from the December 13, 2021 issue by Marcella Robinson
Tagline: Despite the busyness of hosting a Christmas carnival, Jen and Colin find a moment of quiet to feel the magic of love in the crisp air.
Stream of Consciousness Observations:
- Love the horse's name.
- Oh, I have ridden in a horse drawn carriage decked out for Christmas and that was really fun. I'll bet a sleigh in the snow is that much more wonderful.
- He brought her cocoa? Aw...a thoughtful man.
- Okay, so a friends to lovers story.
- I really love this description, "...there was something about a sleigh, decked out in all its festive glory for the holiday season--evergreen boughs, red velvet bows, and twinkle lights--that drew people in," but that's a little awkwardly structured.
- Hm...who is Sadie to Colin? Is he a single dad? This can't be a case of mistaken identity where the woman thinks the little girl is his daughter and it turns out she's his niece, because it's been established that Sadie has known Colin for "many years."
- He carried an eight year old up a hill in the snow. He must be a big strong man.
- Oh wait. "...next year Sadie's father can take the reins?" Hm. So maybe a niece then? Still not clear on the relationship.
- He asks if she has time for one more ride...with him. Nice. He's making his move!
- Wait...their anniversary??? Hold on a second. They're a couple already? Is this a plot twist the author put in their on purpose? Probably.
- Okay, we finally find out Sadie is their granddaughter. Wow. I was picturing two people in their thirties.
- Cute ending, calling back to the bucket list.
My personal preference would have been to know their ages and their marital status right up front. The story reads very differently if you know their a happily married couple than if you think Jen is hoping Colin will wake up and smell the coffee. With the former, the entire time I was reading, I would have gotten the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you come across love that has lasted through thick and thin. With the latter, my brain had to do a one-eighty (twice). This very likely could be because I'm not just reading for enjoyment, like most of the WW readers. I'm analyzing every component as I go, so maybe that's why I reacted negatively to the plot twist. Let me know in the comments what you thought.
Photo by rickpilot_2000 via Flickr Creative Commons License
3 comments:
I enjoyed this story as a reader. I love reading your writer's view of it. Doing this makes me view things differently. I love what you point out that I totally miss.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Thank you so much, Pat!
I agree with you, Kate. I was so confused as I was reading. I even went back to the beginning before I finished to see what I had missed. I kept thinking we should know his relationship to Sadie. I also thought they were a younger couple. So it was a twist to realize they were married. There was another story where we discovered at the end the couple was married--I think they were in a cooking competition against each other. But that one seemed to work a little better. I guess the editor wasn't bothered by it though!
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