The Sweetest Thing by Cathy Woodman

Two books which I really enjoyed last year were Trust Me I'm A Vet and also It Must Be Love both by Cathy Woodman. Both of the books were following Maz and Alex who were vets in the village of Talyton St. George. I have been keeping a close eye on Cathy Woodman's website waiting for the date for her new book to be released and at long last it has arrived. The Sweetest Thing is the title of her new book and for those of you who were fans of her previous books you will not miss this book as the front cover is much the same as the other two books.


Plot
This time our main character has changed, meet Jennie who is a newly divorced mum of three and has decided that now is time to live her dream and decides to up and move to the country. Jennie moves to the town of Talyton St. George. Jennie is looking forward to the tranquil life in the country and thinks it will be a great new start for her children although it is soon clear that life is not going to be so easy and tranquil as typical village gossip soon starts and Jennie's son Adam soon starts showing his distaste of country life. Jennie decides that she is going to need o bring in some money to be able to pay for the things the children want to help to settle them in so she decides to start her own cake business. Will the cake business work out and will she be able to help the children settle in the country or will they decide to go and live back in the city with their father?


Characters
I loved each and every one of the characters in this book. Jennie's relationship between her children and between the new love interest Guy in the book is brought across to the reader beautifully. From the first chapter we warm to Jennie's character and only hope for the best for her in her new start in life. The character of Adam who is Jennie's eldest son was very hormonal and emotional to read about. At times I felt annoyed with some of his actions and on over times I felt really sorry for the poor lad who is having a hard time adjusting to his new life after his parents split up and he is moved away from all he knows. The two daughters were a joy to read and we felt their excitement being brought to us through the pages of the book.


My Opinion
I have to say I actually enjoyed this book more than the previous two. I do have two problems with this book which I shall bring up now firstly I was so hungry reading this book after reading about a different kind of tasty cake in each chapter ( I can only say it seems as though Cathy Woodman has really done her homework on cakes!) and also that I am so in love with the village of Talyton St. George that I want to up and move to this place in the pages of my book!

Now that I have got my minor negatives out of the way I can tell you that this was a very enjoyable read, so much so I read this on my day off on Sunday it was a true page turner! The story felt quite real to me, which I feel is the reason why I struggled to put it down. The book is written from Jennie's perspective so we really get an insight in the way she feels and the way she is coping with her new life.

We do see the characters of Maz and Alex pop up briefly in this book which gives us a bit of familiarity but does not take over the story. We do have a new romance in this book between Jennie and her neighbor Guy which was lovely to read as unlike most books I seem to have read recently the romance between them is hard work due to the children and both Jennie and Guy's work I found myself all the way through the book wondering if they would eventually get together.

I would recommend this book (actually I already have my copy has gone to one of my clients already!) It would be an ideal holiday read or like me your lazy Sunday read. I can only hope that we do not have to wait too long for the next book and that it keeps on par with this book