I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of Blue Ridge Mountain-born Luke, meeting a real princess, Ellie. Only he doesn't know that. Full of tropes and predictable rom-com themes..on purpose...it was fun to see the guy who hates those things really embrace them in the end. This is the perfect complement to the first two in Basham's series. I enjoyed the clean story but with characters who make real mistakes and aren't perfect Christian stereotypes. The modern flow of the language...in this story, through a lot of texts...was part of what made this story. The audio version was well-done with multiple cast readers, which even made the texting portion of the book easy to listen to.
I look forward to exploring more of Basham's work!
Thanks to #NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC.

I have to be honest, I did not get very far in Loyally, Luke. It might be due to not having read the first few books in the series, so I was confused about a few issues. First, I couldn't figure out if it was science fiction or standard rom-com; this might have been because the way the narrator pronounced the name of the country made it seem like the name of another planet and that got stuck in my head. I think if I had been reading this instead of listening to the audiobook I would have clued in much more quickly with a few page-flips back to clarify.

The narrator's voice really took me out of the story as well. I'm not sure what it was, but I was honestly just annoyed and stopped reading by 25% in. 2 stars, as I really didn't give this a chance, and would have possibly liked it if it hadn't been for the narrator and/or had I known more of the back story.

This was super sweet!

This whole trilogy is so sweet, cozy, and funny! But it isn’t all fluff and kissing. In between and mixed in with the romance, is quite a bit of really good advice (and movie quotes too!).

If you love romantic comedies, good guys wearing flannel, or anything royal, I think you will love this!

I really enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book! The full cast production helped keep the characters straight and the accents are fantastic!!

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the opportunity to experience this fabulous audiobook!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book and audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." Thank you Thomas Nelson for the opportunity.
Luke Edgewood, the third unmarried Edgewood, has made it to Skymar to help with a couple construction projects. Little did he know what he was getting into. There would be royal run-ins, fun with children at the orphanage and many other humorous moments. Will he end up a with his movie script love story?
Pepper Basham is so good at interweaving humor with sweet moments and then also mixing in faith elements. I enjoyed this book so much and I was overjoyed to get an Arc of the audio as well.
The narrators, Christopher Ashman; K.C. Sheridan; Kathleen McInerney; Natalie Duke; Gary Furlong; Caitlin Davies; Mhairi Morrison were tremendous. I so enjoyed the voice of Luke in the other books and knew that I wanted to listen to this one as well. I know there were some changes in the narrator of Izzy and Penelope but because it has been awhile since I listened to those books that I didn’t find the differences all that noticeable. The voices of all of the narrators fit the characters well, but especially Christopher Ashman as Luke. I also think that the narrators did very good with the accents. The use of the different narrators definitely help with the understanding of the book because of the somewhat epistolary format of this book.
I would recommend this book to all those readers of Christian fiction books who love fairy tale type stories. One might even consider it a flipped fairytale story. The faith element is more on the light side, so if they bothers you this might now be the book for you. I loved it in both formats.

This book was by far the best in the series! The balance between correspondence and "in person" interactions was absolutely perfect and the full cast helped really bring it to life. While this story did feel a little long at times but it was still really well done!

The story of Luke and Ellie was all the best parts of a romantic Hallmark Channel Movie! I enjoyed the Penelope and Izzy were still very much present in this book as much as the others.

The full cast in this book was even better than the last one! I really hope this is not the last time we will be in Skymar!

This book is easily my favorite in the trilogy! Although this can be read as a stan alone, I do think you need to read the previous two books in order to appreciate Luke’s total Luke-ness. It placed our favorite flannel wearing, southern drawl accented Grinch at the heart of the most rom-commy rom-com of all time and I loved every minute.

This is a satisfying end to the series, left me with a smile on my face.
I think you need to read Authentically, Izzy and Positively, Penelope before reading this book, because they give you the background on why they are all in Skymar and the family dynamics of these various characters.

This one has Luke arriving in Skymar and having a "meet cute" (not so much according to Luke) with Eliana, who just happens to be royal in disguise. When they find themselves together again, you know sparks are going to fly.

The first two novels in this series are mostly epistolary, but this one is a really nice mix of both. I did like that, especially since I had the audiobook version. This made the book flow better for me than with the epistolary format (which I love, don't get me wrong)

I adored that Luke got his happily ever after, and as with all of Basham's books, there's a pervasive feeling of hope throughout. As the characters grow and change, the reader learns right alongside them. I was happy to see that, although this series is ending, Luke will make an appearance in an upcoming book.

