Bargaining for True Love

by Diana Hickerson from the April 11, 2022 issue

Tagline: Hosting a yard sale is not newly single Tracey's idea of a fun way to meet people...until a handsome man arrives wit the offer of a lifetime.

Observations: The first third of the story has zero dialogue in it. It's just the main character's thoughts about her friend's obsession with yard sales, her mediocre interest in them, but the reason why she's hosting one anyway. 

There's a common "rule" that says you shouldn't front load your story/book with backstory, but I have always disagreed. You can do anything in fiction as long as you do it well. It's all in the execution. I mean, take those epistolary books--books that are entirely composed of letters. Crazy idea, right? So not what we would expect or imagine that we would enjoy, and yet, I love these types of books. 

And I didn't find the beginning of this story to be boring at all even though nothing was really going on at first. Obviously, the editors didn't have a problem with it either.

So, I encourage you to take risks with Woman's World stories. The stories are so short that you can afford to spend a few days going out on a fictional limb. Take a so-called writing rule and break it on purpose. See what happens.

My favorite part:

He had moved away when he turned 12, and I never knew what became of him. But clearly, wherever he'd been had done him good. Or else there's no limit to what four decades and a weathered barn jacket could do for a guy.

Photo by Mike Mozart via Flickr Creative Commons License

Let the Light In

by Moxie Hull from the April 4, 2022 issue

Tagline: After a tough divorce and a becoming an empty nester, Liza bought a new house and is not-so-ready to mingle with the neighbors...until handsome contractor Harry gives her some pointers about constructing a brand new love story.

Observations: What a perfect story to start the new quarter with. So many teaching moments jumped out at me.

1. The dialogue sounded natural and also revealed character. For instance, in this sentence, one word--"totally"--told me so much about the sister. I could hear her mock whining tone mixed with a little admonishment at the same time, which is so sisterly. 

"Will you please take a break and come to my party," she moaned. "It'll be fun, and it will be totally rude if you don't come. I invited all the neighbors so you could meet them."

2. Hull cleverly inserted quite a bit of backstory in the dialogue:

"...Jerry's been gone for two years. The girls are grown and on their own, and you've finally downsized to this little fixer-upper..."

My only gripe would be that this makes it seem as if Jerry died and the only reason I know it was divorce not death is because of the tagline.

3. Then we see some real sisterly love. Maxie had put on her bossy sister hat until this very nice moment:

My eyes began to well as I unwrapped a picture of the girls and placed it on the hutch. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie," she said, noticing that I was ready for a meltdown. She pulled me in for a hug. "You're going to be fine." And after a few slobbering moments, I realized she was right. I needed to get out.

4. And that was the end of the first of three acts in the story. Liza has made her decision and we need to transition to the next act:

A few hours later, I was ringing Maxie's doorbell with a Pyrex full of brownies. In a dress. With heels on my feet.

Points for capitalizing Pyrex. There are quite a few words that are in common usage but that are actual brand names and need to be capitalized, like Jell-O. (Note that Jell-O has a capital O as well.) I also wanted to point out the use of sentence fragments. This is a great way to make a subtle point. Here she's  showing this is not how Liza would normally dress and that she's wearing those shoes begrudgingly.

5. You guys know I am very detail-oriented. It's in my DNA. I noticed a slip-up here that I also see when I have my editor's hat on. See if you can spot it.

I handed her the brownies, which she replaced with a crisp glass of white wine.

There's a misplaced modifier here. The word "crisp" is describing the glass instead of the wine. Obviously, we all understand what was meant, but it should actually read

I handed her the brownies, which she replaced with a glass of crisp white wine.

6. We come to the end of the second act when Liza promises she would call Harry when she was ready to continue work on her house. This works on a couple of levels. One, having three acts makes the story seem meatier, like it's not only 800 words long. It "feels" right to us as well. There's a beginning, middle and end, a story structure we are practically wired to expect. It also serves Liza's character. Obviously, she's not emotionally ready to move forward romantically at the time of the party, so this second-act-to-first-act transition gives her the time she needs.

8. Finally, the ending was very clever. 

"Demolition woman! I've been waiting for your call. Are you ready?"

