The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

Series: Love's Academic (#1)

Format: 384 pages, Paperback

Published: July 23, 2024 by Berkley

Historical fantasy

I liked it, but while I was reading I came to realised something was missing. Something that could have made it great.

Two ornithologists are competing in a contest, they are rivals, but are thrown together. It is a historical fantasy romcom with birds with magical powers.

And now I get all negative because that is all I can think of. I liked the world. I liked the banter, the hidden jokes, the weird birds with magic. But as I was reading I kept wondering why it was not truly pilling me in?! And I realised, it was the damn romance. I did not feel the romance. I totally thought they were rivals, and that she despised him. But as they got closer, nope, I felt no connection, no chemistry. The romance was this dead weight that made me feel nothing.

I did look that following books have other couples, but as the romance was dead here I worry. I am curious though.

Rival 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, capturing 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.