Have you ever worked in a bakery?

Ellie is a talented wreath maker. She makes beautiful wreaths…but, she doesn’t sell them. She says that it’s her hobby. Her full-time job is working at the White Deer branch of Carlingson Bakery!She seems to enjoy her job. She also works on the floor making Kringles. Kringles sure do look delicious! Each Kringle is shaped like a snowflake and all are originally designed – there are no two Kringles that look alike. Can you imagine that? Every Kringle is cut, layered and filled by hand! My mouth watered when I saw those Kringles!

Nick breezes into the town of Deer Park. He’s from the corporate office of Carlingson Bakery. Everyone thinks he’s simply there to see how the business operates and to learn how to work in the bakery. However, little do they know that Nick is hiding a secret, a big secret. He’ll soon be the head at Carlingson and he’s determined to streamline the process. After all, you don’t need people to cut a Kringle, machines can do that, right?

Wrong! Nick is drawn to the town and to the people. He’s also swooning over Ellie.

Ellie is still feeling awkward whenever she’s around Carl, her former boyfriend. Carl works in the fire department and he has Ellie’s best interests at heart.

Ellie needs to learn to spread her wings and do what she loves to do – making homemade wreaths. She needs to learn that just because she got rejected for one big-city job, doesn’t mean that she’s not suitable for another.

Nick realizes that Ellie is talented and he agrees to help her in the business world.

I really liked Nick. Yes, he basically lied when he came into town by not revealing that he was a Carlingson, but, he’s young. I think a lot of young folks who are business minded don’t necessarily think about people. He just wants the bakery to continue to be a success and he has some big shoes to fill when he takes over as head of the company.

Ellie is a great woman, too. She just needs a little nudge to help  her realize just how talented she is. She needs to bank on her skills and do something that’ll make her happy. At one point, she tells Nick that not all people experience passion, success and big dreams. Sometimes things are just “pretty good.” Pretty good? Ellie needs to shoot for the stars and go after those big dreams!

I really enjoyed this sweet, emotional romance! I also LOVED the bakery scenes. I really liked those Kringles, too! I also thought it was very thoughtful of the White Deer Carlingson Bakery to donate their leftover Kringles to the local food bank. I write about bakeries in my romance novels quite a bit, and in my stories, I have the bakers to donate their leftovers to the food bank or homeless shelter. I just think it’s a great thing to do – helping others instead of wasting food.

This was a sweet, tasteful romance movie, which again prompts my question:

Have you ever worked in a bakery? If so, what did you like/dislike about it?

Have you ever worked in a school system? If so, what was your job?

Eve is an interim superintendent for a school system in her hometown. When she returns home, her mom and her friend are glad to see her. Eve has a bit of wanderlust in her system, meaning she loves to move around, travel, taking temporary jobs as employment. When you first see her mom talk to her about her moving around, you sense that Eve needs a nice stable place to stay. When she sees handsome Liam, her next door neighbor, you know that something will happen between them! After all, we’re watching a Hallmark movie!

Liam is a single father and he’s close to his daughter. It was so sweet and endearing to see Liam play music with his daughter, but, when he finds out that Eve is the interim superintendent, he gets worried. The interim super is usually around to do the firing, so when Eve announces that the music and arts programs may be cut from the budget…well…folks are simply not happy!

I LOVED seeing this town band together to save their music and arts program. Eve’s friend’s husband sets up a website where folks can donate and express interest for their cause – a cause to save the school system’s music and arts program. During the tree-lighting ceremony, the students hold a concert and when I heard the young man, one of Liam’s students, sing Silent Night…oh my! Loved it!

I also loved the duo with Eve and Liam’s daughter Abigail! Eve needs to settle down and when she gets that job offer in San Diego, well, I know she doesn’t want to go. She feels that she SHOULD go, but her heart is telling her to stay with Liam.

I also loved the storyline with Eve’s mom and stepdad. I really liked that he wrote a song especially for their anniversary and that both Eve and Liam helped him with his music skills.

Overall this was a sweet, entertaining movie. They even had coffee and cookies in this movie. I do love myself some coffee and cookies, don’t you?