"Yes," I laughed, my heart soaring. "Yes, I am."

No doubt you see the double meaning here. She's ready for the demolition and ready to enter the dating world again. Sometimes this type of zinger ending feels forced. Here, it was perfect. 

Photo by gemteck1 via Flickr Creative Commons License

First Annual Blog Awards (Q1)

I'm proud to have maintained this blog, analyzing the stories and offering my opinions and advice, for thirteen years. That's a good chunk of time! And the format and contents of the blog have remained mostly the same.

This year, however, I decided to change it up by giving out quarterly awards of merit. I thought it would be fun to recognize and celebrate stories that excelled in the following categories: 

Best Hero

Best Heroine

Cutest Meet

Most Original Premise

Wittiest

Couple Most Likely to Wed

Best Overall

It is now my pleasure to bestow the awards.

Our Best Hero this quarter is a man who isn't afraid to try new things. Admirable, right? He's also able to admit when he's made a mistake--another great quality. In fact, he does it in the story twice. He tends to look on the bright side, even after his girlfriend broke up with him on the night he was going to propose. And when he meets the heroine of the story, he doesn't hesitate to ask her out for coffee.

The Best Hero for Q1 of 2022 is 

The Best Heroine this quarter is a woman who serves her community as a policewoman, so she's strong and brave. But she's had to build some walls to protect herself because many of the men she's dated have been intimidated because she carries a gun. She also deals with her mother's matchmaking machinations with wit and patience.

The Best Heroine for Q1 of 2022 is

The Cutest Meet occurred in a beauty salon, traditionally a female-dominated venue. So it's not surprising that the hero entered with trepidation, especially considering he was hiding an "at-home haircut gone terribly wrong." Lucky for him, his stylist is just his type.

The Cutest Meet for Q1 of 2022 is

The winner of the next category was actually the inspiration for these awards. After I read it, it was so good I thought it and all the other outstanding stories deserved some recognition. I think, however, next year, I'll do them bi-annually so there are more stories from which to choose.

It's challenging to come up with a holiday-themed plot we haven't seen before, but the author of this quarter's Most Original Premise winner succeeded in a big way. The story is built around a town tradition--at the stroke of midnight instead of a disco ball, they drop an old boot from a crane to honor the farmers in the area. They also hold an Ugly Boot Contest which was a hoot. I'd never seen anything resembling either of these events before in Woman's World.

The winner of the Most Original Premise for Q1 of 2022 is 

The winner of Wittiest Story had me laughing throughout. In fact, I wrote LOL three times in the margins of the story as I read it. The first LOL came from the heroine's inner thoughts. She's a cop about to suffer through a matchmaking dinner her mom set up.

[My mother] eyed me with disapproval. "Why are you in uniform?"

"I'm on call." And if I got lucky, I'd be called to a crime scene any second now.

LOL number two came about because the hero and heroine played Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora in their third grade school play. Their performance had been hilariously memorable because "instead of pretending to kiss me, like we had rehearsed, he planted a smack on my mouth on opening night." The princess yelled "Yuck!" much to the audience's amusement.

Fast forward to the present. Dinner is over and Matchmaking Mom has insisted they enjoy the fresh air...

We settled onto the front porch swing. 

"So," Max said, breaking the silence, "act in any plays lately?"

I grimaced. "So you do remember."

His chuckle made my pulse beat erratically.

"Are you referring to what my family calls 'The Yuck Heard Round the World?"

That last line had me literally laughing out loud.

The winner of Wittiest Story for Q1 of 2022 is

It's difficult to predict whether or not our fictional couples will end up married, especially since all I have to work with is 800 words of interaction. But one couple stood out to me as having the best chance for wedded bliss, if only because they'd both suffered through relationships with people who clearly weren't right for them. I have to assume that, having had this experience, they ended up with a better understanding of what they were looking for.

Therefore, the Couple Most Likely to Marry for Q1 of 2022 is

That brings us to our last award this quarter--The Best Overall Story. To determine the winner in this category, I didn't add up any scores, and I didn't automatically go with the story that won in a majority of categories. I chose the story that provided me with the best overall reading experience, the one that had me laughing and smiling after I read it, my mood happily boosted! It was written by someone who has skillfully penned so many romances for Woman's World, she's practically a household name. (I'm serious. Check the sidebar for Author: Cooper and you'll see what I mean.) 

