Monday, December 15, 2014

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

by Anna Jo Christopher from the December 8, 2014 issue

Tagline
Penny hadn't even met the new guy on the street, but that didn't stop her neighbors from making plans...

In a Nutshell
The ladies of the homeowners association where Penny lives tries to set her up with the man who just moved in.

Observations
I don't recall reading a group matchmaker story before--at least not recently. That was a twist on the trope, but other than that, this was an average story. Neither the characters nor their conversation was particularly engaging, but I really liked the ending line.

I may never know which matchmaking board member stuck the flyer in Drew's door, but it doesn't matter--at our next meeting, I'm voting to re-elect all of them!


6 comments:

Tamara said...

It's another just-moved-in story. I can't get over how many times in a year they repeat this theme. I tried my best to give them something different recently and got rejected. :)

bettye griffin said...

I missed this, but maybe I didn't miss much. I agree that theme is tiresome. At least it doesn't have a lost puppy in it...

Anonymous said...

I was surprised this story made the cut. There was so much head-hopping and the opening sentences seemed odd.
Like yourself, Kate, I did enjoy the ending line.

Sandy Smith said...

I wish I could have read it. But I also wonder how many new neighbor stories they are going to do.

Pat said...

I thought is was a unique twist on the neighbor setting someone up theme being it was the whole group.

I thought the story was cute!

Mary Jo said...

Head hopping, Anony? There were quotes from several neighbors, but I would not call that head hopping. The author stayed completely with Penny through the whole story. I think Anna Jo gave the editors what they are looking for, over and over. She did manage to put a little happy twist on it, though.

Yes, I would like to see them make room for more imaginative stories, but it appears they believe that their readers are happy with the tried and true and utterly familiar. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.