Sunday, December 8, 2019

A Very Sweet Surprise

by Lisa Weaver from the December 2, 2019 issue.

Tagline: When Patrick takes over his aunt's bakery for the Thanksgiving holiday, he never expects a temperamental oven could lead him to new love.

Observations: I was surprised to see this story in the issue after Thanksgiving, but I still really enjoyed the story, mainly because it was a refreshing change to first person present tense from the hero's point of view. I liked that slightly more intimate sharing of his thoughts.

There were quite a few lines that made me smile:

...I'm elbow-deep in piecrust.
...speaking loudly so she'll hear me over her one-woman karaoke fest.
...I'm struck speechless at the thunderclap of attraction that reverberates between us.

I also noticed the black moment was so very close to the end of the story. I feel like it's been a while since we saw it so late.

Photo by TheCulinaryGeek via Flickr cc license

4 comments:

Pat said...

I also thought it was odd that a story that mentions Thanksgiving week would appear in the magazine after Thanksgiving, but I did love the story.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I don't care when a holiday story appears in the magazine. It seems the fiction tries to coordinate with whatever is the theme of the week. I read this lighthearted story with great appreciation. One of the best they have published in a long time. None of the "instant lust" insertions that make the reader go "Ew!" Everyone at Woman's World can be proud of this one.

Kate said...

Thank you, Pat and Anonymous, for your comments. I appreciate it very much.

Sandy Smith said...

I'm behind in reading these stories and Kate's critique, so I didn't necessarily realize it was after Thanksgiving when it appeared. Although, I had just read three Thanksgiving stories in a row, so I wondered. It was a great story.