Hallmarkies – I wanted to give a shout out to the Rent.com blog! I was recently named as an expert on holiday decor! Check out this amazing blog post here: Design Styles to Try, Based on Your Favorite Holiday Movie
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Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. If you like movies such as Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas then you should read Sugar and Spice. Sugar and Spice is an endearing, rich, wholesome Christmas book that you’ll never forget.
Sugar and Spice is about a friendship, which grows into love, between Mason and Sheila. It’s a Christmas novella full of love, regrets, and forgiveness. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Mason and Sheila find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Sugar and Spice has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Sugar and Spice is an endearing, rich, wholesome Christmas book that you’ll never forget.
Click the link at the end of this blog post to purchase.
Now, let’s discuss Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas.
This was such a sweet and endearing movie.
Jane is on her way to an event via bus. She’s held up by a snowstorm, and is forced to find a place to stay. While crossing a bridge, on her way to a place of lodging, she’s struck by a car. When she wakes up in the hospital – she doesn’t remember anything about her life, or who she is. She suffers from amnesia. She doesn’t have a purse, or ID, so, the staff can’t find out her name.
Her nurse, Paul, is sympathetic to her desire to attend a Christmas tree lighting. She discovers that she was on her way to the Christmas tree lighting when she was held up by the snowstorm. She figures if she goes to the lighting, then, maybe she’ll remember who she really is. Maybe she will see someone or something that would spark her memory. The event is several miles away – so they must take a long road trip to get there. Paul drives since the event is en route to his relatives’ house – where he’s going to be spending Christmas.
I liked the chemistry between Paul and Jane. They can’t act on their emotions because Paul doesn’t know if Jane might be married, and it’s implied she might have a child. As clues are discovered – such as Jane’s lost luggage – and Jane’s brief flashbacks of past events – her memory slowly evolves.
This is a Hallmark movie – so you know that things get rectified by the end! Of course, Jane is not married and is free to be with Paul.
Amnesia has been something that’s always interested me. The subject is strange, sad and fascinating at the same time. I wonder how this movie would have ended if Jane had NOT gotten her memory back? How do you move forward in life if you don’t know who you are? I’d imagine that in such a case, nowadays, it would be fairly easy to discover who somebody is by posting their picture on the news, letting people know that this person is seeking friends/relatives. But, even after finding their family and loved ones – what happens if your memory never returns? What if you have a husband and kids and you never remember who they are?
Could you rebuild your life after such an ordeal?
Do you, or anybody you know ever had amnesia? What was it like? Did it take long to regain memories?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. If you like movies such as Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas then you should read Sugar and Spice. Sugar and Spice is an endearing, rich, wholesome Christmas book that you’ll never forget.
Sugar and Spice is about a friendship, which grows into love, between Mason and Sheila. It’s a Christmas novella full of love, regrets, and forgiveness. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Mason and Sheila find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Sugar and Spice has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Sugar and Spice is an endearing, rich, wholesome Christmas book that you’ll never forget.
Click the link at the end of this blog post to purchase.
Thanks for listening and have an awesome day!
keywords & hashtags: Christmas in July, #ChristmasinJuly, Christmas, #Christmas, #Hallmark, Hallmark, #CountdowntoChristmas, Countdown to Christmas #Christmasmovies #Christmasmovie Christmas movie, Christmas movies
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like warm, emotional Christmas stories like A Fabled Holiday then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today by clicking on the link at the end! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
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Did you have a favorite fairy tale as a child? If so, which story was your favorite?
This movie was highly unusual. Talia and Anderson were friends as children. After Talia’s dad dies, she moves away. Both of them keep in touch for a while – Talia sends Anderson fairy-tale-like stories and Anderson enjoys reading them. Years later, they reconnect when Talia moves back into town and is now a bookstore owner.
