Once and For All

by Suzanne DuBois from the February 17, 2014 issue

Tagline: Tim had a feeling Amy was "the one," but he just couldn't tell her what was in his heart...

In a Nutshell:  Tim is your typical young man, playing the field, not really looking for love, so when he meets Amy, he's a bit blindsided. Suddenly shy, he bumbles his approach a couple of times before she finally takes matters into her own hands.

Observations: The appeal of this story for me was the intimate telling of it from the hero's point of view. It was cute to see his paradigm shift from the type of woman he'd always been attracted to, to someone more like you and me, since I've never been a head-turner, tall or athletic! LOL

There was a bit of a black moment as his sister--sort of a quasi villain in this story--says maybe the universe is trying to tell him something. But our hero ignores her.

We also get an epilogue paragraph in which we find out how it all turned out: wedding, starter home and a baby on the way.

Not your typical Woman's World story, but well within the tone and style of the magazine. Well done.

Photo credit: Larsinio via Wikimedia Commons

Beginner's Luck

by Diane Crawford from the October 8, 2012 issue

Tagline: Laurel had been attracted to Jared from the start. Turns out Jared felt the same way about her...

In a Nutshell: Laurel is attending the company picnic and spots a guy she's had her eye on for a while. He's by the horseshoe pit. A rival for his attention declines the invitation to play, so Laurel gets him all to herself. They strike up a conversation and make a date for dinner.

Observations: What I found interesting about this story is that it had a villain. There are almost never villains in Woman's World stories. First of all, there usually isn't room. Eight hundred words doesn't allow for a lot of extra characters. Plus, villains are inherently negative. Negativity is something Woman's World likes to avoid. However, Crawford managed to insert a female villain in "Beginner's Luck."

Laurel's friend says:

"Celia the Piranha sashayed over there as soon as she caught sight of those guys from Tech."

This is pretty catty, but it's the friend saying it, so we readers can understand. Friends can get away with stuff the heroine can't. And yet, Laurel herself thinks Celia is overdressed. Again, this is acceptable. We've all seen people who overdress for this or that occasion.

Celia has perfectly manicured nails. Laurel doesn't. Crawford turns this difference into an opportunity to show Laurel as a more three dimensional character with worries about her appearance, just like all of us. We identify with her because of this. We all have things we wish we could change about our appearances. We know how Laurel feels.

To perhaps balance some of this, Crawford has Celia behave in a civilized way. Sure, the two women are basically competing for the guy, but they don't play games. (Actually, I guess Laurel does because it's horseshoes! LOL) Celia makes it clear she's not the horseshoes type and let's Jared know where she'll be should things not work out with Laurel.

Of course, things do work out with Laurel. Jared makes it clear he's not interested in the well-manicured, well-dressed Celia, and the way is clear for our heroine. Yay!

Photo by tehbieber (cc)