Love Around the Corner

by Cher L. Tom from the March 25, 2024 issue

Tagline: After a series of bad dates, Marcie opens up to her friend Max--who might end up being the one she was looking for all along.

Observations: I'm not a huge fan of friends to lovers stories, mostly because I am usually frustrated that the two people are too dense to see they belong together. 

I'm an impatient reader, apparently. LOL

However, I really liked Max. He was the best part of this story. His humor...

"Is my hair singed?" he deadpanned.

Hilarious.

He bakes/burns cookies! I mean, come on.

He plays pranks. Love it.

So, in summary, create a really lovable character, one that the reader/editor can't resist either. Make him or her someone you'd like to date. 

Photo by Whatleydude via Flicker CCL

Lucky Find

by Shannon Fay from the March 18, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Melanie went to the park to pick clovers for an upcoming art project, she never expected that her excursion could lead to finding a stroke of good luck on her own--and the possibility of a chance at happily ever after.

Observations: I thought this was a fun, well-written story that follows the structure and story elements we expect from a Woman's World romance. Let's go through them, one by one, shall we? LOL

The heroine is presented along with her goal--finding four leaf clovers for her bookmarks.

She meets a man, whose goal is finding his lost keys. He also has a cute dog whose plot purpose is revealed later.

Someone has to make a move, and in this story it's Melanie. She suggests they look for the keys and the clovers together. (If the hero makes the move, it's fine, it's traditional, but if the heroine makes it, it demonstrates her confidence or her willingness to take chances or action to achieve happiness.)

They engage in conversation. This conversation accomplishes a few things. The dog is used as a vehicle to reveal that Wyatt is single. It establishes that Wyatt is a good listener and they make a solid connection. You must establish a connection between the characters, physically and mentally. You do this by showing and sometimes by telling. In this story, Fay shows them connecting over her making paper, then follows up with a "telling" paragraph that describes that they spent a lot of time together and the heroine "didn't want it to end."

We come to what is developing into a Woman's World cliche--the hand holding. <sigh>  I am not against holding hands in a story, per se. It's a fantastic way to show a relationship in its early stages developing. However, I don't relish it happening too fast in the relationship, i.e. within an hour of meeting someone, not without good reason, like helping someone to their feet after they've fallen or onto a rocking boat. Here, Wyatt has a good reason to offer his hand--he's helping her up from a crouch. Thumbs up. But forcing physical contact for the plot isn't being true to your characters. Imagine yourself in the woman's place. In the exact same circumstances, would you like the man to hold your hand or be creeped out about it? 

Wyatt takes the next step and asks her out to dinner. I like this because earlier, it was Melanie who suggested they search the grass together, so this makes things even and suggests a give and take that would serve them well should things develop between them. 

Lastly, we've ended the story with a callback to the beginning. I like to call this coming full circle. Melanie remembers the clover she found and wonders if it brought her some good luck.

Photo by Cygnus921 via Flickr CC License

A Birthday Surprise

by Barbara Catlin Craven from the March 4, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Jerri's handsome plumber invited her to an impromptu birthday celebration, she would be gived a new chance at love!

Observations: At first, this matchmaker story plays out as expected. There's a set-up--the single mom needs a plumber. Her friend, the matchmaker, recommends someone who is a single dad. They connect as he fixes her problem.

I liked this part. It contributes to the characterization.

While he worked, we talked...and our easy, polite conversation along with his occasional glances out the window to keep an eye on the boys gave further confirmation that Mason was a good man.

Mason invites her to a birthday party. She and her son go to the party. The cake has nine candles. All clues point to the fact that it's a party for the kid, except there aren't any other children at the party. You think to yourself, maybe it's just a family party. But then, Mason the dad, blows out the candles. Plot twist! He's a leap year baby. 

As you know, I'm touchy about holding hands too soon and this story was guilty of that but the plot twist was so good, I didn't care that much.

Photo by Droid Gingerbread via Flickr CC License

Love Finds a Name

by Vicki Cox from the February 26, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Joy's friend Megan secretly plays matchmaker behind her back, she ends up finding true love--and a new furry friend.

Off the Cuff Observations: I'm a little confused, two paragraphs in. Joy seems surprised to be at the animal rescue even though Megan has wanted her to "come for months." And it seems odd that they're running errands together before going to lunch. I usually meet my friends for lunch...

The building is concrete, which is what I'd expect from a city or county shelter, not from a place called "Lily's Rescue and Adoptions." But I'm going to go with it.

Aww, he knows of Megan's Rainbow Bridge dog. 

