Meghan’s heart jumped into her throat when she heard the crash and then a cry for help. She tossed aside the magazine and ran out of the tearoom and up the corridor. he roudned the corner by the nurses’ station and lammed headlong into a man’s solid chest. He was tall, immovable and it felt like she’d run into a wall – a warm, human wall smelling of dust and sweat.
Meghan Kimble has always dreamed of being a rural GP, but since she graduated she has been on a different path. Now, though, freshly returned from a stint in a London Emergency Department, she is on her first placement as a locum in a small country town. No sooner has she arrived than she is dealing with the life and death decisions that a doctor must make, alongside the more mundane, but equally important aspects of her job. Magpie Creek has been without a regular doctor for a while, and while she is made to feel welcome, the job is not without its complications.
When she meets Sean Ashby he seems one complication too many. Not only does she not want a new relationship, but Sean himself has a past that makes him not keen to fall in love. But as her month in Magpie Creek hurries past, Meghan isn’t sure she’ll be able to leave the town, and Sean, behind.
The Country Practice is a rural romance with a medical flavour. While love is front and centre, the story also deals with many issues facing rural communities, and particularly rural doctors.
Meghan and Sean are likeable, believable characters, with strengths and flaws, supported by a diverse cast, making The Country Practice a satisfying read.
The Country Practice, by Meredith Appleyard
Penguin, 2015
ISBN 9780143799634
Available from good bookstores or online.