And the story she wrote had it all--great, three-dimensional characters, a hilarious backstory, humor by the truckload and an ending that not only was an epilogue (which I love in novels and in short stories) it brought the story full circle by calling back to the yucky kiss joke. As you've probably guessed by now...

The Best Overall story for Q1 of 2022 is

I hope you enjoyed these inaugural awards as much as I did giving them out.

I want to thank all the authors, my blog visitors, and especially Woman's World who publishes short romantic fiction that entertains us and lifts our spirits every week. 

Look for the Q2 awards in June. I'll be adding a category--Best Secondary Characters!

A Gust of Good Luck

 by Tina Cambria from the March 28, 2022 issue

Tagline: When a windy day almost sends Megan's life into a tailspin, hero mail carrier Will steps in to save the day--and steals her heart in the process.

Stream of Consciousness Observations:

• What a fantastic opening line.
• Oh, I have been there, done that with the wind taking papers from me. My usual response is to stomp on them. Sure, it's got my footprint on it, but at least it's not going anywhere.
• I get babbly with handsome guys too, thought the older I get, the less I get nervous. 
• Cute joke about the rain and sleet thing. I love seeing a character with a sense of humor.
• Our heroine has priorities! Business before pleasure. Good for her. 
• Well, of course, her handsome paper-rescuer comes into her shop! 
• It occurs to me that she most likely would have had those lease papers way earlier than a week before her grand opening, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. Nice job, Ms. Cambria!

FYI, this is Vincent Van Gogh's Postman Joseph Roulin (1888). 

Photo credit: Sharon Mollerus via Flickr Creative Commons License

Now Available!

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I can help you. In my book, Story Sparking - How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World 5-Minute Romances, I demonstrate thirteen methods for getting your creative juices flowing. Pretty soon you'll be brimming with optimistic, upbeat, romantic ideas specifically for Woman's World.

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Ready...Set...Go for Love

by Marla Zarrow from the March 7, 2022 issue

Tagline: After losing his wife, Matt doesn't know if he's ready to get back into dating...until a beautiful waitress shows him that the time is just right.

Stream of Consciousness Observations:

For those of you new to the blog, stream of consciousness observations are just my thoughts, as they occur to me while reading the story.

• Right off the bat I see we're about to get a matchmaker story. Nice! I love those.
• Oh, a widower too. I think we all have soft spots for a man, adrift because he's lost his partner in life. I immediately want to take care of him, maybe cook him some good food.
• Aha, another tried and true Woman's World trope--moving to a new town--with one of the best reasons--to be closer to family.
• There is a great couple of paragraphs where I really get the feeling I'm in a small town. Here's why...Zarrow mentions the town center. Once you get past a certain size, there's no real town center. There's just a sprawl. The diner (a small town requirement) is called Sandra's Breakfast Spot. This is not a hipster place where you're going to find quinoa or kale. This is just a no-frills place where you can get a good breakfast. Lastly, The people in line shifted good-naturedly as Matt 'pardoned' his way through. Where I live, he'd probably have gotten dirty looks.
• His daughter had found a good one. This shows Matt has a gratitude attitude, which I think is admirable. It's always a good idea to make your characters likeable. 
• Kinda weird that they ordered before Matt even got there.
• "Why don't I surprise you?" You already have, Matt thought. -- We want to show the reader the main character's thoughts and feelings so they can live vicariously through the story, however, we also want the story narrative to flow. I'm getting to the point where I feel the flow is being interrupted too much, especially when we've already firmly established Matt's interest in Sandy.
• I love Charlie. He's hilariously precocious. 
• On the whole, cute story.

Photo by jenn b. via Flickr Creative Commons License

The Sweetest Setup of All

 by Shelley Cooper from the February 28, 2022 issue

Tagline: Scaring guys off is police officer Serena's unwitting specialty...until a dinner meetup with an old friend completely turns her luck around.

