Madam Alana : A Marriage Auction Novella
by Audrey Carlan
Published by 1001 Dark Nights
Prequel in The Marriage Auction Series
I run the most elite auction in the world.
Candidates and bidders come from all over the globe hoping to change their lives.
And I deliver.
I’m in the business of bringing couples together in a mutually beneficial and legally binding marriage. The terms are three years for no less than a million dollars a year, not including my commission. Once a pair signs on the dotted line, the contract ensures there is no going back.
Most couples find over time they are a love match, but not all.
Before I took over The Marriage Auction, there wasn’t an extensive vetting process. Some candidates were subjected to horrors that haunt my every waking moment.
I vowed to change that. To stand up for those who deserve more and to release them from the wrongs inflicted upon them by circumstance and chance.
What my bidders and candidates don’t know is that I understand exactly what they are experiencing.
I wasn’t always known as Madam Alana.
Once upon a time, I too was purchased in The Marriage Auction… And this is my story.
Genre:
Before I begin, I would like to thank 1001 Dark Nights and Audrey Carlan for providing me an arc of Madam Alana in exchange for a fair and honest review.
When I saw that Madam Alana arcs were up for applications, I immediently applied. If you read my reviews for all four volumes of season one of The Marriage Auction, you know I loved it. Audrey Carlan has created a world with a unique spin on the marriage of convenience trope, with interesting, likeable characters. Each character has a reason to participate in the auction, and their backstories are just as interesting as their blossoming relationships. Best of all, each couple has their own stories, and therefore, different romance tropes are explored, making it hard to get bored while reading these books.
But that is The Marriage Auction.
This is Madam Alana.
In The Marriage Auction, we get some point of view chapters from Alana - the owner of The Marriage Auction. In those chapters, and in her interactions with the characters, we learn Alana is a very passionate advocate for the people who enter the auction. Their safety, and their happiness. In Season One, it is alluded to Alana having a friend who entered the auction along with herself, and because of how poorly managed the auction was, her best friend lost her life to her abusive husband. It made sense for Audrey to write a novella to write the story in completion.
I think Audrey did a good job explaining Alana's life before and after the auction, and showing the comparison of how the marriages should turn out, and how it could easily be dangerous for those who auction themselves off without proper protections. She did a good job establishing the bond between Alana and Celine, and what led them to the auction. It was well-written (Audrey Carlan is a great writer) and overall enjoyable. If I had to complain about anything, it that Christophe (the man who buys Alana's hand in marriage) is too perfect. haha
If you enjoyed The Marriage Auction Season One, you will enjoy this short novella, featuring a young and desperate Alana, and her transformation into Madam Alana.
Coming Soon!