Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

“Dear Izzy—I feel certain there’s a book-loving man living relatively nearby waiting to speak bookish to you ’til death do you part. You just haven’t met yet.”

Izzy Edgewood is a wannabe bookstore owner, quote queen, and Lord of the Rings nerd who has been waiting for Prince Charming to sweep her off her sneakered feet. But it’s hard to meet people when you spend more time with fictional humans than real ones. Which is why her pragmatist cousin Josephine decides to take Izzy’s future into her own meddling hands and create an online dating profile for the hopeful romantic.

To Izzy’s shock (and suspicion), Josie’s plan works. Soon, she’s dialoguing with a Hobbit-loving man named Brodie who lives in a small town an ocean away from her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But is their shared love of books, family, and correspondence enough to overcome Izzy’s fear of flying and the literal distance between them? And is a long-distance relationship even worth considering when a local author has been frequenting the library where she works and is proving to be a perfectly fine gentleman?

In this epistolary novel from award-winning author Pepper Basham, bookish dreams and happily-ever-afters collide to create a beautiful sort of magic that’s even better than fiction.

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. You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com; Facebook: @pepperbasham; Instagram: @pepperbasham; Twitter: @pepperbasham; BookBub: @pepperbasham.

Authentically, Izzy is an epistolary novel by Pepper Basham (which means the story is told in the form of letters--- or emails as the case may be). When I was younger, this actually used to be one of my favorite types of books. As I've gotten older though, I must admit, I don't typically enjoy them as much as I had in the past. I must admit, I am guilty of not reading through the entire description before deciding on a book to read, so I actually didn't realize this when choosing it. Still, I am a Pepper Basham fan, so I wanted to give this one a chance anyway. 

I'm glad that I did because it was an enjoyable story... but not my favorite of hers by any means. It was well written and of course I appreciated the humor and the romance of it all... but it really just came down to the style. For me personally, I find that it just keeps me from truly getting into the story as much as I might have otherwise. Still, as someone who reads a lot of books, it was fun to mix things up a little bit too! I appreciate the author doing something a little different...and making it work!