Category Archives: Hallmark Movie Reviews

The Wedding Veil

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as The Wedding Veil 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.

In The Wedding Veil three best friends meet up for their yearly antiquing vacation. They find an antique wedding veil. The history behind the veil is so fascinating that they just can’t pass it up. They split the cost between them and they decide that Avery should first take possession of the veil. She leaves the veil at the front desk of her hotel – she’s leaving soon to return home. She meets Peter and the two strangers hit it off as they go on an impromptu date. After the date, when Peter sees Avery picking up the veil, he overhears the desk clerk ask her if she’s chosen a wedding dress yet.

Peter mistakenly assumes Avery is getting married.

When Avery returns home, she’s surprisingly matched up with Peter to plan a special art-related function. There is disharmony between them. Peter still believes that she’s engaged. However, he can’t help but be attracted to her. Avery is confused because Peter is nice and charming, and then he’s the total opposite – all within a few minutes. Peter struggles with his emotions and we’re led to believe his hot/cold personality is because he’s falling hard for a woman who is “engaged.”

Of course, everything comes to light, and he discovers that Avery is NOT getting married.

As they work together on their art-related event, their feelings for each other escalate, and they end up solving the question behind a mysterious painting.

I enjoyed this movie so much! I especially loved the dresses that Hallmark provided for Avery! The wardrobe was fantastic.

My only gripe about this movie is that for over half of the movie the romantic tension between Peter and Avery hinges upon his mistakenly thinking that she’s engaged. I found this excuse so flimsy! Realistically, if two people were spending so much time together planning an event, and they have chemistry, and they have regular conversations…he would have asked her more about her wedding. Or said something like, “too bad you’re engaged. I’d like to get to know you better.” Or something like that.

I felt that the misunderstanding was a bit contrived and unrealistic. They could have cleared things up at the beginning with a 2-minute conversation!

C’est la vie! It’s a Hallmark movie after all!

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as The Wedding Veil 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.

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LOVING LUKE BOOK LINK

Rocky Road Dreams – Christmas Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Fans Will Love This

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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!

SNOW on 1/3/2022

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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!

Entertaining Christmas

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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.

LOVING LUKE BOOK LINK

A Christmas Together With You

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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.

CARAMEL KISSES BOOK LINK

The Christmas House

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you like movies such as The Christmas House, then you MUST READ Sweet Delights. In Sweet Delights Patty-Lynn pines over a house in which she lived in with her parents when she was a little girl. Her childhood home is now owned by somebody else. When the house is put up for sale – her goal is to purchase it. You may find SWEET DELIGHTS at ceceliadowdy.com/books. The link is at the end of this blog post.

Did your parent(s) sell your childhood home? Were you upset when the home was sold?

Phylis and Bill, a married couple, have asked their two adult sons to come home. They need help decorating the house. Phylis and Bill are decorating for their big event – The Christmas House. Every year they have a magical, fantastical public event. Their house is turned into a winter wonderland. This year’s Christmas House is especially important to Phylis and Bill since this will be their last public event before selling their home. Both Phylis and Bill might be splitting as a couple.

Their sons, Brandon and Mike, are stunned to hear that their parents are selling the house. They grew up here and it’s difficult to imagine somebody else living in the Christmas House. Mike is a TV star and he’s recently discovered that his show may be canceled.

Andi, Mike’s high school sweetheart, has returned to town. Mike used to be a magician and Andi was his assistant. Andi has a son, Noah. Mike and Noah pair up so that Mike can show Noah some magic tricks that he can perform during The Christmas House event.

I’ve always been somewhat fascinated with magic. I liked seeing Mike and Noah learning the magic tricks together.

I don’t think I would’ve gotten so upset if my parents were to sell my childhood home. I suppose a home can mean more to some than to others. To me, it’s the people who live in a house – that’s what makes a true home.

I loved seeing The Christmas House. So pretty and magical. I guess I enjoyed looking at it because I like Christmas so much.

So, if/when your parents sell/sold your childhood home, would you be upset?

SWEET DELIGHTS BOOK LINK

Every Time A Bell Rings

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you like movies such as Every Time A Bell Rings, then you MUST READ Rocky Road Dreams by CECELIA DOWDY at ceceliadowdy.com/books. Rocky Road Dreams is about Kyle, an identical twin who lost his mother when he was three. As an adult, Kyle learns his mother was adopted. Kyle has always felt part of his life was missing – since his mom died when he was young. Should he find his maternal grandmother? What will happen if/when he finds her? Will she accept him, or will she refuse to make him a part of her life? The book link for Rocky Road Dreams is also at the end of this blog post.

