by Karen Rock from the March 25, 2019 issueTagline: After her husband passed away, Joy Cade never expected to find love again...until she happens to run into an old flame, who ignites a new spark.
Observations: Unfortunately, this story didn't work for me.
I wanted to know how long it had been since Joy's husband passed away. Because the story begins with her attending a bereavement support group meeting, I'm thinking anywhere from 1 to 3 years. But I don't believe we ever find out how long she's been a widow. She didn't act like she was in mourning at all, so maybe it'd been a long time. But if it's been a long time, why is she going to the meeting at all?
Joy and Boyd end up interviewing each other, as per the counselor's instructions and Boyd asks what her favorite color is and she replies, "You know darn well what it is!" He demonstrates that he does, indeed, know it's yellow and then she says, "Can't believe you remember that." Ah...just a minute ago she accused him of knowing exactly what it was.
Their tone is very playful and flirty, which seems inappropriate for that kind of meeting. I normally wouldn't have a problem with a little giggling and harmless disobedience from characters, but the other people there are at that meeting because they are hurting inside and are seeking support. I find myself not respecting Joy and Boyd. I'd much rather have seen them talk and flirt after the meeting, not during, and I was sort of glad to see the counselor kick them out.
After I'd finished reading it, I saw the bit about reading Karen Rock's latest book, Winning the Cowboy's Heart and wondered if my problems with this story stemmed from it being an excerpt from the novel modified into a Woman's World story. After some investigation, I found out the characters in Winning the Cowboy's Heart are named Heath and Jewel, but there is a connection, because the setting Cade Ranch and there is a family feud. I will just assume that there is some sort of plot or backstory already set up about Joy and Boyd and that we ended up missing some crucial details in the story that appeared in Woman's World.
Photo credit: NOAA Photo Library via Flickr CC license
4 comments:
I see, Kate, that you found a connection between the advertised book and the WW story. I have long thought that the Harlequin short stories and now those from other novelists often read like synopses of forthcoming books. They are front-loaded with heavy backstory. My feeling is that this is really not appropriate for short stories in the magazine. I am sure the novelists appreciate the free (I guess) advertising for their books, but unfortunately they can fail as short story writers. The editors may attempt to compensate for this. It is hard to tell.
Kate, I kind of agree with both you and Mary Jo. I thought this was a odd premise and setting for a supposedly humorous WW story.
Didn't like it.
I agree with you, Kate. I also wondered when her husband had died and why she was coming to the meeting now. She seemed to indicate that it was time for her to do something for herself, but that wouldn't seem to imply a support group. And why is Boyd going to this 10 years after his wife passed? He also indicated it was to get out of the house, but there would be so many other activities that he could find to do.
Other authors with books have written WW stories that are clearly separate from their books. I hope this isn't a trend.
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