This love story is told mainly through texts and emails as Izzy Edgewood’s matchmaking cousin, Josephine, takes matters into her own hands and creates an account for Izzy on a dating website. I loved the story told in this type of format since it is very different from what I read.

Izzy’s cousins, Luke and Penelope, provide the humor for the story as they tease her on one hand, and encourage her on the other hand. Luke is like her brother and gives sound advise and some prodding. I liked Luke’s insights that he shares with Izzy and he gets her. I hope that he will have his own story in the future. Penelope is funny because she is a theater major with a penchant for musicals and she sees things through that lens.

There are plenty of references to The Lord of the Rings and quotes from other movies and books. This was fun because I understood the background of the references to the comments, but it certainly is fine if you haven’t read the books nor have seen the movies. It doesn’t detract from the story at all.

Lizzy had the perfect job of being a librarian (in my opinion) and it only made sense that she would be drawn to a man who was a bibliophile too. It was a bonus that he also was part owner of his family’s bookstore chain. It’s no wonder they were attracted to each other as he tells Izzy, “How could I have known you’d not only be smart and kind and ridiculously creative, but also beautiful and funny and as much in love with stories as I am. Maybe even more so.”

But the path to love can be bumpy and Izzy’s doubts about her self worth and past woundings are the cause. How will she let go of things and be her authentic self? You will want to read this book to see how her story works out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Authentically Izzy by Pepper Basham is a unique romantic novel written in epistolary form. I loved the premise of this book but I found it really hard to get into due to the format. I wonder if it would work better as young adult fiction. Ms Basham is a phenomenal writer and I will continue to read all of her books. This one was not my favorite but many of her other books are favorites. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

A beautiful, heartwarming and funny love and life story. Izzy’s life is quiet and more in her fictional world with her passion for books than in the real world. When pushed by her cousin to join a dating app little does she knows that she will find herself, her dreams and the love of her life in another bookish weird foreigner. He is her soul mate but she must fight her insecurities and her demons and be brave to follow her heart.

Every so often something wonderful occurs, and I find that all of my favorite bookish tropes combine in one delightful story. When that happens, I end up feeling like the book was written especially with me in mind, and that my friends is exactly what happened when I picked up this amazing literary masterpiece from masterful storyteller Pepper D. Basham. I can pretty much tell you straight up that whatever I say in this review is never going to do her wonderful story justice, but I'm definitely going to do my best to try.

Izzy Edgewood may just be my new favorite protagonist of all time. She's an introvert, she's struggling to find the place she truly belongs, she's fierce hearted, and she has a wonderful love of all things literature that quite often spills over into her everyday life. I found myself instantly being able to relate to her love of all things bookish, and the social anxiety she struggles to have anyone else understand. The first part of this story is told in epistolary style (which I personally always love!!), and the reader is treated to hilarious and witty emails and text messages between Izzy and the three cousins that she ended up growing up with after her parent's tragically passed away when she was a teenager. The oldest cousin and her mother are constantly trying to find Izzy a potential husband, and they end up signing her up for an online dating service. Izzy has no interest in having anything to do with it, but she never planned on Brodie. He's from a small European nation, his mannerisms seem like he's from another time period, and he even understands all the bookisms she throws his way that no one ever knows what she's talking about. As the two grow closer, their friendship slowly changes into something more, but can they move past all the obstacles to find their way forward to a future together?

As I worked my way through this one and never wanted to put it down, I felt like I was right there with Izzy experiencing everything with Brodie and her cousins, and I love how atmospheric Pepper D. Basham's writing style is. This book was an absolute delight for any bookworms like myself, and very rarely has a book ever left me grinning and outright laughing the way this one did. I also appreciated that the deeper context of the story was handled authentically and gracefully, and added an extra depth to the story.

I literally loved every single thing about this one, and I never wanted to see it come to an end.

It's one of my favorites of all of the titles I've read by this author, and I can't personally recommend it enough.

Final Rating: 5/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!! It was such a quick read full of goodness on every page. Highly recommend this one 🤍

Cute and lighthearted but I found the modern epistolary format distracting. I often found myself skimming passages rather than getting lost in the pages.

Authentically, Izzy was such cute and light hearted read! It was a little slow in parts, but otherwise no complaints!