Due to unusual circumstances, both of them end up at a place called The Gingerbread Inn for Christmas. The Gingerbread Inn is a mythical-like town that doesn’t show up on the map. Both Anderson and Talia have hardships in which they are trying to overcome. Anderson doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to continue practicing medicine. If one of his patients dies, is he at fault? Was there something he could’ve done to save his patient? He beats himself up over this. I felt bad for him. I felt as if he was taking blame for circumstances that were beyond this control.
Meanwhile Talia wants to become an author, but, doesn’t know if she’s good enough to write fairy tales. Is she destined to continue to be a bookstore owner, selling the work of others, giving up on her own dream?
There were other guests at the inn who were working through problems. One man was grieving over his deceased wife. Two other guests happened to be a couple contemplating divorce.
All of the guests are struggling with something and they happen to come to The Gingerbread Inn via a mysterious link to a Christmas fairy tale that they read as children. The town is called Wunderland and during the movie, the characters participate in a lot of yuletide events, such as dressing as elves, and walking down a path, ringing a Christmas bell along the way.
It appears that Hallmark is changing the tone for some of this year’s Christmas movies. Instead of the movie focusing on one couple, it might focus on several couples. I believe that making some of the movies with multiple characters/couples is refreshing.
Did you have a favorite fairy tale as a child? If so, which story was your favorite?
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like warm, emotional Christmas stories like A Fabled Holiday then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke has been an Amazon bestselling novel with several 5-star reviews! Purchase today by clicking on the link at the end! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Subscribe to this blog by leaving a reply and selecting “Notify me of new posts by email.”
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet, emotional Christmas love stories such as Just in Time for Christmas then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke is on Amazon – purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
Just in Time for Christmas
Have you ever made a big, life-changing decision and then later regretted it? Did you wish that you’d made a different choice?
When Lindsay’s childhood friend, Jason, asks her to marry him, she’s initially ecstatic. However, a phone call from a university creates a roadmap to her changing plans. She’s been made an offer to publish her book, and to possibly teach at a high-ranking university. She’s excited about this news! However, when she shares her plans with Jason, she’s forced to choose: marry him, or accept the university’s offer. Her book publication deal would require her to move far away. Jason has a bakery – he loves his business and doesn’t want to be forced to relocate.
Lindsay is filled with a plethora of emotions after Jason’s proposal. Should she turn down the book deal, or, should she marry her childhood sweetheart? Her world changes when a stranger older man arrives at a deserted park and offers her a carriage ride. This carriage ride takes her into the future!
I loved how this movie shows how life would’ve been like if Lindsay accepts the university’s offer and turns down Jason’s proposal. After the carriage ride, Lindsay discovers in a few years’ time that she’s a famous author and Jason is engaged to someone else! What’s weird about this is that she doesn’t remember the chain of events that lead to her national stardom! After traveling into the future, the last memory she has is the night that she takes the carriage ride. It’s almost as if a few years of living have been erased from her mind, kind of like amnesia.
I think this movie shows that when we make big, life-changing decisions, that we need to stop and think about what we are doing. Lindsay obviously loved Jason, so, they should’ve talked about alternatives to making their relationship work. Of course, since this is a Hallmark movie, you know that they work out everything in the end, and live happily ever after.
On a personal note, I can relate to Lindsay’s desire to be a famous published author. I’m a romance writer, and when I see my books on the shelves of places like Barnes and Noble, Target, and Walmart, I get a buzz! It’s wonderful for an author to have her work to be admired by those all around the world. I just wish that I’d been able to make my writing business as financially lucrative as Lindsay’s! It’s always been my dream to make a full-time salary for my writing, but, alas, that’s not happened. I still daydream about that, though.
So, have you seen Just in Time for Christmas? Did you like it?
Have you ever made a big, life-changing decision and then later regretted it? Did you wish that you’d made a different choice?
This blog post was sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet, emotional Christmas love stories such as Just in Time for Christmas then you must read Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. Loving Luke is about a reunion between Luke and Kim, two childhood sweethearts. It’s a Christmas novel full of love, regrets, and second chances. There’s also a bakery and plenty of delicious desserts wrapped within this amazing story. Can Luke and Kim find the courage to overcome their hang-ups and learn to love again? Loving Luke is on Amazon – purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!
