There is something truly wonderful about finding a new author to read. I’m new to Pepper Basham’s books and I’m excited to read more.

I absolutely loved this book. The story of a rogue man and a princess is reminiscent of my favorite rouge and princess (Han and Solo). Luke has a heart of gold. He was the perfect grumpy contractor. I appreciated how down to earth he was and how he always himself. Ellie, was so lovely. A down on her luck princess, trying to work her way back into the public eye in a positive way.

The dual POV was perfectly done. I loved the texts between the characters. Maeve especially was a favorite. Some of her lines had me laughing out loud. Being new to Basham’s books, I was still able to get a sense of family and love between Luke and his family. Penelope and Izzy were so funny and wanting a HEA for their brother.

I loved how the ending came together. It was a lovely gift.

Huge thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley approval for the audio and the ebook. I enjoyed listening to the beautiful accents. The narrators did an amazing job of bringing these fantastic characters to live.

I can’t wait to read the other books in this series and more books from this talented author.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of this book. This book was worthy of a Hallmark movie- sweet and swoony, and I could definitely see it being made into a TV movie. Loved the banter between these two!

This one was a struggle for me - I read a lot of romance fiction and I just couldn’t get into the flow of writing and narrative of this book, and was actually my very first DNF.

I may have to revisit this again to give it a fair go, but for now this one just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

This book was slow for me to get into but I really enjoyed the pacing, the depth of the characters and how the author wove the story together!

DNF / didn't realize this was an installment in a series. I have not read the initial book. It did not feel fair to review. Also, the start with the text convos back and forth, was not my favorite.

In this romance, handyman Luke returns to Skymar for a remodeling project at a countryside orphanage and meets "Ellie," unaware she's Princess Elliana. As they grow close, Elliana appreciates Luke's straightforwardness and the fact he doesn't know her troubled past. However, her royal identity eventually comes to light, complicating their relationship given Luke's ties to North Carolina and Elliana's duties in Europe. The story is ideal for fans of Hallmark movies and features warm, rugged heroes.

You know how the film "Enchanted" is one part witty parody, two parts nostalgic homage, and three parts easter egg hunt for fans of Disney animation?

Well, "Loyally, Luke" is the literary "Enchanted" for fans of Hallmark movies!

Authentically fun and positively charming, Pepper Basham has penned a novel that's sure to have loyal readers swooning and giggling in turn. Basham's clever use of rom-com tropes is at once familiar and fresh, and her characters are utterly endearing.

If you're in the mood for a hilarious royal romance, "Loyally, Luke" is sure to be your cup of tea!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own honest opinion.

Loyally, Luke
Where 🛠️ + 👑 = 💛

Thank you to @pepperbasham @netgalley and @thomasnelson for this digital ARC. As always, my recommendation comes with my honest review and touchy topics listed below to help you make an informed decision for yourself.

I had heard wonderful things about Authentically, Izzy and knew I wanted to read the whole series. Izzy is one of my new favorite books, and Loyally, Luke was nothing short of a wonderful read!

First of all, Luke is a great guy. He’s grumpy, and teases to no end, and has the best kind of banter because his heart cares. He will do whatever it takes for the people he loves, hands down.

Except, maybe, become a royal…you’ll have to read to find out! 🤪

Note: the romance in this book is SO swoony! It is closed-door, but there are some adorable and realistic kisses, so if that’s not your thing, it is something to keep in mind. If that IS your thing, welcome to the right place. 😁💛

There are three books in this series that can all be read as standalone novels, however they are best enjoyed in order! Here is my rating for each of them:

💕 Authentically, Izzy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

🎭 Positively, Penelope ⭐️⭐️⭐️

👷🏻‍♂️ Loyally, Luke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content: 🍓🍓🍓

Touchy Topics: Terminal illness, child illness, parental expectations, allusions to partying/hanging out with wrong crowd, kissing/thoughts of more.

