Book reviews from the week of May 26th

 

Happy weekend! 

This week I fell into my TBR and binged the entire Marriage Auction serial series by Audrey Carlan. Because I am me, I read the whole series and then the prequel. It didn't hurt me though. 

When Kindle Vella came out, I knew it was not the platform for me. patience is not my virtue. The idea of waiting for the next chapter to drop seemed like a tortuous promise that might drive me a little nuts. I was thrilled when Audrey Carlan published her serial in a four book set. It has been on my list for a while. After reading Kathryn Nolan's next release (which is in last week's reviews) I had an enormous book hangover. I knew I needed to find something different to get past it before moving on to the next group of ARCs. So I went to my TBR and I remembered this series. I was all in. This was an AC week for me and it was glorious!

One advantage of the serial format is the ability to intertwine multiple stories into the same time line. Like the soap operas on TV that I grew up with, there are so many characters and stories happening at the same time. It would be almost impossible to tackle something like this in a single book format. There were hot times, action, danger, suspense, and a few secrets that unfold along the way. Unlike the soaps though, they all get their HEA in book 4.  Running through the series are themes of family (blood and chosen), unconditional acceptance, fighting for a better future, and finding the inner strength that has been there all along. I am not giving a lot of details on the characters in my reviews because it would spoil some of the surprises along the way. I will say that Sutton may be my favorite cowboy of all time. Talk about swoony! Honestly all of the heroes are worthy of admiration and their match is 100% perfect for them.

Reading this series this week was exactly what I needed. Because the way the stories develop, I have chosen to review the four books together. instead of separately. 

If you decide to dive in, I will be here cheering you on as you ignore everything around you to finish it. Now, I am just waiting for season 2. There  are some bachelors that need their HEA and I am here for it.

Now it is back to ARCs for me. Until next week, happy reading!

Madam Alana (The Marriage Auction Prequel) 

by Audrey Carlan

#Prequel #ArrangeddMarriage

Set 30 years before the Marriage Auction serial, this details the story of Madam Alana. Before she was Madam Alana, she was a 19-year-old girl who had lived a rough life. She and her best friend enter a marriage auction in the hopes of a better future. Christophe bids on, and wins, Alana, and her life changes forever.

First, I want to say that Christophe is seriously swoony. The things he says!  Sigh. They will melt you. They are so romantic. He adores Alana from the very beginning. She has walls that have been built and that are fully justified. Christophe loves her enough to break through them gently with adoration, reverence, passion, and absolute love. Alana finds the self that has been smothered by circumstance to become the woman Christophe always knew she could be.

There are some heavy topics in this book. Readers should consider the author’s content advisory to determine if this book (and this series) is for them. Alana decides to make a positive change in the world her way and with Christophe’s complete support. This story can absolutely be read as a standalone. It is written in first person from Alana’s POV and ends with a HEA.

The Marriage Auction Season One (Books 1-4) 

by Audrey Carlan

#ArrangedMarriage #Serial #Cowboy #Billionaire #RomanticSuspense #EnemiesToLovers #LoveAtFirstSight #SingleDad 

Books one through four are written in first person from multiple POV and must be read in order. Initially, I thought each book might focus on one couple. That is not the case. The books are structured in a chronological timeline and each couple’s story is interwoven together in a timeline that occasionally overlaps.

Book one introduces the candidates and explains the terms of the auction. Readers also get their first glimpses of the winning bidders. Madam Alana is running the show, and it is amazing what a fierce woman she is. Fierce, yet still compassionate, empathetic, and fully driven to achieve the auction to her standards.

As the books progress each couple gets to know each other and begin to understand what obstacles they will need to overcome to succeed in their 3-year contract. Each of the candidates come from a background that left them somewhat broken. Each of the bidders are well-off and heroes any woman would want.

Throughout the series, the overriding theme is one of family in general and sisterhood specifically. The friendships the women form with each other, their blood relatives, and their new families are beautiful to read. These couples all face challenges of bias, outright danger, and even the struggle with accepting that they deserve more than they ever thought they could have. I really couldn’t put it down and just kept grabbing the next book.

By book four, things are coming to a head and the couples face their final challenges to their happy endings. This is romance, so I knew they would get there. They did. Now I am very excited to read season 2 which will be available this summer.