The format of this book was a tad bit difficult for me to follow. While the premises of the story seemed fun, especially in the beginning, I could not connect with the MC's romance. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. Thank you, Thomas Nelson Fiction, for a complimentary e-arc of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own x

OH MY GOSH!!!!! I LOVED THIS BOOK. WITH MY WHOLE HEART. Authentically Izzy written by Pepper D. Basham was such a fun, witty, and hilarious story. I want to thank one of my goodreads friend, Dab for reviewing this book, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have found this book. I loved every minute of this book, it made me laugh more times than I can count. The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the love triangle in the beginning, but Pepper D. Basham made it where cheating wasn't involved. I don't know how I feel about a book being written in the form of e-mails and text messages, but this book confirmed that I love it. I didn't want this story to end anytime soon, but I wanted to know what was going to happen between the two main characters. I laughed so hard at time, I had tears streaming down my face. This was my first book by Pepper D. Basham, I instantly fell in love with her writing, so i'm definitely going to read her other books. Authentically Izzy is a book about devoted Christians, so there's a lot of talk about faith, church, and God, as a Christian myself, I appreciate an author writing about this. If a book doesn't make you laugh as much as Authentically Izzy did, then it's not worth five stars, but boy, I was laughing so much.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND THOMAS NELSON- FICTION FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!

Like I said before, Authentically Izzy is a book about devoted Christians so there's no steamy scenes, just a few kisses here and there. Izzy Edgewood is a wannabe book store owner, a Lord of The Rings lover, and a quote queen. After a few failed relationships, Izzy hasn't seen the dating world in a long time, but now she's ready for prince charming to come and sweep her off her feet. But, it's hard for Izzy to fall in love with a real human when she's been living in a world of fictional characters. Josephine, Izzy's cousin, makes Izzy a profile on a dating website, Heart-To-Heart, where Izzy could possibly find her true love. Authentically Izzy is a book that consists of e-mails and text messages between Izzy, her cousins, Josephine, Penelope, and Luke. This book was so beautiful is so many ways, but the cover is even more beautiful. As a quote queen, Izzy had so many heart touching quotes that will sit with me for a while. Izzy, I love you, you deserve the absolute world, and everything more.

To Izzy's shock and maybe even suspicion, Josephine's plan is working. Soon, Izzy comes in contact with Brodie. Brodie is a Hobbit loving person who loves books just as much as Izzy. Izzy doesn't really believe Brodie for a while, she thinks it's her cousin Josephine she's been messaging back and forth with. Izzy lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, while Brodie lives an ocean away. Izzy and Brodie communicate through Heart-To-Heart and soon start writing e-emails to each other. After months of communicating through e-mails, and video chats, Izzy and Brodie decide to visit each other. Izzy has a fear of flying, due to losing both of her parents in an airplane accident. Is their shared love of books, family, and correspondence enough for Izzy to overcome her fear of flying? Izzy has had such a hard past, but despite that I loved her character.

Okay, okay, I wish this book had a playlist of songs that go along with the story. I don't know who I love more, Brodie, or Izzy's cousin, Luke. They were both sweet, and loving gentlemen. In my opinion, Luke was more like a brother to Izzy. After reading, Authentically Izzy, and meeting all the side characters, I would love for Pepper D. Basham to write a book about Luke. The e-mails between Izzy, Luke, and Penelope had me giggling non-stop. Izzy's love of quotes started rubbing off on Brodie and Luke, but when they tried to comeback with quotes for Izzy, it left a smile on my face. After reading this book, my face hurts from smiling and laughing so much. Thank you, Pepper D. Basham for writing such a beautiful story. If you love laughing while reading a book, then this book is meant for you. I fell in love with the story, and all of the side characters. As I said before, I didn't know how to feel about a book in e-mail form, but boy was I wrong, I love it so much.

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

2 stars ☆ I think the letter/email style from this book wasn’t for me. It’s my first time reading this type of format throughout the book and I guess I didn't like it as I thought I would (especially since I loved when these type of things shows up in a book cause it either sweet or sad)

I get that the epistolary format really matches what the book is about but there are points where it’s hard for me to get through when it’s supposed to be easy.

it’s a quick read and I had fun on some parts but I just couldn’t connect with the characters.

It has potential but it doesn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC !!

DNF. The email-only format was too much for this long of a book. There needed to be more context to break up the emails. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I had really high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark for me. I was also just having a SUPER difficult time reading it as the formatting of the book was brutal on my Kindle. The Thomas Nelson watermark was on EVERY SINGLE PAGE. And took up a third of the page, which made it really difficult to get into. The story being written through emails was hard to get into. So this plus the watermark was not a fun read for me. Maybe the physical copy will come through my library and I can come back on here and give it a solidly different review. Here's to hoping.

