Book Review: Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham

 

Book Review: Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham - 4.5 Stars

Pepper does it again with Loyally, Luke in book 3 of the Skymar Series! Izzy and Penelope have been some of my favorite books, just overall great comfort reads. Loyally, Luke does not disappoint as we are following Luke Edgewood's love story with a secret Skymar Princess! If you are looking for a book that just makes you overall HAPPY, pick this up! You can read this as a standalone, but I personally believe you get the BEST Skymar experience by picking up book 1 & 2 first. We follow Luke throughout the entire series so we've gotten to know him and really enjoy his character. So many of us have been looking forward to his romance story and I am so glad Pepper wrote this story!

This story follows Luke and Ellie. Luke is in Skymar to help with some construction work and has a "meet-cute" with Ellie, the Skymar Princess! He is trying to avoid all "hallmark cheese" romance tropes but he ends up with quite the romantic ADVENTURE! I loved all the references to romance tropes in this one, those things made me laugh SO much! And to see the siblings jumping in all about the tropes too, was even better! (Like the whole "meet-cute" discussion LOL) As many others have said, Ellie is really a prodigal princess, her past mistakes follow her and she's trying to discover who she really is. I loved seeing Luke help her along the way with this and the ending was CHEF'S KISS for me with what Luke did! 

Luke really reminds me of my own Dad and brother. He's a grumpy southern handyman with a lot of sarcasm and laughs, but he also cares about the people he loves and is one to work hard and take care of those around him. He loves kids, which we get to see in this story too! I would have liked a little more of those details of Luke with the children and details with the orphans, but overall I loved seeing those moments. 

I think my favorite thing of this entire series is the sibling relationship. I have a very close relationship with my brother and so much of this is reminiscent of our own sibling relationship! You find yourself just laughing and enjoying the entire dynamic. Also, as a southern belle myself (who loves Scotland), ya'll already know I love the Southern and Skymar settings and characters!

A note of importance, when you compare this to Izzy and Penelope, this is more narrative than full epistolary style. I love both ways of storytelling personally, but wanted to notate that for those interested. We still get bits of text and email threads though throughout the story, which I loved seeing!

There was a nice light faith element in this book too that I really enjoyed seeing added. So glad Pepper wrote this series!

P.S. Readers will love this series for the heartwarming, humorous, sweet rom-com that it is! The PERFECT comfort read.  

P.P.S. Also, the audiobook of this was AMAZING with the cast of narrators! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a complimentary audiobook to listen to. That really enhanced the reading experience for me! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5576027294
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aclyAG
Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/542228

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