Observations: This reminded me of a story I wrote a few years ago about a kiss, prompted by a game of Truth or Dare but foiled by the camp counselor, back when the hero and heroine were at summer camp. Fast forward many years later, they accidentally meet and eventually share that kiss. The stories even share a little epilogue paragraph describing the kiss. Great minds think alike! LOL

Cooper's humor is the star here. Here are the lines that made me laugh.

"I'm on call." And if I got lucky, I'd be called to a crime scene any second now.

"So," Max said, breaking the silence, "act in any plays lately?"

"Are you referring to what my family calls 'The Yuck Heard 'Round the World?'" - If I had been drinking a beverage when I read this, I'd have spit on my computer.

Photo by Greg Gjerdingen via Flickr Creative Commons License

Love at the Winter Fair

by Fallon Stone from the February 21, 2022 issue

Tagline: Abigail is in dire straits at the frigid winter festival she planned, until a handsome delivery truck driver arrives to heat things up.

Observations: I have stated in my class, How to Write and Sell Romance to Woman's World Magazine, that an excellent way to write short is to omit description. I mean, the priority is to tell a romantic story and if I'm given a choice between solidly establishing a connection between the characters and describing the park they're in or the heroine's outfit, I'll choose establishing the connection every time.

However, that's not to say that you shouldn't include description of the characters or the setting at all. This story proves that you can do both. Fallon does an excellent job setting the scene in the town square while at the same time and even though the hero and heroine didn't spend that much time together, you can feel the spark is there nonetheless. 

Photo by Maria Ziesche via Flickr Creative Commons License

The Mint Chip Affair

 

by Mary Ann Joyce from the January 31, 2022 issue

Tagline: An odd request brings strangers Bruce and Jolene out into the winter night for some ice cream...and into each other's hearts.

Observations: Admittedly, I'm a little hazy on the difference between the third-person omniscient POV and a story that switches between different character's third person limited POVs. I'm leaning more toward omniscient with this story, just because we are seeing the story unfold without really delving too deeply into any of the characters' minds. But please, feel free to correct me in the comments.

To be clear, this is not head-hopping. Head-hopping, I think, is third person omniscient done badly. This is not that. Third person omniscient is a legitimate, time-honored way of telling a story that just isn't as popular now as it used to be. In fact, when I read a fully third-person omniscient book, it feels old-fashioned and strange. 

Regardless, I felt no abruptness at the changes. Everything felt very smooth.

We start out with Bruce. We then switch to Mimi for one brief paragraph. Next, we're with Trudy, the friend, who gets her granddaughter involved by asking her to get some of the mint chip ice cream. We swiftly transition to the granddaughter, Jolene as she heads to the store. We then are with Bruce and Jolene at the store, and at the end, we see all four together. 

I've spent quite a while analyzing the transitions, trying to see if there are any tricks I can point out. And I really can't see anything in particular, which is why writing is an art, not a science. Let me know if you spot something in the comments.

On a side note, I adored the spy talk. So funny.

Photo credit: CeresB via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Cut Above

by Vicki Cox from the January 17, 2022 issue

Tagline: After an at-home haircut gone terribly wrong, Sam Johnson is embarrassed to be entering a salon for the first time. But fate has a plan for both his hair and his love life when Shelly, his hairdresser, arrives to give him a new shot at love.

Observations: This was a darling and original premise--the home haircut disaster. The mutual break-up-by-text was novel as well. I am always preaching the value of showing the hero and heroine having things in common, but usually it's walks in the park, cannoli and candlelight and that kind of thing. Even though break-ups are never pleasant, this is still something solid the two can connect over. Also, they both chose to look at the bright side of it, saying it was the best thing that ever happened to them. Like last week's story, Sam got a new start in life with a new job and a change in location. 

Another thing I wanted to point out about the break-ups was the texting aspect and especially the fact that he had a ring in his pocket evokes some real sympathy for the character. When you feel bad for the character, you naturally begin to root for him, so the happy ending of them going out for coffee is that much more satisfying.

Also, if you haven't seen the news, check it out! 

