All Fired Up

by Shelley Cooper from the October 4, 2021 issue

Tagline: When Samantha meets an unwitting carjacker rustling around in her back seat at the grocery store, she never expects that, to atone for his "crime," he will make her the best meal of her life...and cook up a steamy new chance at love.

Observations: Well, I'm not sure how this issue got buried, but better late than never.

I have been the perpetrator of this particular crime! Many years ago, I had arrived at my car and was confused as to why my key wouldn't unlock it. This was way back when you actually inserted the key into the lock. LOL I realized it was not my car, just a lookalike, when I noticed someone sitting in it!! I was so embarrassed! What are the chances that two twin cars would be parked on the same residential street?

I talk all the time about showing the hero and heroine connecting. It's a critical element that you cannot skimp on in a Woman's World romance. In this story after the meet cute, Cooper shows them sharing bits of her personal lives with each other. In addition, these are humorous, self-deprecating stories, which also show the reader that these two don't take themselves too seriously. 

Photo by Bradley Gordon via Flickr Creative Commons License

Love Under the Stars

by Marti Attoun from the September 27, 2021 issue

Tagline: On a visit to her town's drive-in theater, Connie's memories of her old love are made new again when she runs into her high school sweetheart.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: 

• I love the name Junie. It reminds me of the children's book series, Junie B. Jones.
• Ah, a drive-in theatre. We're jumping right in with a big dose of nostalgia! I remember going to the drive-in with my parents. My sister and I would wear our pajamas and always fell asleep shortly after the movie started. The jammies was a genius idea by my mom and dad, for obvious reasons.
• Five bucks for a carload? That seems very low.
• "Cotton-candy Connie?" HILARIOUS
• More hilarity: "Nope. You can't fire someone when you're laughing."
• I kind of wish I knew how old Junie was. I'm trying to figure out just how precocious she is.
• No one sat outside their cars when I went to the drive-in. And blankets? Maybe drive-ins in other parts of the country are on grass fields. The ones I went to in Los Angeles were all asphalt. This doesn't surprise me; the LA River is all concrete.
• 50-cent burgers... Again, are the brothers Greenwood trying to make a profit or is this like a town-building venture?
• I do love the name of the drive-in though. The Starlight Drive-In. I can almost picture the mid-century modern sign. Edited to add - Look, I did find a photo of a mid-century modern sign of a Starlight drive-in. What are the chances???
• Perfect ending with the perfect amount of warmth and possibility.

Photo by Patrick Feller via Flickr Creative Commons License

Ingredients for Love

by Lisa Weaver from the October 11, 2021 issue

Tagline: Tasked with uncovering the secret to her handsome neighbor's prize-winning chili, Emma finds herself in a steamy romance.

Stream of Consciousness Observations:

• Aha. It's a matchmaker story. 
• "You want me to do what?" -- Immediately, I'm curious what her grandmother asked her to do and I want to read on to find out.
• "I'm not asking you to steal Anthony's recipe. I just need you to gather...intel." -- LMAO. Grandma is a hoot.
• "Anthony Figoli was a hot pepper away from beating me last year at the Great Chili Cookoff." -- Again, Grandma is slaying me.
• Who doesn't love a firefighter?
• Oh, it's the grandpa's recipe. I sense a secondary romance in the works.
• Ha! I was right. Grandma has a crush on the recipe owner.
• I love being surprised and I wasn't expecting for the grandfather to be wanting Granny's chili secret. Nice!
• "If she's as lovely as you are..." Okay, just how old is this firefighter? I don't see anyone under the age of 60 or 70 using the word lovely to describe a woman.
• Cute ending! He tells her the secret is a pinch of sugar. I actually add pinches of sugar to a few of my recipes. :)

Photo by Jake Przesbo via Flickr Creative Commons License

In the Market for True Love

by Alyssa Symon from the September 20, 2021 issue

Tagline: When fellow farmer and foe Eddie winks at her across the stall at the farmers market, Kathleen senses something new growing between them.

Observations: This story used a trope that I remember Alex Pollock saying she wanted to see more of...enemies to lovers. The key to this type of story is to move from the character "hating" the other person to deciding they might be a potential mate. It's hard to do in 800 words but obviously possible.

First you establish the reason for the animosity. In this story, Kathleen and Eddie had rival farmers market businesses. But as the story progresses, we see her feelings going back and forth, moving from negative to positive. Here's a breakdown:

• Negative: She notices the crowd across the way at Eddie's stall and hopes his squash are underripe.
• Negative: "...as much as Kathleen loathed the way his business took away from hers..."
• Positive: "...she couldn't help but admire the view [of his body.]"
• Positive: "He had that intoxicating smell she adored, the earthy aroma one acquired form picking beans and digging up tubers."
• Positive: Flustered, she flushes when he winks at her.
• Positive: She giggles when he suggests their situations will reverse next Saturday.
• Positive: Her heartbeat quickens when Eddie rubs a smudge off her face. 
• Positive: She gets butterflies due to his proximity.
• Positive: She accepts is dinner invitation.

Interesting to see there wasn't really too much negative, right? So, to write an enemies to lovers story, start out with the reason for the animosity and spend the rest of the time showing the feelings change over time. In this story, only a day passed, but you could easily make the story cover a longer span of time.

Photo by Gemma Billings via Flickr Creative Commons License