I have, although, my trip was not as romantic as Isabella’s and Jacques! Isabella owns a winery in Oregon. Her uncle has sent her pinot noir wine to Paris to enter a competition. She’s shocked when she discovers that her wine has final-ed! So, she’s whisked away to Paris to attend the competition.
She then meets Frenchman Jacques – the hotel has mixed up their suitcases. Jacques, also a family winemaker, is attending the contest with his mother and brother. Both him and his brother have entered their wines into the competition.
I loved seeing Jacques and Isabella interact. Hallmark used lots of nice, Parisian romantic touches to this movie – wine, cheese, fashion, etc. I thought the mishap with Jacques’ wine, where one of the volunteers drops the entire crate and ALL of the bottles were broken, was a bit over the top! What were the chances of something like that happening? I buy crates of wine to keep in my basement. Those bottles are usually packed tight and they don’t break unless you remove one and then smash it to the ground!
I also thought it was a bit over the top when the journalist mistook Jacques brother for Jacques since the brother was mistakenly wearing Jacques’ nametag. Usually a journalist will verify his/her source before placing a quote in a national (or international?) newspaper. Definitely artistic license was being used in those 2 instances.
I thought that the accents for Jacques and his family sounded authentic! So French. I’m no expert, but, they sounded lovely and Jacques was a nice, sweet guy. He was perfect for Isabella and I really liked how he suggested to her that she was over-anxious and needed to calm down. They got to see the sights of Paris! How romantic!
Speaking of food and Paris, I wanted to mention my novel Sweet Delights. In my romance story, the heroine, Patty-Lynn has won the prestigious International Paris Pie Competition for her Banana Cream Pie! There’s even a sweet, delicious recipe for Banana Cream Pie at the end of the story! You should try it if you like, good, old-fashioned sweet romance! Great Amazon reviews, too!
So, have you ever been to Paris? If so, what sites did you see? Did you enjoy yourself?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. Check out our wholesome, Hallmark-style romances by visiting ceceliadowdy.com/books.
Have you ever had an online romantic relationship?
Well, Samantha is about to start an online relationship with Heath, except, unbeknownst to Samantha, the relationship is really with Heath’s preteen son, Donny! This movie cracked me up! No, it’s not one of my favorites, but, I like it better than most of the Hallmark Movies that I’ve seen.
Hold on a second. Do you like clean, wholesome romance stories that remind you of a Hallmark movie? If so, you should read my novel Loving Luke. Loving Luke is every bit as good and sweet as a Hallmark Christmas movie! Now back to Chance at Romance…
Samantha, a barista at a coffee shop, is tired of these going-no-where dates. I chuckled when she was eating in the restaurant with her date – he was allergic to everything and it was obvious he had some MAJOR issues. Well, when she spots Heath, as well as Heath’s artwork, at a showing, she contacts Heath via his website. She has one of his prints and she’s always admired it.
But, instead of corresponding with Heath, she corresponds with Heath’s son (Donny) who is his website manager. Donny wants his dad to remarry and he thinks that Samantha is perfect – after all, she’s not Celeste. Donny can’t stand Celeste, his father’s art agent.
Donny sends Samantha a train ticket and makes arrangements for her to come to their house. She’s then stranded because of bad weather and a road closure.
I loved the interaction between Samantha (Sam) and Heath. The chemistry between them was strong. I also loved seeing Donny grow and learn to be a kid again. He’s meddlesome and worries about adult issues, but, Sam gently tells him that he should be hanging out with his friends instead of trying to set his dad up on a date.
Donny does reconnect with old friends as Sam’s pot pie business booms during her short visit to Heath’s and Donny’s town. Those pot pies looked AMAZING and Hallmark should share a recipe for Samantha’s Homemade Chicken Pot Pie!
My only pet-peeve about this movie was Heath….he was so…well…let’s just say he wasn’t very intelligent. Like, when he made the necklace with the porcupine needles for Sam, Celeste sees it and wants it. She gives some stupid reason for wanting the necklace and Heath gives it to her! What a dumb thing to do! He warns her not to wear it…does he not realize that Celeste does what she wants to do – the woman does not listen. Heath really needs a good dose of common sense.
Also, when Celeste picks him up from his house to go to London…well…he just goes with her. Another dumb move. I know she’s his agent but…hasn’t he ever heard of taking a separate flight? Celeste starts saying terrible things about Sam and Heath barely says anything about it. He tells Celeste not to talk like that…but, he was NOT very forceful about defending the woman he loves. I felt he should’ve made more of an effort to defend Samantha’s honor to Celeste. If he REALLY loved her, he would’ve gone the extra mile to prove his love….
Heath had no backbone, plain and simple. He was a weak hero – if he were stronger, then I believe this movie may have made my favorites list.