#bookreview #bookstagram #authorsofinstagram #writersofbookstagram #authorsofbookstagram #arcreview #releaseday #pubday #pepperbasham #loyallyluke #romcom #romance #romancebooks #authenticallyizzy

Rating Scale:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: PERFECT. Probably cried
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Wonderful, just not top 10
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Good! Most books fit here
⭐️⭐️: Not really my cup of tea
⭐️: Basically DNF

Content Scale:

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓: Squeaky clean!
🍓🍓🍓🍓: Appropriate for most readers
🍓🍓🍓: Heavy topics, likely 18+
🍓🍓: Intense scenes about heavy topics
🍓: Tread lightly

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC

I really liked this novel. It was fun and adorable. The romance was sweet and their interactions were great. I love the trope of a royalty romance and the fact that our mmc is a grump, makes everything better. At times hilarious and a times just freaking sweet this was an all-around romance.

I have LOVED this series! I'm so glad that the sarcastic, snarky, completely lovable big brother Luke got his story.

Luke is the only male in a family of sisters and is the lone holdout in the Hallmark movie love fest that they have going on. He's more a Rambo, or Mission: Impossible kind of guys guy, complete with the tool belt and the flannel shirts. While his two sisters have both met their matches in the island nation of Skymar, he's only there to lead a building project. He doesn't need romance, but his sister, Penelope, thinks he's going to find his "twue wuv" like she and Izzy both did.

No way, no how, is what Luke believes, until he starts to see a Grace Kelly look-alike everywhere he goes, including on his job site. She says she's there to "help" but she has no construction experience. The more he and Ellie work together his annoyance turns to ... more. He's stunned to learn that the Ellie he's been working with every day is really Princess Elliana, the youngest member of the royal family of Skymar.

Ellie is working to regain her place as a "working royal" since her fall from grace and eventual time in rehab took her out of the public eye. She decided to dip her toes into helping by refurbishing an orphanage in the north of her country where she has been hiding out (and staying out of the press) for the last 3 years. Working with the American, Luke, is refreshing because he has no idea who she really is. She's just "Ellie" to him, and she likes it that way. When someone from the press gets wind of where she is, and starts printing half-truths, she knows her anonymity has run out. Will Luke still see Ellie when he sees her, or will he now see Princess Elliana? Can they ever be together when her parents have a list of "acceptable" suitors for her, and Luke hasn't made the cut?

Readers who love lots of humor with their romance will enjoy Loyally, Luke. I think I liked his story the best of the 3 Skymar books, but since each featured a very different sister's story, they all had unique drawing points. While this can be read as a stand-alone, readers will enjoy it so much more if they read Authentically, Izzy and Positively, Penelope first! It gets all the stars from me! (And, if you can, listen to the audio version instead of reading it! I loved hearing the Scottish accents from the actors.)

Luke merely came over to Skymar to help with some historic restoration projects and then to be present for his sister's wedding. What Luke didn't expect to do was to run into a Grace Kelly look-alike (Ellie) who would also end up hiring him to help her renovate an orphanage in a historic castle. Ellie can be so infuriating at times, but as Luke is forced to spend more and more time with her, he realizes she may have more in common with him than he initially thought. I absolutely loved the banter between the characters. The epistolary and multiple point of view elements really make this story. The characters are great and I am sad to see this series end. Highly recommend this book for lovers of contemporary romance.

3.5

When I requested the ARC for this on NetGalley, I had no idea that this was a Christian romance. I also didn’t realize that it was the last in a standalone series. I just saw some tropes that I enjoy and figured I’d give it a shot.

I am Catholic, but typically don’t read Christian romance. Sometimes I find them to be a bit too preachy.

I think that this story will be enjoyed by people who like Christian romance. The story has common Christian themes of reformation and faith, but ultimately focuses on the cute romance. I think that non-Christians could also enjoy this story. The romantic chemistry is present, and although the story is clean, physical attraction is still conveyed very well.

