an animal).
However, on her thirtieth birthday, Isadora makes an impulsive purchase. She buys a magazine with an article, ‘Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy’, intending to prove it wrong. Soon, her experiment opens her world to new friends and adventures Isadora wouldn’t have considered otherwise. She even meets Dr. Cal Baxter, a handsome professor (and psychologist), and helps with his research.
As the days go on, Isadora wonders if there is indeed something about the happiness concept and maybe she can be happy if she can relax and let go of things.
The story comes in Isadora’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
The cover is a real cutie. The artwork perfectly represents the MC.
While the premise is intriguing, it took me time to get into the story. The MC rambles a lot and has too many internal conversations with others. I talk to myself for sure, but the MC has a Ph.D. in it.
I am an introvert and tend to miss filters at times. But even I got annoyed by some of her actions. It seems more like an issue with execution (writing) than the characterization.
The found family trope is well done. I love how it talks about the MC not actually hating people but that she just hasn’t found those who understand her. Finding your tribe is so very important in today’s world.
Marty, Darby, and Delilah are my favorite characters. They are strong supporting characters and have substantial roles in the book. Delilah is an absolute darling. I like her more than the MC (of course, Delilah is ten, so it does make her my priority).
The MC’s backstory explains her behavior a lot. Her parents, ugh! No wonder she feels so horrible and has -100 self-esteem. However, the repetition of Alex feels a little too much. Stretching the reveal isn’t necessary. The track is easy enough to guess.
Cal is a great character, even if he seems a bit too perfect. Wouldn’t hurt to have a book boyfriend like him, though. He complements Isadora in many ways.
Romance is not the central theme of the book. Though Isadora finds Cal very attractive (and has a lot to say about him), the actual focus is more on her finding herself and regaining her self-confidence (and unlearning a lot of assumptions).
However, the last section has been stretched quite a bit. The MC’s reactions made me groan and say not again! Not sure if having others tell her she’s being childish and selfish helped. I started to lose interest in the plot (not a good sign). The part with Cal also drags. Some of it is necessary, yes. But not all of it!
The last chapter is the epilogue and rounds off the plot well. It ties up the loose ends and provides the necessary details to close the book with a smile. I particularly like how the parents continue to stay in the background throughout.

To summarize, The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a warm feel-good women’s fiction about self-discovery and finding her tribe to realize happiness is within her reach.
Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

***
P.S.: I’m not sure why the book is even marketed (tagged) as Christian fiction (there’s no need for it). It’s regular women’s fiction with the found family trope and a dash of romance. Some readers are disappointed by the lack of certain elements expected in that genre.

What a fun, refreshing read!
The book follows Isadora Bentley and her quest to choose happiness, starting on her 30th birthday. From the small things like learning to smile and trying exercise, to the big changes like ditching your grudges, Isadora’s life begins to change and with it, she also gets her chosen family.
Isadora is very relatable (at least for me) and felt myself resonating with A LOT of the experiences put to page. Friendship, chosen family, love, bravery, and of course happiness, it has it all. Can’t wait to see what Walsh comes up with next!
Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC.

This is a heartwarming story about a woman discovering happiness. Too smart for her own good, Isadora believes she will never be happy. All the new experiences from "31 Ways to be Happy." open her world. From friends to love, Isadora cures her own loneliness. She can be socially awkward and still have caring friends. And finally, she can love again. 4****

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions from this voluntarily review are my own.

I absolutely devoured this book. Isadora is not your average woman, and yet readers will find her extremely relatable. She walks to the beat of her own drum not realizing that her unique perspective on life might just be the most amazing thing about her. She is a breath of fresh air with her quirky ways and will be adored by every woman or girl who has ever wondered how they fit into the world. Funny, heartfelt, and serious in all the right moments, The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a page turner.

This book was exactly what this introverted, awkward, and quirky girl needed. I related a lot to Isadora. I may not be as negative as she is but I can be critical and hard on myself. I loved Marty and Delilah. They were probably my favorite characters in this book. They were so down-to-earth, funny, and caring beyond belief. I also just appreciate how Cal never expected anything from Isadora and was dead set on making sure that she knew all he wanted was for her to be herself. This book was the perfect serotonin boost that I need to kick off summer!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a heartwarming story about finding yourself and choosing happiness. Isadora is a university researcher and has lived her life apart from others. However, on her 30th birthday, she buys an article that details 31 ways to be happy. She decides to complete the list for research. Will she find her happy?