Do you know anybody who was adopted?

Every Time A Bell Rings is about three estranged adopted sisters. When the three sisters were children they would get on their bikes and do scavenger hunts orchestrated by their dad. As adults the siblings are not as close as they used to be. Their father is now deceased. His dying wish was for the three of them to come back together for one last scavenger hunt. The hunt leads to a bell which they will ring when they find it.

Charlotte, Emily and Nora are the names of the sisters. Charlotte has found her birth mother. She hesitates to tell her mom and her sisters about connecting with her birth mom because she believes they will not approve. Instead, she confides in Liam. Liam is a childhood friend and he remembers when the sisters used to go on scavenger hunts when they were kids. Liam understands Charlotte’s hesitation. She pushes Liam away – not sure if she’s ready to have romance in her life.

Emily is married. She struggles with telling her husband that she is not ready to start a family. Her husband wants them to have a baby. It’s frustrating for Emily since she wants to further her career and having a family right now might prevent her from doing that.

Nora is currently jobless. Her business flopped and now she’s back at home with her mom. She’s assisting her mother with the woodshop – which is the family business.

The sisters bond as they fulfill their dad’s wish and go on one last scavenger hunt.

I totally understood Charlotte’s desire to find her birth mother. I’d imagine, if I were adopted, I’d want to find my birth mother. I’d be plagued with how she looked – did I look just like her? I’d wonder if she had other children and if I had siblings and other relatives. I’d want to connect with these people. But attempting to connect with a birth parent is a risk – what if the birth parent wants to have no contact with the child that they gave up for adoption?

I also understood Emily’s desire to put her business first. She has a start-up company and I know first hand how hard it can be to start a new business. She wants to be sure her business is up and running before she starts a family and that makes perfect sense. She just needs to convince her husband that waiting to start a family is the best plan for her right now.

Nora is embarrassed because her business flopped. I think she feels like a failure since she had to move back home and she’s now living with her mom. It can be embarrassing when one starts a business and it fails. She learns to focus on new beginnings, which was good.

I enjoyed this Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Christmas film.

So, are you adopted? Do you know anybody who was adopted?

ROCKY ROAD DREAMS BOOK LINK

Angels and Ornaments

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you like movies such as Angels and Ornaments, then you MUST READ The Bakery Romance Series by Cecelia Dowdy at ceceliadowdy.com/books. The Bakery Romance Series is a heartwarming Amazon bestselling romance series. The book link is also at the end of this blog post.

Have you ever seen an angel?

Corrine works in a music store with her good friend Dave. Dave is the owner of the music store. Dave has a crush on Corrine but has never acted on it. A Help Wanted sign is placed in the window and Harold, a mysterious man, is hired as a new employee of the music store.

Harold tries to orchestrate the romance between Corrine and Dave. He tells Dave that he must show Corrine his romantic side. Harold also instructs Dave to dress in better clothing and to compliment Corrine. Harold believes if Dave does these things, then Corrine will fall in love with him.

Corrine has a wonderful singing voice. She is dealing with Tim, her cheating ex-boyfriend. Tim’s a jerk and she shouldn’t consider giving him another chance. But she considers giving him a chance when he reconnects with her. Harold stresses that Tim will hurt her again and that she should not give him a second chance.

Corrine is skeptical about Harold. Who is he? She can’t find any information about him on the internet.

Corrine is mesmerized about the lovestory between her deceased grandparents. Her grandfather was deployed and during his absence, he wrote a song for Corrine’s grandmother. He sent her the sheet music, piece by piece. The last piece of music was received by Corrine’s grandmother on Christmas Eve. Corrine is later granted the wonderful opportunity to sing her grandfather’s Christmas song solo at a community center fundraiser.

It’s later determined that Harold is actually Corrine’s grandfather – returning as an ‘angel’. Harold is reunited with his wife, in death, after his angelic assignment is over.

The plot for Angels and Ornaments was similar to the Hallmark movie Five More Minutes. The elements that are in both movies are:

The Help Wanted sign to hire someone for the business.
The angel who shows up as the new hire.
The angel is actually a deceased grandparent.
The angel guides the characters in the movie and assists them in solving their problems.

You may see my views about angels being portrayed as deceased friends or family members by listening to my post about Five More Minutes.

I thought Angels and Ornaments was a good movie. I didn’t think that the chemistry between Corrine and Dave was very strong. I didn’t pick up on Dave having a crush on Corrine until Harold came along and said something about it. Maybe the chemistry wasn’t strong because Dave worked hard to hide his feelings since he didn’t want to lose Corrine as a friend.

