The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic, #2) by India Holton

The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic, #2) Reviews

• 
  Robin

  when the worst thing in the world is actually having feelings for your wife
  
  first book: too many beds
  second book: not enough bed
  
  thankful for the austen and anne of green gables references (india holton is truly one of the girls)
  
  “You existed—that was always enough for me.”
  
  thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing the arc in exchange for review
  
  
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• 
  myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ *

  super excited for this since i really enjoyed the first book
• 
  Me, My Shelf, & I

  The synopsis makes this sound like some S tier level pining.
  I am seated and ready.
  
  
  
  my review of The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love
• 
  Amanda Blanche

  ARC read - thank you NetGalley - A Magical Period Piece - set in the 1800s, sees two scholars in a marriage of in-convenience. Elodie and Gabriel are as opposite as you can be, their only thing is common is their love of higher learning and the magical properties in the earth/environment which is their specialty. Elodie is impulsive, free spirited and a disaster of chaos, always leading with her heart. Gabriel is stern, efficient and rational, always leading with his brain. Together they are called to investigate a small town experiences magical outbursts. As they spend forced time together, they learn all the miscommunications and misconceptions that have plagued their relationship. This was a whimsical read - I don’t think I’m the perfect audience for it. The writing is very embellished and complicated - it draws me out a lot when there is just a lot of vocabulary that is maybe a little excessive in complexity. A couple of plot holes that were not essential to the story. This is my first book by this author so I don’t know if this is her brand of writing, I’ve heard a lot about her other books. I also did enjoy the cultural highlights and aspects that she added in.
• 
  Faiza

  india holton simply does not miss! delightful, charming, and nerdy as ever. loved this!
  
  will update with a full review closer to release date, thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the eARC!
• 
  Tarah DeWitt

  I find everything in India Holton's brain utterly delightful.
• 
  Laurel

  I’ve loved India Holton’s other books, so I was thrilled to get an ARC for this one. The premise seemed amusing, two quirkily geography professors specializing in magical energy with unrequited feelings for each other who set out on an assignment to contain some rogue magical energy field.
  
  And then for SEVENTY PERCENT of the book, the quest for the rogue magic advances around the countryside, but the neither the characters nor their relationship to one another develop one iota. They’re stuck in their heads, frustratingly and incomprehensibly misreading each other’s cues, over and over. Also, no book needs to use the word perambulate more than once.
  
  The last quarter of the book evolves from that broken record and moves the plot forward, becoming more fun and eventful. If you like silly, steamy, suspenseful, magical reads, I’d recommend
  India Holton’s
  The Secret Service of Tea and Treason instead.
  
  Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Wendy Darling

  So many tropes, but I have no doubt India Holton is going to do them all well! This book’s compass points directly to my heart.
• 
  briar ˚୨୧⋆｡˚

  3.95 ★ — oh, this was incredible. especially compared to the first book. i love, love, love the characters. much more enjoyable relationship dynamic in this one—in the first, it felt like devon was exploiting the misogyny of 1890s english society to get with beth. gabriel is a much more likable character: he defends elodie against his deranged colleagues and seems to actually understand what it's like for his wife being in this profession, unlike certain other male leads. also, elodie is less libfem coded than beth, which is excellent for me.
  
  somehow, this book incorporated every romance trope/plot point i hate and made it fun. one bed, forced proximity, miscommunication, sheer idiocy, unnecessary emphasis on elodie's married name, and yet! actually crazy how good it was. even the tumblrcore poetry insertions, which were obviously a bit, were pretty.
  
  the only thing i didn't like was that at a certain point, it felt like the quirkiness was forced. we get it, the magic is weird, but enough. the plot was also meh? everything revolved around the romance. in the first book, i felt like the contest came first and bethdevon fell in love in the course of competing, but it was more natural and less the narrative forcing them together (ironic, because the point of that book was literally the journalists manipulating them to get together). i don't actually mind all that much because the gabelodie held it down even without a plot, and i was actually invested in the romance (for the first time ever), but yeah.
  
  and the excerpt of book 3?? i'm going to love camelia even more than the tarrants, i can tell. i'm genuinely so invested in this series?
  
  thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.
• 
  Lisa

  The romance was aces but the actual story was too much to follow at times. It’s heavy on dense terms and unexplained magical happenings- which is also true of the first book. It hit different in this one though for some reason.
  
  I love this author’s writing and characters though, so I will be on board for book 3.
  
  I think the set up just wasn’t exactly my cup of tea this time.
• 
  Sarah

  This historical fantasy had me giggling throughout. I loved the characters, the author’s style of writing and the humour. The whole concept was very quirky, but if you just go with it, it makes for a very fun read.
  
