All Comments on 'Mary and Alvin Ch. 13'

Previous commenters have mentioned how real the character in this series are. The romance is so grounded in everyday life that the reader feels like they are reading about people they know.I am looking forward to following Mary and Alvin as they make a life together.

On first reading, I thought this chapter was very good, but not quite up to the level of excellence we have come to expect from MelissaBaby. But something about the meeting between Alvin and Stan kept coming up in my mind and I went back and reread, and I realized what a beautiful thing she had done here. She is telling us that real love is not found in lavish gifts, extravagant dates or even fantastic sex. The "truth of tenderness" is in the sort of gesture that Alvin shows by the consideration he shows a lonely old man. Kudos, Melissa.

Mary and Alvin Ch.14 popped up on my news feed today so I thought I’d better get round to reading Ch.13 which has been on my to-do list for a month now. I enjoyed it as usual. Unfortunately, at the moment, I’m a long way behind in reading my favourite writers.

I liked the Stanley Pierce interlude. The story is following the predictive path and I don’t expect any nasty surprises - but I do like surprises. Including Alvin’s visit to Stanley in the story, for a perfectly valid reason, was a nice little twist and Mary’s reaction was, naturally, predictable. I particularly liked the reference to Jennifer.

Been there semi-regular, I loved the description. Such a good story and all the more special with the places I love most being included. I just wish ‘up to camp’ had been in the Allagash.

Oh, the ass-chapter was a nice surprise.

Thank you for that and thank you for the whole story.

Very lovely installment!

The Inn at St. John is indeed the city's oldest, continuously-operated hotel and as a side note, they always put out fresh cookies and bottled water for guests 24/7 by their reviews. The Azure Café specialized in all kinds of great food (just NE from LL Bean), but the plandemic closed it, as it permanently shuttered in Feb 2020. :( An interesting side note: it's actually far more likely Mary would have been a Starbucks fan than Dunkin' in CA, as Starbucks has 3,075 locations there and DD hardly has any. I mean...I love the fact she's a Dunkin fan (I'm a dyed-in-the-wool DD fan), but it figures she'd be far more on Starbuck's side.

No fan of the anal, but that was minor and I skimmed past it. You handled the "age" discussion appropriately again--and with some apt humor (just take him out and push him into the water) if he were to get "too bad," although it did feel like it got a little dark and melancholy the more they dealt with it. However, you did draw Mary to make appropriate quips about "finding a handsome guy and one that also loves to sail," or something like that. It was also logical that Alvin's girls won't call Mary "mom," and for obvious reasons. By the way, Alvin must have some money to arrange for those candles and rose petals in the room, because a room at the Inn @ St John would be $213/night! (You also described it spot on, too!) There might be some that would think Alvin's trying too hard to woo Mary, as while it's nice, all the stuff he's done in the last 2 chapters would have been wicked expensive.

Adorable nearly all the way around. 5

Cute touch, with Alvin visiting Stan...although Portland's a HIKE from Belfast, @ 103 miles (that's what also would have proven Mary's brief thought of "maybe Alvin's saying goodbye to a girlfriend" a bit ridiculous). Nice detail that snow fell on her b-day.

Another fine chapter, lots to think about, especially the exchange with Stan. I wasn’t surprised that his stubborn refusal to accept Jennifer’s sexuality was brought up and Alvin was true to form in proudly praising both of his daughters. Looking forward to the California trip.