So, have you ever seen an angel? If the answer is ‘yes’ then leave a comment and tell me more about it.

THE BAKERY ROMANCE SERIES BOOK LINK

Five More Minutes

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. If you like movies such as Five More Minutes, then you MUST READ The Candy Beach Series by Cecelia Dowdy at ceceliadowdy.com/books. The Candy Beach Series are heartwarming romance stories which are centered around candy-themed plots. The book link is also at the end of this blog post.

Have you ever wished for five more minutes with a deceased friend or relative?

Clara and her mom (Bonnie) are running the family’s confectionary shop alone. The reason they are running the business by themselves is because Clara’s grandfather has recently died. This is Bonnie’s and Clara’s first Christmas without him.

Things get interesting when Clara puts up a Help Wanted sign. Her advertisement is answered by a peculiar and quirky young man named Jay. Jay is a perfect fit for their candy shop. He knows how to run the business and proves to be a great asset to Clara and Bonnie.

Clara wishes she had five more minutes with her grandfather. Her wish is granted when she finds her grandfather’s old journal. When Clara reconnects with her old boyfriend (Logan), they read the journal together and discover that her grandfather had a great first love. He was never able to marry his first sweetheart. Together, they are able to find her grandfather’s first girlfriend – discovering the shocking reason why she was never able to respond to her grandfather’s numerous love letters.

Logan feels bad about the way he’s hurt Clara in the past. He apologizes and their feelings blossom as they read through her grandfather’s journal.

We discover the identity of mysterious Jay at the end. Her grandfather has been with them throughout the entire Christmas season.

I liked this movie but thought it odd that they didn’t know that Jay was really her deceased grandfather as a young man. What I mean to say is, didn’t they know what her grandfather looked like when he was younger? I’d imagine that they would have at least thought that Jay was a long-lost relative or something, considering he looks just like their grandfather.

I’ve noticed in books and movies that they have a dead person to appear as an angel, a helper, to a friend, family member, or some other person in need. Actually, angels are beings that are created by God. They are not dead people who reappear later. I believe to see those who are dead kind of bleeds into the realm of ghosts, not angels.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe people go to Heaven. I just don’t think that those who die, and then go to Heaven, should be referred to as angels. Angelic beings are not the same as deceased humans who go to heaven.

Angels can appear in human form and they bring messages from God. They can also assist us humans. They can stay with us for periods of time and they can even eat food. Just kind of interesting how movies and books portray angels as lost/deceased loved ones so often.

Five More Minutes is a wonderful movie that your entire family can enjoy for Christmas.

So, have you ever wished for five more minutes with a deceased friend or relative?

CANDY BEACH SERIES BOOK LINK

My Family Christmas Tree

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My Christmas Family Tree

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as My Family Christmas Tree 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. You may purchase Caramel Kisses, a best-selling novel, from Amazon. Go to https://ceceliadowdy.com/caramel-kisses/ or simply click on the link at the end of this blog post.

Do you know anybody who has searched for a biological parent?

My Christmas Family Tree is about a woman named Vanessa. Her mom is dead and she’s never known the identity of her biological father. Vanessa lives alone. She celebrates the holidays by herself, along with her dog. It’s nice to see that she does have a good friend, Dee Dee, since she has no family of her own.

Using a DNA service, she’s matched with Richard. Richard is her biological father.

It’s awkward for Richard to tell his family about Vanessa. His kids are puzzled as to how he can have a biological daughter whom they’ve never met.

Since this is a Hallmark Movie you know they MUST have a romance. While visiting her biological father and his family Vanessa bonds with Kris. Kris is a close friend of Richard’s family.

Vanessa does not initially get along with Richard’s children. They are skeptical about her presence in their home.

Questions arise from the DNA service – they wonder if they’ve given Vanessa the correct information. Is she really a match, or, did they make a mistake?

Vanessa feels torn about telling her new family about the phone call from the DNA service. She’s grown to love them – plus she’s fallen in love with Kris – how can she tell them that she might not be a part of their family? She has to find the courage to tell them that the DNA family matching service may have made a mistake.

I really liked this movie because I’ve often wondered what it would be like not to know the identity of one, or both, of your parents. If I’d grown up not knowing who my dad was, I’d feel as if a huge part of myself would be missing. I’d wonder about my dad’s identity and since I’m naturally a curious person, I probably would have done the same as Vanessa. I would have tried to find my dad and reached out to him.

So, do you know anybody who has searched for a biological parent?

CARAMEL KISSES BOOK LINK

CARAMEL KISSES AMAZON LINK