The Gift of Gabby

by Mary Ann Joyce from the May 13, 2024 issue

Tagline: As a surprise Mother's Day gift, Gabby set her mom, Tess, up with the handsome owner of a fix-it shop...and their fix-up soon turns into true love.

Observations: I loved this story. It has all the hallmarks of a classic, well-done Woman's World romance. I'd expect nothing less from Mary Ann Joyce.

Note the three act structure. In the first act, we meet Tess and her daughter, Gabby, the librarian. We get a little background on Jim. We find out Tess is having dishwasher trouble. It's almost Mother's Day. 

In the second act, we meet Jim and see what he looks like. We see them being easy with each other, despite Jim being nervous about his presentation. There's a brief "telling not showing" paragraph about their conversation and how they both like to keep busy. We also find out he's a widower. 

Act three, the class goes off without a hitch. It's discovered that, unbeknownst to the two of them, daughter Gabby set them up, promising Tess would help him with the class if he came and fixed her dishwasher. There's a very brief black moment when Tess tells him he's obviously not obligated to follow through, but never fear--Jim is smitten. 

I also loved the humor about the cat...

"She bought me the Alexa device so it wouldn't be so quiet all the time. It's wonderful and it fills my house with music!"

"My son got me a cat named Oscar," Jim said. "He fills my house with hair."

Cute punny title too. 

Photo by Dylan Foley via Flickr CCL

Carnitas and Love

by Maria Gorman from the May 6, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Ava's neighbor convinces her ot host a Cinco de Mayo party, she never expects it to include tacos, margaritas, and romance.

Observations: I am not sure, but this might be the first Woman's World story I've read to have a person of color in it. Please comment below if you remember this happening before. Either way, it's welcome and might I say long overdue. The time when mixed race couples are frowned upon is far behind us. It's wonderful to see a Woman's World story reflect the current times.

I really appreciated this sentence, which showed a physical reaction that did not include electricity of any kind.

"...he smiled, sending her pulse racing like an Indy car."

I liked seeing carnitas, an authentic Mexican dish, as his specialty. I love carnitas tacos. I live in Southern California and fantastic Mexican food is readily available. (It would have been perfect if they included a carnitas recipe elsewhere in the magazine.)

I also heard Luis's voice in my head with a Mexican accent, which was fun!

A tiny bit of criticism...I wish they'd been consistent with the italics for the Spanish words. They only italicized especialidad but should probably have included "hola," "amiga," and "perfecto."

Photo by Mike McCune via Flickr CCL.

Coming Home to Love

by Shelley Cooper from the April 22, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Mackenzie fostered a pup whose owner was deployed, she never imagined the handsome dog-dad would soon take her breath away.

Off the Cuff Observations: I usually do Off the Cuff Observations when I'm way behind on the blogging, which--as you can tell from the April date--is currently the case.

So, right off the bat, I know I'm going to like this story. I LOVE watching videos with deployed soldiers being reunited with their dogs. I get all the feelz from those and they never get old. 

Can you bring non-service dogs to the airport? Not sure about that, but I'm letting it slide because the promise of the reunion payoff is enough for me.

...she wasn't prepared for the shock to her central nervous system when she saw him. -- No electricity. Yay.

Oh, she took pictures of the dog the whole time and sent them to him? Love it. So they have a relationship. 

"Can I give you a ride?" -- Seems like they would have figured this out beforehand. 

Okay, at this point, I read quickly to the end, engrossed in the story. I noted he checked for her consent before kissing her, something that, in this day and age, seems like a good idea. I liked the banter at the end and that last line had just the right timing. Nice story! Not that I'd expect anything less from Shelley Cooper.

Photo by evan p. cordes via Flickr CCL.

A Promising Partnership

by Chris Maday Schmidt from the April 15, 2024 issue

Tagline: Businesswoman Lila Parker has a meeting about the future of her start-up. But when she makes a professional faux pas, it just might lead to love.

Observations: I was utterly surprised by the twist in this story! Brava, Ms. Schmidt! This plot twist was so well done that after I read the story, I re-read the story to experience everything but with the knowledge that he was her client. What a delight.

Photo by Moresheth via Flickr CCL