Back to Heath…his calling and calling Sam after he “kisses” Celeste? Why didn’t he just go to see her already? Yeah, I know he shows up on a white horse at the end, but, he should’ve gone after her right after he discovers that she knows about the kiss. He didn’t fight enough for Sam’s love and I don’t think he did much of ANYTHING to discourage Celeste’s advances!
So, have you ever been in an online romantic relationship? If so, what happened? Did you marry? Did you live happily ever after?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet romance movies like Stranded in Paradise then you MUST read ROCKY ROAD DREAMS by CECELIA DOWDY. In Rocky Road Dreams Melanie and Kyle are briefly stranded due to a massive snowstorm. While stuck together, romance brews amidst the cold winter days. Both Kyle and Melanie do some deep soul searching as they struggle to make their relationship work! Read Rocky Road Dreams today and tell a friend by sharing this blog post. You may find Rocky Road Dreams at ceceliadowdy.com/books – or simply click on the link at the end of this blog post! Now, let’s talk about the Hallmark movie Stranded in Paradise!
Have you ever been stranded somewhere?
Well, Tess is stranded and unemployed at the same time! After her she’s fired from her job (as head of Human Resources Dept.) she decides to do what she must in order to find a job. She’s been scheduled to attend a Human Resources conference in Puerto Rico! So, after a bunch of mishaps (lost phone, lost shoes) she discovers that her cabin-mate is Carter.
Carter is on his way to Puerto Rico, too, but, he’s trying to raise money to bring clean water to impoverished people. I thought it was a bit of overkill how Carter and Tess “coincidentally” run into each other while in Puerto Rico. Both of them have lost luggage and then the hotel which they are staying is under renovations.
Then, Tess discovers that her mean, dirty boss has cancelled her conference registration. Both Carter and Tess are stranded because of a hurricane. When Tess discovers she can no longer stay in the hotel, Carter finds shelter for both of them from a local.
I really liked this movie. It’s not one of my faves, but, I liked it more than the average Hallmark movie. I liked Tess’s spunk. Even though she was unemployed, she did what she could to find a job. I also really liked Carter. He cared about helping people, and he was a really great listener, too. This was a perfect beach movie, complete with a romantic kissing scene at the end!
So, have you ever been stranded? If so, where? How long were you stranded?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet romance movies like Stranded in Paradise then you MUST read ROCKY ROAD DREAMS by CECELIA DOWDY. In Rocky Road Dreams Melanie and Kyle are briefly stranded due to a massive snowstorm. While stuck together, romance brews amidst the cold winter days. Both Kyle and Melanie do some deep soul searching as they struggle to make their relationship work! Read Rocky Road Dreams today and tell a friend by sharing this blog post. You may find Rocky Road Dreams at ceceliadowdy.com/books – or simply click on the link at the end of this blog post!
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Bottled with Love 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.
In Rocky Road Dreams, Melanie writes Kyle a letter, telling him how she feels about him. You must read this wonderfully engaging story! It’s a perfect beach-themed Christmas story that you’ll enjoy each year! Be sure to tell your friends by sharing this link, or, by sharing this blog post. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.
Now, let’s talk about Bottled With Love.
When was the last time you wrote a letter?
I’m not talking about an e-mail, but, a real, honest-to-goodness letter where you have real paper and a real pen and you actually WRITE the words directly onto the page?
Well, Abby, is writing a letter, a letter about all of her wonderful qualities, and her deep thoughts and desires. After she’s dumped by her boyfriend, right before a wedding, her Aunt suggests she write the letter to herself – so Abby does this. She then tosses the bottle into the sea.
Then, the bottle is found by Nick – who coincidentally is the son of Abby’s boss. Abby’s employer is seeking a new business acquisition and Nick, the estranged son, has been convinced to come home, temporarily. He’s going to assist Abby to search for a new company to acquire for his father’s business.
I thought this movie was cute and sweet, but, it was not phenomenal or anything like that. Hallmark had been advertising this movie like crazy, making it appear as if it would be the best movie of the year! I liked the movie, but, I didn’t LOVE it.
Abby and Nick have some problems getting along in the first part of the movie (which is typical of lots of Hallmark films) but, they do learn to work together, which is nice. I also enjoyed seeing them texting, not knowing the identity of one another.
One of my main problems with the film was – I just found it a bit….unbelievable and TOO coincidental that Nick happened to find Abby’s bottle, in another state, and just HAPPENED to find the bottle accidentally in his suitcase after he came to Boston. Then he just happened to be paired up to work with (Abby) the girl who wrote the letter. The letter that Nick had found in ANOTHER STATE!
Whew, that was a mouthful. I guess I would’ve liked it better if…well…if he’d found her letter and then they got to know one another online before meeting. Not sure how I’d work that out in the story, but, there were too many coincidences – yes, the way the events played out was possible, just didn’t sound very plausible.
