Vets in Love (Talyton St George)

by Cathy Woodman

[Leah]

Cathy Woodman’s Talyton St George series is one of my favourite book series! Mostly because it features lots, and lots of animals and I just don’t think you can go wrong with books that feature animals. You already have my approval. There are 8 novels in the series so far (well, there will be when book 8 is released in April), as well as a digital novella and I have to be honest, I was suprised to discover that fact! I truly wasn’t aware there were already 8 novels. I had read the first 5, but hadn’t managed to get around to 6 or 7, you know what it’s like when books just pile up and you discover books ages after and wonder why you hadn’t already read it, but with book 8 around the corner, I thought it was very much time to catch up on the fantastic series, so I started with Vets In Love!

Vets In Love is book 6 in the series, and as with all the later books, introduces us to entirely new characters (at least I think they are – from what I can remember, we haven’t already met Nicci or Matt before, and if we have it would only have been briefly) and, sadly, there is no Maz in sight. I do miss Maz. But, I also like being introduced to the newer residents of Talyton St George – and it seems there is no shortage of fantastic new characters for us to meet! Nicci is the newest GP in town, who also moonlights as a horse eventer (is that the right word? I have no idea), with her horse, Willow. When Matt comes into Nicci’s surgery with a busted shoulder, it’s love at first shoulder, or it would be if they weren’t bound by client/patient rules, and there wasn’t a pesky ex on the scene, desperate to stick her oar in where it isn’t welcome. But despite all the issues, the two keep finding themselves drawn to each other, until they can deny their feelings any longer. But things just keep getting in the way – mostly work, but also Nicci’s training for the competition she’s entering as well as Nicci’s wayward sister Cheska and her kids. Can Nicci and Matt make it work or is there just too much pressure on their relationship too soon?

I very much enjoyed Vets In Love. As I say in most of my Cathy Woodman reviews, reading one of her books is like slipping into my comfy duvet, they’re such warm, lovely books and I just know that what I see, is what I get. Although I do personally think the official Amazon summary probably gives a bit too much away about the book! Most of the stuff in the synopsis doesn’t actually occur til really late in the book. The first chunk of the book is devoted to getting to know Nicci, to learn about her work as a GP (more fascinating than I thought), learning about her life with horses (which all went over my head, to be honest, but I loved reading about the relationship between Nicci and Willow, it was super sweet) and seeing Nicci and Matt do that dance. The dance that shows you two people could not be more perfect for each other, and it was so frustrating every time something popped up that prevented them from simply spending time together! It drove me mad! What with one thing or another, they just couldn’t seem to go on many dates, or anything at all! I was frustrated on their behalves, especially because their scenes lit up the book! They were very flirty with each other and it was lovely to be able to see that!

Vets In Love is yet another brilliant addition to the Talyton St George series! I raced through it, and the only real sticking point for me was Nicci’s feckless sister Cheska, who drove me to the brink of insanity. If somebody came into my house the way Cheska did, and used my house the way Cheska did and left it in a perpetual state of untidiness she would have been out on her ear. I loved her two kids, Sage and Gabriel, but Cheska was like a child who had never grown up and I wanted Nicci to tell her to grow up. But apart from that (and Matt’s ex-girlfriend Mel who hung around like a bad smell) I thought it was a lovely novel. It was so nice to see characters who are always on the fringes of the books, like Frances and FiFi. I can’t wait to get stuck into books 7 and 8 as soon as possible because reading Vets In Love made me realise how much I’d missed reading about the folks of Talyton St George. I very much want to move there as soon as I can, and I wish it was a real place, because it definitely is the most romantic place in Britain, and it also sounds like the most wonderful place to live!