This is one more in a series of Irish country books. I've not read the others but I hope to. It's warm, comforting flavor is like cuddling up in a warm blanket on a winter night. A young doctor has partnered with a seasoned one in a small village. As the story unfolds we watch the new doc learning the finer points of personal doctoring. One would likely have to be over 80 to remember when this type of medicine was actually practiced but it's a delightful antidote for the chaos of our current health care system.

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Wow, what a treasure when i found this series. I could not wait to read the first book and now i have read them all but one and that is on my wish list. The Irish Country books are so warm, charming,quirky,fun and interesting, it is hard to lay them down. You have to find just the right spot to stop and sometimes that takes hours. This is the Christmas book and so great because of the time of the year. Anyone one of these books are wonderful and sure not to dissappoint, but i really liked reading this one now with winter coming on. You will fall in love with the senior doc and the younger doc, the patients,the girlfriend Patricia, and the customs of Ireland are so special. Right down to the muddy paths they walk--i love all of it.

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I loved this book! I have loved all the books in Patrick Taylor's series about the life of 2 doctors during the 60's in Balleybucklebo, a fictional village in Northern Ireland. Taylor paints a verbal picture of the village and its inhabitants, which makes the reader feel a part of it all. I recommend this book highly.

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i just LOVED this book. it isn't just that it was set at christmas and really reinforced that wonderful season of the year, the characters are very endearing and the book is well written.

this isn't just a cheap "vacation read" that is passable - this is extremely well written, great dialogue and characters. i love getting to "know" the village and all their inhabitants, the quirkiness that comes out in all those people, and how true to life it all is.

if you want a positive, lovely, and wonderful book this is it.

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James Herriot and PG Wodehouse visit N. Ireland in the era before The Troubles. Nostalgic memories of a time I barely remember.

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Loved the first two books but the series is running out of steam for me!

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Patrick Taylor makes me think of a James Herriot in Ireland 27 years later. His love of the people, the countryside and the practice of medicine burst off the pages of the book.

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This book took me 2 months to finish. Been busy. Anyway, I loved the book, every character, every personality and there are a lot of them. Situations we can all understand. I loved the cozy feel, the fire in the hearth, the huge Christmas dinner, love is in the air for the older generation. The snow outside and the patients to attend to. It reads like a movie to me. There is a lot of description in it which sometimes left me thinking...ok lets move on now. I feel bad saying anything bad about this book because for any bad there are a million good reasons to read this. I fell in love with the senior doctor in this. Must read this especially during Christmas!!

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In the third installment to the Irish Country series we happily retreat back into Dr. Barry Laverty and Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly lives around the Christmas holiday. As they share the practice that Dr. O'Reilly started their bond is getting stronger. Dr. Laverty hopes that his girlfriend, Patricia, can make it to spend the holiday with him and Dr. O'Reilly rekindles an old flame. Meanwhile the characters in town are a loveable and sometime silly group of Irish folk.

I love this series not only because you don't have to read it in order but it reminds me of how Ireland feels when you visit it. It is magical, friendly and relaxing. It feels like going home to me. Of course my heritage has a lot of irish in it so it is only natural for me I guess.

Some people complain that the books are getting redundant and have formula but I do not feel that nor would I mind if it was.

The Irish Country stories are a nice cozy and warming stories that feel real to me. They are plausible stories that usually end with a happy ending. I have realized something about happy endings. I use to get bored of them but now I realize I like them more than any other ending. If your life were a book which ending would you like? Not many of us get happy endings and it is what I hope for and if I don't get it at least I live briefly in a book that does.

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Barry Laverty, M.B., is looking forward to his first Christmas in the cozy village of Ballybucklebo, at least until he learns that his sweetheart, Patricia, might not be coming home for the holidays. That unhappy prospect dampens his spirits somewhat, but Barry has little time to dwell on his romantic disappointments. Christmas may be drawing nigh, but there is little peace to be found on earth, especially for a young doctor plying his trade in the emerald hills and glens of rural Ireland.

Along with his senior partner, Doctor Fingal Flahertie OReilly, Barry has his hands full dealing with seasonal coughs and colds, as well as the occasional medical emergency. To add to the doctors worries, competition arrives in the form of a patient-poaching new physician whose quackery threatens the health and well-being of the good people of Ballybucklebo. Can one territory support three hungry doctors? Barry has his doubts.

But the wintry days and nights are not without a few tidings of comfort and joy. Between their hectic medical practice, Rugby Club parties, and the kiddies Christmas Pageant, the two doctors still find time to play Santa Claus to a struggling single mother with a sick child and not enough money in the bank. Snow is rare in Ulster, and so are miracles, but that doesnt mean they never happen.

This is a great Irish novel and beautiful Country Christmas.

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Such a good book. I wanted to move to the fictional town!

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Good book and fun to read. Unfortunately the later books are harder and harder to find...

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