Tag Archives: 2013

Christmas with Tucker

How do you deal with the death of a parent?

Christmas with Tucker is a Hallmark Movies and Mysteries selection. It was made back in 2013 and I felt the movie was grittier, more serious, than most Hallmark movies. George is struggling with the recent death of his dad. He’s currently separated from his mom, while he lives on a farm with his grandparents. His mom is dealing with her own grief, and he’s to be reunited with his mother at Christmas.

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George is drawn to a lonely neighborhood dog, whom he secretly names Tucker. Tucker is left all alone and when Tucker’s owner is hospitalized, George and his grandparents look after the dog. George finds that he can’t part with Tucker and he makes an ALMOST deadly deal with Tucker’s owner – a deal that would transfer ownership of Tucker to George.

I liked a lot of things about this movie. Namely, George is such a nice and mature 13-year-old boy. Although he makes mistakes, he still struggles to do what is right. I say that he’s mature because he took on a somewhat adult role a few times in the movie. He plows the snowy roads, driving a huge snow plow, while looking out for the health and well-being of his neighbors. He helps his grandparents run the dairy farm and he also finds out first-hand just how serious, and perhaps deadly, alcoholism could be.

One of the reasons why I felt this movie was so serious was because of the alcoholism. I don’t recall seeing alcoholism addressed in Hallmark movies. If you know of any other Hallmark movies that deal with the subject of alcoholism, then please let me know about them.

Another strange aspect of this movie is that it was not a romance. It was more of a coming of age story about a grieving 13-year-old boy who finds solace in the company of a friendly dog. There’s a hint of romance – an extremely small hint- between George and his female school friend. He rides with his friend each day on the the bus, and you see a brief update on their lives when they reach adulthood.

If you’ve seen this movie, I’d love to hear your opinion about it. I’d also like to know of any other Hallmark Movies that are similar to Christmas with Tucker.

So, do you know of anyone who had to deal with the death of a parent at a young age?

Chance at Romance

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Chance at Romance – Podcast

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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.

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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?

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A Very Merry Mix-Up

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A Very Merry Mix Up PODCAST

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as A Very Merry Mix-up 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.

Can you imagine if you went to the wrong house for Christmas?

This is one of my favorite Hallmark Movies.

Alice owns and antique shop and her boyfriend proposes to her, he asks her to come spend Christmas with him and his parents. Will has to unexpectedly stay behind for business reasons (crooked business reasons). When Alice arrives at the airport, after a series of mishaps, she ends up meeting Matt and he mistakenly assumes that she’s his brother’s (Bill Mitchum – not the same person as Will Mitchum) fiancée. En route to his family’s house, with Alice in tow, Matt has an accident which lands both Matt and Alice into the hospital!

This is possibly one of my favorite HM Christmas movies because the whole plot is so illogical and funny! I could tell in the beginning, when Will proposed to Alice, that he was not the right man for her. Also, she didn’t love him. Will’s proposal was so…ridiculous! I couldn’t stand him from the start, the little snake! He was after Alice’s shop and he didn’t really love her.

Deep down, I think Alice really knew, at the beginning of the story, that she didn’t love Will. She only perked up when he mentioned meeting his family for Christmas. That’s when she started making all of those Christmas plans – plans of things to do while at his parents’ house. Those plans included making Christmas cookies – although she didn’t have a macrobiotic recipe!

I really loved the chemistry between Alice and Matt. After Alice and Matt land in the hospital, that’s when you really get a glimpse of their strong physical attraction. I also loved Matt’s family and so did Alice! The family blended together nicely and Alice and Matt really bonded when they were forced to stay up all night – they also bonded while they made cookies! That’s one that I really love about Hallmark Christmas movies – a lot of them have a cooking-making scene which I truly enjoy!

What was your favorite part of the movie? My favorite part was when Alice discovers she’s in the wrong house! When Bill Mitchum (her mistaken fiancé) arrives home and she jumps on him and he asks who she is? The shock on Alice’s face. She’s so mortified and everything just stops. This was my favorite moment because of the emotional impact on Alice. I think deep down, she realizes since she’s in the wrong house, it may have been why she’s been so happy during her visit.

When she arrives at Will’s house…things are so wrong! His mother is stuck-up and…just impersonal. The entire family dynamic is so off….too off….way off…I love how the other Mitchum’s (the grandfather and Matt) surprisingly visit Alice.

I also LOVE the theme with the clock! So glad that Alice and Matt found each other at the right time and were truly, amazingly happy at the end. But, then again, they would be happy…after all…it’s a romance movie and it’s a Hallmark!

So, can you imagine being welcomed into the wrong house at

Christmastime? What was your favorite part of the movie?

Will Melanie give him a chance?

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