What a silly premise. A silly-goose premise, if you will. But what a delightful book. I was sceptical when I picked this one up. Really? A stuffed goose is a huge deal?! But I had enjoyed both of the author’s previous books that I’d picked up so I felt compelled to give this one a go too. And I am so glad I did.

First – and this is included in the book, but you might be sceptical too and I want you to pick this one up – in the US there is a law called the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This law states that it is illegal to have a taxidermied specimen of a migratory bird (and lots of other things) without a special federal permit. If you break this law, you are subject to fines of up to US$15,000 and/or six months in jail.

Callahan, or Cal, is the co-owner of an antique store in Baltimore. He inherited it from his mentor, Graham, when he died. Callahan’s fellow co-owner Harold (who used to run the antique store with Graham) has just wed the only other employee and they’re going to Europe for a month for their honeymoon. It’s all rather sudden but not to worry, Harold’s niece, Annie, is going to fill in for him.

Cal, still grieving Graham and still recovering from the break up of a fifteen year relationship, isn’t so sure about Annie and her online business upcycling antiques. So initially he’s a grump, but that doesn’t last all that long. Soon Cal is being open-hearted and vulnerable and it’s a joy to read.

Both Annie and Cal are in their thirties. Previously Annie only dated older men and would put on a persona to become each man’s dream girl. She’s been working on that in therapy and with Cal, she finds she is completely herself. Cal has been a bit stuck, thinking that he has to be just like Graham to prove that Graham’s investment in him was a good idea, but he realises that things need to change in his life and Annie is that catalyst. What does she do that makes her a catalyst? Just being herself. Her appearance is a big change in Cal’s day-to-day life.

So the taxidermy goose. What’s that about? Cal’s ex, Nicole, finds the goose in the attic of the house she just inherited and immediately calls Cal for help. As I noted, it is very illegal to have a stuffed migratory bird without the correct permits, so Cal takes the goose and says he’ll look into it. Through a series of convoluted but charming events, he loses the goose and struggles to track it down. He needs to track it down because it can currently be traced back to his antique store which would wreck his professional reputation and land him with massive fines. The wild goose chase around town for this bird is by turns ridiculous and charming. Each plot development was an interesting surprise to me – this goose does not follow a predictable path. I enjoyed reading about the hijinks around each corner

As the goose moves further away from the antique store, it becomes harder to believe that it can be traced back to them. But by that point I really wasn’t thinking about the goose anymore. I was focused on the burgeoning love affair between Cal and Annie. Yes, the sex is hot.

There is a secondary story of Ora and John set in 1908. It’s told in tantalising snippets throughout the novel. Ora is an ornithologist working at the Smithsonian. She is corresponding with John, a journalist in a small town in Maryland, about a bird that John has found. Ora decides to travel to see this bird for herself. Their plot doesn’t echo the journey of Cal and Annie, but rest assured there is a happy ending.

By far my favourite part of the book was the writing style. I have two excerpts here, but really I could have chosen just about any paragraph in this book to share here.

This is how Annie describes Cal:

Cal always dresses smart, Oxford shirts and tweed jackets and beautifully broken in cognac leather boots. Very humanities-professor-with-a-retail-side-gig. He gives off the initial impression of someone who doesn’t seek out manual labour, and maybe struggles to open pickle jars. But (most of) those calluses I felt can’t be attributed to holding a pencil, leading me to suspect that he is hiding more strength beneath those elbow-patched blazers than I assumed. Perhaps this is a man who can not only sell a midcentury credenza but also help load it into the bed of a truck.

This is taken from a particularly emotional part of the story. I’ll keep the context hidden, but what a glorious metaphor:

My heart thuds inside my chest like a frustrated bird trying to bash its way out of its cage. No regard for how it might get hurt. No thoughts about the repercussions. It only yearns and yearns and yearns.

Each word felt so carefully selected – the perfect words strung into sentences that had the effect of boring into my heart and really making me care about the characters and what happened to them. Hell, by the end I cared about the goose a lot too!

If you’re looking for a book with tender love at its core, hot sex, antique-based love metaphors and some light hijinks, then give this one a go. I loved the writing and the romance between two people learning to be their whole selves, and I even cared about this goose. I happily recommend it.