Authentically, Izzy

Title: Authentically, Izzy    

Series: #1

Author: Pepper Basham

Genre:Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Source: Net Galley & Own

My review:

 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.

★★★★★/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):

 “Dear Izzy—I feel certain there’s a book-loving man living relatively nearby waiting to speak bookish to you ’til death do you part. You just haven’t met yet.”

Izzy Edgewood is a wannabe bookstore owner, quote queen, and Lord of the Rings nerd who has been waiting for Prince Charming to sweep her off her sneakered feet. But it’s hard to meet people when you spend more time with fictional humans than real ones. Which is why her pragmatist cousin Josephine decides to take Izzy’s future into her own meddling hands and create an online dating profile for the hopeful romantic.

To Izzy’s shock (and suspicion), Josie’s plan works. Soon, she’s dialoguing with a Hobbit-loving man named Brodie who lives in a small town an ocean away from her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But is their shared love of books, family, and correspondence enough to overcome Izzy’s fear of flying and the literal distance between them? And is a long-distance relationship even worth considering when a local author has been frequenting the library where she works and is proving to be a perfectly fine gentleman?

In this epistolary novel from award-winning author Pepper Basham, bookish dreams and happily-ever-afters collide to create a beautiful sort of magic that’s even better than fiction.