All Comments on 'The Hermit'

Truly worth 5 stars. Like the ending. Well written.

darker pasts and a nice little romance... but what the talk about their relationship waning? Sounds like they have things to talk about.

See, now that is how I like my stories. This was such a pleasurable tale that I wish it was a novel. 5 stars

Well told recovery from a bad marriage, actually reminiscent of my one of my own that ended some 40 years ago. The woman that oved me passed almost 5 years ago. She is missed and this story reminds me of her loss.

Great story. Thanks.

Sweet! Five Big Ones.

I enjoyed this ... Great story well told

A great story. Thanks for sharing.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

OMG, the ending just made me...happy, laugh, and smirk.

Truly enjoyed the story.

Thanks, DP

Very good story. Five stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The interaction with Anna, Julia, and Mark was hilarious. The triumphant “yes!” from Anna following Julia’s “NOOOO” was extremely funny writing.

Good inversion on classical tropes. Anna slayed Mark’s dragon and won the hand of her prince. Good on her

Really Good! Thank you!

I’m getting strong Horatio Hornblower and Lady Barbara vibes from this story. It’s well done and I give it 5 stars ⭐️

What a delightful love story. Thanks for sharing it. 5*s.

Good story, almost pulled me into getting a real feel for Anna, and Mark was almost easy to identify with. Not bad for a couple of characters in a short story... Well plotted, got some romance, very enjoyable

Needs more eroticism....

Five for you

Well, well told! That final three-way conversation was so beautifully constructed, so easy to follow, yet without a single word telling us who was speaking each line. Masterful.

Anna, reading Mark's mind again and again, so funny, so cute and charming.

One marvelous read. Thank you!!

Well, there wasn't the "burn the bitch" when Mark found out Julia was a cheating slut, but it ended well. I'm thinking they should spend way more time of the boat. Good story.

2nd read for me and still excellent. time to look for 50' or so sailboat!

Great story, second time reading it. Excellent stuff.

my favorite kind of story, a boat, rescue a gorgeous women, lose a cheating wife with a little retrib...

Great story, had to slog through a whole bunch of em, but this one is a jewel...

Overall, great story, but I thought the ending was rushed. I guess I would have enjoyed reading more about them. Great job.

Great story. The ending sequence was really nicely done. Julia was such a selfish, delusional bitch. Worse she had been forgive once then falss in with "Andre" her second "love". But the story wasn't about her. It was a top flight romance between Mark & Anna. Kudos to the author!

A super story, with two genuinely believable main characters (three, if we include Julia). I loved the finale. 5* all the way

I have now read this story 3 times and I still enjoyed it just as much as the first time around⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Now that was the ticket, an honest to goodness solid romance. Your best story so far.

Well worth 5/5

A very good story, so well written it was a pleasure to read. Thanks, stev2244, I enjoyed it just as much the second time in around. 5⭐️s.

Read this before. Glad I found it again.

A great read! Each story I read by this author is better than the one before. Although I'm not anywhere near rich, I feel Mark's pain as I have experienced the same emotional mutilation at the hands of a female Beelzebub and I know just what and how long it takes to get over it. Stev2244 clearly understands it too, as demonstrated in this excellent, 5 star plus yarn.

Great writing, great story. Thank you. *****

Really nice love story. Thanks.

Ed

A nice, upbeat story with no unnecessary frills. Thank you for posting it.

A_Bierce says it well. Great story, great reading experience. The ending was a hoot!

Disappointed.

That so many commentators don't understand a few fundamental truths about stories:

(1) The author creates the characters. They do and say what the author writes, no more and no less.

(2) If the author creates some characters we care about but no revenge, that's not the author's problem.

(3) If the author doesn't write the story as we would like, that's our problem, not the author's.

(4) The author decides when the story is finished, not readers curious about what happens next.

When stev2244 writes a story, he invariably makes me care about the characters. And jealous, but that's my problem.

Dry.

Jeesh! Just like in the stev2244 story I read before this one ("Lost In The Snow" - I am trying to go in more or less chronological order), he prefaces with an apology. With "snow" it was for being a German speaker writing in English. When in fact had he not noted it, I wouldn't be able to tell, the English writing was so solid. And now here, he apologizes in advance for creating flawed characters, and a few other things. Like a similarity to "Fifteen Hours," which, since I found that one to be a keeper, actually made the prospect of this one promising. Having GeorgeAnderson onboard sure didn't hurt, either. And so what we get here instead of flawed characters are actually two lovely people who'd been wounded in the past, and together find a way to get over those damages - with each other. A beautiful romance, based on them exchanging substance, intelligence and kindness. Very moving moments abound, particularly the page 4 reveals. This has the feel of a real good Romance, but the cheating ex slots it just fine into LW. Besides, LW and R share a common border. Kudos to stev2244 for navigating the territory so nicely. Of course, a 5.