I enjoyed Loyally Luke, although I think it’s a bit cheesy. The story is self-aware of its own cheesiness, and the characters joke about the romance being like a Hallmark movie. I’m a big fan of royal romances, so I had fun with this story. I also liked the sibling relationships and I liked reading their text threads. It made me interested in the earlier books in the series.

Ultimately I recommend this story for someone who wants a romance that is kind of corny, but light and enjoyable.

This book was okay, but I have to admit that I'm not a fan of books that begin with a text message exchange. I don't find it to be a good hook for readers. However, I ended up enjoying the book.

Ok, I’m going to admit a few things right from the start. One, I thought this was going to be another gushy Hallmark, nothing new under the sun type of book, I was proven wrong. Two, I saw all the texting within the book and I thought this is going to be hard to follow, I was delightfully proven wrong. Third, it is the third and final book in a series of three related books and I thought I’m not going to follow or understand the characters and admittedly at first I was a little confused about Luke, his sisters and his cousin but again, I was proven wrong by an author who took the time to carefully introduce all her characters and then develop them all in her own timing and in the most thorough of ways. And there are a lot of wonderful characters in this book.
Now, let me expound a little and give a little intro into this delightful romance of Luke Edgewood, an American carpenter, a commoner no less, meeting a Skymaran Princess, Eliana St. Claire, the Duchess of Mara and the North Country but just Elle to Luke. Well, she became known as “Elle” after the two agreed they needed to start over after a disastrous first-met at the airport at which time Luke’s thoughts of her ran more like this: “ Well, wasn’t she a bouquet of arrogance.” Yes, as in all good “fairytale” romances these two enemies are thrown together in the most remarkable of renovations. The renovating of an orphanage, where the reader is introduced to some of the sweetest characters, and the orphanage is in a castle….yes, a castle. Luke has traveled from his home at the foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. to Skymara for a couple of reasons. One, his cousin Izzy, he considers her his third sister, is getting married to Brodie there and while there he has agreed with Mr. Lewis Gray to do some renovations for a cabin Luke will be staying in and the orphanage. His sisters Penelope and Josephine will be meeting him in Skymar closer to the wedding date but until then this close-knit family corresponds frequently through text messaging and those messages are what truly make this book UNIQUE! They are full of funny banter, friendly teasing and lots of emotional support. Each sibling is different than the other but yet they share a common bond of love and support of each other even though they are relentless in their teasing of each other and poor Luke, being the only male, gets all the female advice he wished he didn’t. Princess Elianna “Elle” is a patron on the Board overseeing the orphanage and she wishes to be hands-on with the renovations and she proves to be much more than a princess but unfortunately she also has a past that haunts her and a paparazzi gossip rag that will give her no respite. As the story unfolds Elle and Luke get past their disastrous first impressions and begin to have mutual feelings towards each other knowing they shouldn’t because of all the complicating issues but will Elle’s failure to tell Luke that she is the Princess be the final complication?
A few more things I found refreshing about this book. It is a clean, no sex necessary, romance with charm galore but never gushy. Just a stand-up guy supporting, caring, loving his princess in his way and a flawed Princess being able to channel her inner self because of the guy she could truly love because he saw her as just Elle. Another refreshing thing is the author’s references to taking matters to God, praying, thanking Him. It is done in subtle ways but I appreciate the fact that this author included those moments in her book. Another thing I found amusing, and there were many humorous moments within the texts between the siblings, but I loved the contrasts within the story. For instance the King married a commoner; the Frasers, Nessa and Gordon were sunshine and the grump; Luke, the quiet one, shared the cabin with Peter, the talkative one; Penelope, the romantic Hallmark fairytale fortune teller, compared to Izzy, more realistic, low key adviser, and Josephine, whom we don’t learn a lot about seems more reserved until a certain text near the end; and of course, Luke, the American commoner, and Elianna, Princess of Skymar. This is one of those books I would gladly give more than five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars to because it ticked all the boxes for me; written well, had originality, unique format with texts, wonderfully developed characters including the secondary characters, storyline flowed smoothly and easy to understand, no inconsistencies, descriptions were adequate, appropriate and revealing, clean with passionate kisses, and the best unexpected HEA!
I received a free Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book via Netgalley but was given no monetary compensation. I read for the enjoyment and voluntarily review so that others may know what to expect and authors may be helped by critique and encouragement.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity

Love the small town setting and the main characters have real chemistry.

