Story: "Lost and Found" by Susan Breeden from the April 10, 2007 issue.

Tagline: J.D.'s wrong turn turned out just right for Lisa

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with a mind toward what works and doesn't work for me as a writer, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :)

This story was well-crafted. Describing the physical traits of characters can be difficult in 1000 words, but she slipped in several references to J.D.'s appearance:

...confusion in his blue eyes.
...running a hand through his dark hair.
He smiled, and boy, did he have a gorgeous set of teeth! His puppy dog eyes lifted a little.

Also, she managed to tell the reader that Lisa is divorced while she described the situation with her gorgeous co-worker. Nicely done. And then, after quite a bit of narration, she brings us right back to the moment with a line of dialogue that reminds us what was happening when we left the action:

"I was going to throw in a piece of pie on the house, so there's no need for flattery."

Finally, there is a climax to the story when Lisa comes out of the bathroom to find J.D. has left. I think Woman's World stories always benefit from a climactic moment, even if it's low key. As I said, this story was well-crafted and even though I identified with Lisa, I wasn't particularly enthralled.

Best Part: "This seat offers the best view." Oh, I'd just melt if a guy said that to me. :) But as a lifelong wallflower, I'm a sucker for a compliment.

In My Humble Opinion I think this story deserved a catchier title.

Grade: B