This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you enjoy The Cedar Cove Series then you MUST READ The Candy Beach Series. The Candy Beach Series are wonderful wholesome, emotional stories with a lot of drama and sweetness. Each novel is set on a beach – there’s also a candy theme. These stories will make you laugh, cry, and feel wonderful. The Candy Beach Series is available on Amazon.com. You may also find these engaging stories on ceceliadowdy.com/books, or, simply go to the link at the end of this blog post. Now, lets chat about Cedar Cove.

Justine, Luke and Seth – did you like them?

Justine is Olivia’s daughter. She’s close to her mom, and a bit estranged from her dad. Her family has been deeply hurt by the death of her twin brother, Jordan. Because of her twin’s death, her mom and dad got a divorce. Justine still thinks about her twin brother. When she’s got something on her mind, she’ll watch old videos of she and Jordan, reminiscing.

I liked Justine. There were a few things that she did…well…things to which I didn’t agree. However, she’s young and when one is young, so that explains a lot about her decisions.

Justine dated Seth. They were pretty serious. In the books, I recall Justine dated Seth after dating Warren – just like the series. However in the Cedar Cove books, Justine and Seth actually got married. They bought a restaurant and they actually open the restaurant and run it before it’s burned down. In the series, Justine and Seth never marry and the restaurant burns down before they can even open for business.

Justine couldn’t be honest with Seth about her feelings. I really felt bad for Seth. He’s willing to give up his dream – returning to his fisherman job with a large salary – just to open the restaurant with Justine. He even proposes to Justine and she doesn’t accept his ring. When Seth leaves for his long-term fishing job – I felt it would’ve been best for them to break up.

Once Seth is gone, Justine starts spending time with Luke. She develops feelings for Luke and when Seth unexpectedly returns and finds them on a date, he’s extremely upset.

I didn’t blame him. Seth still thought they were a couple, even though she didn’t accept his engagement ring. Seth even gives Justine a heartfelt speech – giving her an ultimatum. He reminds her of the sacrifices he’s made for their relationship:

1. He sold is fishing boat so that he could stay in Cedar Cove to be with Justine.
2. He bought a restaurant so that they could make a living together.
3. He asked her to be his wife.

It’s obvious that Seth is just tired since Justine won’t make a clean break with him. He holds a torch for her, and that torch is not reciprocated by Justine. He tells her that she needs to do something for a change since he’s made all of the sacrifices. He demands that she move to Alaska with him, if she wants them to stay together.

Justine ends up choosing Luke over Seth.

I thought Luke was a good man with a lot of problems. His PTSD makes it hard for him to deal with anger. His life is a bit of a mess and Justine wants to fix him. Justine needs to understand that she can’t just fix anybody.

I think if Justine knew herself better, then a lot of the drama between this threesome could’ve been avoided. But, as already stated, she’s young, so that could somewhat explain her actions.

I don’t believe Luke was a character in the Cedar Cove books? If he was in the books, then I’ve forgotten all about him! I read the books so long ago that the details are somewhat sketchy.

So, what’s your opinion about Justine, Seth and Luke? Did you like them? Did you agree with their decisions?

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you enjoy The Cedar Cove Series then you MUST READ The Candy Beach Series. The Candy Beach Series are wonderful wholesome, emotional stories with a lot of drama and sweetness. Each novel set on a beach – there’s also a candy theme. These stories will make you laugh, cry, and feel wonderful. The Candy Beach Series is available on Amazon.com. You may also find these engaging stories on ceceliadowdy.com/books, or, simply go to the link at the end of this blog post.

SUBSCRIBE TO CECELIA DOWDY’S HALLMARK MOVIE BLOG

THE CANDY BEACH SERIES LINK

What are your thoughts about Grace and Cliff?

Grace is Olivia’s best friend. They’ve been friends since grade school. Grace has just gone through a painful divorce. In Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 novels, Grace’s backstory was much darker. In the books, her husband had committed suicide. I believe since Hallmark stories are light and uplifting, they felt the need to change Grace’s background.

I had mixed feelings about Grace. In both the book and the TV series, Grace is close to her daughter, Mary Ellen. I thought she was a good mom. She worried about her daughter. Grace was especially concerned when her daughter was dating John Bowman. (The romance between John and Mary Ellen will be covered in another blog post.)

