Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham is a romantic comedy that begins a new series of epistolary novels.
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 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 with 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 appreciated the reminder that , “Life is too precious to hesitate when God offers the opportunity for something even better than what we imagine.”
I received an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher through NetGalley and Just Read Tours; a positive review was not required.
About Authentically, Izzy
Isabelle Edgewood is the quintessential introverted librarian, who possesses a much more imaginative and wittier internal world than her predictable real life suggests. Her romantic journey remains as quiet as her professional one, and she’s not complaining. After being used twice by men she thought she loved, she’s decided fictional heroes are the only ones she’s interested in pursuing.
When her cousin enrolls Izzy in an online matchmaking service, Izzy is thrust into an in-between space that allows her an opportunity to say all the things she’s kept safely tucked away in her head, while gaining a toehold in the possibility of her own happily-ever-after. As Mr. Right shows up on the screen, another love interest walks into her real world and Izzy is faced with a choice between trusting in someone she’s never met but who appreciates the “real Izzy” or falling back into her pattern of staying safe and close to home, without risking her heart. Is finding someone who truly “sees” her worth rewriting the story of her own future?
Purchase Authentically, Izzy on Amazon | TNZ Fiction
About Pepper Basham
Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her nineteenth novel, Authentically Izzy, debuts in November with Thomas Nelson. She loves connecting with readers and other authors through social media outlets like Facebook & Instagram.
You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com