3.5 stars rounded up
Okay, let me preface this review by saying I love me some Pepper Basham books. I started with The Mistletoe Countless and have been slowly reading through her backlist ever since. But ... I didn't love this book. I wanted to, and it had all the elements of a great story, but I couldn't get past the format.

Authentically, Izzy is an epistolary novel that catalogues the romance between Izzy and Brodie (and to show you how Pepper Basham obsessed I am, I may have requested this book on NetGalley without knowing what it was about).

There are some great characters.  Izzy was charming and funny, Penelope was quirky and had movies and acting on the brain. Luke was a grump who loved his family and Brodie was the perfect, bookish hero for Izzy. Josephine, Izzy's cousin was perfectly annoying, as was Brodie's brother, Anders.

There's lots of bookish talk and bookish things and you will fall in love with the characters and the world they live in. I would have enjoyed this book more if there had been less epistles and more in person interaction. If you love quirky characters, epistolary novels, or matchmaker gone wrong, you should definitely check it out.

Readers will be reminded that each of us are given gifts that should be used for the glory of God and we can't allow fear to prevent us from using them.

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher through NetGalley and Just Read Tours; a positive review was not required.

If you love the epistolary style for novels then you are going to LOVE this book which is full of emails and text messages. I did get a kick out of the excessive use of post scripts since my friends and I used to do that, but epistolary is not my personal favorite even though that is how I got to know my own husband.

However when it gets to the in person parts of the relationship and it is no longer correspondence I fell in love. I did appreciate that Brodie and Izzy started out virtual friends but their in person connection was special too. I loved how he built her up and pushed her to pursue her dreams. I loved that he was wise in his decision making and level headed.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

To be completely honest I could not follow the story through just emails/letters…. I felt like I was just skimming through rather than reading it fully and enjoying… I just wasn’t able to connect with the characters.

Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham

A very cute epistolary novel. This is a book you’ll want to slow down for and savor. It is character driven, full of growth arcs and romance. The kind of romance only book lovers can truly appreciate.

There are several laugh out loud moments and then moments that left my heart in a puddle.

No two people were ever as perfect for each other as Izzy and Brodie. They are the most adorable bookish nerds there ever were.

Read if you like:
🏔 Star Wars, LOTR, or fandoms in general
🏔 slow burn romance
🏔 meddling family members
🏔 quirky characters
🏔 Bookish men with accents

Four and a half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham is a delightful bookish romantic comedy that is mostly emails and text messages, but I found them to be well written and drew me right into the story.

Story Recap:
Izzy Edgewood wants to own a bookshop and find the love of her life. While her best friend can’t help her with the bookshop, she can help her find the love of her life by setting her up on a dating app.

She “meets” Brodie on the app, and they start to correspond and they realize they have a lot in common. But, they live thousands of miles away from each other. After months of correspondence, will they ever meet? And if they do, will they meet each other's expectations?

My Thoughts:
I was surprised when I saw that almost the entire book was made up of emails and text messages, but once I started reading, I realized that the two main characters are both bookish people who are also good writers, and that make this epistolary style of story work for me.

Izzy is a strong bookish woman who just wants to own a bookstore and find someone to love. She’s funny and has a supportive and interfering family. And Brodie is a wonderful hero, he’s kind, with a delightful sense of humor. He also has a supportive family.

The messages and emails are not just between Izzy and Brodie but include each of their family members too. In this way, we get to meet and enjoy Izzy’s sisters and brother and Brodie’s family too. They are all such wonderful characters and I enjoyed the way they each had their own style when writing.

This is a clean romance with some religious content, but it was not overwhelming. I enjoyed the fictional country where Brodie lived and his family and bookstore.

Recommendation:
I highly recommend Authentically, Izzy to anyone who enjoys clean romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a cute and light-hearted romance novel about two people fall in love through exchanging email letters before they even meet in person.

It’s unexpected to find myself invested in this book. Its unique writing style of series of email letters and SMS is actually enjoyable to read. It feels like as if Izzy is a real person who’s me sharing details of her life to me as my bestie in real life. Apparently, Izzy Edgewood is an easy book character to connect to. I like her personality for being true to herself and definitely NO drama in life. She’s straightforward and humorous.

The book is divided into three parts. At first, I am thinking that reading a series of email letters would be boring. Well, some parts could be a little unexciting, but the quirkiness of the other book characters has kept me engaged and interested. The wittiness and entertaining exchange of conversation through letters are well-written. In fact, there are a lot of inspirational quotes that I loved. I write them down in my notebook.

Another thing that makes this book a one-of-a-kind is the map of a fictional island called Skymar Island. It’s somewhere in between Scotland and Netherlands. It’s actually interesting and attractive (if it’s colorful). Although one of Izzy’s love interests isn’t in the royalty bloodline in this novel as expected, he’s still close to that. Skymar Island is a rich country where the citizens experience winter half of the year, cool mountains, competitive government and small businesses. Not to mention, people live in manor houses.

