Odd Bird by Lee Farnsworth

Odd Bird by Lee Farnsworth.

Published 15th October 2020 by Farrago Books.

From the cover of the book:

Simon is an academic expert on the mating behaviour of birds – but he has a lot to learn about humans...

Simon Selwood spends his time researching the courtship behaviour of birds. Unfortunately, he’s rather hopeless at finding human love.

Then he meets Kim, and suddenly something is more important to him than ornithology. But Kim doesn’t give a hoot about birds. And at first, she doesn’t seem to be very interested in Simon either.

Relying on what he has learned from observing the opportunistic pied flycatcher and other bird species, plus the unorthodox advice from his best friend and wingman Phil, Simon spreads his wings and sets out to discover love for himself. Will he make the right choice?

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As rom-coms go, this one is about as odd as its protagonist, Simon Bird - and I mean this as a compliment! It's highly unusual to come across a romantic comedy that has a male protagonist, let alone one that is written by a male author, so this makes it an "odd bird" in itself - and it works so well too!

Simon is hopeless at this romance lark (pardon the avian pun!), preferring to immerse himself in his academic life, but there is no denying that he would like to have a pair-bond with a suitable female - if only he could figure out exactly how human courtships are supposed to work. And so, after his only real relationship does the dying swan (further apologies!), he embarks on the pursuit of a new mate, with the help of his not always very helpful "wingman" Phil (not my pun this time, blame Lee Farnsworth for this one!).

What follows is Simon's narration of his hapless romantic adventures, told in the kind of language normally associated with a scientific study into bird behaviour. This does take a bit of getting used to, but after a while you find yourself chuckling away to yourself over Simon's little absurdities, cringing at his faux-pas, cheerleading his efforts, and ultimately wishing him domestic happiness. Yes, I can guarantee you will want to give him a shake at times, but his heart is in the right place and he is a thoroughly "good egg" (final one, I promise!). 

This is an unconventional love story, with a real feel of a Richard Curtis movie about it. It's definitely one that you have to persevere with and get into the rhythm of, but it is worth it, and I found it very enjoyable and rather touching - you can also learn a heck of a lot about birds along the way, if you are so inclined. Its refreshing to read a romantic story that will appeal to both male and female readers, as this genre does tend to be the preserve of the female of the species, and I am very interested to see what Lee Farnsworth has up his sleeve for his next book.

Odd Bird is available to buy from your favourite book retailer now, in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Lee Farnsworth and Farrago Books for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Lee Farnsworth studied Genetics at Newcastle University, eventually gaining a PhD for his work on bovine mitochondria. He then spent more than fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry, holding senior leadership positions in Europe and the US before kissing the corporate world goodbye to spend more time writing. 

Lee lives in Berkshire. He has two children and a large collection of bird feeders.