Mother Nature's Christmas Gift

by Rose Ross Zediker from the December 11, 2023 issue

Tagline: When the weather delayed Gabby's flight and made her miss a Christmas party, she soon met a handsome stranger who turned the delay into a sweet miracle.

Observations: This was a lovely story. I always worry when the story is set in an airport, because the chances the hero and heroine will live in the same city are very low.

If you're familiar at all with Woman's World romances, you will have right away recognized that the handsome stranger she meets in the airport is, in fact, the man she was being set up with. In a novel, you might not want a plot twist to be so obvious. That's why they call them twists, right? Usually the intention is that the reader is blindsided with new information that completely changes the story. And I have seen many a Woman's World story that surprised me with a plot twist I never saw coming.

However, in an 800-word matchmaker story, it's pretty near impossible for the readers not to guess who's going to fall in love. But the great thing is it doesn't matter. Yes, I knew he was The Intended One the minute he appeared, but the fun of these kinds of stories is seeing the characters themselves discover the plot twist. Tension and anticipation builds in the reader... When will they figure it out? Who will figure it out first? How? Then, when they finally see the light, the reader is delighted right along with them.

So, don't worry about your plot twists being obvious. If you can make it a true twist and surprise everyone, more power to you, but if you can't, know that in a Woman's World story, it can still work.

Photo by Syuzo Tsushima via Flickr Creative Commons License 

Pick Three For Love by Vicki Cox

Tagline: When Andrea Jenkins went shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding, she never expected that while on her hunt, she'd also find true love.

Observations: First of all, I love the hero's logical plan for helping his sister shop for clothes. That's a smart man, indeed. 

I like how he offers to fasten the necklace around her neck. It's usually a pretty intimate thing for a stranger to do, but there's a spark here and she was having trouble. This was a clever way of advancing their relationship. 

I loved how he asked to accompany her to the wedding...

"If you arrived on the arm of a handsome man and danced with him throughout the evening, those questions should disappear. I have not one, but two arms and am a handsome man," he said, his grey eyes twinkling.

The ending, calling back to his shopping assistant methods, was adorable.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Festive Feast

 by Veda Boyd Jones from the November 20, 2023 issue

Tagline: Mindy neer thought that her trip to the store to buy a frozen turkey dinner for one on Thanksgiving might lead to happily ever after for two.

Off the Cuff Observations: Even before I start the story, I'm feeling for Mindy, who seems to be alone on Thanksgiving.

Their banter, Sherlock Holmes-style is adorable.

Okay, she's alone by choice. I totally get that. We are always hosting Thanksgiving and my house is noisy and crowded and I'm usually so relieved when everyone goes home. I'm now actually envious of Mindy!

This was an adorable story of two people who were alone by choice on Thanksgiving and decided they're rather have company after all. Loved it.

Photo by Steve Johnson via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Sweet Deal

 by Marti Attoun from the, yes, September 18, 2023 issue

Tagline: When Caroline borrows her brother's dirty truck to haul furniture, she's in for a handsome surprise at the car wash.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: I found a Woman's World from September tucked in a pile of crap on my desk. UGH! Needless to say, I'm very behind in analyzing these two stories. Here are my off-the-cuff comments and observations on the first story by one of my favorite WW authors, Marti Attoun.

furry french fries - I've found petrified french fries in my car before. Usually they're rock hard. I think my dog ate one once before I could take it from him. LOL

fling the fossilized pizza - LOLOLOL I love the alliteration. I am delighting in the awkward moment of the heroine being caught with a very dirty car interior.

slapdash ponytail - I love her word choices.

There's a paragraph of telling-not-showing which I think is a useful tool with Woman's World stories. You want to show the couple connecting and at times, the easiest way is to summarize all the things they talked about.

She shivered at the sound of her name on his lips. - Love it. I love seeing fresh ways of showing the physical attraction between the characters. 

She'd forgotten this surprising, joyful feeling when you're standing on the brink of something wonderful about to happen. - Haven't we all felt this? This is a great moment when the reader can identify with the character in the story and live vicariously through them, which is kind of the whole point of these romantic tales.

And when they had their first date on that same restored bench weeks later... - Okay, the whole story was fantastic until I got to this part. I am assuming they reenacted her grandparents' cheese sandwich and gingersnap picnic on the bench, but that wasn't made clear. Did something get edited out? 

Photo by David via the Flickr Creative Commons License