Every year I look forward to seeing HQ Fiction’s collection of rural Christmas romance stories hit the shelves – it feels like the real start of the festive reading season. I wrote a little bit in this post a few years ago about how important it is to me to see our summer Christmas reflected in books, as well as why I think these collections of short stories and novellas are perfect for getting a bit of reading in during December. And as well as having new Christmassy stories to enjoy I know there’s a good chance I’ll discover a new favourite author with a great backlist to explore over…

I’m back for another round of mailbox Monday (thanks to the host over here – make sure you check them out) and since today marks exactly 12 weeks until Christmas I figured it’s the perfect opportunity to share this book that arrived in my post box last week. A Country Vet Christmas is a collection of short festive stories set in rural Australia and written by some of our fabulous local ruro authors. Harper Collins Publishers Australia (through their imprint HQ Fiction) release a compilation like this each year and I really look forward to spotting them at the shops – it’s really a sign that the festive season is…