QM

What a great “Feel Good” story. It made me smile and I needed one today. Thank You! Five Stars!

Should have given Julia, Brione’s number for his next cruise

2 months ago this was a good story and even better the second time around. Proves you can write a good LW story without pages of unbelievable sex.

Good story, story line is plausible so it hold ones attention,Thanks for writing as I suspected you could..you still have a problem with the character of men..You just could not keep the "why me,why me"out of the story. Accept the fact,Men can be sensitive and do change diapers without being a wimp. JZK

good story from the rescue until the "sudden love, marriage"

Excellent story, no big sex scenes, just some love and caring and a lot of doubts until our hero realizes he's got a keeper. Good story and good editing thank you and 5 stars

The ending should be more BTB to Julia and Andy. Definitely a 5 star 🌟🌠🌟🌠🌟🌠🌟🌠🌟🌠

Very good story but the ending was a little disappointing. Not enough about how much Julia suffered!

About the 10th reading and the second comment. Still a dope-ass story. And, hey, my vote was gone so I get to give it another five! Quintessential Stev2244. Umm... tense...

Simply a very well written story with some great characters.

Ending spoiled the story unfortunately

Enjoyed it. could have used more of an ending though.

Good story, though I found the ending a bit rushed. And I can't really see Julia going from entitled bitch to actually being contrite in a matter of just a few minutes.

Fun story .

Thanks

Not much to say except nice story enjoyed reading it.

Mark had enough money to make sure Andy and Julia spent the rest of their lives living in a cardboard box.

Don't buy Julia's reactions at the end... makes her seem both reasonable and like she actually cares. Neither of which seem to be attributable to her through the rest of the story.

Maybe Anna's right about her needing to feel equal in the relationship by cheating but nothing she did after substantiates that. Or forgives it.

Would have liked to see Andy's nose flattened and his teeth taken out! That would have removed his smug smile!! 5*s

Great story, but I still wish he had slapped Andy’s smirky face when he caught him with Julia.

Loved this one! Could have been in the Romance section, but I'm glad it wasn't as I would have missed it. 5*

Well done.

is great! Never having to compromise, or end up doing thing you don't really want too. Not wasting money on someone else. The last thing a guy needs is the millstone of a women round his neck. Ok if you must, pump n dump. But don't get long term involved, not worth it anymore.

Stev2244 expertly directs the ebb and flow of emotion in a way that is both dramatic and feels true. An example is the passage, after the lovers have disembarked from the boat, where they experience "cold reality" and the "crumbling" of their seaborne fantasy. This sets the stage nicely for the upbeat finish.

My only criticism -- and it is a small one -- is that the hyper-gorgeousness of the supermodel nymph is just as much of a cliche as the "ever-loving, perfect, non-cheating, rich ex Navy Seal owner of an international PI firm" whom stev2244 justly lampoons in his preface. It would take nothing away from the story if the mermaid's good looks were less emphasized... or if her attractiveness were pitched more as residing in the MC's own eyes and less in terms of the objectifying conventional ranking of female looks.

What a terrific story!

Funny, heart-wrenching, seriously one of the best I have read.

I hate being anonymous because so many are weak and afraid to stand behind what they say but I just don't have a membership.

Great work!

Very good story⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

this was mostly a good story until you rushed the ending. What happens to Brione? What happens to Julia? What about Anna's job? A lot left open.

Enjoyed the character development, the pace of the tale, and the use of language, especially in dialogue.

Your stories are too rush. Bad Guys were not put in justice. Cheaters have little or no redemption. The setting of the story is in dreamlike state, making it too unrealistic. But anyway, the dreamlike setting is enough to suspend disbelief.

Always provide enough details for your closure. I give you five stars for making the story interesting.

I would have wrecked the other ship because that's what douche bags deserve.. especially when your in the middle of nowhere in a secluded island

Well, you could have used "gawk" 4 or 5 more times....

A bit obvious but sometimes obvious is okay.

????

Andy walks away still smirking and sneering

A bit cliché but still, well done!

Brione, however, needs to be taken down!

But still dislike stories where bad people let off.

Possibly hurt more than a few people.

Doesn't hurt to give reminders to these people that painful punishment is part of life

I disagree with HIV - the mind reading thing was clever. Excellent character development and dialogue.

Great story, with happy ending. He should have drowned them I the bathtub when he first caught them.

I really enjoyed it. You write this type of story very well. I hate your RACC stories.

Have you ever heard of birth control implants?

(( The contraceptive implant works for three years. Hormonal IUDs are effective for three-to-five years, depending on the brand. Copper IUDs can be effective for up to 10 years. ))

Anna had learned that she had to whore herself out to get work in the modeling business so it'd be imperative to guard against pregnancy. Though she said they always used condoms, that's no guarantee. I've had at least a dozen of them break. (ALWAYS with VERY underage girls who just HAD to get fucked. [or were too damned pretty to leave for some inexperienced asshole])

Great story... ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Light, uplifting, sweet story.

