A Country Pub Christmas

by Alissa Callen, Stella Quinn, Pamela Cook

Raise a glass to celebrate love, community and Christmas spirit with four festive rural stories from favourite authors, all featuring the iconic setting of Australian small-town pubs.


A Gingerbread Christmas by Alissa Callen

City-girl Tory Halifax is on a mission to bring joy, and gingerbread, to small-town Windamere. Christmas grinch Blake Randall is hibernating with his kelpie until the festive madness ends. But when his adorable twin nieces gatecrash his farm, trapping him in a tinsel nightmare, there's only one person he can turn to. Can Tory help Blake create new holiday memories to ensure he'll never spend Christmas alone in the pub again?

A Jillaroo Until Christmas by Stella Quinn

Reluctant backpacker Micky Harding needs to get out of her comfort zone. How hard can it be to jillaroo? For Gulf Country grazier Steve Bruce, a useless station hand who's too sweet to sack is just one more problem. Add a very pregnant cow, an abandoned goldrush pub, and a fall-in-love situationship between two people who are adamant their stars do not align, and you've got a cracker of a country Christmas.

Love on the Menu by Pamela Cook

After inheriting a country pub, chef Cassidy Butler is opening her dream restaurant. Nate Willis, the boy who broke her heart, runs the pub across the road. Cassidy vows to take his customers, starting with Warrinbah's Christmas Long Table Lunch. But with bad reviews, boycotts and other disasters, Cassidy's dream will implode if she doesn't ask her enemy for help-and acknowledge there's still a spark between them.

The Kiss Before Christmas by Penelope Janu

Lily Campbell runs her own fencing business, and doesn't need anyone's help. So when a handsome city lawyer retrieves her runaway wheel, she surprises herself by thanking him with a kiss. After all, she'll never see him again. But Xavier Lucas, unexpectedly down to earth and the only person who can save Ballimore's pub, keeps turning up. It's a bad idea to date someone from such a different world, but after that kiss, what if Lily wants more?

Genres: Christmas

505 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 29, 2026

About the author

When USA Today bestselling author Alissa Callen isn’t writing she plays traffic controller to four children, three dogs, two horses and one renegade cow who really does believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. After a childhood spent chasing sheep on the family farm, Alissa has always been drawn to remote areas and small towns, even when residing overseas. Once a teacher and a counsellor, she remains interested in the life journeys that people take. She also is partial to historic homesteads and country gardens and has been known to drive hours to see an open-garden. She currently lives on a small slice of rural Australia in central western New South Wales.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I look forward to this anthology every year, the stories have always been fun and fabulous and this year’s is no different, Christmas stories at their best.

A Gingerbread Christmas, Alissa Callen
We are back in Windamere for this one with Christmas loving, gingerbread making city girl Tory Halifax and Christmas Grinch Blake Randall and his trusty kelpie, Doc Blake is happy to stay away from the town and the residents but when his twin nieces come to stay for a week and they love Christmas Blake will need all the help he can get and Tory is there willing and able and let’s not forget the members of the gardening club and their special matchmaking, there are lots of smiles as Tory and Blake spend more time together, this is a beautiful story that I loved.

A Jillaroo for Christmas Stella Quinn
When Mickey Harding’s grandmother passed away she leaves Mickey a photo album of her childhood in the gulf country in Queensland, Australia and a message to find a real adventure instead of the games she creates, Steve Bruce is doing the best he can to keep the Bruce Station going, money is tight his sister has gone off to earn money for them and the fist day on his own he breaks his wrist, he needs help and when Mickey arrives well lets just say the beautiful woman standing in front of him is not what he expected, far from it but it doesn’t take long before history on the property pregnant cows see these two falling in love, of there were lots of smiles and laughs with this one, I loved it.

Love on the Menu Pamela Cook
Chef and influencer Cassidy Butler has just inherited the pub her grandfather owned in a small country town she hasn’t been here since she lost her heart to the other pub’s son Nate Willis, but she has big plans and turns the pub into a fancy wine bar and bistro and wins the contract for the annual long table Christmas lunch from Nate Willis, Nate is shocked to see Cassidy back in town and it appears they will be in opposition in the pub stakes but things don’t go the way Cassidy would like and there is still a spark between them will it lead anywhere come along and see, this is a fabulous story that had me smiling all the way through.

The Kiss Before Christmas Penelope Janu
MS Janu has taken us back to Ballimore for this fabulous story, Lily Campbell is a contract fencer and she is happy to do all on her own but on a wet stormy evening changing a tyre a stranger pulls up behind her and lifts her tyre and the only thing she can think to thank him is a kiss and after that kiss that was so much more than she thought it would be she thought never to see this stranger again but that is not so, it seems that Barrister Xavier Lucas is in town to help some locals and is here for a longish stay and when Xavier steps in to help save the pub, Lily is losing her heart to Xavier and it appears that Xavier has already lost his to the beautiful strong Lily. Such a great story, I loved this one.

I do highly recommend this book, the stories are Christmassy all set around a pub, they all have fabulous characters that were so easy to love, Alissa Callen’s is part of her new series and I am hoping that Stella Quinn will write some more set in the gulf country and Pamela Cook’s setting is lovely could there be more set there and Penelope Janu has taken us back to Ballimore with characters that have become friends, if you are looking for a fabulous read then this is the one to pick up, a must read.

[Kimberley · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

This was a little hard to rate. I liked 3 of the 4 stories struggled with one as it didn’t seem too festive to me. They are short and sweet reads all set in Australia which I liked. Perfect for an older romance lover or someone who likes closed door reads.

[Shelagh · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

I listened to A Country Pub Christmas, an anthology of four Australian rural Christmas stories with the quintessential bush pub at their centre. Each story is charming and in each case, the narration brings the characters to life. These stories are short enough to entertain you for a few hours each, perfect for an afternoon gardening or perhaps doing some baking. If you prefer to read rather than listen, you’ll find each story to be the ideal companion for a few hours of basking in the sun.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite time of the year

These anthologies are like an advent calendar, only way more fun than chocolate. Love the variety, as always. Perfect feel good reading. Is it weird that the pub setting made me think about schnitty and chips lol?

[Emily (the_bookdragons_den) · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

I love this time of the year as the HQ BookChristmas anthology is released and I especially love it because it always features some of my favourite Aussie rural romance authors!

This year it’s all about the country pub which is often the heart of small towns across the country! This theme was great because every one of these stories had a sense of community woven into the romance narrative!

I loved every single one of the four stories featured in this year’s book. The four authors have outdone themselves.

We have cheeky farm animals, some fake it ‘til you make it in a remote location, culinary delights and a pub that needs saving. Each story was such a delight to read 💕

Huge thank you to HQ Books and the authors for sending me a copy! I loved every minute of being lost in the pages of this book! Swipe to read the synopsis of each story 🎅🏼

[Malvina · Rating 3 out of 5]

These four authors always deliver nice Christmassy stories in their ‘annual’ anthology. Light, easy to read, quintessentially Australian in nature. And what is a more Australian setting than a country pub, the life and meeting place of a town. I shouldn’t play favourites, but I think my favourite was the story by Stella Quinn.

[Maree Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these anthologies and look forward to them every year.
They always get me into the Christmas spirit.