Title: A Country Affair

The Barleybridge series revolves around the personal and professional lives of the staff of a veterinary practice in an English village. In this first novel of the series, Kate begins work at the hospital. Although she harbors the secret desire to become a veterinarian herself, one failing grade has dashed these hopes and set her to working as an accountant and receptionist instead. However, Kate soon finds that she is not content to work on the fringes of the practice, despite the tight bonds with the other staff, particularly the wild Australian, Scott. The practice is full of interesting characters and cases.

Quote: "It doesn't make sense. I'll be off. Where's my billhook? That sparky young lass took it off me."

This book is engaging because of a cast of characters that covers all your bases - annoying, endearing, quiet, fiery. The two characters who make up the focus of this novel, Kate and Scott, make you root for their improbable coupling, and the supporting cast also shine.

Title: Country Wives

This second novel in the Barleybridge series features a practice without the engaging character of Scott, who has returned to Australia. A replacement, Dan, is hired, but his ways conflict with some of the already established members of the veterinary hospital. He also comes into conflict with some prominent clients with his outspoken ways. Additionally, Kate must deal with the arrival of her mother, who she has not seen since she was a child, on the scene, and finds herself torn between the mother she always wondered about and the step mother who raised her.

Quote: "One by one Kate opened them and read all about her dad's tender love for her mum in every line: a pining and a longing which revealed so poignantly a depth of feeling she never knew he was capable of. Poor Dad! Loving her like that. How did he survive her going?"

Grade: B
Review: This book loses some of the luster of the first because we no longer have the romance between Kate and Scott to focus on. There is a mysterious love affair between the new veterinarian, Dan, and the American woman he loved and lost, but this story line is simply not as engaging. The clients are still interesting, but this second novel is not as engrossing as the first.

Title: Country Lovers

A new couple takes center stage in this third book about the Barleybridge veterinarian hospital. A client, Megan, lives with her elderly and invalid father. She and one of the vets, Rhodri, are in love, but Megan's father makes their relationship difficult and is a continuous strain. Meanwhile, Kate continues to make inroads on her quest to go back to school and become a vet herself, and the practice becomes embroiled in a legal battle when an outbreak of a chicken disease threatens area farmers.

Quote: "Dan climbed over the gate and was immediately mobbed by all seven of the goats. Dan crouched to examine Sybil and found himself with pygmy goats endeavoring to raid his pockets, steal his mobile, climb on his back, and generally get in on the act by making their own diagnosis."

As you are reading this novel, you can't help but feel that there is something missing, the spark of the character Scott who is still MIA. The characters attempting to fill this void, Rhodri and Megan, are too narrow minded and weak willed respectively to do so well. However, the village and the practice are still engaging enough to be worth the read, even just as a filler between this work and the promising fourth book in the series. ( )