The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love cover art

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

Love's Academic, Book 1

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

By: India Holton
Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the mastermind behind The Dangerous Damsels series, India Holton delivers another fantastical and whimsical story that's perfect to read with a cup of tea . . .
Rival ornithologists hunt through Europe for dangerous magical birds in this historical fantasy romance. If Indiana Jones featured manners, tea, and helicopter parasols – this would be it!

----
Two rival ornithologists.
Seeking one dangerous, beautiful bird.
Is the hunt of their lives also how they find the love of their lives?

Professor 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.

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Beth.

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.

They're hunting the rarest of species. But will these rivals discover something even more endangered – true love . . .


©2024 India Holton (P)2024 Penguin Audio Fantasy Genre Fiction Historical Magical Realism Romance
All stars
Most relevant  
Not as engaging as the witches and pirates in the other series. But that’s ornithologists for you I guess.
Indias books are a bit silly, but delightfully so - but this one felt like a Carry On movie.
Narration was top notch as always tho.

Meh

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I think the narrator is lovely, but please note tsk tsk is not pronounced phonetically. Otherwise I do love the rather effeminate screams half the men make. x

one last comment

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s just as wonderful as all of her other works! This one did not disappoint !

Loved it! Laughed ! And just felt warm and fuzzy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book has SO much potential to be great. I thought it was going to be a lighthearted romp inspired by the very real ridiculousness of the Victorian fervour for natural history and "exotic" animals: Bridgerton meets Miss Benson's Beetle. It had smart characters, witty dialogue, good pacing. But the ham-fisted cramming of magical birds into the plot made it more like awkward fan-fiction of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. A small amount of research into ornithology would have given the author some references that enhanced the book, rather than making a mockery of itself "like a siberian saber-toothed canary". I kept having visions of a white-haired editor reading the first draft of a very good book and then saying "the algorithm says all fiction needs fantasy in it - go back in and add some magical creatures". I got 8 hours into a 10 hour book and gave up, too annoyed to go on.

So much wasted potential...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.