Super cute! A quick read that help me get out of a reading slump :) the relationship of the characters were so adorable - like when will I find a man like that? I also found Izzy extremely relatable to me. I feel I saw a little of myself in her or it could be that I wish I was her??? In any case this book made me laugh, cry, smile and all the emotions in between

This is my first go at epistolary fiction. Not sure it will be a favorite of mine as it by nature made the story feel a little choppy. I love Pepper Basham’s historical fiction works. This story has her same witty writing and lovable characters. I rarely ever read just a straight romance book, historical fiction is my first love so I missed that “more meaty” addition to storytelling. I enjoyed the characters, the lighthearted and fun banter, and all the bookish details. One of my favorite parts of the story was the sweet interaction between Izzy and her family, even Josephine :) The story was a nice change of pace but I think I’ll stick with historical fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read for honest review.

I wasn’t sure about the idea of a book consisting mostly of e-mails and texts, but boy was I wrong! I fell in love with Pepper Basham’s writing instantly; it’s delightfully witty and absolutely hilarious.

I don’t know if people still write love letters; we may have stopped doing it all together in favor of heart emojis and puppy eyes GIFs. But that would make a book that reminds us of the art of correspondence even more adorable and romantic, wouldn’t it?

I loved Izzy; she was strong and full of joy of life despite her difficult past. And Brodie… Heroes like him have a special place in my heart. I’ve always loved the quiet, bookish type with dry sense of humor. These two were such a perfect pair of book nerds 😍

Next to messages between Izzy and Brodie there are plenty of those between them and their families which is a clever way of introducing side characters in an epistolary novel. And we got to meet Luke - the funniest, smartest and most lovable brother figure I’ve read in a long time! To be honest I’m still not sure who I love more, Luke or Brodie.🤔

What didn’t exactly work for me in this story was the love triangle at the beginning. It didn’t go far but it felt like cheating nonetheless. Even if I appreciate the comedy of the moment when Brodie and Eli met. Another thing- the whole stipend business was asking for trouble and I was annoyed at how Brodie handled it.

What is worth mentioning, this is a book about devoted Christians, very open about their faith, so be prepared for a lot of talk about God and church, and a very conservative approach to sex.

Other than some passionate kisses there is no steam in this book, not even behind the scenes. When Izzy visited Brodie she didn’t stay at his place even though they were already officially a couple and the ‘forever’ had been mentioned. She stayed at his mom’s instead. It was important for the story that Izzy was a perfect fit for Brodie’s family, so maybe it did make sense, but it seemed odd that a thirty year old woman would stay at her boyfriend’s mom’s rather than with him or in a hotel.

Having said that, I'm fully aware that not everyone is a perv like me and some readers feel uncomfortable with too much on-page touching. Moreover it's the author's right to approach the topic in line with her values and I respect that choice.

To sum up I absolutely recommend this book to everyone who loves to laugh and read books. I will definitely check more of this author’s work, especially if Luke gets his own story 🤤.

4.5 stars

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

Authentically Izzy was intriguing for me since I love books, It was witty, charming and perfect to lose yourself in as you read it.
It is humorous and a joy to read.

Give me a bookish heroine and I will adore her!
Give me a bookish hero and I will swoon from start to finish!
And then give me gorgeous settings (both an island loaded with history and the Appalachian mountains) and I'll pack my bags to leave tomorrow!
This book was such fun! I needed a book that could make me laugh and just have a great time while reading it, and this fit the bill! That's not to say that the story doesn't touch on some powerful themes, because it did that as well. But not in a heavy way. Maybe it was the bookish nature of Izzy that helped me to connect with her. And maybe it's my relationship with my own cousins (some who were more like siblings) that helped me feel the family dynamic was real. And maybe it's the fact that I've spent so many years communicating with one of my closest friends via email that had me enjoying the epistolary format. But all of it combined made this book fantastic! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there is one scene in particular (no spoilers!) that convinced me I will love Luke forever!

I really wanted to love this one but it ended up being a bit too slow paced for my liking. The cover is super cute though!