If you're looking for a series that makes you smile and sigh contentedly at the end, this is definitely one to pick up.

Book Review: Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham - 4.5 Stars

Pepper does it again with Loyally, Luke in book 3 of the Skymar Series! Izzy and Penelope have been some of my favorite books, just overall great comfort reads. Loyally, Luke does not disappoint as we are following Luke Edgewood's love story with a secret Skymar Princess! If you are looking for a book that just makes you overall HAPPY, pick this up! You can read this as a standalone, but I personally believe you get the BEST Skymar experience by picking up book 1 & 2 first. We follow Luke throughout the entire series so we've gotten to know him and really enjoy his character. So many of us have been looking forward to his romance story and I am so glad Pepper wrote this story!

This story follows Luke and Ellie. Luke is in Skymar to help with some construction work and has a "meet-cute" with Ellie, the Skymar Princess! He is trying to avoid all "hallmark cheese" romance tropes but he ends up with quite the romantic ADVENTURE! I loved all the references to romance tropes in this one, those things made me laugh SO much! And to see the siblings jumping in all about the tropes too, was even better! (Like the whole "meet-cute" discussion LOL) As many others have said, Ellie is really a prodigal princess, her past mistakes follow her and she's trying to discover who she really is. I loved seeing Luke help her along the way with this and the ending was CHEF'S KISS for me with what Luke did!

Luke really reminds me of my own Dad and brother. He's a grumpy southern handyman with a lot of sarcasm and laughs, but he also cares about the people he loves and is one to work hard and take care of those around him. He loves kids, which we get to see in this story too! I would have liked a little more of those details of Luke with the children and details with the orphans, but overall I loved seeing those moments.

I think my favorite thing of this entire series is the sibling relationship. I have a very close relationship with my brother and so much of this is reminiscent of our own sibling relationship! You find yourself just laughing and enjoying the entire dynamic. Also, as a southern belle myself (who loves Scotland), ya'll already know I love the Southern and Skymar settings and characters!

A note of importance, when you compare this to Izzy and Penelope, this is more narrative than full epistolary style. I love both ways of storytelling personally, but wanted to notate that for those interested. We still get bits of text and email threads though throughout the story, which I loved seeing!

There was a nice light faith element in this book too that I really enjoyed seeing added. So glad Pepper wrote this series!

P.S. Readers will love this series for the heartwarming, humorous, sweet rom-com that it is! The PERFECT comfort read.

P.P.S. Also, the audiobook of this was AMAZING with the cast of narrators! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a complimentary audiobook to listen to. That really enhanced the reading experience for me! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?! 𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐦-𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡-𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧; 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.

𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐫, 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒫𝑒𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂, 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒩𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐹𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

This is hallmark meets fairytale. It’s so sugary sweet, it could give you a cavity. This book was not my typical read but I can see there is a good audience for it. If you’re looking for something that covers almost every romance trope out there from secretly royal, and forbidden love, and friends to lovers, to fake dating, this is for you. The author fully leans into the cheese of it all and makes fun of it to an extent which I give her all the credit for. I personally didn’t love Luke (shocking based on the title lol), I didn’t love his “fear” of being soft, romantic comedies, and coffee with flavoring. It felt a little too much for me. The book itself was well written and a lot happened in it. I think maybe it could have used another edit since some of the storylines meandered and didn’t ultimately go anywhere. I think the right audience will love this book, and just because it’s not my style I’m not going to let that taint my review.
P.S. this is totally on me but I also didn’t realize this was a Christian romance until I started it. Again, not my style and I would not have selected it if I had realized. That it absolutely on me though!
Thanks NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy.

The writing style growth from the first two books in the series is actually really good despite the final rating. As someone who didn't care for Books 1 or 2, I did not mind this one! So, if you liked the other two books -- I'm hoping that means you'll really like this one!

We finally transitioned over to group chat texting instead of emailing!! Such a small difference, but it made it that much more realistic and the author didn't include a bunch of P.S. and P.P.S's like she did in the first two. It made for better flow and felt more in the moment than emailing would. Emailing is a whole event.

They also switched voice actors (they kept Christopher Ashman, but swapped out Hazel Beattie) and that made all the difference. No disrespect to Hazel, but I never clicked with her voice acting in the first two books. It gave Jamie Lynn Spears in the Netflix show Sweet Magnolia's. Book 3s voice actors were all so cohesive and flowed together nicely. I know Luke is the oldest, but the energy was finally more adult-like than Young Adult.

