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Some books pull you in immediately. Others keep you circling them, trying to decide how you actually feel long after you’ve finished.

Honestly, that is where I am with The Auction. Lost in the waters of words, trying to decipher how I feel.

Sadie Kincaid has been an autobuy author for me since I discovered her 2 years ago. Her New York Ruthless and Broken Bloodlines series completely wrecked me in the best way. And The Perfect Fit still lives rent-free in my head like some kind of emotional landmark in my reading life. (Really, that book is on my mind now, I think it’s time for a reread.)

So going into The Auction, I expected to fall headfirst into it. It honestly wasn’t even a question in my mind.

Instead, I found myself hovering somewhere in between fascination and frustration.

Because the premise is dark and gripping in a way that immediately grabs your attention. A young woman raised to be sold to the highest bidder. A secret criminal brotherhood. A masked billionaire who buys her and takes her deep into the woods to a crumbling estate full of secrets.

The setup promises something intense.

Something dangerous.

Something emotionally consuming.

But whether the story actually delivers on that promise is…complicated.

Title: The Auction (Wages of Sin, 1)

Author: Sadie Kincaid

Publisher: MIRA

Format: eARC

Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia Romance, Forced Proximity, Gothic

Release Date: April 14, 2026

Pages: 384

Star Rating: 3 stars

Spice Rating: 3 chili peppers

📖 TL;DR

The Auction by Sadie Kincaid is a dark mafia romance about Imogen, a young woman raised to be sold at a secret criminal auction, and the masked billionaire who buys her in an attempt to save her.

The premise is bold and the atmosphere is compelling, but the emotional connection between the characters never fully landed for me. I struggled to connect with Imogen, and Lincoln’s constant push and pull created more frustration than tension.

While Sadie Kincaid’s writing is still strong, the story felt like it had incredible potential that it never quite reached.

My verdict: If you already love Sadie Kincaid or enjoy dark romance with heavy power dynamics and taboo themes, it may still be worth trying. Personally, I found myself stuck somewhere on the fence.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5)

A Dark Premise That Immediately Hooks

At the center of The Auction is Imogen DeMotta. Her entire life has been carefully controlled in preparation for one moment: the day she will be sold.

After her parents are killed, her grandfather strikes a deal with the Brotherhood, a powerful criminal organization with global reach. In exchange for sparing her life, Imogen will be groomed from childhood to become part of their biannual auction.

At twenty-one, she will be sold.

Not as a bride.
Not as a partner.

But as a commodity.

The women auctioned alongside her are treated the same way. Fifty girls, raised and prepared to become whatever the highest bidder wants them to be. Their bodies and futures reduced to a transaction.

It’s a premise that immediately creates tension. The kind that makes you uncomfortable in the way dark romance revels in.

And when Imogen finally stands on that stage, waiting to see which man will buy her life, the stakes feel enormous.

That’s when Lincoln Knight enters the story.

A reclusive billionaire rumored to be more dangerous than the Brotherhood itself. A man who hides his face behind a mask and lives alone in a decaying estate deep in the woods.

He buys her.

And suddenly the story shifts from the spectacle of the auction to something quieter and far more psychologically tense.

The Emotional Distance That Made It Hard to Connect

This is where my experience with the book started to fracture.

Truthfully, I struggled to connect with Imogen.

We meet her at the moment her life changes forever, but we know very little about her before that moment. Pieces of her past are revealed slowly as the story unfolds, but emotionally, I never felt like I fully stepped into her mind.

She often comes across as almost painfully passive. A kind of wide-eyed obedience that makes sense given the way she was raised, but also creates a distance between her and the reader.

Every so often, you see glimpses of her strength.

Moments where you think she might push back.

Moments where it feels like she might begin reclaiming control of her life.

But those moments never fully blossom.

Just when it feels like her character might start evolving, the momentum disappears again. It made the emotional arc feel stalled instead of growing.

And because the story leans so heavily on her emotional journey and her finding herself through the conditioning, that distance made the entire reading experience feel slightly out of reach.

the auction by sadie kincaid taken by the diary of a reader. a dark romance with forced proximity.