Photo by Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr Creative Commons License

Let It Snow

 by Karen Thurber from the January 10, 2022 issue

Tagline: Caught in her first snowstorm, Sarah is unsure of what to do ,until handsome Ben shows her the ropes...and offers her a new chance at love.

This photo is not Vermont. It's of some kind of Hello Kitty place in Japan, but it looked so wintery and whimsical, I couldn't resist it.

Also, I announced a new thing here on the blog. Check it out here.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: 

• So this is a fresh start after a rocky breakup story. Life changing moments are often a good basis for a story because you have a character evoking change in their own life, a very positive thing, something you admire him/her for. 
• She's never seen real snow... I can buy that, if she's lived in Florida all her life. However, she just up and moves to Vermont, sight unseen? That is a little cray cray, in my opinion. 
• "But something important was missing: love. Not just love, but love with someone thoughtful, fun, handsome...expectations only a fairy godmother could fulfill." Hm. I don't think she's asking for a whole heck of a lot, actually. But all of that is relative. What one person considers fun, another person thinks is torture. But I'm getting super picky here.
• A lost dog--a tried and true Woman's World trope.
• She puts on a jacket, but no snow boots, which I assume she doesn't wear inside the house just chillin'. 
• He gives her his gloves as a welcome present. He is thoughtful, I'll give him that, but I'm thinking her hands would be swimming in them... I must be in a mood. I'm definitely over-thinking things.
• Snow angels...another good trope for the magazine.
• The condo complex's power nearly always goes out during a snow storm? Did her real estate agent know/communicate this? I mean, I don't live in Vermont, but how often are there storms? How often would you have to abandon your home and hunker down in the community center?
• I liked the ending, bringing it back to her fairy godmother thoughts.
• Overall, it may have been my mood, but so many things jumped out at me.

Photo by Tomohiro Otake via Flickr Creative Commons License

Kicking Off Forever

by Marti Attoun from the January 3, 2022 issue

Tagline: After a devastating breakup, Bev is in no mood to celebrate New Year's Eve, until rugged Sam steps in to ring in the holiday with a bang.

Observations: There were a lot of things I loved about this story. First, how about that picture of the cowboy boots in the magazine? I found it refreshingly different from their usual picture and maybe even a little sexy!

I adored the idea of the New Year's Eve Boot Drop. So very original! I also loved that they had an Ugly Boot Contest and that Attoun described several of the entries...

• shiny orange go-go boots with "Bye 2021" and "Farewell" on them.
• gaudy striped booties
• cowboy boots festooned with rhinestones
• hip waders covered with stickers of champagne bottles and noisemakers

I loved this simile, "A handsome single guy at the Red Oak Grill is as scarce as caviar." In my Writing and Selling Romance to Woman's World Magazine class, I suggest one of the ways to make your story stand out from the crowd is to add one really prime simile. This is a very good example. I like how there's a contrast between the rural town down-to-earthiness described and ritzy caviar.

I also loved the little detail of the vintage Dr. Pepper clock in the cafe and how charming the town seemed. 

This was another excellent story from a seasoned WW pro.

P.S. Don't miss the announcement post below!

Photo by Jeremy Jenum via Flickr Creative Commons License

THE WW BLOG AWARDS

Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that I will henceforth be bestowing quarterly awards of excellence to the Woman's World stories I read. There will be virtual badges for each award in case the authors would like to post on social media. 

Here are the categories. Best of luck to all the writers!

A Matchmaker Christmas

from the December 20, 2021 issue by Diana Dario

Tagline: Tired of being set up by her friends, Isabelle is dreading yet another holiday meetup...until Sean arrives to make her season merry and bright.

Observations: I thought the idea for this matchmaker story was cute and original. I'd never seen a story built around a silly party game. And maybe the editors hadn't either! 

Again, putting on my analytical reader hat, I found myself wanting to know more about Sean, specifically in two places:

Isabelle kept a smile plastered on her face as her friend Marie told her all about her soulmate-to-be: Sean. 

And later in the story:

As the party continued, Isabelle got to know more about Sean, and the more she learned, the more she liked.

