All Comments on 'As I Was Walking in the Park'

Thanks for posting this romance. An enjoyable read. There is the odd spell check error but that did not detract from the enjoyment

Wonderful story if a bit long, but it needed to be. Oh, if only the young could experience this level of knowing, friendship and love.

I loved the progression and thought the length fit the story perfectly. I also love that this was strictly romance. I was reading through scenes and just waiting for some big fight that pulled them apart then eventually they'd get back together, but there was none, and I was pleased. They didn't need it. They were such level-headed characters I could relate to which made them real and made them interesting.

5 stars and favorited :)

Wow.

Two great, well written stories almost back-to-back. Fast work & well done.

Do you have another one up your sleeve almost ready to post? Sure hope so.

Your first two efforts are far above most on this site.

Keep up the good work!

Way too long. Predictable. Nicely written. Not very erotic

Some people think that there isn't enough conflict; that the story is boring because the couple never fights. But I think society is sometimes so preoccupied with confrontation, so consumed by some inexplicable commitment phobia that they don't recognize that there are couples like your characters. There are couples that compromise, that share in loss and in triumph. It's easy to forget this in a time when some women think that "If he accept me at my worst, then he doesn't deserve me." And some men are living in an age where they think that it's acceptable for women to earn less. Wake up call guys, men's rights is nothing. I think this story is refreshing and beautiful precisely because there is no conflict. Because these characters live each other and lean on each other. They are a model couple and in this day and age we need all the models we can get.

This is now my favorite romance story I have read! I liked that the love grew before sex.

They have apparently done a wonderful job of raising their children in a loving, nurturing home. That love and care is evident in the conversations with their daughter. 5 stars.

I truly enjoyed this romantic tale. I especially like how you started and ended in the present day and wrapped it around the tale of how Karen and Erik's love grew through their adolescent years. Also the poetic introduction to each chapter was a great setting for what was to come. I found your writing to be unique, creative and kept me on edge waiting for each scene to unfold. A truly great literary work! Look forward to more of your work.

Your stories are definitely with the best on this site. Actually, I think you should submit them to findestories.com. You might have to edit some of the too detailed parts, but I think that would actually improve them.

Great stories.

This story was just about the most perfect romance story I've ever read. It manages to push almost every romance button there is and do so in the nicest of ways. My highest regards go out to the author for both the excellent writing and the characters that are just perfect for the story.

an extended journey from innocent youth to mature adulthood.

told well.

thanks

Just reread this and loved it just as much as I did on the very first reading. Still one of the very best romance stories EVER!!!!

I thought that the standard romance was boy meets girl, they become a romantic couple, something happens and they split up. Then something interesting happens to get them back together. This was smooth from start to end, but still enjoyable.

This is the best, most tastefully told, 'Coming of age-Romance' story I have ever read. Enough said. Five and a Favorite.

Its a great story.

I liked it very much.

but id like it more if they had sex after they realized they love each other.

Keep up the the good work.

Thank you

I'm an engineer, and the time-phasing of the story just doesn't work. (OK, PICKY PICKY, but you've got two geeks who are kids of geeks; and a geek commenting).

Let's say Karen is 35-40 now, and her daughter is 15 now. That works, the kid was born ~2000 or so. Back up five years, and we're in 1995 when they graduate college, and 1990-92 or somewhere like that when they graduate High School. It is the late '80s when the get the tree house going. LED lights were rare and pricy for illumination, same for solar power. Lap top PCs were big, heavy and small screens.

Great story and really the only time I thought "WTF, the time is wrong" was in that treehouse improvement section. (CAD on the notebooks of the era was not a useful tool, too, IMHO)

By the way, I'm old enough to be Karen or Eric's parent, and I know my kids went through the same kinds of awakenings, much the same as I did with their Mom. Somethings are universal.

Great story. Thank you for sharing.

the timeline proposed by the previous post might actually have been a bit generous. She is 14 when her family moves to their new home, she is lonely and considers staying in touch with her old friends "online". The first school year she enrols in the new district she is in a computer skills class and laments that she and her classmates have already been using word processors, spread sheets, and apparently CAD programs for 8-10 years. That would move us all the way back into the 80's.

One final note. If she was one of the first on the bus as the driver picked up students on the way in to school, she would be one of the last off in the afternoon. Everyone boards at the school and the morning route is reversed as the kids are dropped off at home.

With all the nits picked, I loved the story. The long slow build as the two became more than friends was deliberate and fun to watch.

thanks

I’d like to thank everyone for their kind comments. It’s always nice to hear a story is appreciated. I would like to mention a couple of things about time lines. Karen said she was on the high side of 35. When a woman says that it usually means near 40. So assume she was born in 1975. The year they added the LEDs she turned 17, making it 1992. White LEDs were not generally available then - I did take some liberty there. But red, green, amber and yellow were quite common and blues were available in small quantities. LED lights were not commonly available in general but engineers had played with them for a number of years. Solar cells had been used since the 1960s. Likewise laptops were not as common as today and were definitely larger but the IBM ThinkPad at under 7 pounds and with a 10 inch screen was available. (Probably too expensive for most parents to give their kids, however.) Schools did teach computer skills classes even in the mid 80s and I know of kids who learned their alphabets on home computers in 1987. I’ll admit she probably didn’t e-mail her friends. E-mail was in use well before then but was not common outside of colleges and high tech installations. (BTW, when I rode the bus to school, the route was NOT reversed in the afternoon.) I’m not trying to be overly critical, really. I did stretch availability a little but in general pretty much everything was available even if not common. I certainly don’t mind readers pointing out errors - there are certainly some of them on occasion. I just want them to know I do try to be accurate even if the story requires a little stretching once in a while. Thanks again. I hope you continue to enjoy.

Janet Fremont

A complete fiver from me ( a reader from India)

Wonderful coming of age story. Thank you.

wat a beautiful experience

i really like yr style

thankyou

I had had only had a quick look at him and was left with the impression of a nice looking guy in good shape physically with a friendly face.

I normally just fly right by errors, I’m not the punctuation police. But I had to read it twice before I could continue. I’m reading all your stories in order of name. I’m very pleased with everything so far.

What a beautiful read.

thank you

Gave it a5☆ just a little long.

Sweet. The epigraphs work really well. A bit over-narrated. Sex before 18. Don’t tell the harpy Laurel, or the story will get deleted.