A Country Practice Christmas: award winning must-read brand for Christmas 2025, the new festive anthology from four beloved Australian authors.
About this audiobook
A collection of Christmas stories from award-winning Australian authors about the country practices that lie at the heart of small towns.
The Christmas Cake War by Stella Quinn
Physiotherapist Jodie is in Clarence to help her great-aunt Carol move into an aged care home. But Jodie didn't count on Carol's dispute with the president of Clarence Gardens' residents' association. Jodie will have to team up with local publican Will, the boy who once saved her life and crushed her heart, to defuse the feud before it explodes into all-out war. Jodie doesn't believe in happy endings, but perhaps Clarence has its own kind of magic ...
The Night Before Christmas by Penelope Janu
Amelie Peterson swore she would never go back to Summerfield. And yet here she is, taking over the local vet clinic for the summer, not only as a favour to the doctor who once changed her life, but to finally face her demons. Easier said than done when one of her demons, Cameron McLeod, owns the only available accommodation in town. As Christmas draws closer, is Amelie ready to face the hurts of her past?
The Ghost of Christmas Past by Pamela Cook
Psychologist Hannah Rasmussen's main goal at Christmas is to hide from the ghosts of her past. But when her old friend and mentor asks to spend the festive season with her, Hannah can hardly deny a terminally ill woman her Christmas wish. Is Hannah's grief stronger than Christmas cheer, or will she discover that present joy - particularly in the form of burly farrier Cole Harrison - can outshine past sorrow and pave the way for a brighter future?
A Rush Creek Christmas by Renae Black
Piper Hendrix arrives in Rush Creek on the heels of scandal, desperate for anonymity and the chance to ignore Christmas to focus on her job as a nurse. Discovering that her older brother's childhood best friend (and Piper's longstanding crush) is one of the local paramedics is definitely not part of the plan. But nowhere does Christmas like Rush Creek, and Piper's best-laid plans never stood a chance.
About the author
Penelope Janu lives on a farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW with a distracting husband, a very large dog and, now they're fully grown, six delightful children who come and go. Penelope has a passion for creating stories that explore social and environmental issues, but her novels are fundamentally a celebration of Australian characters and communities. Her first novel, In at the Deep End, came out in 2017, followed by On the Right Track, On the Same Page, Up on Horseshoe Hill, Starting from Scratch, Clouds on the Horizon, Shelter from the Storm and Sunshine through the Rain, as well as three novellas, The Six Rules of Christmas, The Countdown to Christmas and A Fairytale for Christmas. Penelope enjoys riding horses, exploring the Australian countryside and dreaming up challenging hiking adventures. Nothing makes her happier as a writer than readers falling in love with her clever, complex and adventurous heroines and heroes. She loves to hear from readers, and can be contacted at www.penelopejanu.com.
Stella Quinn has had a love affair with books since she first discovered the alphabet. She lives in sunny Queensland now, but has lived in England, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea. Boarding school in a Queensland country town left Stella with a love of small towns and heritage buildings (and a fear of chenille bedspreads and meatloaf!) and that is why she loves writing rural romance. Stella is a keen scrabble player, she's very partial to her four kids and anything with four furry feet, and she is a mediocre grower of orchids. An active member of Romance Writers of Australia, Stella has won their Emerald, Sapphire and Valerie Parv Awards, and finaled in their R*BY Romantic Book of the Year award.You can find and follow Stella Quinn via her website.
Renae Black lives in Queensland with her husband and two young bookworms. By day she works as a social worker within the child protection industry. By night, she escapes to the romantic fictional realms of rural Australia that transport her back to her childhood home, a large property that bred cattle and hosted the odd ostrich sale.Find Renae on her website, renaeblack.com, and on Facebook and Instagram.Photo credit: Carlie Wheeler Images
Pamela Cook is an author, podcaster, writing teacher and mentor. Her debut novel Blackwattle Lake was published by Hachette Australia in 2012 followed by three rural fiction titles. Her latest releases Cross My Heart (2019) and All We Dream (2020) have taken her writing in an exciting new direction.Pamela writes page-turning contemporary women's fiction, delving deep into the psychology of her characters and the complexity of relationships in all their forms. She explores the impact of trauma, grief and generational conflict, drawing on the resilience and courage she finds in inspirational women. Her writing is imbued with a deep love of the natural world and its power to heal. Producing and hosting Writes4Women, a weekly podcast that supports women writers and celebrates women's writing, is one of Pamela's not-so-guilty pleasures. She is also a Writer Ambassador for Room to Read, a not-for-profit organisation promoting literacy and gender equality in developing countries. An experienced teacher, Pamela loves to mentor emerging authors. When she's not writing or reading, she wastes as much time as possible riding her handsome quarter horse Baloo, hanging out with her family and menagerie of animals on her dream-come-true rural property in the beautiful Illawarra region of NSW, and dreaming of a road trip in Virginia, her vintage caravan.
Annabelle Tudor is a Melbourne-based actor who completed her acting degree in Ballarat, Victoria. She has enjoyed a prosperous career in Melbourne's outdoor Shakespeare scene, having played numerous seasons with both the Australian and Melbourne Shakespeare Companies. She has previously narrated titles such as The Couple Upstairs by Holly Wainwright and A Remarkable Woman by Jules Van Mil.
