Country Loving by Cathy Woodman

Successful city accountant Stevie receives two surprises in one week: a proposal of marriage from her boyfriend Nick and a phone call begging her to return to the family farm in Devon to help out after her father has a stroke. But what she thought would be a long weekend in the country turns into much longer as she struggles to bring order to her father's rundown farm. Finally, she decides to give up her job - and her fiance - and take on the farm permanently. She dreams of turning it into a tourist attraction, never realising it would be so difficult. But with the help of many of Talyton St George's local residents, and the locum vet Leon, she is starting to make progress. Until a life-changing complication throws all her plans into disarray, and destroys her growing romance with Leon...

Cathy Woodman's series of books based in Talyton St George has become one of my favourite series and as two have been released each year I eagerly await the next installment. 

This installment, Country Loving, introduces us to Stevie, an accountant who lives in the city along with her flatmate. She has a good job and a boyfriend, Nick, but when a phonecall comes from the family farm following her father's ill health and a threat from a vet that the animals may have to be removed due to ill treatment Stevie returns home to see how she can help. However, the trip she thought would be a few weeks at most turns into a longer stay and a complete change of life for the city girl.

I really enjoy these books. Although each of the books focus on different characters, there are always old friends who pop into each book - in this book Stevie's neighbour is Jennie, who we met in The Sweetest Thing and she is also a big part to the book.

There is the usual country village goings on throughout the book and the annual country fayre is the main event - I remember when I was younger going to such a fayre and this in itself bought back many happy memories. I would love to live in Talyton St George and through Woodman's writing I feel like I am meeting up with old friends.

I really enjoy Woodman's books and it appears that she releases two books each year - one of these books each year appear to be based within the village's veterinary surgery and the other introduces us, the reader, to another character from the village. Although this book includes a vet, he is a locum, not one of the regulars and therefore it concentrates on Stevie.

I am already looking forward to the next installment from Talyton St George later this year.

Thank you to the publishers, Century, for sending me this book to review.