Both places provided an opportunity to give us readers more details about Sean. As a busybody matchmaker myself when it comes to Woman's World stories, I want to judge for myself if he's a good match for our heroine, Isabelle, and personally, I didn't have enough information to do so. Ultimately, that can be a deal-breaker for me with these stories. Do I believe the couple are a good match--yes or no. 

Photo by hairyhenderson via Flickr Creative Commons License

The Greatest Gift of All

from the December 13, 2021 issue by Marcella Robinson

Tagline: Despite the busyness of hosting a Christmas carnival, Jen and Colin find a moment of quiet to feel the magic of love in the crisp air.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: 

1. Love the horse's name.
2. Oh, I have ridden in a horse drawn carriage decked out for Christmas and that was really fun. I'll bet a sleigh in the snow is that much more wonderful.
3. He brought her cocoa? Aw...a thoughtful man. 
4. Okay, so a friends to lovers story.
5. I really love this description, "...there was something about a sleigh, decked out in all its festive glory for the holiday season--evergreen boughs, red velvet bows, and twinkle lights--that drew people in," but that's a little awkwardly structured.
6. Hm...who is Sadie to Colin? Is he a single dad? This can't be a case of mistaken identity where the woman thinks the little girl is his daughter and it turns out she's his niece, because it's been established that Sadie has known Colin for "many years." 
7. He carried an eight year old up a hill in the snow. He must be a big strong man.
8. Oh wait. "...next year Sadie's father can take the reins?" Hm. So maybe a niece then? Still not clear on the relationship.
9. He asks if she has time for one more ride...with him. Nice. He's making his move!
10. Wait...their anniversary??? Hold on a second. They're a couple already? Is this a plot twist the author put in their on purpose? Probably.
11. Okay, we finally find out Sadie is their granddaughter. Wow. I was picturing two people in their thirties. 
12. Cute ending, calling back to the bucket list.

My personal preference would have been to know their ages and their marital status right up front. The story reads very differently if you know their a happily married couple than if you think Jen is hoping Colin will wake up and smell the coffee. With the former, the entire time I was reading, I would have gotten the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you come across love that has lasted through thick and thin. With the latter, my brain had to do a one-eighty (twice). This very likely could be because I'm not just reading for enjoyment, like most of the WW readers. I'm analyzing every component as I go, so maybe that's why I reacted negatively to the plot twist. Let me know in the comments what you thought.

Photo by rickpilot_2000 via Flickr Creative Commons License

Love's Missing Ingredient

by Beth Pugh from the November 29, 2021 issue

Tagline: Needing the secret add-in to his late wife's famous potato salad, Frank feels both out of luck and lonely...until Ivy shows up with a cure for both.

Observations: This story is a good example of showing a character growing and changing. Frank starts out missing his wife, but gradually, we see him decide it's time to move on with his life. I'll break it down for you.

How Pugh showed him missing her:

1. "Glancing at the wedding picture above the light switch, Frank shook his head. Sarah's death had broken his heart two years ago. He missed her so."

2. He wears his wife's apron.

How Pugh shows him making the change:

1. Frank notices Ivy's eyes, tan skin and chestnut hair.

2. He makes Ivy blush and finds that satisfying after having not affected a woman that way in so long.

3. His heart rate increases as he notes her perfume.

4. "...her sweet smile sending his pulse soaring."

How Pugh shows he's completed his arc:

1. "Taking a chance, Frank turned to Ivy, his confidence bolstered by her warm gaze. 'What about you? Would you like to share a sandwich?'"

2. "A date? His breath caught at the levity of those words. Was he ready? Maybe, maybe not. But it was time to try. Sarah would have wanted it that way."

3. There's the ubiquitous tingly physical contact.

4. "After walking the ladies home, Frank returned to the kitchen, an extra pep in his step. As he savored the perfect potato salad, he felt thankful and full of hope."

So as you can see, even in a short 800-word story, you can show character growth.

I do have to admit I was a bit confused as to the timeline of this story. I started out thinking it was dusk on Thanksgiving day because Iris says, "Happy Thanksgiving, Frank," and "...he knew the grocery store had closed already. The shortened Thanksgiving hours guaranteed as much." But then later, he asks her to share that sandwich and Ivy says she and her niece are having a movie night. Maybe I was the only who was confused by this, but I do think this makes the case for having someone else read your story before you submit. Just one more pair of eyes on it can make a big difference.

