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Romance

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

4.1(25)
Paperback€13.50
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About the book

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"So riotously clever it almost defies description...an alchemy of romantic elements held in perfect harmony."—NPR

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, 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.

Editions (1)

ISBN9780593547281
PublisherPenguin LLC US
Publication Date07/23/24

Characteristics

1 reviews

VariableModerateVividPoeticUnusualDeveloping

Reviews & Ratings

25 ratings

6 reviews

4.1

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  • milynya
    milynya

    31 Followers

    3.0

    Sweet and funny

    This was certainly a fun read, I adored the cheeky narration and I am always a sucker for humor. The love story was decent and I do love me some magical birds:) Still only 3 stars by me because a little change of atmosphere would have done the book good. Some calm breathing space or even a sad little innuendo, just to give the humor and the romance some of its impact back and make the story a little more diverse in tone. That's only my opinion of course, I am sure there are a lot of people who like their sunshiny books unbothered ;)

    Mar 20, 2025

  • textandtunes
    textandtunes

    125 Followers

    the premise sounded SO fun because I love academia books - and this one is about researchers and magical birds, which seemed really intriguing. but the writing style was not doing it for me, it was way too dense and overcomplicated, and i didn't enjoy the humor at all. it was so difficult for me to follow the plot that i decided to dnf around 30%.

    May 26, 2026

3 of 6 reviews

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andeckpiratenahoi
andeckpiratenahoiFeb 10, 2026

“Beth was prepared to take the blame and Hippolyta was glad to give it” - THE description between professor and her student, I’m loving it😂

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