All in all, it’s an easy and perfect fine read for bookish people. If you think you’ll enjoy this book, consider these tips:

✔️ book quotes and love for literature
✔️ Lord of the Rings references
✔️ matchmaking and pen pals
✔️ snarky dialogues

i wasn’t able to get on board with the letter style of the book. I personally don’t like books with even text messages in them so this was really not my style. it was an interesting take and super original though.

I loved this story so much! For any of the fans of Beach Read by Emily Henry, PICK THIS BOOK UP! Izzy reminded me so much of January, and I think for anyone who dreams of escaping to a little town in the middle of nowhere just to read romance novels and listen to Taylor Swift!

I really struggled with this one and I had to DNF at 70% in. This books narration is predominately told via emails and texts which just wasn’t my cup of tea. The narration style and the slow pacing made this read a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m definitely out of my comfort zone with this genre since romantic comedy, Lord of the Rings and classics are not my favored genres and the references to them went right over my head. This is an expository novel and I think the formatting was really off for the Net Galley copy I had so it was difficult to delineate the communication methods. I am convinced that the wonky formatting really impacted my reading pleasure. I connected fairly well with Izzy and Brodie but I felt like her family really hadn’t treated her well and forcing someone onto a dating app is really quite rude. They all seemed convinced that she couldn’t make her own decisions. When I got past all of the texts and e-mails, I found that the heart of the novel is to stay authentic to yourself and seek your own happiness. The inspirational thread was definitely apparent, and the novel was very clean.

While this was not a favorite of mine from Pepper Basham, I DO always enjoy the versatility of Pepper Basham’s novels. She runs the gamut from a true crime novel, her beloved Appalachian Mountains stories, historical fiction, and one of the sweetest romances I think I’ve ever read. My top favorites of hers are Hope Between the Pages (dual timeline) and The Mistletoe Countess. I will not hesitate to check out the rest of her generous backlist.

I received a Net Galley copy of this book from the publisher and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

This is the perfect example of a perfectly fine book but I am definitely not the right audience but there will be and they will love it.

A mostly epistolary style novel, done in emails and texts between Izzy and her cousins, and Brodie her overseas friend turned potential love interest and his family.

I thought at first I would get tired of this style of writing but the author did such an exceptional job at keeping it flowing and easy to make sense of.

I also think it’s hard to build chemistry this way between characters but she did succeed in solidifying their relationship, I felt the sweet friendship and could see the slow turn of feelings.

However, this book was just a bit too wholesome for me and that is like I said great for others who love sweet, closed door romances, I just needed a bit more spark.
Also the idea of email is a bit dated for people to communicate in their 30’s, I would of like to see it become a tad more modern.

Tons of fun nods to bookstores, libraries and book lovers so that always makes for a fun experience and this book delivers that in spades.

A perfect read for someone who enjoys wholesome romances.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the digital ARC all opinions are my own.

I was drawn into this book by the delightful cover. The characters are quirky and the writing is well done. I had never read anything epistolary before and while it was charming at first, it also made it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters or feel invested in the story at all. It ended up not being able to keep my attention. DNF at 25%.

Thanks so much to Netgalley, Just Read Tours, the publisher, and the author for my complimentary e-arc of this book. Any opinions here are my own.

Sadly I DNFed this title. The 1st half of the book is all a series of emails and chat messages between Izzy, her family (who are trying to set her up on a Dating Site), and the male love interests. I'm not sure whether its due to the format of the story or the character development, but I never felt drawn to care or invest in the characters. Nothing was keeping me reading. Skimming through, I may have enjoyed the story had I found a reason to care for these characters and their lives.

I really enjoyed this story! I wasn't sure how a story told mainly through emails and texts would go, but I adored it! Izzy and Brodie were fantastic, and their chemistry was the thing fairy tales are made of even electronically. The settings were so well-done. And it wouldn't be a Pepper Basham book without a fantastic kiss!!

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

Filled with witty banter and literary references that will dazzle every bookish nerd's heart!

Found myself smiling and laughing several times as Izzy slowly revealed her true self through emails on an online dating site. There were so many bookish references that a true bibliophile would treasure. I was thoroughly enchanted with the way Ms. Basham incorporated epistolary writing to tell Izzy's story. I could just 'hear' the different voices and 'see' the characters as they communicated, sharing their true selves as they hid behind their computers half a world apart.

Although this is definitely a romcom, and Pepper Basham is a master at penning a good romcom, I loved Izzy's journey, one of finding her own direction in life. (I want Izzy's job). I look forward to having a few peeks of Izzy in her sister's story.

Fans of Shaffer's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Katherine Reay's Dear Mr. Knightley will adore this story.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher through Netgalley. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.