BOOKS | Review: The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton

Name: The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic #2)

Author: India Holton

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date published: April 2025

Genre: Fiction, adult, romance, fantasy, historical

Pages: 354

Rating: 5/5

 

Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magical 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 magical 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, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they face perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed.
These geography professors are lost. But can they find their way into each other’s hearts - and save the day?

- From Goodreads. 

This book was as absolutely delightful as the first one. India Holton just has such a brilliant way of writing, the humour in this series has been so excellent, I laughed out loud at multiple scenes! She also just has such a wonderful way of writing romance, leaning into clichés and tropes, keeping it fun and lighthearted, but also letting you get swept away with lovely sweet romantic moments that really show you the connection and feelings between the characters.

I loved how the author continued the world building in this book, the magical creatures, specifically birds, were so creative in the last book, and the way the magic of the world was expanded in this book into the magic of the land and nature was so inventive too! I'm so curious to see how it's further explored in the next book.

Elodie and Gabriel were such wonderful characters, I thought the story of how they, amusingly, became inconveniently married was so unique and it was so interesting to see how they viewed things from their different perspectives and how they eventually realised how they'd both been seeing things differently, it was written so perfectly. They were so loveable and I really adored their relationship.

Of course I will be reading the next book, I cannot get enough of this world, the characters and how India Holton writes these romances, it's all such perfection. 

BOOKS | Review: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Name: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3)

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: February 2025

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, cosy, academia

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm - as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival - now fiancé - the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell's long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world - how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in - Wendell's murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell's magic - and Emily's knowledge of stories - to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

- From Goodreads.

This was another excellent book in the Emily Wilde series, I could honestly read an endless amount of stories about Emily and Wendell's adventures. They're never predictable, and have a wonderful amount of humour, romance and fascinating folklore. I think the way stories and legends of the faeries were used in this book was especially clever and it was exciting the way the stakes had raised over the series as we spent the majority of the story in faerie for the first time, but Emily and Wendell were still as endearing as ever. 

I think it was lovely how the author managed to include all the familiar and loveable characters from the previous books without it feeling forced, and also introduced us to other interesting new characters who were all very intriguing. I think this along with the creativity in the world building means that there would always be more to explore in the world and it wouldn't be possible to grow tired of new stories within it. Even though this book felt it wrapped up the story that was started in the first book well, there is plenty of room for more, and I would always be happy to come back to this world, especially if that meant seeing more of Emily and Wendell, who I just adore. Their relationship was just as heartwarming as in the previous two books, and I can't get enough of how devoted they are to each other.

I will definitely continue to read more of Heather Fawcett's books, I think she has a brilliant writing style and her books always have a wonderful imagination. I will be very excited to see what she comes out with next.