Do you usually travel home for Christmas?

Well, Joy usually doesn’t go home. After her aunt breaks her ankle, Joy receives a phone call. Her aunt needs her. When it’s discovered that her aunt will need surgery and can’t be on her ankle, she flips out. What will she do about the annual Christmas Cookie Crawl? In spite of the fact that Joy is up to her ears in work and she’s up for a promotion, she makes the sacrifice to help her aunt with the Cookie Crawl. She brings her laptop with her so that she can work remotely. Crystal Falls is a few hours away from Joy’s home in Washington DC.

I loved how Joy ran into her old acquaintance Ben – literally ran into him – amidst tangled Christmas lights at the hospital! That was so sweet!

I also loved the idea of the Cookie Crawl! Actually, I’d never heard of a Cookie Crawl until I saw this movie! Seeing all that dough and those cookies made my mouth water.

I also loved looking at the gingerbread houses in the Gingerbread Competition. Joy almost bit off more than she could chew – I mean, the Cookie Crawl and then judging the Gingerbread Competition! That’s a lot!

I really liked Ben and Joy, but felt that Ben had a bit too much of a chip on his shoulder when it came to folks living in the city. Just because he had a bad experience with a city girl, doesn’t mean that all ladies who live in the city are not suitable to date! It’s possible he was thinking of the distance more-so than the city life, maybe?

I really thought both Joy and Ben were hard workers. Joy is also faithful and compassionate. It took a lot of compassion for her to leave her job, a job for which she was up for a promotion, to come and help her hurt aunt for the Cookie Crawl. She’s a bit stubborn too – she didn’t want to initially accept Ben’s offer for help with baking cookies. But, ya know, I would’ve accepted his offer right away! He’s cute and single, and well…Joy shouldn’t have initially looked a gift horse in the mouth! So glad she finally accepted Ben’s offer to help!

I also can’t imagine baking ALL OF THOSE COOKIES! Sheesh! Oh my! I’ve been baking for years, decades. I don’t bake as often as I used to, but, I still try and find time to bake during the holidays. I can bake a tasty chocolate chip cookie! Folks also love my peanut butter cookies too! I love baking and I write about sweets in my romance novels all the time! I’m mentioning this because, as a baker, I know how time-consuming it is to bake cookies. But, to bake as many cookies as Joy did for the Cookie Crawl? Oh my!

I also wanted to mention a blooper. When the freezer door popped open, I doubt the cookie dough would’ve gone bad (I mean in real life). Joy could’ve tossed that dough into the fridge until it was time to bake! I’m not kidding! Plus, wasn’t the freezer outdoors, I mean in a shed or something? It wasn’t like the dough was exposed to a warm house and it melted. I mean, come on, it was cold outside – just look at all that classic Hallmark Christmas snow! The spoiled cookie dough was just a blooper, I’d imagine!

I thought it was endearingly sweet when Joy and Ben finally cleared things up and kissed at the end of the movie! They should consider having a gingerbread house and cookies at their wedding reception!

So, what was your favorite scene from Christmas Joy? I’d also like to know do you often travel to your hometown for Christmas?

Check out the book from which this movie is based! Show the author some love and download a copy of her book today! After you read it, let me know what you think – tell me how it compares to the movie!

Christmas Joy