Category Archives: Hallmark Movie Reviews

Just in Time For Christmas

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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!

Subscribe to the Hallmark Movie blog! The Hallmark Movie blog discusses Hallmark and other chaste romance movies. Subscribe now so that you can access all of these wonderful podcasts! Tell your Hallmark-Movie fan friends to join as well!

LOVING LUKE

FREE ROMANCE E-BOOKS NOVEMBER 1 – 15!

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HALLMARKIES! While you’re enjoying Countdown to Christmas, why not enjoy a FREE SWEET romance novel? These books are dessert/cupcake themed – perfect for fans of HALLMARK! However, you MUST click on this link to access the titles. You will not necessarily find these titles for FREE anywhere else. My novel, LOVING LUKE, is included in this deal. SPREAD THE WORD BY SHARING THIS LINK WITH YOUR PALS! ENJOY!

Color My World With Love

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Color my World with Love – PODCAST

 

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet, emotional love stories such as Color My World with Love then you must read Raspberry Kisses by Cecelia Dowdy. Raspberry Kisses is about Rhea, a widow and former pastor’s wife. Her world changes when she meets Martin Lane at a singles retreat. She vowed to never fall in love with another pastor. Can both of these lovebirds find the courage to overcome their hangups and learn to love again? Raspberry Kisses is on Amazon – purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post!

Color My World With Love was such a sweet, inspiring movie. Emma is floored when she discovers that her daugher, Kendall, who suffers from Downs Syndrome, is dating. She’s doubly shocked when she finds out that Kendall becomes engaged to Brad (who also has Downs Syndrome).

Emma’s reaction was realistic. Nic, Brad’s guardian, tries to reason with Emma. Emma has a hard time letting go – she doesn’t think Kendall should marry. Kendall has a lot to do – she’s a painter – and she now has to plan for a wedding. Kendall wants her dad to come to the wedding. Her dad has never been a part of her life and I enjoyed seeing Emma confront Kendall’s wayward father – tried to reason with him – and convince him to come to the wedding.

This movie showed how those with disabilities strive to live their lives the best that they can.

As an aside – I did some research about the actress who played Kendall (Lily D. Moore). I discovered that she’s a student at Clemson. Clemson has a program entitled Clemson Life. The program teaches students with Downs Syndrome life skills. The students learn these skills while living on a college campus. I’d never heard of such a program before and I was glad that I found out about it. I love learning new things.

Color My World With Love reminded me of Life Goes On – a 90’s series that featured a Downs Syndrome main character named Corky. This used to be one of my favorite shows. Ironically, one of the actresses from Life Goes On, Kellie Martin, is also a Hallmark actress. Kellie played the role of Becca on this show.

I had an aunt with Downs Syndrome. When I was a kid, she used to come and spend the entire summer with us. She was so much fun! I remember her knitting and crocheting all the time. We’d stay up late at night watching TV and talking. Those were some good times. She passed away years ago and I still miss her.

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like sweet, emotional love stories such as Color My World with Love then you must read Raspberry Kisses. Raspberry Kisses is about Rhea, a widow and former pastor’s wife. Her world changes when she meets Martin Lane at a singles retreat. She vowed to never fall in love with another pastor. Can both of these lovebirds find the courage to overcome their hangups and learn to love again? Raspberry Kisses is on Amazon – purchase today and tell your friends by sharing this blog post! To purchase Raspberry Kisses, simply click the link at the bottom of this post.

If you like to talk about Hallmark Movies then subscribe to CECELIA DOWDY’S Hallmark Movie Blog!. The Subscribe button is also at the bottom.

RASPBERRY KISSES

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Saying Hello

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Just taking a moment to say hello. Peeking in on the last week of my grad school class. I’ll have a short break before starting my next class. I hope all of you have been having a wonderful week. I love that spring is in the air. I also like that Hallmark has released some new spring movies!

Feeling Butterflies

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. Want to read an awesome springtime romance? Try Raspberry Kisses! This sweet romance has over 300 Amazon rave reviews! Raspberry Kisses is about Rhea a grieving widow who is struggling to cope with her husband’s death. When she attends a singles retreat, her life changes forever. Read Raspberry Kisses today! Tell a friend by sharing this blog post!

Now, let’s talk about Feeling Butterflies.

Do you like butterflies?

I liked the premise of this movie. Emily, as well as her nemesis, Mandy, own similar companies. Their businesses specialize in releasing butterflies at special events such as weddings, birthday parties, etc.

Things get heated between these two enemies when a superstar celebrity makes them compete for the honor of doing her wedding. I thought that they’re being rivals colored their perception of how to do business. They do join forces later, but, I would’ve thought that Mandy and Emily would have joined forces when the superstar first approached them to do the wedding. Both of them struggled with having enough butterflies to release at this bridezilla’s wedding event.

This is a Hallmark movie, so, you know romance was involved. Emily meets Garrett when she releases butterflies at his daughter, Amanda’s, birthday party. Garrett is a confused man. A widower, he’s dated a woman, Jill, who continues to run his life. She does some drastic things, such as enrolling Amanda in a fancy out-of-town school, without consulting with him first.

Emily likes Garrett, but Garrett doesn’t seem to know if he likes Emily.

What bothered me about this movie was that Garrett and Emily were “in like”, not in love. The reason I say this is because after Jill arranges for Amanda to attend a fancy school in another state – Garrett doesn’t seem to get very angry about it. He even sells his car (and I’m assuming his home) to follow Jill to a new area. Those are drastic steps for someone to take if they are not in love with somebody. I realize he felt it was best for Amanda, but, well…he seemed like such a wuss.

He had no backbone. He just allowed Jill to take charge and do what she wanted, and they were not even dating anymore. He was ready to leave the area when he miraculously changes his mind and shows up at the wedding where Emily is working. I would’ve thought he would have figured this out before he sold his car (and house?). He even told Emily that he was leaving.

This was not the great romance that’s normally part of a Hallmark movie. I believe Garrett’s actions regarding Jill is what soured things for me. He was about to move to be near her – then in a few seconds changes his mind.

What did you think of Garrett? Did you like him?

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. Want to read an awesome springtime romance? Try Raspberry Kisses! This sweet romance has over 300 Amazon rave reviews! Raspberry Kisses is about Rhea a grieving widow who is struggling to cope with her husband’s death. When she attends a singles retreat, her life changes forever. Read Raspberry Kisses today! Tell a friend by sharing this blog post!

RASPBERRY KISSES BOOK LINK

Shades of Chocolate is 99¢ for a Limited Time!

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Hallmark Movies and Mysteries fans MUST READ Shades of Chocolate by Cecelia Dowdy! It’s on sale for 99¢ for a LIMITED TIME! Spread the word by sharing this link with all of your friends! GRAB YOUR COPY BEFORE THE PRICE GOES UP! Leave a sweet review on Amazon if you enjoyed the book!

Our Christmas Journey

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Our Christmas Journey Podcast

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?

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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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ROCKY ROAD DREAMS BOOK LINK