The Antiquarian’s Object of Desire (Love’s Academic)
Amelia Tarrant battled sexism and mischievous enchanted objects to land her professorship in the history department of Oxford University, only for her career to be upended by an innocent hug. Her best friend since childhood, fellow Oxford professor Caleb Sterling, was consoling her after she received bad news … and they were spotted by the history department’s biggest gossip, whose malicious rumor-spreading nearly cost Amelia her job. To preserve Amelia’s career, she and Caleb have to engage in an all-new romance trope: fake hating. The only way to squelch the gossip is to pretend to despise each other. There’s just one problem. Both she and Caleb are finally acknowledging—and trying desperately to ignore—their growing romantic attraction to each other. When they’re sent to the countryside together to catalog a wealthy collector’s horde of possibly magical antiques, they struggle to keep their unruly feelings in check. And it certainly doesn’t help that the magical objects wreak havoc anytime their emotions flare.
In her usual hilarious, whimsical style, Holton has crafted another delightfully bonkers romantic historical fantasy. With laughs on every page, Holton also slips in subtle—and some not-so-subtle—statements on misogyny and society’s expected gender roles. Amelia, like many of Holton’s characters, is neurodivergent, and Caleb, while obviously attracted to women, indulges himself in fine clothing, nail polish, and eye shadow. While the number of times their fooling around is interrupted gets annoying, no one can turn a simile like Holton, and the hysterical appearances by the grouchy ghost of King John of England will keep readers eager for more. It’s another winner.
