Buzzword Cover Challenge 25: Monochrome
CBR17 Bingo: Green (A book with a green cover)
Official plot summary, because I finished the book in early April, and perimenopause is doing my powers of recall no favours:
Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that 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 England, 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.
True story. Geography was probably my third least favourite subject in high school (after PE – always my most loathed subject, and math, which became increasingly harder in high school until I had the option to drop it). So it’s interesting, that while India Holton chose to make the first book in this series about birds (which I have a massive phobia about), and the second one about geography (although if we’d gotten to study the sort of magical geography this book involves, I probably would have liked the subject a lot more in school), I was still so delighted while reading it. The third book in the series is a Gothic romantic fantasy involving historians – now you’re speaking my language, Ms. Holton!
India Holton writes unusual and funny fantasy stories set in alternate timelines, featuring at least one neurodivergent protagonist. On social media, she describes The Geographer’s Map to Romance as “Anne of Green Gables meets Twister in a light academia fantasy romcom perfect for those who love storms, bespectacled science professors, and shouting ‘just kiss already!’ while reading.”
Full review on my blog.