All Comments on 'Danish Pastry'

I’ve enjoyed all your stories. Good to see a new one from you. Five stars!

Heart warming story!

5

Very nice and well written story. 5*.

Great stuff. Thanks.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.Thank you very much.

A great tale of life and well told. We have all been there.

Improbable romance frustrated by miscommunication and distance, but ultimately with a very pleasing outcome. I enjoy your storytelling style. Thank you for sharing your work.

Really engaging story for an old veteran like myself. Only gap was the swift ending with no true “happily ever after”. 4.7*

Wrong category. Should be in Roman

Full marks for an Excellent story in the wrong category.

I really enjoyed this story. Thank you! 5 stars

I was uncertain about why the apartment crasher wouldn't say where the fMC was until I was reminded of the doppelganger

Sweet tale. Thank you!

Excellent! It's always a treat to read one of your well-written stories! As always, your pacing is excellent, your style is easy to read, and the story is both fun to read and interesting. You do well in developing characters with a minimum of back story, but you give us the relevant information. Good, imaginative plots. As always, 5/5.

Nicely done. A mystery to begin that took a long time to resolve. I certainly didn't see the doppelganger coming. And, then another dramatic cliff with apartment misunderstanding. But, you brought it all home safely. Very enjoyable. Thank you.

Always a very good wordsmith … But there is no Loving Wife in this story. There IS a very emotional female military-officer colleague near the beginning. Who then turns into a wife whose stubbornness matches the MC’s.

unranked in LW.

If the guy who answered the door finally realized that the MC who barged in was his cousin's husband and was calling her name, why didn't he holler at his wife to show herself so he would know that she wasn't Irene? And even if he still thought the MC was her ex, why not have her show herself? Regarding the ex, presumably he had spoken Danish anyway, so there shouldn't have been a mistaken identity problem at all. So the cousin, if he really was and it wasn't Irene in the bathroom, was an idiot and so was Irene in the aftermath. Or else he wasn't a cousin and she was a cheat and that's why she was hiding in the bathroom. Too much askew here. 3.

Addendum

Unfortunately, Euro folks are who are not multilingual in the big 3 (English, French and German) are used to finding cognates. Also, a US officer in the NATO Fast-Track are expected learn how to communicate with their ‘foreign’ counterparts. All Sweetie’s cousin had to do was ask his wife to put on a robe or towel and come out.

A very contrived, but weak way to arrange a long-term rift. If I were scoring this psuedoLW, it would be 1* lower.

i don't know if this woman is worth it,

BORING! Yawn inducing drivel!

Long and winding road.

I enjoyed the story. My ultimate compliment. Cheers and thank you.

Really nice story and writing. Thank you.

Well that was a good read and pleasant story.

2 stars for a relatively boring USA military story in the wrong category.

There are several types of stories I really dislike - anything involving USA politics, USA military and USA sports.

Watching paint dry is waaaay more exciting.

Not really interesting , like all army story, it doesnt serve the plot and only make it boring.

Also it feels like wrong catégories

Lovely story.

"He is my.... how do you say kusine....cousin"

Should read

"He is my.... how do you say fætter....cousin"

Fætter (faetter) is a male cousin; Kusine is a female.

And it is "Gå væk" (gaa vaek).

It is ridiculous that the MC was expected to apologize for being upset when he found a strange man staying in his wife's apartment who attempted to block his entry and to prevent him from having contact with the other occupant present. A courteous and respectful spouse would inform their partner if they extended an invitation to overnight guests, especially if these folks were strangers to the spouse. The MC's willingness to assume responsibility for the incident was very submissive, cuck like behavior. If he were to continue in that fashion, he should not be surprised when his sex life came to revolve around having a Danish dildo rammed up his ass.

Frankly, that was boring. Tedious. Meandering.

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Could really never get a real so.I’d impression about who Phillip was, or what he was really like. And the whole Irene thing was just weird.

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Sorry….it just fell flat.

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2 **

, Great story. Appreciate good stories without an overload of graphic sex. 5*

It wasn't an easy or quick read, but it was a very satisfying one. 5*****

I won't envy the Parkers' family life.