I thought both of them did a nice acting job and I especially loved seeing them work together at the cider orchard. Oh, this just my personal opinion, but, I thought Abby’s glasses seemed a bit out-dated or something! I thought she looked prettier without those large-framed glasses on her face! 🙂
So, overall, a nice, sweet movie, that’s likable, but, not lovable.
This movie made me think of a nice book that I read A LONG time ago! It’s called Echoes and it’s about a woman and a man who meet online. The details are kind of sketchy since I read it several years ago. But, I’d thought how the characters in this book interacted and met seemed realistic and plausible. You should read it if you like clean, sweet stories!
So, when was the last time you wrote a letter? To whom did you write the letter?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Bottled with Love 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.
In Rocky Road Dreams, Melanie writes Kyle a letter, telling him how she feels about him. You must read this wonderfully engaging story! It’s a perfect beach-themed Christmas story that you’ll enjoy each year! Be sure to tell your friends by sharing this link, or, by sharing this blog post. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.
I’d noticed that Hallmark has been showing Home By Spring recently. They’re gearing up for the spring season! Doesn’t that sound like fun? Almost one year ago, I was a guest on The Bubbly Sesh. We had a great discussion about the movie, Home By Spring.
Come listen to the podcast to learn my opinion about Home By Spring. It was a giggly, fun, and lively discussion! They even let me plug my Christmas novella, Loving Luke – which is now available as a paperback!
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Love Under the Rainbow 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.
Have you ever seen a rainbow?
This movie starts with Lucy (the female lead character) hanging out with her pregnant sister. As is classic of a lot of Hallmark Movies, her sister is nagging her about getting married/dating. Of course, as in most Hallmark movies, the “nagger” is always a female that has a close relationship with the leading lady.
Another classic Hallmark move – when Lucy encounters Jack at a coffee shop, she accidentally spills coffee on him. Ouch!
Turns out that the man on whom she’s spilled the coffee shows up at her classroom with his daughter, Sophie. Jack is a widower and he’s recently relocated to town with a new job.
Sophie misses her mom and she wants to do a science fair project about rainbows. Her mom was a rainbow fanatic and Sophie feels closer to her mother by working on this project.
Of course you know what happens. Jack is still somewhat grieving over his deceased wife as he gets to know Lucy. They keep running into each other and having impromptu dates.
I loved the rainbow park where Lucy takes her school kids on their field trip. Does such a park exist? I’ve never heard the term “chasing rainbows” until I saw this movie.
Overall, a cute, sweet, film. You even get to see Lucy’s sister have her baby, too. Seeing a newborn baby is always nice in a film! I also loved all of the rainbow effects throughout the movie. Sophie has a rainbow set of drawers. Folks had rainbow socks, rainbow headbands, shirts, etc. When I was a teenager, I remember that folks would dress up in white, three-quarter-sleeved shirts with a rainbow splashed across the front. A LOT of the teenaged girls were wearing these shirts when I was in high school.
At the end of the movie, they showed a moonbow.
Have you ever seen a moonbow? Had you heard of a moonbow before you saw this film?
Honestly, I’d never heard of a moonbow, so I researched it. Reason why I’d not heard of it is because it’s rare. The bow is formed by moonlight reflecting off of moisture instead of sunlight. Also, on a moonbow, you usually can’t see the colors since the light is so dim. Moonbows are usually white.
I’ve always been fascinated with rainbows. It’s probably because I’ve not been able to see them very often. If I’m driving and happen to spot a rainbow, I’ve pulled over to the side of the road just to stop and look at it.
Another fascinating bow is called a sundog. An author friend of mine told me about them some years ago. Sundogs are formed by light reflecting off of ice crystals. It’s so PRETTY, don’t you agree?
So, when was the last time you saw a rainbow?
Genesis 9:13-16
13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Love Under the Rainbow 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.
Poppy is confused…well, not really confused, but, she just seems a bit unfocused. At the beginning of the movie, she’s teaching a yoga class…she unexpectedly discovers that one of her elderly pupils does a better job of teaching yoga than she – so, she hands the class over to her pupil, making her the new teacher.
Poppy seems to not really know what she wants…almost as if she’s searching, trying to find herself. Her sister wants her to find somebody to date and get married (I notice this convention used in Hallmark Movies and romance novels quite a lot. The female lead has a mom, sister, or some other female relative or friend to hound her about dating somebody nice and getting married. Do you think female folks bother their friends about their non-dating status as much as they do in Hallmark Movies and romance novels?)
Poppy’s sister is able to find the “perfect” job for Poppy, as a nanny. Widower and workaholic Ryan needs a nanny for his kids. He hires Poppy. After one day with his irritating kids, she’s ready to quit, but, he convinces her to stay on. Of course you know what happens – they fall for each other, in spite of Ryan’s dating his attractive co-worker.