Max offered his hand to help her back up. -- See, this is an instance of taking a hand that doesn't make me uncomfortable because it's too intimate a gesture for having just met someone. There's a real reason to do it. 

Yeah, great matchmaker story. My confusion about running errands was solved when I realized it was a matchmaker story. Of course, it was fishy.

Cupid Always Knows Best

by Dorothy Wills-Raftery from the February 19, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Sophie decided to spend Valentine's Day solo trying something new, she never imagined Cupid would swoop in with a shot at true love.

I'm so far behind on blogging, it's not funny. Practically a month! Shameful. Anyway, I'm here and, as I often do when I'm lagging, I will be recording my thoughts as I read the story instead of doing a deeper analysis.

Off the Cuff Observations: Here in Southern California where I live, we don't get snow, so the idea of Valentine's Day being snowy is so crazy to me!

What is a snow tube?

...her breath curling up in the cold air. -- I like that phrasing!

He smells like limes? I love limes.

The son, Jackson, is funny with his rapid-fire questions. Leave it to the kid to do what the parent is too shy to do. 

Oh, there's a conveyor belt? This is something completely foreign to me, but I'm imagining something like a ski lift, but maybe just a rope you grab onto.

I think snow tubes are like inner tubes. Okay, I just Googled snow tubes and now I really want to ride one!

"I hope I have something to do with that," Jake whispered before turning in their tubes. -- Seems odd to me that this almost complete stranger is whispering for no apparent reason except intimacy.

Love their jobs--firefighter and pet photographer.

...causing butterflies to burst in her stomach. -- I know what the author meant, but my brain went literal on this one. Maybe a different verb like careened or bat around or even the cliche flutter?

He takes her hand, too? Yeah, sometimes in Woman's World stories, I think things move too fast.

Oh, I do love the epilogue paragrah at the end though!

Photo by MIKI Yoshihito via Flickr CC license

Snow Men

by P.S. Murray from the January 29, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Selina called a number on a flyer tucked under her windshield wiper, she never imagined that it would lead to a winter romance.

Observations: This story had a lot of things I like to see in a Woman's World story, but it really focused hard on the hero. During the course of the story, we see Dane and all his good qualities.

He's shown to be a good uncle, helping his nephew out with his side gig. We see him complimenting the kid. We see his playfulness and humor in the snowball fight. At last, we see his unwillingness to do a good deed when he cuts down the dangerous branch on her tree. He's also a "tall good-looking man."

All of this gives us a chance to develop a crush on him along with the heroine, Selina, because Woman's World stories --indeed all romances--focus on escapism. Readers wnat to live vicariously through the story, experiencing the giddy feeling of falling in love or, in the case of Woman's World first meet stories, finding someone who just could be The One. Never lose sight of that when you're writing.

Photo credit: Via Flickr CC License, Nomadic Lana

As Sweet as a Macaron

by Audrey Wick from the 1/22/24 issue=

Tagline: When Rayna takes a French cooking class, she never expects to whip up romance...until she meets the handsome chef and sparks fly.

Observations: This was a charming story. I love cooking and am a genuine foodie. I love watching cooking shows. The Great British Baking Show is a fave of mine. I imagine Ms. Wick likes macarons and perhaps even makes them. Or, if she's like me, she wants to try her hand at them one day. To be honest, I've even had daydreams of starting a macaron making side gig, selling at farmer's markets and online. Probably never gonna happen, but it's fun to daydream.

The thing is, you can take one of your daydreams, and turn it into a Woman's World story. I talk about this at length in my book, Story Sparking: How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World Magazine 5-Minute Romances. (If you're interested in buying the book, the link is down below.)

For instance, let's say you thought it might be fun to be a blackjack dealer. Maybe your heroine's friend owns a catering company or is a party planner. She needs someone to help her with a casino night and your heroine has played blackjack in the past with her late husband, so she knows the game. Her friend is desperate, so she volunteers to help. One of the guests has never played before so she teaches him some tips and tricks her late husband taught her. One thing leads to another and they make plans to see each other the next weekend.

Now, I have to tell you, I also used another story sparking idea in that story outline, above. Look at your own life. What is going on at this moment? At this moment, I'm at the Red Rock Resort outside of Las Vegas, so when I asked myself, what kind of kooky, out of the norm daydream/interest could I use as an example for this blog post? Blackjack dealer!

Try it yourself. Try either method--current events in your own life or a hobby or interest--and see if you can come up with a story plot. Do this often and it will get easier. The more you brainstorm story ideas, the better you'll get at them. 

To buy Story Sparking: How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World Magazine 5-Minute Romances, click here.

Photo credit: Takeshi Kuboki via Flickr Creative Commons License