You don't control your life.

There are no children in this family.

It's all sad.

Great story, I love that there’s not cruelty or deceit. Just a well written story with a great happy ending.

I’m disappointed with the biggest plot hole that was completely ignored. Irene should have had the decency and common sense to call her husband and tell him she would be in England on assignment. Reasonable characters have enough consideration to keep their partners informed. Disappointing plot hole. Two stars only because the writing was strong enough to keep reading to the end.

"And maybe he was better prepared for his meetings." - I know she's just being an ass, but leaving early doesn't mean he still had prep to do, just that he wanted a good night's sleep.

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"which I heard meant womanizer or philanderer." - As long as he isn't in a committed relationship, isn't messing with women who are, and is honest with the women, no harm, no foul.

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"I sold my house," - Maybe I missed something, but I thought he was renting?

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"I remembered what my boss at the Pentagon had said about all I needed was command time" - His boss also told him to get his Masters, and nothing's been said about that.

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He goes to her apartment, a guy is there who won't let him in, a woman locks herself in the bathroom, what is he supposed to think? When he asked for Irene, why didn't the woman come out to show that she wasn't Irene?

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Not to be a category Nazi, but bigguy323 is right, this is a romance.

A good story but I just kept thinking that the ending would never have had to occur if the cousin's wife had just put on her damn clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. Or even just cracked the door a little so he could see her. Even with bad English, I'm sure the cousin and his wife could explain to him well enough where his wife was. 4*

@sbrooks103x:

Good comments, and I saw most of those. One nit - the masters was mentioned.

"Aside from my one command assignment in Germany, being an action officer seemed to be my "niche" in the army. I had been working on my Master's Degree parttime and only had another year or so before I had it.

I showed up in my office the morning after my return from Denmark, to the surprise of my office mates. "

It's kinda buried in there.

And yes, that whole thing at the apartment is a clusterfu**

Oh, yes, it's a romance. Sweet story.

It's interesting that Irene can carry on an irrational reaction for YEARS without bothering to explain it. Phil is beyond gracious in accepting her apology when FINALLY she gets around to giving one.

Then Phil blunders into a (painfully contrived) situation and jumps to an understandable mis-conclusion. Then Irene over reacts as if her own behavior has nothing to do with the situation. She calls him an "ungrateful, uncaring, bastard who didn't have enough faith in his wife to give her the chance to explain what happened and only a worthless dog fucking son of a bitch could be that low". She exhibits NO understanding for him at all.

His friend tells him "Your biggest mistake was the same one most men make; you immediately thought the worst and didn't give her a chance to explain.". Yet, her mistake was to blame Phil for the faults of her ex when he had nothing to do with the situation. Irene thought the worst of Phil when no explanation was even possible because he wasn't part of the problem. But the story makes that somehow OK or forgivable.

It's nice it all worked out through sheer dumb luck because Phil sure couldn't "fix" Irene. She had to go through several cycles of cooling down before she could be rational.

Excellent story. More of a romance. I enjoyed it.

5stars

I truly enjoy your stories but this one is not of the Loving Wives story line.

He was an idiot, but fortunately his idiocy was dealt with by his wife. 5* romantic comedy kind of story.

Belongs in romance not loving wives, but beyond that, I think this was a excellent short story. For someone who knows nothing about military jargon you gave the exact right level of detail and in such a manner that I was able to understand what was happening without being slowed down.

Very strong story.

Well done.

Thank you for a heart warming story. You have a wonderful talent and I appreciate you sharing it.

Beautiful heart warming story.

Thus is what this category should have.

There was a dash with Infidelity, so the category was absolutely correct.

Loved it.

5/5

What a boring story!

You posted this in LW and invited certain expectations, and it wasn't met.

These 2 are married.

And yet the wife didn't mention to her husband where she'll be at.

Also the wife didn't inform her husband someone is going to stay at her apartment.

These are not tales of a marriage, it reads more like some teenage or students romance.

The super 'important' jobs they're holding only make their characters worse because it didn't fit their irrationality and frequent miscommunication.