  I first came across India Holton when I noticed how many people had requested the first book in this series at my library. I will definitely checkout her other books.
  
  Thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
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  maddie (thenmaddieread)

  if i loved this less, i might be able to talk about it more.
  
  thank you berkley and edelweiss for the arc!
• 
  ari anna

  why in all my years of reading have i never read a FAILED marriage-of-convenience?? but also WRITTEN BY INDIA HOLTON?? pls this is gonna make me abruptly stand in the middle of reading to pace back and forth because the pining is so good i just KNOW it (the cover being so pretty is also a premonition i also just know this for a fact)
• 
  Stefanie Tolbert

  I am typically not a fan of romance type books, but I read my first India Holton book Jan ‘24 and have been hooked on her books ever since. Like her Dangerous Damsels series, Love’s Academic series is historical fantasy rom-con that’s full of smart, capable women that fall in love while solving some big crisis. “The Geographer’s Map to Romance” has Elodie and Gabriel, who are geography professors that specialize in magical issues, being called out for an emergency. But it’s quickly revealed that they were married out of convenience but somehow managed to think that they hate each other, so this trip is going to be a bit of a struggle.
  
  The story is cute and full of weird little magical twists that had me laughing the whole way through. Elodie is a smart and resourceful woman who also is just a little bit chaotic while Gabriel is her opposite in his deliberate and by the book ways. It was really nice to see what happens when a sort of ADHD woman has banter with a man who is of very few words. I really enjoyed their dynamic and the whole story. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
  
  Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for allowing me to read and review this!
• 
  Kristen

  A big thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss+ for letting me at this one early!
  So, uh, my egalley request was approved this morning. And I'm already done with it? I had been going back and forth on the star rating, but I don't think I can give 4 stars to a book I mostly read in one sitting, because it clearly has that secret sauce. 4.5 stars?
  I didn't give me brainworms like the previous one did, and it felt considerably less silly (but still funny!) so the first book is still my favorite? I was also kind of frustrated by the MCs' poor communication, but it works ok here; it's believable, given that they are the way they are, but it still took longer for them to get it together than I liked. I had a lot of fun with it, though! Loved Elodie. ADHD queen of my heart.
  VERY much looking forward to the third one! There's a preview for it in the egalley 👀
• 
  Hanna

  3.75/5 ⭐️ (rounded up to 4)
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
  
  Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I’ve been a fan of Holten’s work for some years now and very much enjoy the way she writes so I loved the actual prose of this book. The characters were compelling and interesting, especially Elodie with all her quirkiness and zest for life! Pacing was good but at times felt a little slow but not terribly noticeable. The only thing I would’ve wished for from this book would’ve been a bigger deceleration of love from Gabriel. We’re told that he’s pined for her for years and we finally get that conversation between the characters in the last 10% of the book, but I just wish there was something bigger/more dramatic. Other than that I, again, enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it!
• 
  Morgan

  Cute! 3.5 stars from me! I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the first one, but it was still a very silly and fun time. I never felt like I *knew* Gabriel, the way that I felt about Devon from the first one. From the looks of it, I'm going to love the third one in the series based off of the little preview!
• 
  Cate Heath

  I adore India Holton’s books. They capture my attention and take me on adventures filled with witty banter and charming/imperfect characters.
  
  I loved Elodie and Gabriel - they were both quirky and confident and insecure and lovely people.
  
  Who knew geographers held the key to saving the world from magical explosions?
• 
  Ginny

  India Holton never disappoints! This book had more of the witty banter I’ve come to expect from Holton’s books! Holton’s heroines are always smart and funny, the kind of women you want to be best friends with, and they get to fall for their perfect counterparts over the course of a brilliant adventure. I couldn’t put this book down and I can’t wait to read the next one!
• 
  Rem71090

  If this book were even 1% more tongue-in-cheek I don’t think I would have liked it. While this book does contain a marriage of convenience, one of my emotional support tropes, I didn’t like this one as much as the first in the series, although I did still enjoy it! I’m really looking forward to what I assume will be the third book - Gabriel’s sister.
• 
  Kelly

  MAGICAL DISASTER EXPERTS THIS IS MADE FOR ME
  ... I cannot wait
• 
  Sunny (Gilbert’s Version)

  Someone said this is Twisters meets Anne of Green Gables and if that doesn’t describe my perfect book exactly I don’t know what does
• 
  Stephanie Accardi

  India Holton has become a comfort author and insta-buy. Witty, tension filled, and fiercely independent FMCs make every book a work of art.