I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this at this time and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.
I will, however, notify you if I decide to pick it up at a later time.

Apple March, ex-fashion design student, is currently hiding from the design world, working as a clothing store manager, with all of her designs stored away out of sight under her bed. But when her sister gets engaged, and asks her to design her wedding dress, the true story of why she left fashion school comes out.

While she tries to keep things under control, with her passion for design reigniting against her wishes, Apple tries to keep her secret hidden from her new group of friends.

A tale of romance, design, friendship, heartbreak, and a few timely car breakdowns.

I managed to get through this book in two sittings! 356 pages in 2 sittings. Granted, these were on 2 days quite far apart while I got my hands on a hardcopy. This book was enchanting and kept me on the edge of my seat, so I just couldn't stop reading.

Apple, her mum and sister, her work colleagues, and her friends twist together in such a natural way to form her world of people. It was so effortless to keep track of who was there in each setting, each scene alive in my head.

The fashion school drama intrigued me, her personal life was a pleasant rollercoaster, and her work life had me egging her on, so it was a beautiful, enveloping read for me.

I'd highly recommend this novel to any lover of Sunni Overend, Australian fiction, fashion, travel, romance, or just a relaxed, gripping, read.

The Rules of Backyard Croquet is every bit as delightful a romp as Sunni Overend’s debut release, The Dangers of Truffle Hunting. In fact, in my opinion, it’s even better.

Once again I relished every little detail of the predominantly Melbourne-based setting. I found Apple to be an incredibly likeable and more importantly relatable protagonist. Overend has you rooting for her from the beginning. And let’s just say a certain someone is completely swoon-worthy – I just wish we saw more of him!

Another thoroughly enjoyable read by a fantastic local Australian author!

I really enjoyed The Dangers Of Truffle Hunting by Sunni Overend so I was pretty keen to try this – which is actually her first written manuscript and was self published several years ago but is now being traditionally published with the same publisher as Truffle Hunting.

Apple has been working in a fashion boutique in Melbourne for years – after scandal ended her study at a prestigious fashion college. Apple spends her days straightening up the store, dealing with the demanding owner, who is still living in the store’s couture past and gossiping with her work colleague. It isn’t until her sister Poppy gets engaged and begs Apple to make her a wedding dress that she realises she can’t keep hiding who she is anymore. She’s buried the creative part of herself so far down after humiliation and horrible accusations but it’s still there. She still has vision and she knows that she can create something incredibly fabulous for her sister.

Apple is so traumatised by what happened to her years ago, as an impressionable young woman. It’s a humiliation in two parts – an unwise affair where she didn’t know who she was dealing with and an accusation on her artistic integrity that led to her dismissal from the college where she was studying. She has been licking her wounds for years, immersing herself in being a sales assistant working for someone else in a job that basically means she’s in a holding pattern. Those in her life, particularly her sister Poppy are desperate to see her design again, to make things again. In terms of Poppy, she’s not afraid to push, trying to shake Apple from the comfort zone she’s surrounded herself in.

Apple’s unreliable car breaking down led to a meeting with heir to a jewellery empire Charlie and they cross paths again some time later while Apple is on a work trip. She is drawn into Charlie’s circle – his friends including Noah, who makes it clear he’s pretty interested, and also Charlie’s fiancee Heidi, a relationship that has existed since their teen years. Charlie is a delight, introducing Apple to such a different world – croquet games, charity events, fashion auctions. His younger sister Jill is good fun, although several in the circle are clear players with little respect for others. Apple ends up tangling with Noah, who is interesting but not as interesting as Charlie and the two of them don’t really have the connection that Apple and Charlie have had. It’s quite different reading a book where the characters with the most chemistry are clearly involved with other people for at least part of the book but at the same time I’ve never needed celibacy to believe in a pairing. Apple and Charlie are charming together – their interactions are quite sweet at first. Charlie is engaged to the quite frankly awful Heidi, who has no filter and tends to say whatever rude thing pops into her head, especially when she’s been drinking. It’s the sort of rich thing where they’ve known each other forever, their mothers were friends and they’ve been in a relationship since their teens. Both of them have changed and evolved though and neither seem particularly enamoured with each other anymore. Charlie’s whole family were lovely and I liked how Apple interacted with each of them.

