This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Susan Lobban
It is book 6 of
Cathy Woodman’s Talyton St George series and Stevie Dunsford is the newest
arrival to town. Having grown up on the family farm in Talyton she has now
carved out a new life in London as an accountant. However, just as she is about
to accept her boyfriend’s marriage proposal she receives a phone call out of
the blue, urging her to return to the farm.
Once back on familiar soil Stevie recognizes that it will take more than a weekend to bring order to her father’s rundown farm. The only answer is to give up her job and boyfriend and stay permanently. She throws herself back into farm life and loves every minute of it, especially working alongside the local vet Leo. Unfortunately, when a life changing complication arises Stevie soon realizes that country life is not always simple!
Having never read any of this particular series I was intrigued to see what romance in the country had to offer. Luckily enough, unlike a lot of series I was able to get into the flow of the book without having read any of the others. Stevie has to decide whether to give up her city life in favour of a permanent return to her family’s farm. One aspect of her old life she seems able to discard easier than the rest is her boyfriend Nick. I liked Nick and as such felt sorry for him, especially as due to an unexpected turn of events the poor man wasn’t even able to make a clean break from his ex.
Leo, the local Vet was set up as a replacement love interest very early on. A very mucky story ensues but not in a romantic sense. There is a real love of the countryside in this book, but not much between a man and a woman. Cathy Woodman was a Vet before turning to writing and this is evident in the story. As much as I enjoyed the country characters, the details of farm life and animals made it a slow read for me. The characters and the story’s premise kept me reading, but all the farm talk bored me and this is probably why I have steered away from these type of books before.
If you are a fan of “All Creatures Great and Small” or dream of one day leaving it all behind for a life in the country then this book is definitely for you. It certainly gives a great insight into day to day running of a farm, but my reading tastes are firmly planted in the city.
5/10