Have you ever visited a palace or castle?

San Senova – when I see this wonderful, mystical foreign land, a land with a king, queen, princesses…royalty, I want to know more about it. I want to see it with my own two eyes. I think it’s a nice touch, that the scriptwriters for this movie created a land that was founded on Christmas Eve!

Alex is known as being the Grinch king. He’s a modern-day Scrooge, at least, that’s what the San Senova residents think. I didn’t think that Alex was Scrooge-like at all. He reminded me of someone who doesn’t necessarily embrace Christmas, but, he wasn’t mean or anything. His daughter convinces him to commission the local visiting ice skaters to prepare, practice, and present a Founders’ Day Ice Skating Pageant on Christmas Eve (San Senova was founded on December 24th).

Alex has lost his wife and his dad over the last decade. His daughter is still grieving over losing her relatives and she’s hard on herself. She needs to let loose and have fun!

Katie is attracted to Alex but she has apprehensions. I mean, after all, he is a king! Would he really be a good match for her, a commoner and she’s not a resident of San Senova. Can a romance between them really work?

I’ve noticed that Hallmark has cookie-making scenes in most of their Christmas movies! Alex, the Grinch of Christmas, looks quite nice making cookies with Katie and his daughter for the Christmas Tea! I also loved the hot chocolate scene with Alex and Katie.

Overall this was a sweet, endearing movie. I thought it was a bummer when Katie abruptly left so that she could go and look at the ice rink in New Jersey that she was considering buying. I think Katie should’ve told Alex she was leaving – she didn’t even alert him or say goodbye, which was strange, but, everything worked out in the end, which is a good thing. The Founders’ Day Pageant was beautiful and Alex and Katie made their way back to one another since Katie returned. Also, Katie’s friend Jessica found romance via the palace as well.

So, have you ever visited a palace or castle? If so, in which country was it located?

Have you ever reconnected with an old boyfriend/love interest?

When Vanessa returns home for Christmas, she’s in for a big surprise. The first surprise occurs when she lands at the airport. The person picking her up is Mitch, her old boyfriend. She’s stunned to see him since she was expecting her dad to pick her up. The meeting between them is awkward since it’s obvious that they’ve not seen each other in years. To me, there appeared to be unresolved feelings between them – this was apparent (at least it was apparent to me) when they first reconnect at the airport.

Wait a second…do you like sweet emotional romance novels? Try one of my bestselling books! You will love them! Now, back to the movie….

Vanessa is stunned to discover that her father is closing the beloved clinic. Well, her dad is getting older and he wants to travel with his wife. The town’s people really depend on his support.

I couldn’t believe that Mitch waited ten years to give Vanessa a gift! Can you imagine waiting for ten years to give somebody a Christmas present? He’d bought it for her initially, but, never had the right opportunity to present it to her. This is just another example of the unresolved feelings between the two of them. Although Mitch has been engaged, well…it’s obvious that he’s never forgotten about Vanessa. After all, they’ve been friends since they were kids – Vanessa made him feel welcome. Mitch was a shy child and he needed help connecting with other kids and Vanessa was right there to help him. They’d developed a deep bond as children and, from what I could gather, that bond was always there, way into adulthood.

But, as luck would have it, they broke up when Vanessa went to college – the long-distance relationship just didn’t work for them.

I really liked how this couple re-connected, even though they’d not seen one another in years. I also liked the side story about Vanessa’s brother falling for the girl from his class. It was sweet when he tried to make her cookies – he really wanted to impress her since he felt bad about spoiling the surprise ending for a book she was reading.

It was nice seeing actor Patrick Duffy. I recall seeing him acting when I was kid/teenager. He was in Man From Atlantis as well as the famous series, Dallas. It’s always nice to re-connect with actors that I’ve “known” from a long time ago.

Have you ever reconnected with an old boyfriend/love interest? What happened? Were you able to make your romance work the second time around?

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My sister shared this Good Morning America video with me! These three guys are determined to review all thirty-seven Hallmark Christmas movies! Can you imagine that! Have you ever watched their podcasts? Looks like they’re having fun! If you’ve seen any of their reviews then please let me know what you thought about them! I’m going to take a peek to see what they’re saying about the wonderful Hallmark Christmas movies!

 

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.

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?

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.

Enjoy this blog post? Subscribe to CECELIA DOWDY’S Hallmark Movie Blog!

ROCKY ROAD DREAMS BOOK LINK

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!