The Village Vet (Talyton St George)

by Cathy Woodman

The fifth book in Cathy Woodman's hugely popular Talyton St George series

Each book in the Talyton St George series can be read as a standalone novel, but when Cathy first had the idea of writing about a vet practice, she intended it to be a trilogy about two vets - Maz and Alex. Their names are in brackets to show which books feature their story. All the other books have new characters, although Maz and Alex always crop up now and again.

Talyton St George, the story so far:

Trust Me, I'm a Vet (Maz and Alex)
Must Be Love (Maz and Alex)
The Sweetest Thing
It's a Vet's Life (Maz and Alex)
The Village Vet
Vets in Love
Country Loving
The Three of Us (Digital short story, companion to Follow Me Home)
Follow Me Home

'Woodman's warmth and wit are set to make her the next big thing in rural romance' - Daily Record

'An utterly compelling read with moments that brought tears to my eyes. I would definitely recommend it' - Candis

'Woodman weaves a beguiling tale grounded in her own experience' - Choice

'Great fun' - Sun

• ISBN10: 0750536357
• ISBN13: 9780750536356
• Publish Date: 1 January 2013 (first published 26 April 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 July 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Magna Large Print Books
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Cathy Woodman’s Talyton St George book series is one of my favourite series to read. The Village Vet is the fifth book in the series and although it doesn’t feature Maz and co, not only does it fit in nicely with the rest of the series, it also introduces us to some brilliant new characters who, with luck, we’ll see pop up in future novels. In The Village Vet, the focus is on Tessa who, after running out on her wedding after her old friend Jack interrupts it and spills secrets, takes over the Animal Rescue center in Talyton and finds herself working with Jack, of all people. Though you might expect her to be a little bit mad at Jack, instead Tessa just can’t bring herself to be and they find themselves rediscovering their friendship and quite possibly more…

The big draw with Woodman’s series is the animals, at least for me. I LOVE books with animals in them. Ever since we got our dogs, I’ve been animal mad and no-one writes a novel about animals better than Cathy Woodman. As an ex-vet herself she knows her animals and that absolutely shines through in her novels. If I’m honest, the animals are so well-written that they become characters in themselves, and as Tessa started receiving abanadoned animals, I really fell for Buster and Tia, two dogs Tessa also falls for. Even Dolly, the mad horse, seemed cute. I keep wondering if Woodman can keep making me fall in love with yet more fictional pets, but she does. She totally does. The series is an animal lovers dream, basically.

The whole novel was just really, really sweet. I liked that there were no silly dramas, and the book just flowed so nicely as Tessa struggled to set up the Sanctuary, as she battled the commity who weren’t exactly happy at her instatement, as she employed Jack’s sister Libby to help take care of the animals, and, of course, how Tessa and Jack’s relationship developed. There was a bit of an obvious secret Tessa’s best friend Katie was keeping that I guessed as soon as Katie first appeared in the novel a couple of pages in, and that Tessa was a bit blind (or ignorant) to. But apart from that, I have no complaints. It was nice to see Maz, even briefly, and it was nice to be introduced to yet more residents of Talyton. It makes it seem more real, if that makes sense and Tessa, Jack, Libby and the Sanctuary are characters I can’t wait to see again. Along with Buster and Tia, obviously. I can’t wait until November for the next Talyton adventure, it’s bound to be brilliant.