Review - The Auction by Gale Stanley
The Auction
by Gale Stanley
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Volume 1 of Scenes from the Underground
Posted in Book Reviews on 11 July, 2026
Lawrence enjoys doing drag. His performances using the stage name Lark are what paid the bills, but his boyfriend George didn’t like it and insisted Lawrence give up Lark when they went into business together as event planners. The relationship fails but the business goes on, so Lawrence decides to revive Lark for their latest fundraiser to be attended by rich gay donors. Things go a bit awry and Lark ends up under the care of Doctor Oliver. Oliver is clearly interested in more than Lark’s health, but the young man has had enough of domineering men. The encounter may have been powerful, but Lark doesn’t want to get his heart broken again.
“The Auction” is another entry in the Scenes from the Underground series. The books are all set in the same world, where a big eastern U.S. city is controlled by a crooked police chief who runs a human trafficking ring that coerces young men into the sex trade. Although set in the same world, the books are otherwise unrelated, so you can read them in any order or skip ones that don’t interest you.
The story is related entirely from Lawrence’s point of view, although he seems to prefer to go by Lark, even when not in drag. We don’t get to know a lot about Lawrence, other than that Lark is a big part of his personality, and having to hide it to please the man in his life has not been healthy. Lawrence may have submissive tendencies, but his recent experiences have made him determined not to be a doormat.
We get to know Oliver even less. Like most fictional Doms, he is rich and powerful, and can buy just about anything, or anyone, he wants. That’s about all we know about him, other than his obsession with Lark and his determination to make the young man happy.
“The Auction” is available from Smashwords or from independent booksellers through Bookshop.org.