Wild Apples

by Minnie Darke

Jane Bancroft has returned to Lovett, Tasmania after 20 years away, minus one ex-husband but plus one outraged teenage daughter. Life in the city – life in general – hasn’t quite panned out as she would have liked. With her mother unwell, now seems as good a time as any to come back to where it all began, and perhaps even start a new life here in the heart of Tasmanian apple country. But the legacy of Jane's wild apple youth has not been forgotten by small-town Lovett and her homecoming is haunted by past tragedy.

Jane’s not the only child of Lovett returning home. Drew Pascoe, one-time scrawny kid working the pub kitchens, now handsome celebrity chef, is also back in town and looking to re-establish his roots. With the blessing of the locals and in an effort to reinvigorate tourism to Lovett, Drew has restored the old homestead Valleyfield, and plans to televise its opening as Tasmania’s hottest new dining destination. He knows a key ingredient to success is a unique homegrown flavour: Jane's mother Thea, crowned Apple Queen of Lovett and the cantankerous guardian of the legendary recipe for apple snow. But the charm offensive he’s launched on Thea is not the only reason he's keen to spend quite so much time with Jane.

Between her mother's bitterness, her daughter's escapades and the struggle to rebuild a her life, helping Lovett’s new golden boy with his grand plans are not Jane's priority. But Drew's enchanting persistence is making Jane realise that mending old wounds and a homegrown romance may in fact be the only way to start a fresh new chapter.

©2023 Minnie Darke (P)2023 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.

Genres: Audiobook, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Adult, Chick Lit, Australia

Audiobook

Published May 2, 2023

About the author

Minnie Darke writes smart, contemporary stories about love ... of all kinds.

Her first novel Starcrossed - about a journalist who manipulates an astrology column for her own romantic ends - was published in over 25 international territories.

The Lost Love Song - composed in a slightly more melancholy key - tells the story of a haunting melody that finds its way home, all by itself, to the heart of the person who inspired it.

With Love from Wish & Co takes you deep into the world of a professional gift-buyer. It begins on the day Marnie Fairchild is wrapping two gifts: one for her best client's wife, and one for his lover. What could possibly go wrong?

Three Juliets brings together themes of motherhood, daughterhood, love, loss and dressmaking. It's the story of Claudie Miller, who designs the beautiful 'Juliet' dress in tribute to the daughter - who would now be 16 years old - that she never had the chance to know. It's also the story of Roisin, Bindi and Miranda – all born on the same day, all adopted – who are 16 years old when the 'Juliet' enters their lives. The dress was designed with one of them in mind ... but which one?

Minnie Darke is a lover of freshly sharpened pencils, Russian Caravan tea and books of all kinds. She lives on the beautiful island of lutruwita/Tasmania, at the bottom of the world.

Photo Credit: Karen Brown

Reviews

[Natalie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth the read!

An Audible members free Book of the Month, which landed up being so much more than I expected. There are mixed reviews on this one but it is a solid contemporary drama set in Tasmania. The characters are authentic and the story develops in a logical and believable way. Life is complicated and the myriad of decisions needing to be made by Jane keep everything moving at a good pace.

A quick and enjoyable read, and I wouldn’t mind a sequel.

[Tatterededges · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mediocre book with a bunch of pretty unremarkable characters where nothing really happens.

Jane spends the whole book trying to be a martyr. Both her daughter and mother are horrible to her and every other character in the book thinks she’s still 16.

[Nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A predictable and easy read. I would not recommend the audible version as I found the many voices of the narrator frustrating.The audio that is made to sound like phone conversations does not add to the story and is distracting. I think my imagination can manage the voices thanks…just like when I read a paper version!!!

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one sounded good, and I was excited to read it. The writing was nice, and there wasn't anything specifically wrong with it, but it left me feeling unsatisfied.

[Eliza · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay? Easily read in one evening and easy to follow. I knew going into it that it wouldn’t be going particularly deep into the characters as it was a very short book so I wasn’t immensely disappointed but I will say that none of the characters were super loveable.

I felt like the point of the book was to show the love between mothers and daughters but the main character was just an enabler for their mum and daughters awful behaviour. The mother was so disgusting, and I get that the point was to show that Jane struggled with their relationship when she was young and even now but how do you do a full 180 of her mum being so awful then it jumps to all of them loving each other with no problems at the end. Just so many red flags. Like there was ZERO character development with the mum. Barely any for Jane, yeah she got a love life but she still enables the bad behaviour.

Jane’s daughter is a slay icon, she is just going through her teenage rebellion age and honestly slay to Jane for allowing her to be herself.

Drew was a basic love interest and wow surprise they got together in the end wow. Literally all that is explained about him is that he liked Jane when she was young and he likes her now. No character development but really was there any personality to develop anyways? No.

I think all of them should go to therapy. But Jane’s mum needs to desperately get some help.

Also Jane has to move out of her mums, that’s just so unhealthy especially for her daughter. Also getting married after one year? How is this daughter dealing with this?

Ultimately it was a quick read and free on audible so I can’t really complain. You can’t really get much of a plot or development with how short it is.

[Esther Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and felt like it had a lot of potential but was pretty disappointed with how it progressed and ended. I felt like they tried to do too much in such a short book. I also felt like the romance between Jane and Drew was kinda forced and like he was so keen do quickly and he didn’t really know her very well. Like I get they knew each other as kids but they hadn’t spent any time really together as adults. It was just weird to me and also the redemption of Janes mothers character just didn’t sit well for me. She is just a very manipulative character and that isn’t really ever addressed but we are meant to like her more at the end? They also just had so many little plots that they never really touched on more than once. Like the guy who wrote the poem on the mirror or like the plot about Riley and his family and the rival Jaír dressers. I just didn’t really like this book in the end.

[Kerran Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I've enjoyed this authors full length novels and this sounded like a cute and wholesome story, but I didn't love it. It was definitely an easy read and I liked some aspects like how much Jane tried to be understanding of her daughters behaviour and choices, and the cute small town 'apple picking' vibe. What I didn't love was Jane's mother- I understand the theme of mothers and daughters and that Jane is in a position as a mother herself to maybe understand her own mothers perspective a bit more...but really her mother is just awful and a lot of her behaviour straight up toxic. I didn't expect loads of character development in such a short piece, but Drew is super flat and Jane just kind of does the same thing over and over. A decent and quick listen as a freebie but wouldn't particularly recommend

[Alma G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.5 stars. Easy and enjoyable to read. Janey’s self pity and martyrdom did get quite tedious toward the last third of the book, though.

[Nicola Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

The curse of the Audible Monthly freebie strikes again!

Melodramatic claptrap. Lowest common denominator bilge. So many things wrong with this twaddle. Is this what passes for romance now? You tell a bloke no because you've got other things to deal with and he just keeps pursuing you? That's a red flag.

The main reason the celeb chef seems to be interested in this whiny sad sack of a woman is because he fancied her in high school. Creepy.

Also, can we not refer to 37-year-old women as "middle aged"?

Had to laugh when the narrator pronounced the plural of "dado" as "daddoes".

[Georgie Pullen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this book after looking for one of the bonus book with audible membership.

I picked up this book as it as set in Tasmania and had the Apple Isle as a setting. Due to the length of this book I knew it was probably going to be short and a little predictable going in. I still found the ending a little frustrating and hated how abruptly it finished.

I also feel like some of the issues I had with this book were generational and i also maybe not the target audience as well.

I loved the setting of this book and the love interest but I did not connect with the main character and her mother. If I had met the main character in real life and she asked my advice finding a therapist and working through the issues with your mother and how you internalise them would be my advice. On the flip side how this character is written may cause other people to deeply connect with her.

I felt like the mother does an ok job of trying not to pass on trauma and act like her mother did towards her onto her daughter but the internal thoughts she has were very harsh and also some what stereotypical.

When I got to the last chapter before the epilog I felt like there needed to be a couple of more chapters before the end and the happily ever after.

