crtsjffrsn's review
3.0
To Henry, Christmas shopping is a necessary evil; there are so many things he'd rather be doing. But gifts need to be purchased, so he's stuck going through the motions to get it done. And on top of it being two days before Christmas--and therefore a busy day all around--he runs into a complete jerk who keeps crossing his path and getting in his way. He doesn't know what the guy's deal is, but he aims to just complete his shopping and be done with him. Except when days don't go as planned, sometimes they really don't go as planned.
This is a short and very action-oriented story with some unexpected twists as the plot progresses. There's a lightness to the writing that comes through (despite Henry's foul mood), and despite the length, I feel like it was easy to connect to the character and understand what this day is really like for him. Shorts can be difficult sometimes, especially when you're working in the romance genre. But I also never expect a romance short to deliver the slow burn relationship building that one might see in a novel--there's just no room for it. But when I can end the story with a smile on my face and pleased with the direction the characters are headed, then we've arrived at a good place.
This is a short and very action-oriented story with some unexpected twists as the plot progresses. There's a lightness to the writing that comes through (despite Henry's foul mood), and despite the length, I feel like it was easy to connect to the character and understand what this day is really like for him. Shorts can be difficult sometimes, especially when you're working in the romance genre. But I also never expect a romance short to deliver the slow burn relationship building that one might see in a novel--there's just no room for it. But when I can end the story with a smile on my face and pleased with the direction the characters are headed, then we've arrived at a good place.
suze_1624's review
3.0
quick story about how initial impressions can be wrong.
Henry is having to go shopping, so bad day. he then keeps being knocked over, splashed with slush, whatever else can go wrong by one guy in a trapper hat.
having to go to his sister's party, he meets trapper hat guy - Clint - who is actually one of the good guys - and hey presto, romance fast forwarded 2 years!
I would have liked more on the two years, especially Henry having to change his tune but as a short it was fine.
Probably 2.5/3*
Henry is having to go shopping, so bad day. he then keeps being knocked over, splashed with slush, whatever else can go wrong by one guy in a trapper hat.
having to go to his sister's party, he meets trapper hat guy - Clint - who is actually one of the good guys - and hey presto, romance fast forwarded 2 years!
I would have liked more on the two years, especially Henry having to change his tune but as a short it was fine.
Probably 2.5/3*
iphigenie72's review
2.0
This is a story about a young man shopping for Christmas gifts getting aggravated by a man who seemed to have no manners.
The story didn't work for me on a couple of levels: first, I thought Henry got very angry at a stranger way too easily (If he was a real person instead of a character, I would give him the advice my therapist gave me of turning a negative reaction into a positive i.e. if someone knocks your gifts from you in a store because he's running... you might think he's a jerk as a reflex, but you have to think a positive way to see the situation and try another explanation like maybe he was running for an emergency and couldn't avoid you, anyway, it's a great way to make you let go of your anger) and, second, I didn't think the two main characters really interacted in a romantic way.
I did like the vocabulary and how the author writes, but that's not enough to say I liked this story.
The story didn't work for me on a couple of levels: first, I thought Henry got very angry at a stranger way too easily (If he was a real person instead of a character, I would give him the advice my therapist gave me of turning a negative reaction into a positive i.e. if someone knocks your gifts from you in a store because he's running... you might think he's a jerk as a reflex, but you have to think a positive way to see the situation and try another explanation like maybe he was running for an emergency and couldn't avoid you, anyway, it's a great way to make you let go of your anger) and, second, I didn't think the two main characters really interacted in a romantic way.
I did like the vocabulary and how the author writes, but that's not enough to say I liked this story.
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