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Review: Country Loving by Cathy Woodman

Country Loving will be coming out next Thursday, but the people at Random House UK were so kind to give me an ARC (through NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Romance blossoms between Talyton St George's newest farmer and her local vet.
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.

Review:

It all starts with Stevie getting a phone call from Cecil, her father's right hand. Cecil begs her to come back to the farm. he has been doing all the the work on his own, while Stevie's dad has pretty much lost it and the authorities are very close to shutting down the farm. Now Stevie hasn't been to the farm in ten years, ever since her dad decided her younger brother would be the farmer because he's a boy. So she left for London, but now slowly realizing how serious the situation is, Stevie has to go back home.

What was supposed to be one weekend, turned into a week, a month... Stevie loves being back on the farm. She has missed the cows, Cecil and his wife Mare, the lang and even maybe a little, her dad.

Once she realizes how bad the farm is, Stevie knows she has to come up with a plan to save the farm. Since her dad has pretty much annihilated everyone, Stevie will have to fight tooth and nail to make her dream a reality.

I'm no farmer and I stay away from cows as far as possible, but I do love the country and Cathy Woodman captures it perfectly. It shines through the pages how much Stevie loves it all, the cows, the mud, the tractor, the people (especially the new vet) and everything that comes with it. Which makes sure you are totally drawn into the story.

Now the main focus lays on the farming part, getting it back into shape and turning it into a success. All the relationships are secondary; trying to fix things in her family, this handsome vet that has to keep coming around and making everyone in town stop hating her dad.

On the one hand all this was refreshing, but on the other hand I missed the romance somewhat. There are a couple of scenes with Stevie and Leo where you can easily see the attraction, but not enough for the falling madly deeply in love part, certainly not in the extend of making life altering decisions.

Overall a nice book. Read it if you like the English country, mud and cows, without wanting to get dirty. I loved the quirky townspeople, the handsome vet and a woman who knows not to give up and fight for what she wants.

Connect with Cathy Woodman:

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