Bachelor Auction: Fact or Fantasy? by Charlene Sands

I have to admit the notion of a Bachelor Auction gets my juices flowing! It seemed like a perfect trope for a writer of romance and lover of all things romantic! How could I resist writing a romance about women opening up their purse strings for a hot date with a local small town hunk for a charitable cause? Pure female fantasy, right?

Setting up this series with three other talented authors meant ironing out details of the actual event, but it also meant developing characters– four high school buddies, ex-football jocks and alpha males to the limit—coming together for one special cause. To raise funds to help their beloved Coach D, these guys braved being on the Bachelor Auction chopping block! Fun, right?

Little did I know that bachelor auctions aren’t just make-up tropes in romance novels! They are REAL!

As I did my research, among other things, I learned these 5 Basic Rules of a Bachelor Auction. See how we applied them to our hot hunky Montana Born bachelors:

1. Location, location, location. Find a large public area with a stage. (Memorable Grey’s Saloon in Marietta is the perfect place for our auction)
2. Decide who will be auctioned and be sure not to force or guilt the participants. (Yes, we’ve picked the hottest guys in Marietta. Ex-football jocks and alpha men in their own rights. And whoops, all four bachelors were guilted into doing this!)
3. Be sure to inform the bidders of the charitable event. (Not hard to do with a small town gossip grapevine. All the ladies come out for the Bachelor Auction in Marietta)
4. Decide on how the Auction will be performed. (Got that covered with Coach D calling the auction and bidders raising their hands to make their bids)
5. Bachelors must provide a Dream Date for the bidders. (Our guys are very inventive in their hot date plans. Falling in love is not necessarily an objective- but it seems to happen anyway)

A couple of the real Bachelor Auctions held recently:

Fireman’s Brew Firefighter Bachelor Auction—Proceeds of this event went to the L.A. Fireman’s Relief Association funding widows, orphans and disabled fireman. (Can you actually imagine bidding on a real firefighter? Wow!)

Jingle Bell Bachelor Bash 2015 – The funds raised went to the Junior League of San Diego. This Auction came with a Bachelor Menu (I wish we’d thought of that!) which included a photo and a brief paragraph about the hunky guy being auctioned off. They even offered Group Dates, perhaps a safer alternative for all parties, to ward off awkward moments.

So Bachelor Auctions are Fact AND Fantasy! And after doing extensive research on the subject (hard work, I know) I feel another story coming on…

Would you ever participate in a Bachelor or Bachelorette Auction? (Yes, ladies get auctioned off, too.) Could someone twist your arm if it was for a worthy and noble cause? Who would you chose to be on your Fantasy List?

And don’t forget…

Buy Bachelor for Hire here:

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Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling author writing sexy contemporary romances and stories set in the Old West. Her stories have been honored with the National Readers Choice Award, the Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award and she’s a double recipient of the Booksellers’ Best Award. She was recently honored with Romantic Times Magazine’s Best Harlequin Desire of 2014. Charlene is a member of the Orange County Chapter and Los Angeles Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

When not writing, she enjoys great coffee, spending time with her four “princesses”, bowling in a woman’s league, country music, reading books from her favorite authors and going on movie dates with her “hero” husband. Sign up for her newsletter at www.charlenesands.com for new releases and special member giveaways. Charlene loves hearing from her readers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*Bold, strong, heart-melting heroes… and always real good men.*