The hurried story left me feeling empty. Was kinda thinking that Anna was a plant to take him to the cleaners. She seemed to know way too much about his life to get him to open up. The tone of the story didn't really change at all, so my expectations were still aligned with the tone. With the change in the story left me wondering how we got there. Didn't really see a romance happening, just a couple of hard stories from two people. It has some good moments, liked the two stories being told, but didn't see a progression after. Thought the story could have been great, maybe it was and i am just a hermit.

Except "on the pill". Did she hide them in her bikini when she jumped overboard? Niggling details about life when all you bring with you is your bikini. Well, and your heels...

Still a fun fairy tale with nice characters.

Your self esteem will be low. Anna told him the truth and built up his ego. He will see how he was manipulated his whole life. No more. Only good times ahead. He did get payback with Julia and Andy. They thought they the gravy train was theirs but it pulled out of the station and left them behind. Andy will move on and eventually some other husband will put him down for good. Julia's alimony will run out and she will have nothing.

Maybe 15%, plus a few key points, like ex-grubbing for money, and ex, in the end, wishing former love “the best”.

Liked this one a lot. 5-stars.

You are really going to let a rapist run loose to keep doing it he is rich but so are you you knee what she was when she left you in school to play around And you married her and took her back after first time caught her

Cry baby

No feelings for him Cry all day and night wimp

Thanks

Thoroughly enjoyed this tale of the hermit. 5 stars.

Need I say more?

They just left the door open?

Good story, glad he got back in the human race. I just wish he'd man up and get some payback on good ole Andy, and turn in that prick Brione as the rapist he is, He's got video on him. Five Stars.

One of my favorites, even after countless readings. The inner monologue running through his head had me laughing.

Great story. It would have been nice to let Anna and Mark's "stalemate" boil over, both taking evasive/defensive action, and finally discovering what they trully couldn't get out.

I liked it when Julia shows up, confident and ready to win Mark over but unsatisfied how quickly she gave in to Anna.. I would have preferred to hear what Julia was proposing to do, what happened with her other guy, the guy she was going to share her time, whether she still wanted to pursue a two man relationship, etc. And then have Mark squash her efforts and see her devastation (clearly she still wanted Mark for whatever reason for her to track him down). Here, she simply accepts the situation and leaves. A slightly limp ending.

I'm a sucker for a.Happy ending. I enjoyed it.

Happily ever after AND hilarious.

Thanks for sharing.

nice little scene at the end, his duplicitous ex having to witness his proposal.

Not bad, and I was going to give you 5 stars, but one line spoilt it: "Anna, don't hurt him." Sorry, but we readers are fickle, and that line was just: a) too corny; and b) out of character, for me.

The longtime girlfriend all of a sudden gouging for money, and the BMW SUV. Oh, and the girl with the heart of gold.

Anyway, a superbe little quicky.

5-stars.

by this author that I've liked, however improbable.

She can't write men at all, just doesn't get it. All these stories are pretty much the same: the man can't compete. The women are all beautiful, more intelligent than the man (any man), more clever, more confident, spend their time bullying the man into doing things he doesn't want to do.

The man is always agog over the woman, intimidated, out-classed, out-witted, too scared to make a squeak. Doesn't mind being told to "shut up", ordered around, or told how to think. Spends a lot of time drooling, unable to find words or form sentences - totally inadequate with women, although the women will tolerate him, as long as he performs nicely in bed.

Besides being female, I also think she's about 17 years old. No more for me. 3 stars.

It's a fantasy with a happy ending. Not realistic in the slightest, A true happy ending. But is it wrong that I want one?

Julia didn't get burned. She just swanned her ass back in and said it was a 'misunderstanding' and nobody said a fucking word to call her on her bullshit. Yet again, Stev proves why he's a useless, spineless little cunt. 1*

no way the author of the rest of the crap on this page wrote this good story. Calling BS right now.

So, she wants to get married so badly and quickly she pulls away from him emotionally? Alright, I get it's a plot device, but it implies the only individually pleasurable things they share is sex, tying knots on a boat, and possibly a weak hint at something intellectual from the eBook reader. The implication is worse because of that plot device than when non-sex topics for a love interest are simply elided for brevity and lack of author/category interest.

Knots are a good start for short term bonding... Physical attraction will obviate the immediate need for shared individually pleasurable activity other than sex. Being asked for your opinion and for it to be taken seriously at the store is certainly endearing. Participating in simple acts of intimacy like the snuggling at the TV is a good one for sure. Having equally sordid background stories is what gave them telepathy, and establishes a certain intimacy quickly.

But there's a whole lot more, and the story explicitly implies they have none of it.

At first I thought his sister had made set him up to meet her.

And she really tell for him.

But the way you did it was great.

Truly women don't understand how much power they have over a guys self worth and mental health. At least concerning normal guys.

Well written.