Hold on a second. Do you like to read wholesome romances that remind of you Hallmark movies? Hallmark movie viewers love The Bakery Romance Series and The Candy Beach Series. Download today! Tell your friends about my books! Now, back to Cedar Cove!

I disliked the way Grace treated Cliff. Cliff owns a ranch. He raises horses. Cliff is attracted to Grace, but he’s a bit shy. It takes him awhile to finally start dating Grace. He’s had his share of romantic hardships, so he’s leery about loving Grace.

Cliff is a nice guy. But, Grace is just so….flighty! Grace had a crush on Olivia’s brother, Will, a long time ago. When Will surprisingly shows up in Cedar Cove, Grace loses her mind! She spends time with Will and Will kisses her! Will even lies to Grace and states he’s getting a divorce.

When Grace finds out about Will’s lies…well…she’s just ashamed of herself. She finally notices that Cliff is a great catch, but, Cliff is upset about Grace’s romance with Will.

Whew.

If you were Cliff, would you have given Grace a second chance?

If I were Cliff, there’s no way I’d give Grace a second chance. She had her chance and she blew it. Grace is also jealous of Alex, Cliff’s newly hired, gorgeous female rancher. (I will talk about Alex more in another blog post).

Although Alex’s presence did cause some disharmony between Cliff and Grace, I still think Grace was mostly at fault for the problems they had in their relationship.

So what are your thoughts about Grace and Cliff? Do you think they are a strong, solid couple?

Do you enjoy stories about small towns?

I love stories about small towns! Cedar Cove is a Hallmark Channel series. It went off the air years ago. I recently watched it, for the second time, via Amazon Prime. This TV show is based upon the characters in Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3.

I love beaches and there’s just something so nice, quaint, and romantic about a town that’s on a beach (or in this case, a cove).

I read some of the Cedar Cove books several years ago. So when I make comparisons to the books, the details will be somewhat sketchy.

I enjoyed this series more than the Hallmark Channel romance movies. I think the reason why I enjoyed it is because, it reminded me of a sanitized version of the soap operas that I used to watch. Years ago, I blogged about the following topic: Should Christians Watch Soap Operas?

Although Cedar Cove doesn’t have religious overtones, it reminded me of a soap opera that was cleaner than the ones shown on daytime TV.

I loved the setting. If you’ve read some of my books, you’ll know that I’m a fan of beaches! There’s just something so nice, holy, and…well…beautiful about a sandy shore and water. Cedar Cove is set right on the beach and the residents have to take a ferry into Seattle whenever they want to leave town. I loved seeing folks eating at Moon’s or seeing the characters dine where they had a nice view of the water. Cedar Cove is the perfect setting for romance!

The characters really resounded with me.

There’s Olivia Lockhart. She’s a judge. I thought it was a really cute and inspiring idea to have a woman to be a judge in this small town. She’s strong, respected, and intelligent. Almost everyone loves Olivia Lockhart. No, she’s not perfect, but, she’s honest, trustworthy, and tries to live her life the best that she can. She’s had her share of pain. She’s divorced and she lost her son (Jordan) years ago. She still misses her son and she’s close to her daughter, Justine (Jordan’s twin sister).

I felt that Olivia’s character in the series closely mimicked the character in the books.

Olivia’s attraction to Jack was refreshing and realistic. These two are total opposites. Jack is a news reporter for the Cedar Cove newspaper. He’s a recovering alcoholic. He’s hesitant about acting on his attraction to Olivia because this is the first time he’s dated someone as a sober man. He goes to AA meetings and has a sponsor who helps him out during his rough times. I think Jack likes Olivia so much because she’s nice, sweet, and sympathetic towards others. She’s a gem of a woman and Jack realizes he’s picked a winner.

That’s why their romance gives him cold feet. Jack has lots of trials during this 3-season series. He falls off the wagon and is approached by his ex-wife about a news reporting opportunity in Seattle. Jack struggles with his pain as he tries to reconcile with his son, Eric, whom he hasn’t seen in a long time.

Alcoholism is a subject that I explore in my own writing. It’s a problem that has been in my family for years, and it touches me to see someone struggling with addiction. I believe this is one reason why I was so drawn to Jack’s character.

There’s so much I want to say about this series that I have to break it up into several blog posts. This will be the first post of many.

So, do you like stories about small towns? If so, have you watched Cedar Cove? Which of these characters did you like best: Jack or Olivia?