Love on the Ice

 by Marcella Robinson from the January 18, 2021 issue

Tagline: Nora is still feeling the chill of her divorce...until Blake warms her heart with the promise of new love.

Observations: This was a lovely story. There wasn't anything particularly novel or different about it; it was simply well-written solid stuff.

My favorite part was this:

It was as if a veil of safety draped over Nora, being so close to him. Even though it was only her hand on his forearm, strength emanated from him. Strength that he could take on any burden and carry it with ease.

Then, Robinson made me laugh when she had that big strong hero fall after all. That was unexpected and, as is the new tradition on this blog, Robinson earns the Kate Willoughby Handshake for surprising me! 

Photo by XTRAICE via Flickr Creative Commons License

Snow Day

 by Shelley Cooper from the January 4, 2021 issue

Tagline: In the midst of a snowball fight with her nephews, Maeve joins forces with their handsome neighbor, Simon...and gets hit with a surprising new chance at love.

Observations: Shelley Cooper has done it again. I loved this story! This is my favorite part:

Since she wasn't one to get a dare go unchallenged, she gathered a handful of snow and mounded it into a tight ball.

"What's she doing?" Patrick's voice held a panicked note.

"She's not going to throw that at Mr. Graves?" Peter sounded equally panicked.

"Yes, she is!" Parker's eyes shone with admiration as Maeve stood and aimed.

I also loved the rules that kept cropping up.

Photo by John Lodder via Flickr Creative Commons License

Skating Through Christmas

 
by Shelley Cooper from the December 21, 2020 issue

Tagline: Facing Christmas alone, Holly is struggling to get into the holiday spirit, when a surprising gift leads her to the skating pond...and a shot at love.

Observations: When I got to the part where her parents gave her her old skates, I knew this story was going to be fantastic and I wasn't disappointed. Maybe it's because when I was about seven years old, I took ice skating lessons with dreams of being a Chinese Peggy Fleming. (I think I lasted about a month. LOL)

The phrase "heart-clenchingly handsome," didn't float my boat, but I was highly amused by their holiday themed names - Nicholas Winter and Holly Snow. Too cute.

At the end of the story, Cooper calls back two things that she introduces at the beginning, a great trick to tie things together, sort of like when you gather a stack of papers and then jostle them together so they're all squared up.

Here's a quote for the first call back.

"...The theme for this holiday is relaxation."

Then, at the end of the story...

The smile on his face reminded her of what the season was really about: togetherness.

For call back number two, the cancelled blind date doesn't seem significant at the beginning of the story until you (and the characters!) realize they were each other's blind date.

This story wins the Kate Willoughby Handshake for surprising me. I hadn't foreseen that they were each other's blind date.

Photo by Jeremy Keith via Flickr Creative Commons License