It was also so sweet to see Liam finish Eve’s dad’s song for her as a Christmas gift. You know that’d make her want to stay in town even more. If a man does that for a woman, he’s smitten for sure. And that woman needs to pay attention to that man. Why? Because finding someone so sweet and endearing and so thoughtful is a rare treat that needs to be cherished. Kudos to Eve for staying in town!

So, have you ever worked for a school system? If so, what was your job? I’d also like to know if you’ve ever known of a town that bands together for a cause – just as Eve’s hometown did in the movie.

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

 

Okay, can I tell you how much I LOVED this movie? Can I? What was your favorite scene? Have you ever attended a Christmas Festival? If you have, what was it like?

 

As usual, this discussion will contain spoilers since I’m assuming all have seen the movie already!

Event planner Elizabeth is assigned by her evil boss to arrange the Christmas Festival for the town. When there’s a mishap, the town is left without a venue to hold the event.

 

She pleads with William Darcy (the owner of Pemberley Manor) to have the town’s Christmas Festival at Pemberley. William is hesitant but eventually agrees to let her do it. Pemberley Manor will have one last Christmas before William sells it to to buyers who want to tear it down to build some condos! How sad is that? Can you imagine tearing down such a beautiful, magical place to build some condos? How awful!

 

William has fond childhood memories of Christmases at Pemberley Manor. Deep down, he does not want to sell it. He’s making a business decision, a decision with his head instead of his heart. Deep down, he’s loving and generous. He doesn’t always let others see just how kind he is – he appears gruff, just like Scrooge, but it’s just a disguise, if you know what I mean. Elizabeth sees his kind heart and when he tells her of the nice, nostalgic, childhood memories of his Christmases at Pemberley, she’s drawn to him, attracted to him.

 

I think William and Elizabeth made a fabulous couple. When the movie first started, I’d initially assumed that George, the mayor, would be Elizabeth’s love interest. When she’d mentioned that they’d dated, I’d just made the assumption that they’d be rekindling an old romance or something. Did you think that?

 

I thought it was so sweet when William’s assistant, Travis, spots Jane (George, the mayor’s assistant), for the first time. It was like love at first sight.

 

I felt that both Travis and William had something in common. Both of them needed to lighten up. I just wanted to give Travis a cup of eggnog and a few cookies and tell him to chill for awhile. Do you know what I mean?

 

I was so glad that William baked cookies with Elizabeth. A workaholic, he needs somebody like Elizabeth in his life.

 

I could not STAND Elizabeth’s boss! I wanted her gone, gone, gone! But, she did have one redeeming quality – near the end when Elizabeth pushed to set things back up for Christmas Eve, for the festival, her boss asked what she could do to help. Elizabeth then handed her the clipboard! I was SO GLAD when her boss asked that one simple question. It showed that she wasn’t totally so cruel and evil.

 

Sweet…to humor her niece, Elizabeth actually wrote a letter to Santa asking for him for her true love…

 

Imagine that! I’ll bet Christopher, the employee at Pemberley, who looks just like Santa, and who played Santa during the Festival, received that letter and made sure Elizabeth’s wish came true! What do you think?

 

I just wish they’d have shown George the mayor falling in love with someone. Wouldn’t you have liked to see George with a love interest? I think they should make a Christmas movie next year starring George. He deserves a nice loving woman in his life. I’d also love to see Travis and Jane get married. They make a great-looking couple and I’m sure their wedding would be lovely.

 

I loved it when Elizabeth sang Oh Holy Night! It sounded so pretty! I loved the snow and the scenery. Pemberley Manor was so beautiful decked out with all of the Christmas lights, greenery and gifts for the holidays! I just wanted to go visit the place and curl up with a mug of hot cocoa, a plate full of cookies, and some Christmas music. I’ll bet spending Christmas there would be magical, don’t you think?

 

So what was your favorite scene? Have you ever attended a Christmas Festival? If you have, what was it like? Do you have any favorite characters in this movie?

 

Oh, I noticed that this movie was loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I’ve never read that book. (I know, since I’m a writer,  a romance writer at that, you’d think I’d read all the classics. I admit to reading several, just not all of them). Have you read Pride and Prejudice? If you have, did you see a few similarities between the book and the movie?

 

Come, share your thoughts with a comment. Answer one or all of my numerous questions! I’m just itching to start a discussion about Christmas At Pemberley Manor!