Review – The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance/Humor
Length: 378 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 23, 2024
ASIN: B0CLN6XSD7
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Love’s Academic series
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“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.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 1st book in the Love’s Academic series. I borrowed this on ebook from the library.

Thoughts: This started a bit slow but picked up the pace about 25% of the way in. This is a Victorian alternate history sort of fantasy romance. It is set in England (mostly) but an England where the birds are deadly and magical, and ornithologists play a major role in the safety of people in general.

Beth is a rare female ornithologist professor and, when a contest to capture the rare caladrius bird is announced (with tenure as the prize) she must participate. Unfortunately, all the ornithologists dive right into this challenge, including the incredibly smart and handsome Professor Devon Lockley. As Devon and Beth are forced to team up, they are incredibly attracted to each other, and both are forced to admit there are more important things in life than winning Birder of the Year (of course, nothing is more important than the birds). As the chase for this rare bird continues, they both realize that there is more behind this contest than they initially thought.

This is a very fun and cute read. The beginning missed the mark for me a bit. Beth was just too timid and the characters felt a bit too stereotypical, however that was quickly remedied as we got further into the story. There is a lot of action here, and a lot of the story is a bit tongue-in-cheek. I mean the ornithologists are so famous and so important, at times it all feels a bit over characterized and silly, but in a fun way.

The story does jump between a few different POVs. However, the majority of the story is told from Beth’s and Devon’s points of view. I enjoyed both Beth and Devon as characters. At first, they seem a bit stereotypical to this type of alternate history Victorian story, but I think that is part of the point. As they get to know each other better, we also get to know them better. They are both exceptional characters with deep intelligence and interests.

This was a fun romp, was effortless to read, and was well written. I enjoyed it immensely.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall, though the start of this was a bit rough for me, I thought the story really hit it’s stride about 25% of the way in and I really started to love it. I loved this alternate history Victorian London setting with deadly magical birds, the quirky characters, the fast pace, the romance, and the mystery that is unraveled. I would recommend to those who enjoy alternate history Victorian romance with some magic, adventure, and mystery in it. I will definitely be picking up the second book in the series, “The Geographer’s Map to Romance.”