Wow that was a whole lot of "not much" with tons of words thrown in the mix. I'm not even sure it qualified as a loving wives story. "Married extra-marital fun", etc?

There are just too many ridiculous plot holes and problems with the story to give it anything other than the two.

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For example The main female character in the story Irene is supposed to be a professional Intelligent sophisticated officer yet she cannot get past her psychological issues and is blaming the main character for someone else's actions and behavior? Not only does this go on for more 2 years but it shows a seriously fucked up individual. The question becomes WHY? -- as in WHY would any man want to be associated with one like that?.

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Why is the main character in the story apologizing when he finds another man and what he thinks is his wife in the wife's apartment having sex/? Okay it's a misunderstanding. Fine… BUT again the question is why is the main character apologizing? Why doesn't the woman that hides in the bathroom say “I am not Irene”...??

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How do married couples who are in long distance relationships part because of jobs and occupations NOT tell each other where they are going to be on a particular weekend? how could this not come up in conversation? And the real world functional marriages Irene would say in conversation or by text or by the way I am going to England this weekend to spend time with friends.

Yeah, I get it. Career is like living in a suitcase. Fortunately his stays were longer. 5*

This story is getting a lot of kudos, and while it’s pretty good, it has lots of deficiencies. A short list:

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#1 — lot of words about the MC’s relationship with Willy. Yet as far as the heart of the story goes, his trials and tribulations with Irene, Willy is a ghost. Phil barely talked to him about her. Or anything else. For a best friend Willy sure seemed out of the loop for just about everything important in Phil’s life.

#2 — Phil constantly talked about how weird it was that he kept getting posted to Army jobs that his rank would not normally earn. At one point after an assignment, a senior officer remarked to him that “somebody is looking out for you…go get your Masters degree”. Yet readers never learn if he had an unseen advocate or not.

#3 — since this was told in first person POV, we “hear” Phil talk about how he has a reputation as a “Casanova”. Yet readers never get any real info that this rep was valid or not. Sure, he mentions a few dates and relationships, but nothing that was even close to being out of the ordinary.

#4 — the whole deal with Irene was strange. And an awful lot of time went by before they finally hooked up and got married. But they both retain their commissions in their own country’s military? How does THAT work? Getting assigned to same geographic area while both are serving in the SAME military is tricky enough. Surely a huge topic of discussion prior to getting married would have include figuring out who probably has to resign their commission to make this work?

+++

Finally, the whole “he jumped to a wrong conclusion and took his ball and went home” plot device was rather trite. As were both of them not finding a way rather quickly to clear the air. Especially after she dumps divorce papers on him? Seriously? Nobody in either family or set of friends helped these 2 out?

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Sorry, but at least for me, there were too many loose ends, unexplained plot devices, and unbelievable situations. As written, the reader could never really warm up to the MC. And there was just way too little insight for why he and Irene fell in love enough to get married — there was no romance in this story!

+++

The author is one of the best that posts here. But this offering, while welcome, was really quite pedestrian.

liked it.

He was an idiot for getting involved with a woman that hated him from the moment she saw him, ignored him, whose father told to leave a party in which he was not the host, and finally being openly disrespectful towards him at work.

It would have been better if Philip had taken the divorce papers to Denmark and filed them while the General and his wife were on leave in the states.

Thanks for a creative storyline.

@Chuckles, thanks, actually, I did catch the Masters thing later, meant to go back and modify the earlier comment, though it still seemed odd that he mentioned what his previous commander had said about a command position, but didn't say anything about starting his masters.

Ok, I finished the first page and other than learning a bunch of military acronyms, I have no idea what the hell this story is going to be about! If Ephesus14 wasn’t such a good writer I’d have given up halfway down the page.

Sorry, but that was like reading a telephone book, bailed after a couple of pages.

I’m sorry but anyone that found that story entertaining is very, very, easily amused.

A very nice Romance story, and that is where it should be. And you should be ashamed using Mis-communication or lack of communication as a plot device; that's just lazy. And makes the characters look stupid and juvenile. They probably should get some counseling. Try coming up with something more original and believable than a military officers flying off the handle and ignoring attempts to explain and negotiate. That's bush league, not officer material.

