Fun read, the story of Myles and Hunter, set in the world of auctions. They don't get off to the best start when Myles accuses Hunter of stealing her job, but will they give in to the attraction between them?

Highest Bidder by Dawn Anderson had an interesting premise with Myles and Hunter, both auctioneers, which brought a lot of niche auction lingo into the mix. While it was unique, it could be a bit heavy on the jargon for those unfamiliar with the world of auctions.

Hunter starts off as a jealous jerk, but by about 50%, both characters are completely smitten with each other, which, honestly, got a little boring. They spend most of their time thinking about each other—how much they like each other, how much they want each other—but haven’t really done much beyond that. It felt a little too soon for all that intensity, especially when they’ve only shared one brief airport kiss and then suddenly have a very steamy moment on a pool table at a gala. It felt like an unrealistic leap in their relationship.

There was also a lot of frustration with the FMC’s mother, who was a complete bitch, and I couldn’t stand how her father didn’t step up to protect her more from that toxic dynamic.

By the end, I had to skim because I knew there wasn’t going to be a third-act breakup, and the story turned overly sweet and mushy for my taste. I felt the book lacked the banter I enjoy, and while there was some open-door spice, the rest of the book read like a closed-door romance, which made the steamier scenes feel a bit out of place (and I love spice!).

⭐⭐.5
🌶️

This book was absolutely adorable! I loved Myles and Hunter from page one. 🥰

I have not read a book about auctioneers before but this was so much fun. Their banter was hilarious and the nicknames were just perfect. They had so much connection and depth to their relationship. I loved that once they started to get to know each other, they took it seriously and got to know each other on a deeper level.

I LOVED that Myles went above and beyond to be there for Hunter when she needed him the most.

I highly recommend checking this book out if you're looking for:
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ workplace
✨ auctioneer x ringman
✨ he falls first
✨ dual pov

Thank you NetGalley, Dawn Anderson and Rooted Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Hunter and Myles are so good together. This book was different, sweet, and spicy. I had never read a book set in the auction world, but it was interesting. Love the banter and all the side characters.

I need a Myles in my life!

Obsessed with this dual pov rom-com! I don’t think I’ve ever considered reading a romance between two auctioneers before but I’m so glad that I read Hunter’s and Myles story which was steamy and fun.

Very fun, short read! Light hearted and feel good! Characters were enjoyable. MMC is very swoon-worthy! Good debut novel!

Thank you to the author, Rooted Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. Myles has been working for the past ten years to become Florida's next best auctioneer. Hunter was born into the profession. When a position opens up, it seems like Myles will get the job, until Hunter comes to town. Does she deserve the job or did her father get it for her? Is it anger between them or sexual tension? Only the Highest Bidder gets to know.
I don't like writing bad reviews, and I feel like the topic of car auctions can find its audience. I however am not a member. The main focus on the industry threw me off for much of the story. As well, Myles behavior towards hunter through almost the entire first half of the story was definitely uncalled for, which he admits, but I don't feel like his perspective allowed me to be sympathetic towards his actions, especially when he had the negative reaction towards "mama" and Gus.
Although I did not enjoy this particular story, I will definitely read whatever Anderson writes next.

ARC REVIEW Thank you NetGalley!

Myles and JT are best friends and car ringmen, looking to move up to auctioneer. When a position opens, Myles assumes he’s finally landed his big break, but is quickly corrected when a beautiful (and well known), woman seems to be taking the lead. Hunter is known in the auctioneer industry because of her Dad. Looking to make it in the business she’s not letting any cocky guy stand in her way to distract her, or is she?

A sexy/steamy quick romance with lovable side characters (Yay! For Jess and JT). There’s not a lot of “depth” to the book but we all love a good quick romance read! 🛻 🔥

Thank you to Rooted Publishing LLC and Netgalley for this ARC. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting! I would definitely recommend this book. I loved how the "bigger" people was represented in this book.

The premise of this book really captured me - auctioneering? I'll admit that this is a world I really only know by name, so I was rather intrigued to learn more. However, this is not a book for that - the actual details are miniscule and when it came to figuring out what they were doing I was just simply lost.

The main characters, Hunter and Myles were much more of a delight - their banter was witty and fun. The slight enemies to lover vibes were also really enjoyable, as oh Myles had one hell of a chip on his sexy shoulder!

I also loved the dual POV's and the pacing of this book and how it was a quick read - that was truly appreciated and fun to get through!

