The Geographer’s Map to Romance by India Holton
Publication Date: April 8, 2025
Summary from NetGalley:
Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.
Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.
Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either—except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They’ve been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn’t stopped him from stoically pining for her.
When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of Britain, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there’s no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.
ARC provided by Berkley Publishing via Netgalley for an honest review.
Confession:
This was a really fun book that I truly enjoyed. I loved the characters, the setting, all of the tropes, and the romance was just about perfect. The magic system was a bit more prominent than the first book which made this alternate victorian world work a little bit better. But best of all was the humor and the banter between the characters. I had a smile on my face and often laughed out loud while I was reading it. This novel has the perfect mixture of adventure, romance and magic.
Both Elodie and Gabriel will capture your heart, just like they did each others. They have both been in love with each other since they met, but both struggle with telling each other. I loved the marriage of convenience storyline, but even when they spend the wedding night together they can’t admit how much they love each other. I loved Elodie’s carefree attitude and not really caring how others perceive her, except for Gabriel. Gabriel is such a grump and I loved his inner dialogue pining after Elodie. They played off of each other perfectly and it was so fun to watch.
The secondary characters were also quite fun and at times played into the various tropes and shenanigans that were occuring throughout the story. The setting of a small village in Wales was also a nice touch. I loved how the villagers turned living near a magical ley line into a profitable tourist attraction. Some of the tourists were hilarious.
I am not a huge romance reader, but I do enjoy a good romcom. I was frustrated at times that Elodie and Gabriel didn’t figure out what was so plainly obvious about their feelings for each other. But I did enjoy the inner dialogue of both. I also really liked how the author explained some of Gabriel’s issues. You could tell that he was neurodiverse, and all of the struggles he had with that, which of course played into some of his reasons why he didn’t tell Elodie about his feelings. Elodie’s feelings of inadequacy because she was a ‘woman doing a man’s job‘ also was nicely done. I also loved how impulsive she was and how that impulsivity was what saved them from many of the situations they found themselves in.
I loved this author’s writing style and how she writes dialogue. I will definitely be looking into some of her previous series. The pacing of the story was also just right, and the pseudo victorian world was well done. The magical system is a bit hard to get a grasp on, but it isn’t super important to the world and the story, so I can forgive that.
If you loved The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love then this is a must read. It is just as delightful and fun and you will fall in love with the characters. You also don’t have to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one. They both work well as stand alones. If you are at all a romance fan this is a series that you want to have on your TBR.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 