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Hallmark and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries fans MUST read Rocky Road Dreams! It’s a Christmas novel that’s full of mystery, intrigue and ROMANCE. Listen, or read, the first few chapters here.
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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Our Christmas Journey then you should try Rocky Road Dreams by CECELIA DOWDY. Rocky Road Dreams is about a lawyer named Kyle Baxter. Kyle is on a month-long Christmas hiatus from his job. He rents a house on the Outer Banks for his extended vacation. Melanie Richards, his childhood friend, lives across the street. When they were kids, Melanie had a crush on Kyle’s identical twin brother Keith. Kyle never thought he stood a chance with Melanie since she was smitten with his brother. Keith is now married and both Kyle and Melanie are single.
Will Melanie give him a chance?
Kyle’s mom died when he was three and he barely remembers her. He’s determined to find out more about his mom. As Melanie and Kyle reconnect during the holiday season they take a long road trip during a snowstorm so that Kyle can find answers to his questions about his mother. The road trip is also something that Melanie must do so that she can save her business. See ceceliadowdy.com/books or click on the link at the end of this blog post to purchase Rocky Road Dreams. Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.
Our Christmas Journey was a bit different than other Hallmark movies. The reason being that they had a major character with a disability. Off the top of my head, the only other Hallmark movie that I can recall that featured a character with a disability was Hats Off to Christmas.
Our Christmas Journey is about a family who is going away for the holidays. Their trip is not for pleasure. Marcus is a boy teenaged boy with autism. His father, Rick, wants to enroll Marcus in a special program. In order to be considered for the program, the family must bring Marcus to the special-program site so that he can be observed over the weekend. Lena, Marcus’s mother, is surprised that she must drop her son off and have no contact with him for a few days.
During their stay at a nearby house Lena reconnects with Rick. Rick is her ex-husband. Their old feelings return. I like that they both bonded over their son. Rick wants his son to be a part of this program because he believes it will help him. Marcus is not verbal and he sometimes uses sign language to communicate with his family.
One scene that resonated with me was when Mia, Marcus’s sister, has a heart-to-heart talk with her mother, Lena. She mentioned that she always felt that Marcus came first in their lives – and she always had to play second fiddle to her brother – and it hurt. She sacrificed an important event – an event that meant a lot to her – in order to go out of town for the weekend. She said that she wished that her parents paid her more attention. She understood that Marcus had special needs, but, she felt that her needs were pushed aside as if she didn’t matter.
Lena is hurt that Mia feels this way. She apologizes for her past actions.
I’ve often heard that when a family has a child with a disability, the other child/children often feel slighted. They feel that the special-needs child gets all of the attention while their needs are not considered. I can imagine it being hard to give equal attention to all of your children when one child requires special care and attention. Just seeing that scene made me stop and think.
I was glad to see the African-American characters and the special-needs child. Hallmark has really stepped up to the plate regarding diversity over the last four years. Our Christmas Journey is a nice, gentle feel-good Hallmark movie which I highly recommend.
Holly Robinson Peete was probably chosen for this role since she has a son who is autistic. You can see more about her, and her family’s personal life on Meet the Peetes, a reality show. I believe it was originally aired on Hallmark Channel. Currently, you can see it on Amazon Prime or Discovery +.
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Our Christmas Journey then you should try Rocky Road Dreams by CECELIA DOWDY. Rocky Road Dreams is about a lawyer named Kyle Baxter. Kyle is on a month-long Christmas hiatus from his job. He rents a house on the Outer Banks for his extended vacation. Melanie Richards, his childhood friend, lives across the street. When they were kids, Melanie had a crush on Kyle’s identical twin brother Keith. Kyle never thought he stood a chance with Melanie since she was smitten with his brother. Keith is now married and both Kyle and Melanie are single.
Will Melanie give him a chance?
