A Perfect Match

by Shelley Cooper from the August 9, 2021 issue

Tagline: When Valerie checks in on her new neighbor while he's sick, their meeting sparks a fever in both their hearts that nothing can tame.

Observations: I really enjoyed this matchmaker story. It was also a very loose enemies-to-lovers story as well, which I think is hard to do in 800 words. I loved how the ending was the two daughters celebrating their success on their phones, however, I did think it was a little odd that both parents were each meeting their 12-year-olds at the restaurant, but perhaps that's what it's like in a small town. You can let your pre-teen be much more independent than in the suburbs. 

Photo by Melanie Tata via Flickr Creative Commons License

Special Delivery

 

by Mary Ann Joyce from the August 2, 2021 issue

Tagline: When a black-and-white cat ambles through the pet door of his summer cottage, Sam never expects his arrival to lead to purrfect love.

Observations: I loved this story so much. There are so many things to point out that make this a study in how to write a Woman's World story, I'm not sure I can cover them all, but I'm going to try, laundry-list-style.

Her word choices are so spot on. Here are some of the ones I relished.

watching the summer sunset fade

like an uncle who fell asleep on your couch after a party

the feline vagabond

a pleasant warmth spreading through his chest (<--not overwriting!)

their conversation as natural as apple pie and ice cream (what a comfort-infused simile!)

I am a fan of epistolary novels--novels written as a series of documents--and this mini version was charming. The fact that the notes were exchanged via cat...? Adorable. The humorous and sometimes hilarious little drawings also added greatly
to this element.

I also appreciated how much time passed during the story. It was part of why I was utterly convinced these two had fallen in love.

I adored the happily-ever-after ending as well. The whole story made my heart sing.

Photo by Ivan Radic via Flickr Creative Commons License