This book was so much fun! Charming and witty and full of wry humor. It didn't feel like it had as much plot as the books in Ms. Holton's previous series but I didn't mind it. It was a madcap adventures and those are fun too.

I loved the magical birds, the insane chase across the county, and of course the rivals to lovers romance that I simply adored.

I can’t wait for Gabriel’s story!!

Beth and Devon, rival ornithologists, run across several unexpected challenges are they race to capture an endangered caladrius bird. They never expected to end up having to work together to try and win the competition, and much less expected to fall in love in the process.


As a long time fan of India Holton, I knew this would be a fun and magical read. I enjoyed the unknowns surrounding the caladrius competition and how Beth and Devon began to question the intentions behind the competition. I was left wanting a little more from the romance between Beth and Devon. Their attraction felt a lot like "instant love" and didn't really create tension between them. However, variations of the "one bed" trope kept teasing the reader throughout the story.

I love India Holton's comedic style - there's something very whimsical and ridiculous about her comedy, and ORNITHOLOGIST didn't disappoint. I didn't think I'd enjoy this book, because birds give me the heebie-jeebies, but most of the birds in this novel were magic, which made them fake, and I can handle that!

Our protagonists, Beth and Devon, didn't quite knock Alice and Daniel off their pedestal for me, but they came very close. Their initial meet-cute/meet-ugly cracked me up, and when Holton was poking fun at some of the traditional romcom tropes, I felt like we were in on the joke as the reader. At heart, I think this is just a fun jaunt around Europe in search of a magical bird, and two lonely scientists finding love in someone who can truly understand them and all their quirks.

This series opener was light hearted, sweet, and absurd in a slap-stick monty python comedy sort of way. Victorian rival ornithologists compete in a contest to find a rare bird with magical properties, although the entire competition is revealed to be elaborate marketing scheme to increase applications to collegiate ornithology programs. They soon team up due to extraordinary circumstances and a media plot that frames them as being lovers competing together. They actually fall in love with each other along the way. I enjoyed the silly hijinx and peculiar side characters. I giggled my entire way through the book.

What more could a reader desire than a dashing hero and a demure heroine meeting through a twist of fate and proceeding along on a dashing adventure together? Why a whole host of characters who make you laugh so hard you snort tea up your nose (most unpleasant, thank goodness it had cooled) and bird puns by the flock! India Holton's wit and humor abound in this new frolicking adventure and, as usual, she does not disappoint.

So fun! As one of the blurbs said, India Holton is the master of the romp! I loved the Dangerous Damsels series and was sad to leave those characters, but all the best of India Holton remains in this new endeavor: humor, heart, adventure, witticisms, and such a singular voice. I think audiences will adore Beth and Devon and this world of magical avians and bonkers ornithologists.

Every India Holton romp grows more adventurous & spellbinding—and this is no exception. If you enjoyed Wisteria Society and thought, “Gee, I could really use some academic spice!” Well look no further. Instead of piratic scoundrels there’s devilishly good looking smarty-pantses. Instead of wielding swords, there’s books! And birds! As with all of Holton’s works, this is a screwball comedy with layers of wit (and feathers).

Ali Hazelwood but make it cozy fantasy. A really fun STEM enemies to lovers romance that had me giggling and kicking my feet.

I enjoyed the fantasy world and the poking fun at academia. Good characters, fun plot. The glib and clever writing style personally wasn't for me, but I think it has great appeal for fans of that atmosphere and I will definitely be recommending it to patrons.

The author's writing style is very captivating from the get-go. It's cartoonish, charming, and it balances academics with romance fairly well. This author has a very strong grasp on her style of writing and the characters she wants to portray.

However, this unfortunately doesn't save it from getting bland as you progress through. As entertaining as it is the first quarter of the way, the actual events in the book weren't very interesting and the dialogue gets stale. A lot of it is characters running all over the place, them happening to run into each other, repetitive flirting and jabs between the leads, padded with "I don't think he/she actually likes me..they're too hot/smart for me", even though they're very clearly about to rip each other's clothes off.

This book could have been shorter, and because it dragged on for so long it became very hard to progress.

First, thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this book. Classic India Holton, wacky premise which turns into a wild adventure. Didn't know I wanted to be an ornithologist. LOL

The birds earned the three stars. Alas, I didn't get a feel for the period, and the plot seemed to be slapped together. A lot of busy running about that really wasn't necessary, and little character development. Gorgeous birds, though!

I am so. dang. OBSESSED. This book was an utter delight from start to finish, further cementing India Holton as a must-read author.

Beth and Devon are literally PERFECT for each other. Reading both of their perspectives was so much fun because not only are each of them distinct and completely lovable, they are also soulmates for each other in every possible way. I was living for the way the author created parallels across both POVs in the character’s ways of thinking.

It wouldn’t. be an India Holton book without hilarious chaos. From the witty characters to the cutthroat ornithologists, I was laughing from start to finish. I love the way that Holton creates a mix of fantasy and romance within a historical setting, it makes the story feel like something wholly unique.

I didn't read the description of this book well because I was a little surprised when the birds in the book were magical. But, after getting over that and understanding this book is a bit of a steampunk, victorian romance I liked it.

The characters in the book are good and it's a quick read as they race around in a contest looking for a rare bird. The spice in this novel is moderate. Overall, I liked the characters and writing enough that I would read the next book in this series.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

HILARIOUS. I really don't need to say more, but I will. I enjoyed India Holton's other series, but I think this book was funnier than the others. I liked the adventure, the romance, the snark. *Chef's kiss.* Highly recommended!

This book is so quirky, fun, and action-packed! An overall good time that I'd recommend to really anyone in need of lots of laughs, smiles, and absurd scenarios(: Beth and Devon are both professors and it shows in 99% of whatever Beth is saying. It's a lot of fun when she just talks circles around other characters who have no idea what she's saying. The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love is a historical fantasy with lots of tension, shenanigans, rivals who become lovers, and crazy dangerous magical birds?! Amazing. I'm so happy I picked this one up and I breezed through it in a day because I just couldn't put it down without knowing what was going to happen next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced digital copy of this book from Berkley via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This fantasy romance from author India Holton has such amazing world-building!

Right away I was pulled into the world of birding- but these birds are magical creatures! I really loved Beth as a character- her smarts and resilience were fun to watch. I didn't like her rival, Devon, for a long time- I just found him annoying and he took a long time to grow on me. And even then I didn't really see the chemistry between him and Beth. The other thing I didn't love was that they were actively capturing these birds instead of just studying them. It makes sense for the story, but as someone who loves animals it wasn't my favorite.

Still, the story was really engaging, and well-paced, and I loved all the characters aside from Devon haha.

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but I struggled with it from the beginning. I loved the author's witty and charming narrative style. But that was not enough to keep me interested in the story. Maybe it's just that I could care less about birds, but the challenge and the machinations were just not interesting. And at 40%+ into the book, there was very little passion, making it even harder to keep going. I tried the audio version, but it was impossible to keep track of so many characters. Sadly, this was a DNF for me. Hopefully, it works for others.

4.5 stars | 1/5 spice

Two rival ornithologists go on the adventure of a lifetime while trying to capture a mystical bird to win tenure... and love.

I am not a historical romance fan typically but Holton won me over with this hilarious writing style and the wit that was put into this book. Beth and Devon were the perfect MCs - their rivalry mixed with the intense chemistry they had will make it hard to set this one down.

Once the challenge started heating up - I loved how they ultimately teamed up to uncover a conspiracy and take down all of their competitors. There were several funny tropes added to this book such as one horse and not one but TOO many beds. Their banter alone would have kept me addicted but add in Devon's POV showing just how obsessed he was with Beth was perfect.

Now I didn't expect ANY spice in this considering it was a late 1800s historical romance but Holton surprised me with her ability to not only make me GUSH over simple actions such as hand holding and brief kisses - but then she threw in an ACTUAL spicy scene and while it wasn't as graphic as the normal smut scenes I love it was PERFECT for this book.

I found myself equally drawn to the romance side of the story AND the plot. I highly recommend this as a romance to anyone just because of the humor and tension alone in this book. This was my first book from Holton and I will be reading more of her work for sure after this one!