I’m not a big fashion person – I like clothes but I’m not into expensive brands and couldn’t tell you Chanel from Gucci. But I enjoyed a lot of the fashion in this – the creativity of it, the struggle to make your mark in something. Apple has great vision and not only that, but when she decides that she’s stifled herself for long enough, she also has great determination. She still struggles with the feeling that her name is mud, bottling out of several opportunities because of old foes but when she finally decides to take her reputation back, she’s pretty damn amazing. She has grace and maturity as well, to apologise to someone she unwillingly and unknowingly wronged in the past and to move forward in the best way she can. I really enjoyed her friendship with Jackson, originally her colleague at the store, who also believes in her. Jackson is outrageous but awesome and she gives a lot of character to the book. A lot of this book is set in Melbourne and it’s almost like a love letter to the city – Melbourne prides itself on being fashion conscious, a bit hipster, with lots of black, good coffee and people not afraid to go to the opening of an envelope. In fact sub in polo for the croquet and you have just about every elite Melbourne summer event of recent years.

I found this book so light and fun and engaging but also…..in contrast, there was quite an amount of depth as well. It’s such a look at what’s important, being who you truly are inside and not letting things get in the way. Also I have such a soft spot for the ending. I love me a good reunion-type of scene!

Loads of wit and fun – definitely like this as much as Truffle Hunting. I think Sunni Overend is writing unique stories and I can’t wait to read more. Actually, I also really like the way the publisher has styled the titles to match and the cover designs are similar too. They’re very striking and will look great on a shelf….a whole row of them.

8/10

This post will be published at the link below and on Goodreads on 17 February.

In brief ★★★★

After the success of The Dangers of Truffle Hunting, Sunni Overend's first novel (then self-published titled March) has been refreshed as The Rules of Backyard Croquet - a perfect title for this light, romantic read with feminist undertones. The plot - following disgraced fashion designer Apple March's re-discovery of her passion - is compelling and fun, and the cast of characters is populated with some impressive, strong women. A perfect summer poolside treat.

I received an advanced e-book copy from Harper Collins Australia via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In depth

Plot: Apple March is a young woman cowed by her circumstances - after two consecutive bad experiences at fashion design school, she takes a job at the high-end clothes store Loom on Collins Street in Melbourne, hiding her designs under the bed and not looking back. But Apple's newly engaged, younger sister Poppy wants a dress designed by her, and when she's thrown in the path of the fabulously wealthy (but taken) Charlie Beauchamp and his alluring friend Noah, the scene is set for romance, drama, croquet and some seriously beautiful clothes. The story hits all the right plot points at the right times - it's therefore a bit predictable, but the lively characters make the journey worthwhile.

Characters: I characterise Overend's writing as 'chick-lit plus', as she seems to add more depth than your average summer quick read. In this book, the depth comes from some seriously kick-ass female secondary characters, whose strength, persistance and flaws support Apple's character development. Overend very quickly has us on Apple's side, and we spend the novel cheering for her to shake off the past and step up. Of course she lets us down at intervals, but she is principled, creative and kind, which makes her story enjoyable to read. She's surrounded by shop assistant Ella Jackson (the 'devil-may-care' foil), septegenarian style icon and Loom owner Veronica (the success story foil), her mother Ginny (the I-don't-need-a-man foil), and sister Poppy (the I'm-more-lost-than-you foil). I described this novel as having feminist undertones in the summary, and one of the reasons is the depth of the women in this story, compared to the men. Charlie and Noah are reasonably well fleshed out, but the rest are just stylish accessory (Henri) or troublemaker (Joel) tropes. Which, to be honest, is a refreshing change from the usual balance.

Themes: This is very much a story about facing adversity to achieve your dreams. It has messages about looking beyond the surface of others' lives, and kindness (exemplified by the Beauchamp family members), as well as the empowerment of independent women.

Writing: Overend's writing is so easy to read, with great dialogue and a Goldilocks amount of descriptions (in a book focused on fashion and therefore the visual, she gets the balance just right). My main criticism is that she does bash the reader over the head with things at times (e.g. characters stating their own traits in dialogue, rather than revealing them through action), and the frequent swearing may not suit all readers, but otherwise the writing feels effortless and breezy, exactly how it should in this genre.

Recommended if you liked: The Dangers of Truffle Hunting, A Hopeless Romantic