This was such a sweet story. It definitely focuses more on Isadora’s self discovery vs. the romance, but I loved the characters and wanted to know everything about them. Overall, this was a lovely read and a cardigan in book form.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Isadora Bentley and her quirky, intelligent, socially awkward personality will steal your heart and run with it! This book has everything we love from a fantastic rom-com. It's funny, it's heart-warming, it's heart-wrenching, and I believe, most...if not all of us can relate to Isadora in some way. This story is about confronting the things in the past that shaped who we are today. And sometimes, those things aren't pretty. They're hard. They hurt. But Isadora teaches us what beauty can come from stepping out of our comfort zone to do hard things! The beauty of love, friendship, healing, and self-worth. I dare you to pick up this book, read it, maybe put some of Isadora's challenge into practice, and grow from it. That's the kind of book this is. The kind that you enjoy, you love, you laugh through, and you learn from. When you finish, take a deep breath and exhale a sigh of contentment! Courtney Walsh has nailed it with this story and I cannot recommend it enough!!

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

Isadora Bentley is a researcher who believes that happiness just doesn’t exist for her life. On her 30th birthday she purchases a magazine that features an article on the ‘Thirty-one Ways to Be Happy’, and sets out to do what she does best - research - by doing each of the things the article says to do, all with the intent to prove they won’t make her happy. Her research ultimately opens her up to making new friends and meeting new people - all which may end up being the key to happiness she never thought she’d find.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This. Book. 🫶🏻 There aren’t enough words to describe how much I loved this one - easily one of my favorites of the year.

I loved going on this journey to happiness with Isadora. Her character is a bit socially awkward, relatable and grows a ton throughout. I equally loved the supporting cast of characters - Isadora’s new friends who become more like her family, especially 10 year old Delilah, who delivers some of the funniest lines in the book.

If you’re looking for a feel good story with a bit of romance - pick this one up! It’s sure to teach you a few lessons and leave you smiling well after the last page.

Courtney Walsh is a favorite of mine for Christmas Rom-coms. I can’t wait to read whatever she’s working on next!

Courtney Walsh hit this one way out of the park!! I fell in love with Isadora from the very first few pages and I was rooting for her to find her happiness throughout this entire book.

Perfect for fans of character-driven novels like The brilliant life of Eudora Honeysett or Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Isadora is a woman happy to focus on her academic research and ignore the people around her having been burned badly by love.

Fortunately for her, after reading an article espousing 30 ways to find happiness on the eve of her 30th birthday, Isadora is challenged to step outside her comfort zone and take chances, make new friends and maybe, just maybe, find someone who loves her for who she is, quirks and all.

Swoony, heartfelt and absolutely unputdownable. This is going to be one of my favorite books of the year and by far the best book by Courtney Walsh I've read to date. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Librofm for the early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest reviews!

I loved this sweet book and saw so much of myself in Isadora! It’s a phenomenal found family story with great character development and I found all of the side characters likeable and endearing! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job, though I could’ve done without the David Attenborough inner monologue, but that’s just a personal preference.

4.5/5⭐️

On her thirtieth birthday, Isadora Bentley is loading up on junk food at the supermarket when she sees a magazine article featuring thirty-one ways to be happy. A researcher by trade, Isadora decides to run her own one-person experiment to see if they work. It seems more promising than a one-night stand with Reese's. 😉

This book is about Isadora's quest to find happiness. Once she starts putting herself out there, she finds an assortment of charming side characters that help her work through her issues and find the true source of happiness.

I loved Isadora so much. She has so many relatable quirks and thinks she has figured out how things work and what she wants from life, although she is going through a bit of a rough patch. I immediately wanted to root for her. I loved that she was brave enough to say what she was thinking! I highlighted some really great quotes that made me laugh out loud.

Cal is absolute perfection. He was perfect for Isadora and I loved how she helped him as well. The rest of Isadora's found family were completely charming and I wish I could hang out with them all!

The last part of this book was heartwrenchingly good, but luckily everything comes together in a satisfying conclusion. This book was so heartwarming and I loved all the thoughts on happiness and the importance of human connection. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Courtney Walsh, Thomas Nelson Fiction & NetGalley.

It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but I absolutely loved Isadora's journey from severe social anxiety to trying to disprove a tabloid article about happiness and finding friendship and belonging along the way. Isadora, an academic researcher, is determined to use her research skills to prove the article about happiness wrong, but she somehow manages to pick up some unexpected companions along the way. Courtney Walsh's characters is this book have such depth and the story is so unexpected. I loved all her characters and would love to see more about some of the side characters in this story. I highly recommend this book for lovers of romance.

I received an eARC of this review from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really loved this book. At first I was a little skeptical but as I continued to read on it became more and more interesting. Isadora is a nerdly researcher who is lacking in social skills. She tends to stick to herself and is a very lonely person. Since she was bullied as a child and her mom never stood up for her she has had some issues with her confidence. Then she helps a fellow researcher with his paper and he ends up using her just for her brains and breaks her heart. Again, there goes her confidence down the drain. She reads an article in a magazine titled "Thirty-one ways to be Happy" and she decides to prove the author wrong. As she starts with step one which is to smile at people she starts to make friends. The friends decide to help her with her research of the article and that is where the fun kicks in. Isadora actually develops feelings for her new found friends. She still struggles with acceptance in her new group but does confront her past and all her pent up feelings of betrayal by the people in her life. There is a lot going on in this book but while I was reading it I also thought about my life and how things in your past can affect your present life. I would highly recommend this book.
Thanks to #netgalley, #thomasnelson and @courtneywalsh for an ARC of this great book.