Ever since Luke was introduced in Authentically, Izzy, I was looking forward to his story. I loved his snarky comments and his good heart. This book had a lot less of the snark and a lot more of the heart. And Luke has a lot of gooey romantic thoughts.

Unlike the first two books in this series, this was not an epistolary novel. There were very few emails and some text exchanges, but most of the book was written like a traditional romance novel. And if you have ever read any of Pepper Basham's romances, you know there is going to be kissing and swoon-worthy moments.

Although I'm not a fan of the commoner and princess falling in love storyline in general, I did like the character of the princess. She had an interesting backstory and a love for her family and country that was admirable. And I enjoyed that readers were able to see what was happening in the lives of Izzy and Penelope from the first two books. There was also some poking fun at romantic tropes while they were employed.

What I probably liked best about the book, however, were the secondary characters. I loved the orphans and the townspeople that the main characters interacted with.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. Although this book can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the other two books in the series first.

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

I thought I really loved Authentically, Izzy and Positively Penelope but then I read/listened to Loyally, Luke and I really fell in love with Luke and Ellie! It really was my favorite of this series. Such a great conclusion and I loved the banter back and forth between him and his sisters. Ellie was just perfect for her knight in flannel. It was such a fun romance and I couldn't get enough of it!

The narrators were just awesome too. Very enjoyable to listen to. Great job to all!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 14 May 2024

UNEXPECTED LOVE

Author Pepper Basham writes delightful rom-coms, and Loyally, Luke is one of her best works. Basham writes the character of Luke as a woman's dream brother, cousin, and boyfriend, all wrapped into one! Luke has always been unusually close to his sisters and a cousin. They communicate through group texts many times a day. The girls have found their “soul mates” and are eager for Luke to find his. He is content with his life, his work, and his dogs. Luke accepts a small-term construction job in Skymar, a European country. The first person he encounters is an insulting but gorgeous woman. The kind that gets under your skin, and as much as you want to, you cannot forget. Basham’s fast-moving plot manages to throw these two together quickly as they soon discover they will be working on the same project, and she is in charge! They also quickly realize that there is a significant mutual attraction between them. Have they found unexpected love? That is before Luke discovers the woman has kept a secret of devastating proportions from him. Can these two find a way back to each other after this secret is revealed or is their relationship doomed? I encourage you to read this delightful book to find out the answer for yourself.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson & NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own and without influence.

DNF. Verily predictable awriting akin to Hallmark romance movies which ironically are mentioned profusely. Not necessarily bad just not my cup of tea.

Pepper Basham is one special lady.

I've looked forward to Luke's tale for what feels like forever, and this anticipated story fulfilled every hope and dream I had. 😍

Similar to "Authentically, Izzy" and "Positively, Penelope", this epistolary novel overflows with lovable characters worthy of emotional investment, delightful banter between Luke and his sisters, and a beautiful, complicated romance set in the picturesque world of Skymar.

But what I loved most about this story? Luke. I've loved him since Izzy's book, and Ms Basham didn't disappoint. Luke is "blokey" and rough, able to banter with the grumpiest tradie, yet tender and thoughtful to love on a young child or anticipate the "simple" wishes of a princess.

In true Pepper Basham style, this story is rich in believable friendships with "I wish I knew them" sorts of people. Down to earth characters mingling with royalty and working-class alike. I love how relatable each person is, how upsetting the difficult moments can be. This story calls to your heart, burrows deep, and stays with you long after you close the book.

NB I received an ARC of this novel. Many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.