Kyle’s mom died when he was three and he barely remembers her. He’s determined to find out more about his mom. As Melanie and Kyle reconnect during the holiday season they take a long road trip during a snowstorm so that Kyle can find answers to his questions about his mother. The road trip is also something that Melanie must do so that she can save her business. See ceceliadowdy.com/books or click on the link at the end of this blog post to purchase Rocky Road Dreams. Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.
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All Hallmark Fans MUST read ROCKY ROAD DREAMS by Cecelia Dowdy! Christmas, romance and mystery all rolled into one incredible story! Download your copy from Amazon! Tell a friend by sharing this blog post!
Hallmarkies! We had nine inches of snow to fall in my area in Maryland recently! the snow started late Sunday night and stopped mid afternoon Monday morning. It was so beautiful and wonderful! I’m sharing a few pics that I took.
My Christmas lights were still up and that made it doubly amazing! So pretty!!!
If you like snowy stories then you MUST READ Rocky Road Dreams. Rocky Road Dreams is a story with lots of snow and romance and adventure! You’ll love it! Order a copy today and tell a friend! I just HAD to mention that! Have an awesome day! Enjoy yourself!
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as Entertaining Christmas then you MUST READ Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. LOVING LUKE is about Kim Taylor, an unemployed accountant who has returned home to help her dad in the family’s cookie bakery. While in town, she re-encounters Luke, her high school sweetheart. Luke abandoned Kim years ago, and now he’s returned to town, widowed, wanting to give his daughter a better life. When he sees Kim, romantic memories of eating hot chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk with Kim resurface. Luke has a problem and it appears that Kim can help him. Can they overcome the past and look forward to a bright future? Loving Luke can be found at ceceliadowdy.com/books. You may also access the book via Amazon at the link at the end of this blog post.
Entertaining Christmas is a delightful movie about Candace – a woman who is next in line to take over her mom’s (Liz) business empire. Liz’s empire could be compared to a Perfect-Martha-Stewart-Type of company. The only problem is Candace cannot do the perfect home-like things like her mom does: such as cooking, knitting, sewing, baking, creating gingerbread houses, etc.
Candace’s mom wants to test her to see if she’s ready to take over the family empire. She sends her to a family’s home, out of town, for Christmas. Candace is being sent there as a substitute for her mom. They’ve received a request for Candace’s mom to visit the family home, as an act of goodwill, since the family is expecting their dad home from the military for Christmas. They want to surprise the man of the house with a visit from Candace’s mom – complete with Christmas dinner.
While in this new town, Candace finds it difficult to hide that she’s not adept at homemaking activities. Her assistant, Anna, steps in smoothing things over whenever Candace is asked to demonstrate her perfect homemaking skills, Anna will demonstrate on Candace’s behalf. Anna and Candace believe that their ruse will only need to last during this short trip.
John, a local reporter, needs a hot story so please his boss. When it’s discovered Perfect Homemaker Liz’s daughter, Candace, is in town, he feels that it’s the story that he needs to boost his career. While following Candace around and interviewing her, he discovers she has many talents – but, Candace is not the perfect homemaker like her mom. Candace mistakenly believes that John is going to reveal her farce when he publishes his news story. Instead, John does the opposite, telling of Candace’s good qualities. Since this is a Hallmark movie, you know Candace and John fall in love.
What I found most unbelievable in this movie is that the general public – including her mom Liz – seem to think that Candace can do perfect homemaker things like Liz. The things that Liz does, like making gingerbread houses, and knitting scarves, may require real talent. Liz’s skillset somewhat bleeds into the artistic world. For example, my sister is an artist. A good one. She paints pictures and can craft pop-up homemade cards that are just as good, if not better than store-bought cards. If she were to desire to leave her “empire” to me, or my son, and require us to make creations which are synonymous with hers – it simply would not be possible. My son and I do not have artistic abilities. I can barely draw anything. I doubt if taking art lessons would help me. Artistry requires natural ability and you can’t force somebody to have a natural talent.
