The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley: A Novel

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley: A Novel

Courtney Walsh

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

She’s out to prove that there’s no such thing as choosing happiness. Isadora Bentley follows the rules. Isadora Bentley likes things just so. Isadora Bentley believes that happiness is something that flat-out doesn’t exist in her life—and never will. As a university researcher, Isadora keeps to herself as much as possible. She avoids the students she’s supposed to befriend and mentor. She stays away from her neighbors and lives her own quiet, organized life in her own quiet, organized apartment. And she will never get involved in a romantic relationship again—especially with another academic. It will be just Isadora and her research. Forever. But on her thirtieth birthday, Isadora does something completely out of character. The young woman who never does anything “on a whim” makes an impulse purchase of a magazine featuring a silly article detailing “Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy”—which includes everything from smiling at strangers to exercising for endorphins to giving in to your chocolate cravings. Isadora decides to create her own secret research project—proving the writer of the ridiculous piece wrong. As Isadora gets deeper into her research—and meets a handsome professor along the way—she’s stunned to discover that maybe, just maybe, she’s proving herself wrong. Perhaps there’s actually something to this happiness concept, and possibly there’s something to be said for loosening up and letting life take you somewhere . . . happy. Contemporary Christian romance Perfect for fans of Denise Hunter and Rachel Linden Includes discussion questions for book clubs


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  • KnitPlanJess
    Mar 10, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    Isadora Bentley is on the search for happiness - she's close to an internal breakdown as she hits her 30th birthday, so she does the thing that she does best. Creates a hypothesis of 31 ways to find happiness and sets on researching if these 31 ways actually do bring her happiness.

    Found family, love, and finding confidence in herself - Isadora's journey was a joy to follow along with. I was rooting for her to stand up to her ex, believe in her friends, believe in love, and most of all, believe in herself.

    While I do have the e-ARC, I was also lucky enough to be able to get the ALC. This was narrated by Jorjeana Marie and she had me smiling throughout the whole book. I loved her energy as she told Isadora's story and she made it even more delightful than I could imagine.

    Huge thank you to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! Also, thank you to LibroFM for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

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