Book 3 in the series had no microaggressions towards people who aren't white, which is the bare minimum -- but a win nonetheless! There was less misogyny, but you can tell that the author doesn't know how to write a "girls girl". Every single one of Pepper Basham's woman characters has something hateful to say about women who show off their "sultry legs" or match their accessories, or literally just take care of themselves in a way that enhances their physical appearance. She gives: I'm not like other women! This in conjunction with the men in the book saying things like "she looks prettiest in ordinary clothes than fancy ones. I don't like princess-y girls" is so eyeroll inducing. Like we get it, the cliche "you look better in sweatpants with no makeup" thing. However, this author always takes it too far and gives some level of superiority to women who "aren't like other women."

When a character went through a drug phase, they also threw in there that she dressed in ways that "left nothing for the imagination." Gotta throw a little policing of the body in every single one of these books! This author equates showing skin with being a less than ideal person.

This book does a good job capturing how ruthless the press can be and there's some interesting plot twists that keep the reader engaged. Not my favorite series ever, but this book is definitely the best of the three. It should be noted that though this is a series, these are standalone novel's and you could easily just start off with Loyally, Luke.

Finally, despite being a kisses-only book (doesn't hurt the rating), the author finally wrote some romance into their love story!! You can be flirty and only kiss and we finally get that in book 3! Even some saucy comments thrown in.

Thanks NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Loyally, Luke gets published on May 15th, 2024!

This book is kind of confusing. The back and forth between the text thread and the third person perspective was off putting. Cute story but hard to figure out what’s going on in the beginning and who everyone is and how they are connected.

Loyally, Luke was my first Pepper Basham audiobook. There were multiple readers in this book which enhanced the listening experience. I always enjoy listening to Kathleen McInerney and this book was no exception. The story was predictable and slow in sections but, still held my attention. If you are looking for a light and enjoyable read then this would be a great choice for you. The print and audiobook are expected to be released on May 14, 2024.

Thank you Net Galley, HaperCollins Christian Publishing, Pepper Basham and Kathleen MaInerney for allowing me to preview this audiobook. All opinions shared are my own.

I received the audio in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

This is the third in the trilogy, which I didn't know at the time I requested it. I definitely want to go back and read the first two books in the Skymar series. .

Luke isn't into romance and Ellie is a princess who had made mistakes in the past, and is returning to the spotlight. The two get to know each other as they work to restore an orphanage.

This is a sweet story with a happy ending!

Expected publication May 14, 2024

This was a cute story, but I question why we had so many narrators - it felt a bit too much for me.
The Hallmark storyline was cute if you're into that sort of thing.

Overall this was cute and sweet.

This was a great 3rd book in this series. I loved reading more about Skymar. I also really loved that the characters from the previous books were still in this one. Royalty and commoner love stories always get me. It just show that love can conquer all.

Thanks Netgalley for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to listen to the ALC of this novel.

Reading the description of this novel, I was absolutely intrigued and so excited to listen to it. As soon as I started listening, I had to speed up to approximately 2x speed (which isn’t unusual for me, but normally not until I get a feel for the narrators and story line). The narrators spoke so slowly it was distracting. I also didn’t care for the back and forth between all of the separate narrators. The accents seemed to be forced and made it hard to pay attention. I still think this could be a great book, but I think it would be much better physically reading instead of listening. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it due to the points listed above.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook of Loyally, Luke but Pepper Basham.

I had high hopes for this book. Luke is a contractor who goes over sees for a job. He bumps into a grumpy Grace Kelly look-a-like when he first arrives. You follow Luke through his construction project which ends up being overseen by none other than the grumpy girl.

The author added in a lot of line droppers from Hallmark, Bridgerton and many other romantic movies.

I do like how sweet and caring Luke becomes for the princess. I just didn't care for the sisters, and the town gossip rag.

The writing is engaging and rich with emotion. The dialogue is snappy and genuine, which made the interactions between characters incredibly enjoyable. The setting, with its small-town charm, added an extra layer of coziness to the story. It was a feel-good romance that left me smiling long after I turned the last page. It's a book I'd recommend to anyone looking for a story about love, loyalty, and finding happiness in unexpected places

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the audiobook.

This was a clean Hallmark-like romance book. The pace was very slow. I had to speed the audiobook up in order to not give up completely on it. I also did not care for the narrators. They were not captivating and very cringey at times.