No kids ..??

A love story about a couple of REMFs. Hmmm. Well written and paced. Not really a LW tho. 4 stars. DMW aka Sumnut96

It verged on five stars, but never got there, because it dragged some. Otherwise, a good story that I liked. Four stars.

JPB

Good read. Thanks

The military stuff was interesting and since no one has commented on it being inaccurate I assume it's realistic. So...a Major is essentially a butler for a general. Would have thought that would be Radar oreilly LOL. What's our military budget up to these days?

Some confusion as to time line and people involved. Like his finding her cousin in her apartment. Why didn't they talk beforehand so that he would know? But a good military story.

Good story.

4*.

Good story buried in there somewhere.

Cute story.

This story has too much sugar to deserve 5 stars but it has something called "plot" and that is way beyond all the mediocrity on LE. Good job, keep on writing, not too many authors here that have the ability to create original story.

Well told!

Another story of misunderstanding because people did not talk. Husband refusing to talk to his wife or read messages demonstrates that he was too full of himself to be considered a good person. Good people collect information before making final judgments. Irene probably should have left him because he did not deserve anyone.

Sorry to unreal. Due to orders they lived separated across the puddle and did not talk every other day or keep abreast of travel (if classified) then the duration - leading to their travel miss AND apartment repurpose/use? No way. Plus NATO/Pentagon had the AUTOVON system.

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I did long distance consulting for +20yrs and we talked almost every day. Not that we were checking up on each other but we were married with married issues/life/bills/repairs. We went cellphones early on since cell-to-cell was free/no-long-distance-charges.

Before consulting when I was in the Navy aboard ship (before cellphones) we could only talk via snail-mail, weekly.

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So their lack of "NORMAL" typical marriage communications was the real issue, beyond cultural. And since they were smart enough to see their cultural differences they would have made sure they took an extra effort to insure comms was NOT an issue. Not avoid each other for years. Of course he thought he was toast being divorced.

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4**** Hooyah but no salutes for this fable.

original story filled with unnecessary pain but rectified very well in the ending

I enjoyed this. I thought the author did a fairly good job of putting me in the life of an officer with assignments such as the main character had. I did kind of agree with one commenter who said the communication shut down was unlikely. I didn't think it matched his personality either. Who always written was fine, and I liked it.

quote left a message each time, unquote

I had hoped she would have deleted them without listening just like he did

I do not like stories where supposedly smart people make dumb decisions

What has this really got to do with the Irishman?

To someoneother, you're blaming the MC, Irene should have also informed him about who was at her apartment, so the fault is also on her, not just him. Her neglecting that caused this drama and he also needed his time to cool down, he didn't immediately file for divorce or anything like that, it's a common reaction to not speak for some time to get your head around. He was eventually going to talk to her, but not once had he considered divorce before she showed up. They both were full of themselves, her lack of communication also caused this, not just him.

"She stood there for several seconds, then spoke. "You're right, of course. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. You remind me of someone I dislike and you didn't deserve to be treated like that. I'm sorry."

And poof she was gone."

If the story had ended there, it would have been one of the best on this site. The sheer hypocrisy of being so angry at his VERY understandable mistake after a year of emotional pettiness (So awesome that someone that unstable had the prestige and authority of a commissioned officer). And why wouldn't her cousin's wife just call out through the bathroom door when he started calling Irene's name? Who would stay silent in such an obvious case of mistaken identity with such grave consequences. This MC didn't have to apologize for a damn thing, and you have him coming to the conclusion that this is all his fault?

Wonderful, but some kind of painfully absurd story... In truth, my sophisticated imagination suggested many possible intrigues. For example, such that Irene will commit some kind of infidelity due to mistaken identity... Or - some sneaky feint from Phil's "Danish double" will follow... But this is also unusual and intriguing. The only thing I didn't understand at all was: "Why did the author need the character of Willie Brennan's best friend and, accordingly, his entire family"?