There are some charming parts of this book and I suspect some people may connect or relate to aspects of this book but I am not one of these people. I am also very glad that I did not use a credit or money to pay for this book.

[Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, light, enjoyable read about starting over/romance in middle age. Based in the overwhelming context of being sandwiched between caring for aging parent and adolescent child. It had relatable ambivalence in exhausted divorced protagonist not wanting to add pressure to an already undeniable situation and yet longing for support and companionship, as well the percieved love triangle, hostility/rejection from nearest and dearest, and a series of crises every time mum takes a moment for herself. Which is what most mums fear if they actually take time for themselves but in reality the worst case scenario rarely, if ever happens, let alone each time they actually do take time away from responsibilities. Additionally, the transformation from everyones doormat to honouring of self was unrealistic and without context of HOW she resolved/managed the guilt of not being everything to everyone all the time and prioritise her own needs - the struggle to maintain prioritisation of self is skipped altogether and the 'happily ever after' would have been more believable.

[Laura Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, the whole thing annoyed me. It was at least pretty well written, in that it was of publishable quality, but all of the characters were torturously one-dimensional. Not a single one of them *wanted* anything. The narration kept claiming that Jane was always in the middle of the conflict between her daughter and her mother, but apart from her literally standing between them, it just wasn't true. She never once attempted to talk to either of them about the other's point of view. It was especially concerning that she never had a single conversation with her daughter about the choices she was making. Like, I don't think that a parent should ever *control* their child, but there's a huge difference between that and just passively watching what seemed to me like a pretty big cry for attention. What good did Jane staying at home all the time actually do? If she hadn't been on any of the dates she went on, it would have made zero difference whatsoever. She was just so frustrating. I only finished this because it was so short.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually it’s a 3.5 star read.

After finishing I read some other people’s reviews and interestingly they are varied in their opinion. Minnie Darke is a lovely distraction from some of the heavier stuff I regularly ingest and in this she has again succeeded. However this time she has strayed a wee bit into that space where things get murky. Some reviewers loved it and others were full of projection and judgement - ouch. Therefore I say she hit the/a mark and wohoo for her.

Janey has had a lot to shoulder and in her unwanted return home she is running on empty. How good then to find someone who loves her for who she is vs what everyone else wants her to be. With some old fashioned juicy gossip and pettiness thrown in.

I enjoyed the time out from the hard stuff, although there was some of that here hidden in plain view as well as the information I learned about Tasmania’s climate and apple industry.

Nice.

[Ashleigh Allsop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, with predicable moments but I loved the authors writting style.
Minnie really sets the scene of the beautiful Tasmanian apple farm and small town where we can relate to every character.
We all have a Jane in our life, someone who puts everyone and everything first and you just want to shout "it's ok to be selfish"
We all have that one neighbour who just knows everything about everyone.
And we've all had our teen, rebellion phase where we gave our parents a few extra grey hairs.

Audio book is a 50/50 you'll either love the way it's done or you'll hate it. The narrator has an incredible range of tone and brings each character to life.

All in all, an enjoyable, relaxing read.

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the world of parents when we shelter our children from the world we have created.
Whether for good or bad Minnie Darke has produced a book of relevant information about what
we do through love, without thinking about how we are hobbling our children in their future ability
to function in moments of indecision where stepping up and handling situations are a learning curve
instead of the traumatic fallout we encourage to keep them cushioned from the ugly ugly world we inhabit.
This was a great listen, thoroughly enjoyable look at what parenting, responsibility, paying bills and
living your own life among that list, really actually looks like from a distance.
Thank you for your words Minnie Darke and Danielle Cormack your eloquence, very much
appreciated ladies. :-)

[Sharondblk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. this book way fine. It told a fairly simple family story, and was heartwarming and sweet. it did rely a little too much on something bad happening EVERY time Jane left her 15 year old daughter alone, and the infantalising of the girl drove me a bit insane - 15 year olds can go places by themselves. Although my frustration with the characters probably reflects quite well on the writing! The ending was a little too tidy, but I enjoyed the style and would read other things by Minnie Darke.