Isadora Bentley had my heart from the first page and she will have yours too.

“I want to belong to someone. I want to be safe. I want to be lifted up. I want to have a spot, I want to share unspoken secrets with a look, and I want the wind to make me soar.”

So much of what Isaorda goes through is incredibly relatable and representative of so many of us. I absolutely loved her and Cal and everyone else Isadora meets on her journey to self discovery. There is beautiful mental health representation as well as kind and thoughtful characters! This was such a heartwarming, feel-good read and one I highly recommend!

5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and #tnzfiction for the early physical copy and @librofm for the early audio

Grab your copy out tomorrow!

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This book is great! I wasn't excited to read this one because it is labeled as Women's Fiction instead of Romance, and I am a romantic at heart. But this book did not disappoint! I loved it and can relate to Isadora's feelings since I am an introvert myself. It takes effort to get out there and create relationships and the story was just so much fun! My only wish was early on she had dashed the hopes of one of her co-workers and I wanted her to go back and rectify that situation, but it didn't happen. But that's ok, it is still an excellent story!

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

This book was so much fun!! But this was also a book that really tucked at my heartstrings. I felt a real connection with Isadora and the journey she was on - on one hand she was willing to open up to other people and smile when happy things happened to her but on the other hand she was afraid to trust anyone ever again because the fear of getting hurt was always there and a life of professional competence and solitude was the much safer option.

I flew through the pages of this sweet and heartwarming book, I laughed out loud, I cried, I smiled - in other words, this book was just the perfect read on a snowy spring day.

"Life is beautiful and horrible and wonderful and awful all at the same time. [...] And _that_ is the adventure."

Thank you so much Courtney Walsh for letting me take part in Isadora's adventure! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was so heartwarming and funny. It got me out of a long reading rut and didn't disappoint any step of the way.

Isadora is fabulous! First of all, I love that this story is written in first-person. And boy oh boy do we get an inside look into what makes Isadora tick—her thoughts, her emotions, her past, why she thinks the way she does—everything about her. I don’t know that I’ve ever stepped away from a novel and felt like I knew the main character so well. The professor and others that come into her life are just perfection. There are some touching and raw moments, some funny moments (quite a few actually), and also some deep insight into what it takes to actually be happy. What does it mean? Why is it important? How does one go about finding happiness? All of this is touched upon in an authentic and meaningful way in this novel.

Such a wonderful book. Some may say that this story of reinventing or finding one’s self has been done before. To them I would say, “Sure, but not like this.” This story is different. You will find yourself connecting with Isadora in some way in this story. It is well worth the read!

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

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley was about happiness, both finding it and holding onto it right once you do. It is about love and acceptance, of both yourself and others. It is about not fitting into a mold, but finding your people to love you just the way you are.

“Happiness isn’t that hard to find, you know. It’s the 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 anyone in.”

Courtney Walsh is one of my favorite authors. I love the way she writes her characters, they are fun, a little quirky, and usually they are both likable and lovable. Isadora was all of that, along with her band of misfit friends she gathered along the way. I wanted to meet them for lunch in the park, tag along to yoga and participate in the research experiment too.

I think the thing I kept thinking about the whole time while reading was we all have a little bit of Isadora Bentley in us. Or maybe not everyone … but I know I do. We all are grappling with the past, wanting things to make sense, and having a hard time believing something about ourselves because it is so different than our inner monologue tells us.

I wasn’t ready for the book to end and could have continued to read a story about each and every one of these characters.

Isadora has never really fitted in, which didn't make for an easy childhood. Now thirty and with a more recent bad experience to reinforce all her negative feelings about herself, the sight of an article about 31 ways to be happy sparks the idea of a research project to prove the author wrong. But somehow, as she tries out the different steps, she finds herself inadvertently developing a 'family' - meaning that she once again has something to lose. But does she really want to prove the author wrong, or has she really been searching for happiness all along? And what - or who - has really been making her unhappy all along? Most frightening question of all: is she brave enough to open herself to possible pain in order to achieve happiness?

This was a deeply touching, moving and at times heart-wrenching story of someone who has given up on human connections. It's also the inspiring story of how she managed to change that and make a 'real life' for herself. While I was certainly never treated the way Isadora was by others, I'm similar enough in some ways that I really felt for her in her struggles - and I really admired Cal's perseverance in trying to get through to her. In fact, all of the characters were memorable in various ways (perhaps particularly Delilah?). I was enthralled from page 1 and somewhat reluctant to see it end, despite the satisfying ending. All in all, great characters, an amazing storyline and and inspiring message, mixed in with enough humour to stop it getting too heavy. Very highly recommended.

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