Must Be Love (Talyton St George)

by Cathy Woodman

[Leah]

Earlier this year I read Cathy Woodman’s first novel set in the fictional village of Talyton St George, Trust Me I’m A Vet and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a huge fan of animals myself, I was thrilled to find a Chick Lit book that features a vets practice and I thought it was an incredibly interesting read and I was very excited to receive Must Be Love, the second novel in the series and I got stuck in immediately. Thankfully Must Be Love was just as good as Trust Me I’m A Vet and I enjoyed getting back into Maz’s life!

Picking up Must Be Love was like putting on a comfy pair of slippers. I knew all of the characters from the previous book, I knew how the book had flowed and I looked forward to carrying on the journey with Maz and co. in Talyton St George. Must Be Love picks up a little while after Trust Me I’m A Vet finishes although it’s not strictly necessary to read the first book before this one as all is explained sufficiently. Whereas Maz was just finding her feet in the first book, in Must Be Love she’s settled in her job and her home life and it was nice to see her continuing life. There were, as you might expect, a lot of hurdles for her to overcome although it was nice that her love life barely wavered throughout as I find it very convenient when an author gets a couple together only to break them up in the next book.

What I like best about this new series, is the way country life is presented. Talyton St. George might well be a fictional village, but it could quite easily be real. I found myself imagining Otter House, imagining all the other shops as well as the Manor where the Fox-Giffords work. As I said in my review of Trust Me, I’m A Vet, everyone is so close-knit in such a small village and it’s not the type of closeness you usually find in a Chick Lit novel. The village is like a character in itself, along with Otter House, since most of the action takes place in and around Otter House, which sounds like the most charming vets I’ve ever heard of!

I really like Maz, she seems like such a lovely person and she’s definitely somebody you would want to have a partnership with. It’s clear she has a huge passion for animals, one I share immensely, and it was great to be back with her again, following her ups and downs once again. I really liked Emma, Maz’s best friend and partner at Otter House, in the first book but I really went off her during Must Be Love. I completely understand everything she goes through and I can see how that effected her life but I think she took it too far sometimes and I just wanted Maz to put her straight and tell her to stop being so self-involved. Alex, Maz’s boyfriend, is one of my favourite characters in the series. He’s no-nonsense, there’s no guff involved and he and Maz get on really well and their relationship seems so real, with ups, with downs but it’s clear they both care about each other a lot. Another character I’m really warming to is Frances, who is the receptionist at Otter House, she wasn’t too likeable in the first book but I think she came on in leaps and bounds throughout Must Be Love. She’s a firm staple now and it was great to have her back. Finally, I’d like to mention Shannon, a new addition to Otter House, and a good one at that.

There are many other characters including Izzy who works at Otter House as well as the many, many pet owners but it would take me along time to discuss them all. One thing I will say is it is the most well-rounded cast I’ve ever come across! Everyone makes their own impact, from the pet owners to the pets themselves and although there are many wider characters, I had no trouble at all keeping up as everyone had their own traits that set them apart. Must Be Love did make me cry, because fictional or not, I had to see any pet pass away or have to be put down and it’s to be expected that that will happen throughout the book since it takes place in a vets. Cathy manages to keep the book fairly light-hearted whilst also managing to touch on some more serious issues and I applaud her deftness of touch. I really hope Cathy is working on more books in the series, as it is a series worth reading and as long as Talyton St George lives, there’ll always be gossip and stories to fill books with! Hugely recommended.