Review: "Bidding on Brooks" by Katy Regnery (The Winslow Brothers #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by Book Enthusiast Promotions via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Badgered by his only sister to participate in a bachelor auction that will have him spending two weeks on one of his sailboats with the woman who ends up winning a date with him, Brooks Winslow is left with no other option that to ask his closest female friend to bid on him. In exchange, they'll sail together on the one sailboat he knows she can't resist. No harm, no foul, right? After all, the money he'll have his friend use will go to a good cause and he'll be free of any unwanted romantic or sexual entanglements if someone won him in the auction. Skye Sorenson is a safe bet...until he sees the gorgeous woman behind the shapeless overalls and grease that are her uniform as the resident mechanic at her family-owned marina. 

Having a crush on your best friend since you were ten and he was fifteen is something that Skye Sorenson has learned to live with. If she's totally honest with herself, her feelings have grown in the twenty years they've known one another, but she knows she could never stand a chance at winning Brooks's attention. He simply doesn't see her as anything more than his friend and mechanic. So, when he asks her to do him a favor, she agrees, even though the idea of spending all that time alone on a sailboat with Brooks has her feeling anxious. She simply needs to remind herself that she has a boyfriend, one who just happens to have left her behind to circumnavigate the world, but bidding on Brooks may very well cost her her heart.

Bidding on Brooks is the first book in the new Winslow Brothers series by bestselling author Katy Regnery and my first foray into her body of work, though I did buy The Vixen and the Vet when it went on sale a couple of months ago. After having read this book, I now understand why the author has such a strong and loyal readership. She was able to weave together a story that taps into the fantasies a lot of women have: their best friend finally noticing them and feeling the same way they do. The additional bonus of the lead male character being a millionaire and an medal-winning Olympian (Hey, a bronze medal is still a medal, children!) simply adds an extra fantastical layer of deliciousness to the whole affair.

Brooks Winslow was, by no means, the perfect guy, but then perfection is an unrealistic goal for anyone to achieve and he made no secret that he wasn't some prize catch. Yes, he was good looking and successful, but he also carried with him a deep-rooted hang-up stemming from the early death of his father. It's what prevented him from even contemplating a serious romantic relationship with any woman. Skye may be the first woman he was ever tempted to foresee a future with, but his fears that he could inflict upon her the same pain and loneliness his mother and siblings went through when his father passed had him holding back. Brooks truly was an honest-to-goodness nice guy who was protective of those he loved and cared for.

For a lead female character, Skye Sorenson exuded the kind of strength and fortitude that I like seeing in fictional heroines. She may have had her share of insecurities and doubts but Brooks helped her realize that she already had all these great qualities that were just buried beneath the surface. As the story went on, you could see how she grew into her own and began to have that self-confidence that made her an even stronger character. She was able to see beyond the fear that Brooks had and gave him a feeling of hope and purpose. Her love and loyalty to her father was also part of what made her quite endearing and while she had no relationship with her mother, she had an actual sense of what family was and why it mattered.

The Winslow Brothers is a spin-off series but even though I've never had the pleasure of reading any of the books in the original series, The English Brothers, of which the first book, Breaking Up with Barrett, is currently available as a free download via e-retailers, this first book in the new series can be read as a standalone. This was really a more than satisfying read and one that had me smiling by the time I got to the end. It's a story about love and friendship and how finding that perfect person is a lofty dream but being with the person perfect for you is more than possible, if only you'd be willing to accept them, flaws and all. Bidding on Brooks is a safe bet if you're looking for a happy sigh-worthy read and gets five stars. ♥

Release Date: 11 May 2015

Date Read: 10 May 2015

Learn more about Katy Regnery here.

Purchase Bidding on Brooks on Amazon.