Review: The Travel Auction

The Travel Auction by Mark Green

My rating:         Romantic Comedy

The Travel Auction starts with the premise of a young city worker whose plans for an adventurous travel break in South America are thrown into disarray when he splits up from his girlfriend. A serious allergy makes Jonny reluctant to travel alone, but he can't change the name on his ex's tickets. The modern-day solution? Advertise online to find another woman named Kate Thornley.

This book is unashamedly silly from beginning to end, as Jonny and Kate Thornley (The Second) attract worldwide media coverage and a catalogue of comedy errors. It doesn't help that Kate's friend applied on her behalf - and didn't mention that she's almost completely blind. But as Jonny gets used to travelling with a blind woman, and opens his own eyes to the world around them, they gradually start to grow closer together.

This was a sweet, gentle read, with laugh-out-loud moments but also some touching scenes which brought tears to my eyes. The author has clearly travelled extensively, and his vivid descriptions transported me into the story. On a personal note, while I'm not blind, I do have a visual impairment, so I could identify with some of Kate's frustrations along the way.