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Myles and Hunter are some of my favorite characters! They were perfect as a small town couple. They were super relatable, funny and just awesome. I really love the slice of life stories, and this one hits all of the marks for me. The characters evolve in a great way, and I wish I could get a book 2 beyond the epilogue!

highest bidder was overall a fun romcom read that i thoroughly enjoyed. the whole enemies to lovers trope was very much appreciated, and i spent the book giggling and kicking my feet at the banter, chemistry and dynamic between myles and hunter. didn't love the fast pace, i felt like we didn't get to properly see the characters develop as much as they could, but overall it was definitely an enjoyable read.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!
🌶, can't go any higher.
The characters didn't have too much depth to them, and neither did the storyline.
I will say this is a pretty original rom-com with its plot being about auctioneers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rooted Publishing LLC, and the author, Dawn Anderson for the ARC read 📚 💚

#netgalley #highestbidder

This book was amazing! The cover is so pretty and it definitely made me want to read this book! The banter and romance was so fun!

This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. For me it was a quick read, it made it pretty hard to put down. I was hooked from the very first couple of pages, all the way through to the end of the book. Once I finished the book, I was contemplating what was next……I didn’t want the story to end!

I originally fell in love with the cover before even reading the synopsis and then ended up falling in love with the characters ( I do feel that there could have been more character development with Myles).

I my own perfect world, I think there should be a book that comes before this one where we learn more of the characters back stories. The plot in this book was good, but it felt pretty rushed. I think for sure this would be a great YA story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dawn Anderson, and Rooted Publishing. For allowing me to read this before publication. I am excited to see what the author comes up with next!

Firstly, I did really enjoy the relationship dynamic with this one, however I did feel it moved pretty quickly, especially considering this is marketed as enemies to lovers

I feel like more could have been done with myles meeting her ex, with how much it was brought up what a bad guy he was and how much her mum wanted them back together I felt we were for sure building up to a bigger confrontation between the 2 men than we got

I did enjoy the third act conflict, I think it was well done and didn’t rely on “lazy” storytelling techniques, it felt natural rather than being there because the typical structure of a romance requires a breakup/another form of conflict

Some of the writing felt a little over explained and simple, it felt like the author didn’t trust the reader to infer certain things or remember

While I grew to love myles, I really didn’t like him at the start, the author couldn’t commit to his misjudgment of her (having him say multiple times both that she’ll probably be good because of learning from her father, but also that he expects her to fail and she only got the job because of her dad, he seems to assume that this is her first time ever auctioneering despite also assuming she learnt from her dad), I also didn’t appreciate that once he saw her in action and could see she was good, he was still annoyed that she got the job “because of her dad” even though she is clearly deserving of it no matter how she got it, his actions still come across like she’s terrible at the job

Finally, my last issue came with the descriptions of the auctioneering world, as someone who doesn’t know anything about it it was hard to understand what different peoples roles were, now I don’t expect a definition of each thing, but I would like a little more explanation so that someone with no clue can understand what’s going on, I have read plenty of books where the characters do something I have no idea about where it doesn’t have a boring explanation but I still don’t feel clueless about what’s happening

Thank you to NetGalley and rooted publishing for my eARC

I will also be sharing my review to instagram stories tomorrow
I gave this a 2.5 stars but that isn’t an option on here

"I finally understand what it feels like to be the highest bidder"

highest bidder by dawn anderson
rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
tropes: rivals to lovers, workplace romance, dual pov and he falls faster

the way I was kicking my feet, smiling and laughing instantly at the banter and tension between hunter and myles.

loved being able to learn about car auctions through these characters which made reading the book so much fun.

I genuinely had a great time reading this book because the tension between the characters jumped out at you while having great supporting characters.

10/10 would recommend anyone reading this book and so excited to continue supporting this author.

What a quick, cute rom com read!! And Myles!!! Ugh I love him so much! The amount of flirting in this book just had me kicking my feet and giggling so much, I loved it! I loved all the characters so much (except Simon ;)), I really hope there could be another book about JT and Jess! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!!

A super cute and steamy quick read! Very good

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

It was a quick read and I truly love Myles, but don't feel like I got to know him super well. Like, why was Hunter the first girl that really caught his eye after all these years? He went from absolutely not being into anyone to being head over heels in love after just meeting her. I needed more back story. The plot was cute, but overall it felt very rushed. I think I would've eaten this up in high school. Would like to see a JT story though.

Thank you Dawn Anderson, NetGalley, Rooted Publishing LLC, and Victory Editing for this ARC. I've agreed to provide an honest review.