I would like to thank netgalley and Thomas Nelson for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

This was a difficult read for me. I did not enjoy the electronic communication for the entire first part, and there were a few too many reflections of religion for my taste, but I pushed through. I would suggest passing on this one and I’m no longer keeping book two on my tbr.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy.

Lighthearted clean romance that is written through emails and texts which I love. Izzy is quirky and fun which I really enjoy in my FMC. Highly recommend

The dating site correspondence is even worse - there the exposition wouldn't be a problem since the people are just getting to know each other, so sharing stories is natural, but oh, the posturing! The attempts at literary one-upmanship are so annoying, I lost all interest in those characters' welleing. That might have been cute if the characters were in their late teens, but they are supposed to be in their early 30's!

The book for book lovers!!

I love a book that includes text/email exchanges well. This book had it!

Izzy and her family and Brodie are charming and will have you falling for them all!

Authentically, Izzy

by Pepper Basham

There are many enjoyable, bookish novels that have a bookshop or library setting or feature a writer, book club, or writer’s retreat. That kind of book appeals to me, and I have read a lot of them. Authentically, Izzy, however, is the most delightful and thoroughly bookish story I have encountered; and because it is epistolary (emails and texts), the reader finds that words, quotes, and puns play a major role.

I smiled and laughed my way through the tale of shy library assistant Isabelle in the Appalachians who, despite having her heart truly and fully broken two times, is convinced by her cousin Josie into going on blind dates and using an online dating service. An added complication is that Izzy grew up with her cousins after the untimely death of her parents. They are wonderful people, but Izzy has never been quite sure of her role as a cousin/sister.

Brodie, whose family has a chain of bookstores on the island kingdom of Skymar near Great Britain, signs on to the same service. His initial goal is to entice someone to come work in his country. Brodie is single, good looking, speaks English with an adorable accent, and is a book aficionado. His family could use the financial stipend their country offers to citizens who hire employees from outside the country to fund his little sister’s much needed surgery and to shore up their bookstore chain. Employment would be the incentive, but could romance be an added bonus?

Reading the interactions of these two total book nerds is an absolute delight, but there are many barriers to a happily ever after. They include a fear of flying, a long distance courtship, and a professor/author in the U.S. who is also pursuing Izzy. There are hints that certain potentially disastrous situations will catch up with the couple. One reveal happens fairly soon, but then the reader is left waiting for the other shoe to drop. What a pleasurable suspense! It is impossible to read this book without hoping for all to work out well in the end!

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

Rating: 5/5

Category: Romance, Christian Fiction

Notes: This book is considered a standalone, but another epistolary novel will be published in August 2023, that focuses on Izzy’s cousin/sister: Positively, Penelope. I can’t wait to read it!

Publication: November 15, 2022—Thomas Nelson

Memorable Lines:

I have found fiction to meet me at the most poignant of times in my life. I learned the power of imagination through Narnia and the intimacy of true friendship in The Lord of the Rings. I found courage from Atticus Finch and an unexpected camaraderie with Emma’s Knightley…Fiction, at its best, speaks to the heart.

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” Can you believe Charles Dickens wrote that? I always thought of him as a dreary sort of fellow since he seemed to spend so much time thinking about ghosts and orphans and women who wear wedding gowns for much too long.

(Why do I keep renewing my passport if I’ve never used it? I think something needs to change. After all, Josephine says flying is the safest way to travel, though I’d prefer a magical wardrobe or even a portkey.)

I was not a fan of this book.
I didn’t love all of the email correspondences and I just felt like it was dragging on.
However, I know that there are people out there that have loved this!!

Oh my stars! This delightful romcom felt like a cozy hug for my book loving heart!
Pepper Basham is one of my absolute favorite authors, and if she writes it I know I’m gonna love it! I have been so excited about this book since long before it released, but just finally had a chance to get to it, and wow what a joyful journey this book took me on!
My life story is definitely not the same as Izzy’s, but I related to her in so many ways. Her love of fictional characters, and her journey of learning to let her authentic self shine through really hit home for me and touched my heart in so many ways!
Brodie is an amazing swoon-worthy hero who I fell head over heels in love with! I almost never picture book characters in any specific way when I’m reading, however in Brodie’s case JJ Feild circa Austenland kept coming to mind, and I’m definitely not mad about it! Hear that Mr. Feild, if you can pull off a Scottish accent then please keep your schedule open for when this book becomes a movie! BTW Hollywood, you need to get on that ASAP!
I also loved the secondary characters, especially Luke!
As with everything Pepper Basham writes Authentically, Izzy put a smile on my face, had me laughing out loud, and made my heart swell to the point of overflowing with joy!
I know that epistolary novels (those told through letters, emails, etcetera) aren’t everyone’s jam, but personally they’re one of my favorite things, and I loved this one so very much!
I ADORED every second of Authentically, Izzy! It is one of my favorite reads of 2023, and I most highly recommend it!

P.S. the audiobook is AMAZING and one of my all time favorites! If you’re into audiobooks you need to read this one!

P.P.S. you also need the paperback for your keeper shelf, and if you read ebooks you need that too. This is one of those stories that one needs to own in as many formats as possible!


I received a complimentary ebook copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.
My review was not influenced in any way. All thoughts and opinions are one hundred percent my own.