The book was sweet , frustrating and loveable at the same time. I loved the epistolary part of it, it reminded me of Guernsey potatoe peel sociiety. You Will love tha characters. You Will love the bookish quoted and banters. A book with books yay. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Oh, my heart! I loved this gentle story about how two kindred souls met and fell in love. Epistolary novels are not my typical go-to choice but the emails exchanged between Izzy, her cousins, and Brodie did a great job of fleshing out the characters and telling not just the bare facts of what was happening but also their true thoughts and feelings as they shared their reactions. Sometimes they made me laugh out loud and occasionally I shed a tear but always they were erudite and witty. The author, one of my favorites, always has a way of reaching my core and touching my mind and heart with her words while at the same time imparting some truth while she entertains me. Favorite Quote: “Oh, my dear boy, when a man loves a woman well, and she is a woman of any worth at all, she not only blooms beneath his love but takes every opportunity to love him in return. She cannot help it.” Highly recommend! I received a complimentary advanced copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this voluntary review contains my honest opinions.

3.5 rounded up
I really enjoyed the beginning of this story, I thought the back and forth in text messages between Izzy and her cousins were really cute. I also enjoyed the interactions between Izzy and Brodie, especially when she was thinking her cousin Josephine was behind it. However, over 50% of this book is emails, texts, and dating site messages. It began to drag a bit, and I skimmed many of them. There were just so many messages between so many people, I had a hard time concentrating on what they were talking about.

But, once we get somewhere in the second part (there are three) we get some in-person interactions between Brodie and Izzy and I loved those. Whenever they were on the page together I was completely sucked in. I loved the setting of both small towns our characters were from, and the Brodies family with one exception were truly wonderful and welcoming to Izzy. I loved seeing them fall in love, and Izzy getting her dream.

I thought the first half was practically perfect, ready to join my list of epistolary favorites with Dear Mr. Knightley and Guernsey, but I was so jarred when it switched from epistolary to third person all of a sudden over 50% into it. The second half felt like a draft to me, struggling to find its tone and voice in each section and jumping back and forth from limited perspective third persons to epistolary to even a couple sections with a near omniscient narrator. There were even a few slips of “me” and “I” within the third person sections. To me, it felt like the author lost her editor midway through the book. I just found myself so disappointed and want to beg her to please take this draft and do the hard work to finish her epistolary masterpiece! It’s such a good story with such compelling characters!!!

And my final vent is the title!! In my humble opinion, this book should 100% have been called The Book Matchmaker. Authentically Izzy is just not a compelling title to me, and I only read this book because of the author's name and the description. I would never have picked up this book based on that title. I felt like whoever decided on the title only read the first half of the book because it seemed like such an obvious and compelling title choice for someone who read the whole book, but that goes back to my earlier comment about it feeling like this book lost its editor halfway through!

I found it so frustrating that this book that could have been great ended up just good.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.

Authentically, Izzy does a fantastic job of giving us two main characters who are both adorable book nerds, generously sprinkling in book references, and describing both libraries and book stores in a lovely way. I didn't love the story as much as I really had hoped and think that is due to the structure, pacing and predictability. I didn't mind the story told in email and text messages but thought the transition about mid way through when we got large sections simply narrated was awkward. Overall I felt the story dragged and just took too long, especially when the outcome seemed easily predicted. Even though this was just an okay read for me I'm still planning to read the author's other work and in fact have one just in from the bookstore waiting for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas-Nelson for an early copy to read and review. This book is expected out mid-November 2022.

This book is a must-read for romance and book lovers. It is witty, charming, frustrating, loving, and wanting to curl up on the couch in one sitting type of reading.


Thank you@NetGalley,@ThomasNelson, and @pepperbasham for this advance read.
#NetGalley #BookTwitter #AuthenticallyIzzy

How I love epistolary novels! And especially one with the warmth and heart of Authentically Izzy! This wonderful story is told mostly through emails, texts, and the messages that Izzy and Brodie exchange through an online dating site. There is something extremely intimate about reading the personal thoughts and emotions exchanged through their written exchanges, a form of communication that fosters honesty and authenticity. I adored that Izzy and Brodie were bookworms of the highest degree; as a bookworm myself, I feasted on their quotes and opinions of the books they loved! I was fully involved in Izzy’s life, including her relationships with her cousins, with her blossoming romance with Brodie, and with her own feelings of self-doubt and her sense of not belonging. I enjoyed that Lizzy not only found someone who shared her love of books, someone who was kind and caring—but most importantly, Izzy found herself. I was also more than a little in love with Brodie, too.