top of page
  • Writer's pictureMichelle

The Heart's Bidding by Jordan Riley Swan


The Quick Cut: A girl struggles to keep the family business alive after her parents die in an accident. A Real Review: Thank you to Jordan Riley Swan for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review. When a family member dies, it can be difficult to process. However, if that sudden passing means that you have to take over a business and keep things going in their stead, that difficult level only escalates even further. If you found yourself in those shoes, how would you cope? What would you do to keep things moving forward? This is the reality for Kaylee when she takes over the family antique shop. The Vintage at Heart antique shop has been open for many generations in her family. It started with her grandparents and then was passed down to her parents. However, when both her mom and dad die in a car accident, the store is turned over to her and her grandfather. Barely holding on by a thread, she tries to keep the business afloat (although her grandfather's girlfriend isn't helping that). Things get complicated when she meets an auctioneer she's attracted to, which leads to her getting her auctioneer's license to provide another source of income. Can she face her fear of public speaking and save the family store? Or will she find a different path instead? This book might be categorized as romance, but I struggle to categorize it as that. Is there a romantic plot in this book? Sure. However, it's more of a secondary plot line than anything else. Most of the book (both in page numbers and reader interest) are dedicated to Kaylee's attempts to keep the family antique store alive. It's an enjoyable story, but it's not entirely memorable due to the amount of realism that you have to buy into. A big portion of the trouble throughout the story is due to the grandfather's girlfriend Ruth. I won't spoil what happens, but I found myself seriously questioning why anyone would choose to ignore blatant issues for that long. If it was due to still not being over the death of his child, then why wasn't Kaylee affected? Kaylee is so focused on saving the store that her grief from her parent's passing is almost nonexistent and that was strange to me. Kaylee and Gerald have a cute chemistry together. Gerald gets Kaylee to come out of her shell and to enjoy life for herself a bit more. It is an important thing considering all the stress that Kaylee is under. However, they seemingly go from flirting to dating in zero seconds flat after many pages of interaction for professional reasons and not much else. Again, maybe this is me missing subtle clues - but I found myself having to check reality a number of times. An enjoyable story that requires you to ignore many obvious signs at multiple points. My rating: 3 out of 5

© 2017 by the Epilie Aspie Chick. Proudly created with Wix.com

  • logo-no-text-c4ee077e55eff96a040071bb24d583360e2b52ed96e293a0768c6ba2384bf82c
  • 1486164222-goodreadslinersquare_79636
  • Instagram Social Icon
bottom of page