SINK OR SELL

by Margaret Rose ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

In this debut novel, a saleswoman at a department store contends with the dramatic men who own it.

Holly Stewart works at Lorden’s, Seattle’s largest department store. She’s the assistant to (and longtime secret admirer of) the store’s manager, the handsome Lorden scion George. After boldly orchestrating a kiss with George at the office holiday party, she learns that the company is a sinking ship, and a lot of people—including Holly—are losing their jobs. Not only that, George is getting transferred to the company’s Hawaii store while the Seattle branch is left under the command of his younger brother, Declan, a man whom Holly has hated since she was first hired. Then Declan offers Holly an unexpected lifeline: She can take a new job in the store as a saleswoman, just about the only position she hasn’t held in her eight years at Lorden’s. Holly is initially repulsed by the suggestion. “I would rather pack raw chicken into those gross vacuum-sealed bags for the rest of my life,” the distraught Holly tells Declan. “I would rather go without a sip of caffeine for all of eternity than work for you. I would rather have hours of oral surgery.” She ends up taking the job but only because Declan promises she won’t have to work with him directly. The position presents new opportunities for Holly. In the absence of George, she may finally be able to blossom into the ambitious career woman she’s always wanted to be. But as her role at the store evolves, so does her water-and-oil relationship with Declan. Could it be that she’s been after the wrong Lorden brother all along—or should she have flown the coop when she had the chance?

Rose has a sharp wit, and her prose dances across the page. At one point, Holly reports: “We haven’t seen each other much today during the whirlwind that is a busy Friday in retail sales. A kid puked in a dressing room (that happens at least bimonthly), someone was trying to return a sweater purchased in the nineties and I was called in to help since there’s no Customer Service, and Declan spent the majority of his day filling in where staff is thin.” The department store makes for a fun setting, and the Lorden family dynamic is pleasantly complex. There are two generations of Lorden brothers, both riven by sibling rivalry. (A member of the older set, the drag queen Len Lorden, is Holly’s best friend.) But the author slightly fumbles the setup between the two main characters. Holly insists she hates Declan, but her reasons are unclear, and their softening toward each other is too telegraphed and comes too quickly to be satisfying. As a result, the stakes of the novel are ultimately rather thin, which becomes increasingly problematic as the book surpasses the 300-page mark. Even so, like a real-life department store, the charm and polish of the writing are enough to keep readers enjoyably browsing from one chapter to the next. A light, engaging romance set in the world of a retail dynasty.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Hodson Press

Review Posted Online: March 4, 2025

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE