Just in Time by Mary Jo Young

From the January 1, 2018 issue

Tagline: Glenda was always running late...until she met a kindred soul at just the right time!

Observations: This week's story needed a little more romance for me. In my opinion, the ideal Woman's World story needs to show attraction between the man and the woman, a connection, some camaraderie and some humorous banter. I know this sounds like a laundry list, but I think with the exception of the humor, these things need to be present in order for us to believe that these two people might be able to build a future together.

In this story, for me, the hero and heroine didn't quite spend enough "quality time" with each other. For most of the story he was businesslike. This made sense because this was a business meeting. He loosened up a little at the end, but...it just wasn't enough for me.

However, this is only my opinion. Obviously, the editors liked it. :)

I did think that the hero was clever in making the reservations for a half hour later because they were all chronically late. I actually do this sometimes with my husband. LOL

Photo credit: Tinou Bao (Flickr cc license)

Meeting Mr. Right by Dani Collins

This was one of the Harlequin stories. I thought it was well done and perfectly in line with what we're used to seeing.

Test-drive For Love by Jill Weatherholt

from the December 4, 2017 issue

Tagline: Nell was anxious about replacing her old car...until she met the car salesman!

Observations: This story was a good example of showing a heroine with a mindset that changes over the course of the story. She starts out thinking used car salesmen are shady and ends up realizing that's not true at all. The trick with writing these types of stories, is that you can't just abracadabra have the attitude change. You have to show it happening, while pushing the romance at the same time, and Weatherhold did this very well.

This would be a good starting point if you're stuck finding a story idea. Just think of different beliefs and then brainstorm ways a character could change his/her mind about that belief. Like "the best Christmases have snow," or "health food tastes bad," or "cats are snooty," or what have you. It can also be a belief about the character himself/herself. "I have a brown thumb." "I'm too tall." "I can't tell a joke." This is actually very much in line with the vibe of the magazine--to be positive and optimistic.