It took me a long time to warm up to this movie. I didn’t really like the first half. The second half was much better. I think it was just hard for me to like Ryan’s kids – I couldn’t stand them, actually. They were rude, irritating and just…not very nice. They had no manners, either. They were over-the-top nasty, irritating children and that’s why I almost changed the channel.
Once they became endeared to Poppy, things did get better for me (as far as my movie entertainment went).
I really liked all of the autumn and Halloween scenery. Seeing this film made me think about my younger days, when I was around the age of Ryan’s children. We didn’t celebrate Halloween (I was allowed to pass out candy, though). It never bothered me about not celebrating – dressing up never appealed to me. I guess I’d have liked to go out trick or treating just because my friends were doing it. I was more interested in celebrating Christmas instead of Halloween. We didn’t celebrate Christmas in our house either.
Have you ever known anyone who decorated his/her home for Halloween?
Poppy and the kids went all out on the Halloween decorations and costumes, didn’t they? It was a nice bonding tool between for her and Ryan’s kids.
So, did you celebrate Halloween as a child? If so, what did you do to celebrate? Did you enjoy it?
Both Grace and Ben are both grappling with the issues of their employment. Neither of them have regular office jobs, either. Both of them have occupations that are really neat! Grace is excited about the big Christmas event coming to her town. The local news will be there and Santa, a really great Santa, will be there too!
The news anchor person comes and visits Grace’s Christmas shop, getting some footage before the big event which will occur in a week. Grace inherited her Christmas shop from her parents, who are deceased. She celebrates Christmas every day of the year and she keeps her shop open because it makes people happy…but, what about Grace? Doesn’t she deserve to be happy?
Have you ever done something, long term, to make somebody else happy, sacrificing your own happiness?
When Santa takes a drastic fall, literally, the town is left without a Santa. But, Santa trains other Santas…that’s part of his business and he wants his son, Ben, to return to town – Ben would make the perfect Santa.
So…Grace makes the long-distance journey and is able to finagle Ben to return home. Ben is a writer (to which I can definitely relate)! He writes novels and he has no time to play Santa, but, Grace pleads with him. The town needs the publicity…can’t he return and be Santa?
I loved seeing Grace and Ben interact with each other. When they attempt to return to Ben’s town (so that Grace can get her car) they run into a snowstorm. I thought the snowstorm was SO FABRICATED! Yes, there was snow, but it was not like a blizzard or anything.
Grace and Ben stay with Grace’s friends overnight since they are stranded in the snowstorm. I could even see sunlight spilling through the windows amidst the “big snowstorm”!
I loved how Ben really had to struggle with his decision about being Santa in the parade. He felt he was not able to make all of the choices in his life – he wants to do what makes him happy and he encourages Grace to do the same.
I loved seeing Grace and Ben (Eric Winter was SO CUTE in this movie…perfect Santa and perfect boyfriend material, BTW) decorating the cookies during the Christmas stroll as well as going to the ugly Christmas sweater party.
BTW, do you have an ugly Christmas sweater?
Being an author myself, I simply LOVED THE ENDING! He wrote a children’s book and she did the illustrations! I loved seeing his endearing propsal – he called her the future Mrs. Claus in the dedication! How cute!
So, do you like your job? Have you ever done something daily and you only did it to please somebody else?
Hallmarkies, yesterday I blogged about a movie you might enjoy called A Winter Wedding! A Winter Wedding is NOT a Hallmark Movie, but, it is a nice, sweet, feel-good Hallmark-like movie that you might enjoy! Come check out the blog post and leave a comment!
Carly and Jason meet at a cooking class. Jason suddenly leaves the class, before he’s finished with it. Carly has no idea as to why Jason left – she’s a bit disappointed and wonders what happened…
Fast forward 3 years and both Carly and Jason are working as chefs in restaurants. Both of them want to own their own restaurant. But, it’s tough to just open up your own restaurant…know what I mean? You need start-up capital and such. Anyway, both of them see that they can enter this cooking competition – grand prize is your own restaurant!
So, both of them, as well as some other folks, are chosen for the competition! The competition takes place in a few cities and after each round, someone gets eliminated.
Carly has big shoes to fill – her dad is a renowned chef and she wants to be a chef on her own, without being compared to him. Her dad doesn’t approve of her competing, but, he does show up to support her anyway.
I thought that Jason was cute as could be! Oh, my, Luke Macfarlane is one of the cutest Hallmark actors!
I also loved Carly’s support system. Her next-door-neighbor/best friend and her best friend’s daughter were wonderful supporting characters for this film.
The competition. Reminded me of a Food Network Competition, the dialog, the description of the food, all of it.
Have any of you ever watched a Food Network Competition?
Overall this was a cute, sweet, movie, not one of my faves, but, enjoyable nonetheless!
