Long and Short Reviews

Happily Ever After by Margo Hoornstra
The Wild Rose Press, Last Rose of Summer
Contemporary
Short Story, Sweet
Review by Snapdragon

Alex Carter is the new middle school principal and Burchfield’s most eligible bachelor. A fact which has the matchmakers in town out in force, with Sarah Walters’ best friend leading the charge. He’s a real knight in shining armor and perfect for the divorced, single mom Sarah. She’s been down the happily-ever-after road before.

Knights in shining armor don’t exist anymore. Do they?

♥ ♥ ♥

Clever Margo Hoornstra has created a wonderful, fast-reading gem of a romance in "Happily Ever After." What fun to discover magic wrapped inside an ordinary-life, ordinary day-to-day wrapper. PTA Treasurer Sarah Walters clearly does not need much to find a little joy - even a minor compliment from her daughter's principal will make her day. Of course, it didn't hurt that the principal happened to be the town's "most eligible" of bachelors. However, some Prince Charming's just aren't what they are cracked up to be, and we can't help sympathizing with Sarah's hesitation.

Caution in matters of the heart sometimes leads to better things though, and so readers will find themselves hoping that Sarah will perhaps just try to find out a little bit more about this one fellow, who really really might be her prince; we hope. As we realize Sarah's other reasons for feeling out of place, we can't help but identify with her. Putting her in charge of the derned 'Wishtank' seems diabolically ironic.

Hopes and wishes collide nicely in this evocative little tale.