Lincoln Knight and the Emotional Whiplash

There is also a dynamic in the story that became harder and harder for me to overlook.

Lincoln is Imogen’s godfather.(hover to reveal)

And look. I read dark romance. I am deep in the trenches with this genre. Taboo dynamics don’t scare me away. Step-siblings, morally gray relationships, complicated family dynamics…none of that automatically deters me.

But this one kept pulling me out of the story.

Because the book repeatedly reminds us that Lincoln knew Imogen when she was a child. That he watched her grow in some aspect. That he was part of her life before everything fell apart.

And the problem is that Lincoln himself never seems able to reconcile that fact.

If he can’t get past the reality that he once knew her as a child. Even though he hasn’t been in her life since she was three, why would the reader be able to?

The story leans heavily on his guilt. His hesitation. His internal conflict about crossing that line.

And at a certain point I found myself thinking…

Just decide already.

Either tell her the truth or let her go.

If the guilt is still this overwhelming, we are well past the moment where that line mattered.

Because let’s be honest here.

He already stuck his dick in her.

So, continuing to circle the moral dilemma after that moment stops feeling like emotional depth and starts feeling like a contradiction; the story never fully resolves.

Beauty and the Beast… or Something Else Entirely?

The marketing for The Auction compares it to Beauty and the Beast.

But honestly?

This felt far closer to something like Batman.

A masked billionaire hiding painful secrets in a massive, isolated estate. A man carrying guilt so heavy that it controls every decision he makes.

The gothic atmosphere is there. The mysterious mansion. The sense that something larger and darker is happening behind the scenes.

But instead of transforming into a sweeping emotional romance, the story often circles the same emotional conflicts without moving forward.

Which is why, by the end, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the book had so much potential that never fully materialized.

So, Who Is The Auction For?

Despite my mixed feelings, I can absolutely see readers loving this story.

This book will likely resonate with you if you enjoy:

Dark romance with very heavy power dynamics
Morally gray billionaire heroes
Slow-burning tension and psychological conflict
Taboo elements and morally uncomfortable relationships
Stories that explore trauma, control, and emotional guilt

Sadie’s writing is still strong. The atmosphere is vivid, and the premise is undeniably compelling.

If those elements are exactly what you’re looking for, you may experience the story very differently than I did.

On the other hand, this book may frustrate you if you prefer:

Stronger character development in the heroine
Emotional transparency between romantic leads
Faster relationship progression
Dark romance that feels intense but still emotionally grounded

If you need to deeply connect with the characters to enjoy the story, the emotional distance in this book may make it difficult to fully sink into.

The Real Question Is It Worth the Read?

So the real question this review has been circling the entire time is simple.

Is The Auction by Sadie Kincaid worth the read?

For me…not quite.

And that honestly hurts to say because Sadie has written some of my all-time favorite dark romances. Her books usually pull me under completely. I fall into them endlessly. Obsess over them. Think about them long after I finish the final page.

But this one never fully grabbed hold of me.

Will I read book two in the duet? Yes.

I’m still curious enough to continue the series. The ending leaves the door open in a way that makes me want to see if these characters eventually find their way to something stronger.

The only way for you to know if The Auction is worth the read…

Is for you to pick it and decide for yourself.

And when you do, come back and tell me what you thought.

Thank you to Sadie Kincaid, MIRA Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC to read and review The Auction.

Shop Indie

If The Auction caught your attention and you’re curious to experience it for yourself, consider picking up a copy from an independent bookstore.

Shopping indie helps support local booksellers, keeps the book community thriving, and ensures the stories we love continue to find their way onto shelves.

You can check availability at your favorite local bookstore or browse online through Bookshop.org, where every purchase helps support independent bookstores.

Because the best stories deserve to live in places that love books as much as we do.

The Auction Audiobook on Libro.fm

The queen of dark mafia romance, Sadie Kincaid, returns with a brand new series – now in audio! The Auction delivers electric duet narration featuring Grayson Owens and June deBorahae. In this scorchingly sexy and suspenseful dark mafia romance, Beauty and the Beast meets organized crime in a tense slow-burn between a woman determined to survive…