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.

The Thanksgiving Saving Grace

 

by Maria Gorman from the November 30, 2020 issue

Tagline: When Grace gets a flat tire on the way to her sister's Thanksgiving dinner, a handsome stranger comes to her rescue...and winds up her guest of honor.

Observations: Okay, I have a confession to make. I am addicted to Criminal Minds. I never watched this show when it was on the networks, but I discovered it on Netflix and I can't stop watching episodes. Unfortunately, this means I am thinking about serial killers more frequently than most people, which is why I couldn't help thinking that Grace needed to be much more careful, especially on a back country road where there are no witnesses. LOL

Other than that, and my thought that she should have called her sister ahead of time to see if it was okay, I thought it was a solid man-to-the-rescue story. 

Photo by Rodney Campbell via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Sweet All Hallow's Eve

by Maria Gorman from the October 28, 2019 issue

Tagline: When Jessica Kane opens the door to her home to hand out Halloween candy, she never imagines that love will be waiting for her on the other side.

Observations: The premise of this story is adorable. A single dad and his daughter are trick or treating, and the little girl has to go potty, now!

I am a little confused because he is dressed as Aladdin and "looked every bit the part of a prince," but later he holds out a blue painted hand and offers her a magic wish, which is definitely the genie.

Maybe something was missed in edits? Lord knows I've made mistakes like this before. Unfortunately, this is the kind of thing that might pull your readers out of the story as they try to figure out if they were reading too fast and misunderstood or what. I want to emphasize how important it is to revise and proofread your stories. If at all possible, have someone else read your stories too. We writers often don't catch obvious mistakes that people with fresh eyes will notice right away.

On the other hand, maybe this wasn't a mistake and the author was just going with a general Aladdin theme, instead of making him the Aladdin, because I'm reading the last line:

Tonight she met her own prince of thieves--and he'd definitely stolen her heart.

Adorable ending, by the way.

Photo by Faylyne via Flickr CC license.