Okay, so this book has been at the top of my TBR pile for months. I never meant to wait this long to read this bookish story from one of my favorite authors but life(insert shoulder shrug here). I finally read it yesterday and let me just say I DEVOURED it. It was such a charming story that immediately captured my heart and attention. I lost count early on at the laugh out loud moments or the smiles it brought to my face. I WANT A BRODIE!! I have a new book boyfriend after this story(with apologies to my husband :D ). He is charming, a bookstore owner, and from a fabulous island that I really wish was real-I'd be planning a trip to visit! Izzy is adorable and her conversations with her cousins are a hoot! I can't wait for Penelope and Luke to get their own stories!!

P.S. I love all the bookish mentions in this story-especially two personal favorite books that got shoutouts. "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

P. P. S. These will make sense if/when you read the book! :D

Izzy was a fun albeit chaotic main character who was very fun to fall. I really enjoyed her life and watching her grow into it and find what she wanted.


Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

All the nerdy love for this book! There are so many literary references, especially Lord of the Rings, that any reader will absolutely adore. I thought Izzy and Brodie just clicked so well. As a reader who doesn't have a reader husband, I was kind of jealous of their mutual love of books. (ha! just kidding, mostly. Of course I love my husband) The introduction of Eli was meh. He didn't feel like competition to me. Then the descriptions of Skymar?? All the heart eyes! If Izzy isn't going to up and move to Skymar with Brodie, I will! It sounded so amazing and I was kind of sad it doesn't exist because I couldn't look up pictures.

I will say, I struggled to get into this book at first. I found the epistolary format difficult to read. I was reading an ebook version (which I'm normally a fan of) but something just told me this style of book would probably be better in physical format so I went out and finally bought a physical copy. Then I devoured it. So if you're normally an ebook person (or someone who reads a mix of formats like me) and the electronic copy of this book doesn't do it for you, try the paperback version! A lot of the book is told through emails and texts but there are also large parts in a traditional narrative style, which I was grateful for.

I absolutely adored this book. I should preface it by saying that it did take me a few minutes to get into the writing but that was because it's written as a series of emails and texts and it took me a few minutes to get used to that. Once I got into the book though I could not put it down. I had to find out what happened to Brodie and Izzy.

I really wanted to give that writer a thump upside the head though! How could he use Izzy that way!? And how could she not see it?

Within the book, it talks about an epistolary novel that Izzy recommends to someone. That's the type of novel this is. Though I had no idea about it until after reading through it. The first of its kind that I've read! I've read books that had letters within them but not ones that are entirely letters or emails or texts before.

I adored Izzy. I saw a lot of myself within her. She's shy and doesn't reach out to people. She prefers to be alone with her books! Umm, I should probably not show you the size of our bookshelves. LOL Add in her love of the classics and I feel we'd be best friends!

It was with great pleasure I learned that this is a series! Book two review coming soon too! I loved it just as much but now I really really need to know what happens to the rest of the siblings. I'm invested in this family! Also, can I please go visit the islands?!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

Very cute romance story! I liked the chemistry between the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I will be very honest and tell you that I skimmed a bunch of this before deciding not to finish. I did not realize until I was looking at the goodreads page for this book that this is a "clean, Christian romance". I am NOT the target audience for that genre. I am a smut-loving heathen who was getting annoyed by how many references there were to church and God in the part of the book I read, which now makes a lot more sense. If NetGalley had been up front with those labels, I would not have requested the book at all.
In regards to the writing style, I don't feel like an epistolary worked here. It was just unrealistic for many reasons. No one is writing such long emails to anyone, but especially not to someone they are also texting with and seeing on a regular basis. Also, no one talks like that. It was just all too much.

I am sure this is a great book for someone. Just not for me. I hope it gets into the hands of the right readers soon.

To move ahead and out of her dating bad luck, Izzy enrolls in an online dating service. This also appeases her adopted family of cousins who want to see her find love again. Izzy LOVES books and works as a librarian. She dreams of running her own bookshop, but that's a big commitment and she's still searching for her true place. Izzy also lives in Mt. Airy, NC which is an idyllic setting for this small town story. She's comfortable here and doesn't enjoy big cities. It doesn't take too long for a local blind date and a match on the online service to both be vying for Izzy's attention. Who will win out? The local professor and writer or the international mystery man.

"Authentically Izzy" is a heartwarming and delightful romance novel that is sure to charm readers. Izzy, the protagonist, is a relatable and likable character, and her love for books and her dream of opening her own bookstore will resonate with any book lover. The online dating aspect of the story adds a modern twist, while the long-distance romance creates a sense of longing and anticipation that will keep readers hooked. The writing is witty and engaging, with plenty of literary references and nods to classic rom-coms. Overall, "Authentically Izzy" is a feel-good read that is perfect for anyone looking for a little romance and adventure in their life.

I really wanted to like this because the concept was amazing but I couldn't get into it. The execution wasn't the best and although I understand the importance of the emails I feel like too much of the book was told through them which got a little boring after a while.

I found the characters and banter to be highly entertaining but I struggled a lot with the written format. I really enjoyed the emails back and forth but the various different mediums of communication and lack of prose meant I often got lost in the messages.

Readers also should be made aware this is Christian Romance which I don't think is clearly advertised.

Story and Cover are cute. Not a huge fan of the Austen style but still very enjoyable. I love books with lots of texts, emails and letters. Super Cute