THE HEART'S BIDDING

A store owner falls in love with an auctioneer in this romance.

Kay didn’t intend to spend so much money at an auction, but she couldn’t stop listening to the voice of the handsome auctioneer, Gerald. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, she managed to drop her expensive item, an oak door, right on her foot. Gerald volunteers to drive her to the urgent-care center. Despite the circumstances, Gerald and Kay have a fun night together, chatting about work and family. Kay is working hard to keep Vintage at Heart, her family’s struggling vintage clothing and furniture business, afloat. She was having some success by selling items via online auctions, but thanks to a new law, she can no longer do that without obtaining an auctioneer’s license. Lucky for her, a class is about to start that will help her do so—and Gerald happens to be helping to teach it. Unfortunately for Kay, the instruction is definitely not cheap, and she’s already having a hard time just keeping the lights on. She makes a deal with Gerald’s mentor, which gets her into the class, but how is she going to manage the store, her grandfather’s greedy girlfriend, the bills piling up, and her attraction to the man who’s now her teacher? Swan present a wholesome romance between two adults just trying to find their places in the world. The real selling point for this novel is the characterization, as both the main and secondary players feel true to life. Kay, in particular, is fully believable and relatable as a college dropout doing her best to get by without losing herself in the process. The book’s pace is rather slow, which may cause some readers to lose interest. Those that stick with it, though, will enjoy its pleasant, low-key story.

A light, leisurely novel with a wholesome love story.