The only conclusion that suggests itself after reading this story: "European women are cute, but crazy! Well, fuck them all, my friend! Let's fly, it's better to Southeast Asia.."

Well... let's pray these two doofuses never have kids... the human gene pool is already overrun with stupidity.

this is fiction , it's entertainment , nuff said !!

Nice story. It did leave me with some questions like why was the MC put on the fast track. Another is why would they retire to the United States when they spent their entire married life in Europe. Neither one is important to the story, of course.

Like it

4 stars

All could have been cleared up if only Irene's cousin's wife had just said "I'm not Irene" through the door when he said "Irene! Irene! Come out! Irene You have ten seconds to come out and talk to me"

Good story but left me cold. Liked the military stuff but not marrying the wacked out Dane.

Dear readers, now I will tell you everything that the author chose to keep silent about (and immediately everything will fall into place and this story will correspond to this category - "Loving Wives") :

As it turned out... Irene was surprised and discouraged by such a striking resemblance between her former scoundrel fiance and her new colleague, Phil. She became interested in the topic of doubles and posted her photo on many thematic sites. And after a while - Oh, a miracle! - responded a girl from Sweden named Gerda, who was her exact copy, like an identical twin sister lost in childhood... They got in touch, met and became very close friends. They began to have a good time and had fun to the fullest on weekends and on holidays, posing as each other in various everyday comical situations. They even began to travel all over Europe, with each other's passports, while playfully and arrogantly smiling at unsuspecting border guards and customs officers. Irene was in no hurry to introduce her husband to her, such an unusual friend, because, in the near future, she was already mentally inventing some grandiose furore, a prank or a surprise for her beloved husband - with the help of a twin girlfriend, Gerda, of course! But something went wrong... Alas and ah.. WEBCAM and telephone communication across the Atlantic Ocean do not really contribute to strengthening family ties, and, moreover, they are not able to satisfy the sexual needs and desires of a young, hot woman. Well, and then this bitch Gerda constantly whispers in the ear of our main character, with her North Scandinavian attitude to marriage (have you all heard about the Swedish family? This Swedish slut has more than once jokingly raised this topic in conversation with a "conservative and sanctimonious" Danish girlfriend).

Moving on...

I tell you, readers: "Yes! Yes! And once again - Yes!" Then, in that bathroom, indeed, his cheating wife, Irene, was hiding from her husband!!! For this reason, she could not open the door and sat very quietly, without uttering a single word or sound. Otherwise, her husband Phil would have immediately realized that his wife was behind the door, and that this Scandinavian man, who resolutely and desperately blocked his access to his wife's apartment, was by no means a cousin or any other distant relative of his wife. Actually, Irene did not warn her husband about the upcoming "business trip to the UK", precisely because she was not going to go there. This is her flighty "twin girlfriend", decided to go to the Foggy Albion... That is why the "pseudo-Arin" could not leave the British Isles until the "completion of her secret mission" ... (This slut Gerda simply ignored her mobile phone. The bitch was fucking someone with abandon!) Further... When Gerda finally returned to the mainland, Irene, taking her passport from her friend, immediately flew to her husband, to America, to fix the mess. But - "The best way to protect yourself is an attack, am I right?" She poked her husband in the nost passport with border stamps, assuring her husband that she was in Britain... Pretty Irene rushed back to Europe. She knew that if Phil started asking clarifying questions, she would crumble and burst into tears... She decided to "disappear from the radar" and turned on the "radio mode"... At first she had remorse, then a monstrous sense of guilt came, a little later there appeared (at the suggestion of a North Scandinavian sister) - self-justification... And what happened after that? You already know... Um, well - his best friend's grandmother, Willie - until now-is fervently waltzing in a wheelchair, breaking the hearts of many Irish grandfathers....

(ID: I R U S S)

The chronology doesn't seem to match... it looks like she'd forgiven him while he was still trying to contact her, but I don't want to go back and check.

Good story nonetheless, if a little dry.

Loved your story! Thank you very much. 5 BIG ASS FUCKING HUGE FLAMING NOVA STARS!

