Story: The Birthday Wish

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :)

Story: "The Birthday Wish" by Christine Pedersen from the June 26, 2007 issue.

Tagline: Kate decided that reaching the big 4-0 might not be so bad, after all...

I loved this story! I can still feel the chills on my neck. The premise was perfect. I've turned 40 and we've all experienced the embarrassment of being sung to by waiters. (I've even had to wear a rubber geisha wig while being serenaded!)

I first smiled when Kate's best friend said, "You're turning 40, not 80."

My first pleasant surprise was when I found out the man had the same birthday as Kate. I had expected him to have known her from somewhere else. She had a mini black moment when the man gets up to leave with his friends, but it's brief, because, of course, he goes to her table.

Surprise number two - he is turning forty, too. Cute! Then they have a darling conversation determining that she's thirty-nine for a couple more hours.

Surprise number three - he doesn't wait until later to call her. He asks her to dinner that night. And when he says, "I won't ask the waiter to sing to us," I melted. What a cutie-pie.

This was the best WW story I've read in a long time.

Best Part: My heart started a slow, crazy pounding while I held his gaze. That's a pretty steamy moment for a Woman's World story.

In My Humble Opinion: The transition from Act 1 to Act 2 in the fourth paragraph was a bit abrupt.

Grade: A+