Photo by Robert Judge via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Holiday to Remember

by Cher L. Tom from the November 22, 2021 issue

Tagline: When Marcie gest stuck waitressing all alone in a snowstorm, dreamy cafe regular, Les, steps in to help...and cooks up a steamy recipe for love.

Observations: I am so proud of Cher. I have edited three of her stories now and this is the second one to get published. It seems weird--not to mention redundant--to analyze a story I've already analyzed in minute detail, so I will just say, this story had a fun, small town cafe feel to it and you couldn't help but feel Marcie is one of those waitresses who welcomes you to her cafe like you're one of the family.

Congrats, Cher!

Photo by Corey Taratuta via Flickr Creative Commons License

Basket of Love

by Anna Kittrell from the November 15, 2021

Tagline: A supermarket snafu leaves Tom feeling like a real turkey just before Thanksgiving...until a strike of inspiration offers him a new shot love.

Observations: I'm seeing many more "hate-to-love" stories this year than ever before. There was some real animosity in this one. These days I'm often annoyed by selfish people who think only of themselves. All you people who breeze through the door that I held open for you and don't even bother to say thank you--I'm looking at you! So I wouldn't have forgiven the guy as quickly as the heroine in the story did.

But on the other hand, nothing breaks my heart more than people who are alone during the holidays and this story plucked that particular heartstring for me. Well done, Kittrell!

Photo by evan p. cordes via Flickr Creative Commons License

Playing Cupid on Halloween

by Denice Stradling from the November 1, 2021 issue

Tagline: After agreeing to chaperone her daughter's party at school, Jenna is thrilled to find that Halloween has a treat in store for her: a sweet shot at love!

Observations: This story is a good example of a Woman's World math equation I just made up.

Things in common + prime interaction + attraction = a chance at love.

Things in common

Stradling listed these in this paragraph:

On our walk to the school, we found out that we were both divorced and loved books and movies. But spending time with our girls was at the top of our lists.

They also discover they have daughters who like to play Cupid.

Prime interaction

You see them flirt with each other regarding the costumes at the beginning of the story. After the party, they compromise on the trick-or-treating, suggested by the girls. 

Attraction

There's boatloads of it. Here are the five instances I found.

I turned to see a handsome pirate smiling at me, complete with red bandana, tricorn hat and leather boots. His eyes were the same blue as the night sky, and his smile made the concept of being taken captive seem altogether not too bad.

I laughed, thinking there was more than one way to lose one's head!

We laughed, and as I took his arm, a thrill shot up mine.

[His pirate shirt] was unbuttoned almost halfway down his tanned chest, and the contrast with the white shirt was a beautiful sight to behold.

He moved a little closer to me, and my heart definitely started a minuet.

Speaking of which, I am offering Stradling an official *Kate Willoughby Handshake for featuring a character's heart doing something original. 

*The Kate Willoughby Handshake is similar to the Paul Hollywood Handshake from the Great British Baking Show. It means the author dazzled and/or surprised me.

Photo by Bruce Matsunaga via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Sweet Love Story

by G.G. Andrew from the October 25, 2021 issue

Tagline: When her rival outsells her apples at the Halloween festival, Michelle never expects it will lead to a romantic pairing.

Observations: I can't help but notice this is another "rivals selling produce of some sort" story. Remember "In the Market for True Love?" And yet, the stories are different. In this one, I got more of a feeling that Michelle had been attracted to Sean for a while, but was refusing to admit it to herself. In the other story, I think the heroine truly disliked the hero until she talked to him. Just goes to show you, you can take similar plots and make them different enough to get published!

I liked how Sean compared the caramel with the apples to the two of them... 

"...would you like to have dinner with me? Not to talk business. Just...us."

Michelle's jaw dropped. "You and me? But we're nothing alike!"

"In personality, maybe." Sean shrugged. "But we both know that two things that seem like they don't belong can create magic together."

Clever!

Photo by nerissa's ring via Flickr Creative Commons License