The Village Vet (Talyton St George)

by Cathy Woodman

[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.