Recipe for a Reunion

by Debra McNally from the May 8, 2023 issue

Tagline: When Boe's high school crush turns up at his food truck, old sparks start to fly...

Observations: I love food trucks. I love that someone put a food truck in a Woman's World story. I think the Banana Bread Butty sounds delicious, if super fattening.

Also, the Old Flame trope is always a fun one to build a story around. You can insert a little nostalgia into the story by pulling in something from your own past that you remember fondly. In this case, it was a high school cooking class. (Do they even still have these for kids these days? If not, that's sad.) 

What things from your past could you build a story around?

Photo by Whitney via Flickr Creative Commons License

Falling Into New Love

by Millicent Porter Henry from the May 1, 2023 issue

Tagline: After taking a spill on her bike, Maggie is left injured and in need of aid...and her handsome rescuer offers her more than just a helping hand.

Observations: I may be wrong but this feels like the first man-to-the-rescue story that I've seen in a bit. Man-to-the-rescue is a time-honored trope for Woman's World, but don't get your feminist panties in a twist because it's completely possible to flip the gender and write a woman-to-the-rescue story.

What's fun about this story is that it had a twist. The man doing the rescuing had an ulterior motive--he wanted to ask Maggie out. So, in a way, it was good luck that she took that spill.

Photo by Simon Lee via Flickr Creative Commons License

A "Bunny" Kind of Love

by Denice Stradling from the April 10, 2023 issue

Tagline: When a real-life Easter Bunny shows up in her yard, Emma never expects to fall for its handsome owner...or get a second shot at love.

Observations: This was adorable. The little girl was cute as can be. I loved that the matchmaker came out and confessed! I don't remember seeing that in a matchmaker story before. I mean, who doesn't love a crafty, endearing grandpa?

I also really liked this paragraph:

Just then Nick and Shelley came back, her arms full of chocolate eggs. I was still dazed by Pete's confession. And although it took more in common than a divorce, Nick had touched something in me. I had shunned even thinking about dating for the past year. But wasn't Easter a good a time as any for new beginnings?

This showed a turning point for Emma, which shows her character arc--the point where she changes from one type of person (unwilling to date because of divorce) to a new type of person (willing to take a chance on love.) And as I was just telling one of my editing clients, character development is a Good Thing, even in stories as short as these.

Photo by essie via the Flickr Creative Commons License