I don’t understand how Liz could not know about Candace’s lack of talent. You can’t fake talent for several years.
If Liz and Candace had a better relationship then, years ago, Liz would’ve placed Candace into a position more suited for her talents. Candace should’ve been placed into a CFO or Financial Director or something like that? Candace had confessed to John that she’s good with numbers and spreadsheets. Candace takes after her dad.
I saw this movie awhile ago. I can’t recall if Candace’s dad was dead, or, if her parents were divorced?
This was a feel-good Christmas movie, in spite of his unbelievable aspect.
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as Entertaining Christmas then you MUST READ Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. LOVING LUKE is about Kim Taylor, an unemployed accountant who has returned home to help her dad in the family’s cookie bakery. While in town, she re-encounters Luke, her high school sweetheart. Luke abandoned Kim years ago, and now he’s returned to town, widowed, wanting to give his daughter a better life. When he sees Kim, romantic memories of eating hot chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk with Kim resurface. Luke has a problem and it appears that Kim can help him. Can they overcome the past and look forward to a bright future? Loving Luke can be found at ceceliadowdy.com/books. You may also access the book via Amazon at the link at the end of this blog post.
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as A Christmas Together With You then you MUST READ Caramel Kisses by Cecelia Dowdy. Caramel Kisses is a novel about Michael Gray, an elderly man who wants to find the biological daughter of his deceased wife. When his wife was on her deathbed, she admitted to having a child, and giving that child up for adoption, before she met Michael. She wants Michael to find her daughter and make sure she’s okay. While searching for his deceased wife’s biological daughter he encounters candymaker Dara Greene. Dara and Michael share a strong attraction. Caramel Kisses is an enjoyable 5-star older-adult romance on Amazon. Go to https://ceceliadowdy.com/caramel-kisses/ or simply click on the link at the end of this blog post.
A Christmas Together With You is about a Frank, an older-aged adult, who goes on a road trip with his young friend, Megan. Megan convinces Frank to go on the road trip to find Claire, his first true love. Frank is a father figure to Megan. I grew irritated with Frank because he wasn’t totally honest with Megan. Megan mistakenly assumes that Claire broke up with Frank. But, she realizes later that Frank broke Claire’s heart years ago. He tells Megan that he asked Claire’s dad if he could marry Claire. Her dad said “no”. The reason Claire’s dad declined was because Frank didn’t have any money and he didn’t think Frank would be a suitable mate for his daughter. So, Frank skipped town after Claire’s dad rejected him.
Megan finds a love interest in this movie. She makes a connection with Steve, a worker at the inn where Megan and Frank are staying during their trip. She uses her culinary skills to help Steve and she’d like to own her own catering business one day.
What I found odd, and truly puzzling about this movie, is that Frank never told Claire about her father’s rejection. After her father rejects him, as already mentioned, Frank leaves town, and Claire never hears the truth about what occurred. If Frank had simply told Claire what happened years ago, she would not have been so bitter against him during the movie. Initially, she’s not willing to accept Frank back into her life because of his abandonment years ago. They were in love. And then Frank left with no good-bye, and with no explanation. It would’ve only taken him a few minutes to tell Claire what had transpired.
Granted, he does reveal all of this to Claire now, when both of them are older adults. I did like that this movie had two older adults falling in love again.
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as A Christmas Together With You then you MUST READ Caramel Kisses by Cecelia Dowdy. Caramel Kisses is a novel about Michael Gray, an elderly man who wants to find the biological daughter of his deceased wife. When his wife was on her deathbed, she admitted to having a child, and giving that child up for adoption, before she met Michael. She wants Michael to find her daughter and make sure she’s okay. While searching for his deceased wife’s biological daughter he encounters candymaker Dara Greene. Dara and Michael share a strong attraction. Caramel Kisses is an enjoyable 5-star older-adult romance on Amazon. Go to https://ceceliadowdy.com/caramel-kisses/ or simply click on the link at the end of this blog post.