The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton Series: Love's Academic #1
Published by Penguin on July 23, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Fantasy, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Victorian, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780593547281Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols.
Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.
For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.
When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.
India Holton’s books are always such a romp of a good time! They’re lighthearted, adventurous, and absurdist while also having a realness to them at the same time.
With The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love, there’s Beth and Devon who are both so wonderful as characters and as a couple. I always love a good “he falls first” story, and in this one, Devon falls for Beth right away. But Beth isn’t having any of this, and I’m also here for that. The fact that they both have their own independent stories and dreams just makes them more fleshed out characters. Even the side characters were hilarious and fully developed. The villain of the story being a old white man wanting to keep women out of academics felt apropos to the time the novel took place and in our current political climate.
I love that the story revolved around magical birds. I’ve recently started getting into birding (thanks to The Residence and Cordelia Cupp), so having a story about magical birds was so much fun!
There is one thing that was a let down, and that’s the end of the book. The caladrius is released into the wild and everything’s okay with the bird, which I did love. But it felt like there could’ve been another chapter. While we know Beth and Devon are together at the end, I would’ve liked to have seen an epilogue or another chapter to fully close everything. Or even an additional section added to the last chapter.
Either way, still a fabulous book, and I already finished the second in the series and am impatiently waiting for the third book.
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