I think the anon who wrote the novel explaining this story is just a bit off. The story was ok but it was pretty close to being in the wrong category, but that's just my opinion. I do agree with another's comments about it being a bit 'dry.

Kept waiting for some fireworks and cheating but alas it was short and sweet. It all comes down to surprises are not really a good idea and the other thing is never assume and the biggest thing is communicate. If you don't talk to each other you'll never really know what the other person is thinking. It could have been shorter. 4 stars

It seems to me that Anonymous, with its interpretation of history, sounds very convincing... Why did "kusine", who realized that he was not facing a bastard-Frederick, did not bother to dissuade Philip that his suspicions were groundless? Didn't ask the "wife" to raise her voice from behind the door? - No! Open the door a little, just a crack? - Not Again!! Get out of the bathroom in a towel and call Irene in order to resolve an AWKWARD situation? - Again and again No? Communication difficulties due to the language barrier? Good... Why did the "cousin's wife" disappear into the bathroom and not cover herself with a blanket on the bed? Maybe Irene realized from her voice that her husband was at the FRONT door and that her marriage would end very quickly if Phil saw her in such a situation? The Danish "kusine" is not his wife's cousin at all. He's been a close friend of Irene's since high school. That's why he was invited to the wedding. Irene later decided to call him and.... Then you know....

I am not a supporter of the hypothetical version of "twin girlfriends", the previous commentator... But I can't think of a more realistic version of how Irene was able to get British stamps in her passport... And about the fact that she cheated - there is no doubt about it ... (My personal opinion).

PS: And, commentators! Stop idealizing and romanticizing Irene's actions... Her absurdities and her inadequacy are coming through from all the cracks - admit this fact... So, why did she have to remain faithful and blameless in this story?

P.P.S.: And it's not for nothing that the author placed this story in Loving Wives, and not in Romance?

Enjoyed the story, what a crazy life. Thanks for your writing.

All the military stuff, especially if you're not into it, was a bit convoluted! (Yes I know it's a story set in the military but this should be more about relationships.) 4 - Stars!

Nice story! Really enjoyed it. It's hilarious how readers in this category obsess over writing epilogues and alternative endings to other peoples' stories. I'm going to start including alt ends for my own stories, just for the hell of it. Anyway, great job!

A good storyline, good characters, good read.

Great story. As always, I enjoy your writing about the military. This time you wrote about places and jobs that I did not experience, except for being junior lieutenant in a unit. Recreation and Morale officer was not as much fun as it sounds like.

There's a lot of veterans who like the military parts of the story. Some others may complain, but who cares. 82nd airborne

Nice romantic story. Yeah, the military life can be one with lots of traveling. But for separation, try the Navy. Yipes! 5*s.

Wonderful story. So much wasted time. Military officer marriages must be rough being stationed all over. The second time, when separated was basically all on him. She had every right to be pissed. Why would he assume a woman who defended him while in a coma, who was with him through physical therapy all the way after the Afghanistan ambush would cheat on him. I hate how in these LW stories the aggrieved (or in this case perceived-to-be aggrieved) husband's deletes all voice-mails and refuse all calls. I cab understand not answering after discovery in short term, but really you might learn something useful in thr voice-mails even of the cheating was really. And no one texts?!? And email is a special thing? Confront! Don't run. He could have gotten someone to translate the guys speech. He could have recorded it and used Google translate with a voice to text app. The count of ten and just run was frustrating. But deleting all her calls was dumb. And then she shows up and he knows he is sunk and she is justifiably pissed but he can't find her before she leaves? He failed. The rest after that was hee agonizing with his total lack of trust and then not being able to reach him. He didn't know it before he went to Italy, but the Lily of the Valley probably saved his marriage. Except by then she had no way to reach him. Btw why was her number blocked on his phone? Did someone else have it and he got a new one with the General's staff? Glad they made it. Tough romance.

Great Story Lots of twists and turns BUT because i was in the Military.(no not an officer LOL) I did understand a bit better Best Wishes (jaybee186)

" The Major I talked with told me that since we were married in Denmark, any separation or divorce action or procedure would have to be from there." That's bullshit.