Review: At Love's Bidding

The Wimplegates own and operate an auction house in Boston, MA. During a recent auction, an unauthorized painting gets sold and sent away. To save the family's reputation and business, Miranda travels with her grandfather to Missouri in hopes of finding the painting and saving their family.

Regina Jennings has created a clever and memorable story. It brought to mind the delightful uniqueness of Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer. Both stories were written around occupations that are unfamiliar to me. I love reading! It's such a fun way to learn about the world!

Jennings pits a city auction house alongside a country auction house. The rules, rhythms, and stock are vastly different! The Wimplegates auction "priceless artifacts" that are described as "treasures." The Ozark auction house that Grandfather purchased in hopes of finding the painting (as well as other unknown treasures) is a "sale barn" with livestock. The hilarity of overcoming and understanding a new auction house is a fantastic part of the story, but the book also goes in-depth.

Jennings writes about families. Families are wonderful and complicated. The Wimplegates, Ballentines, and LeBlancs are the main families in the story. They want to heal relationships, care for one family members, and right wrongs. Relationships are not easy and each family shares their high and lows as the novel progresses. It was very well written with love, drama, hurt, healing, and faith.

At Love's Bidding is book two in Jennings' series Ozark Mountain Romance. Book one is
A Most Inconvenient Marriage published in January 2015. The books are tied together and the characters from book one appear in the book two, but if you haven't read book one you can jump into book two right away and enjoy it. Book three in the Ozark Mountain Romance series is also available! Book three is a novella available in the book With this Ring? I can't wait to read it!

Time Period: 1873
Location: Boston, Massachusetts and Pine Gap, Missouri USA

Reviewed from a complimentary copy. Thank you, Regina Jennings and Bethany House!

Title: At Love's Bidding
Series: Book 2, Ozark Mountain Romance
Author: Regina Jennings
ISBN: 97800764211416