[Georgie Love · Rating 1 out of 5]

My God this was bad.
Absolutely zero plot, a host of unlikable characters and an incredibly concerning idea of romance.
Jane was an extreme and infuriating martyr who was totally caught up in her teen years as every other character in the book seems to be. Her mother was just awful and lazily written -why has it become trope to write horrible, nasty and bullying mothers?
And I'm sorry but the idea of a grown adult man being obsessed with a grown adult woman because he liked her when she was 16 is creepy. It is not romantic to show up at a woman's door late at night after she's repeatedly told you she doesn't want to date you. Absolutely gross, it actually makes me angry and concerned this is book is marketed as a romance.
*sigh* The curse of the Audible free book strikes again - I'm yet to enjoy one, yet fail to learn! Maybe this time will finally teach me.

[Felicity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook -

Was this book worth listening to? I found it an easy listen, not earth shattering but easy.

Would I read it again? Once was enough.

Would I recommend it? And who to? I would recommend it to someone who is a bit of a romantic and is looking for an easy Aussie story.

My Goodreads star rating... somewhere between 2 and 3 so ***

My Goodreads scale:
* waste of time
**filled in time
***good
****excellent
*****absolutely amazing

[Dean Koorey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had been sitting in my library as a freebie Audible original novella - so after the 32hour slog of A Little Life, its 5hr briskness and crispness appealed. And look, it’s a light Christmas-movie style romance in a fictional apple growing town. But the writing is good and the insights into parenting and small towns spot on. Loved McCormack’s narrator performance, complete with voice changes and some nice phone effects befitting the audio-only format. A nice palate cleanser.

[Kerrie Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy read - and probably pleasant enough if you enjoy this genre. This was the monthly free audible, and short, so gave it a whirl. Not my genre, but even if it was, the storyline was frustrating. A trite handling of complicated and historical relationships. The excusing of toxic behaviour. I don’t have patience for these storylines any longer.

[KylieAtkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, quick, smalltown story. Nothing dramatic, easy enough to listen to. Not sure why the celebrity chef guy would pick the all-over-the-place, family drama ridden, main character. Anyhow, it all wrapped up nicely.

I would like to read another book by this author to see if I've just picked the spotty apple of the bunch.

[Catriona McKeown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little romance with real characters, the main character especially. The love interest was perhaps a little too perfect - are there men out there who really wait and pursue a woman like that? And the Mum was a bit too concerned with her teen daughter’s antics, though I suppose for an only child it was somewhat understandable.

[Libby Longmuir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this was a romance and therefore predictable ( not complaining) , but it was well written so absolutely worth the read for some happy escapism.
I would be interested to read more of her writing…

[Shereen Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, quick, smalltown story, easy enough to listen to Audible cheap book. Not sure why the celebrity chef guy would pick the all-over-the-place lady with family drama all the time she goes on a date. But finished up a bit better without any drama. Apple farm sound amazing.

[Just_Jes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read, but somewhat frustrating from time to time. You want to shake Jane, and explain to her that life is not binary; you can do more than one thing at a time... But maybe that is just how some people live...

[Londogma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great narration on the Audible version, but I really hated the main character's propensity to blame herself for everything and not hold the people around her responsible for the way they interact with her, and set limits on that.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be so uninteresting that while listening to it on audiobook, I managed to completely tune out for more than half of it. The half that I did hear seemed irritating and uninspiring. Definitely not my cup of tea.

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. Told over more than one generation very smoothly. I enjoyed the characters and the variety of individuals. I also found the apple content very clever. I also found the pacing perfect.

[Pam Tickner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I found the history of the apple industry fascinating. The characters were a bit frustrating, but then aren't we all, as we try to navigate through mistakes, missed opportunities as we try to find our place.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. Realistic story that unfolded quickly, which is nice for a change, loved the author’s descriptive language. I would like to read another book by this author. Will ve looking out for that bestseller