Name your favorite Hallmark Christmas movies.
If you’d like for me to blog about a particular movie, then please let me know. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to fulfill your request, but, I’ll try!
So, leave a comment, and share your favorites!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel FORWARD into time?
What can I say? This was an absolutely adorable Hallmark Christmas movie! It’s 1903 and shortly after Charles Whitley (played by Ryan Paevey) has a disagreement with his fiancée, his maid serves him an evening drink. He wakes more than 100 years later.
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….
His house is now a museum. Actors have been hired to play the historical roles of Charles’s staff – it’s a 1903 Christmastime re-enactment. Visitors think he’s an actor, playing the role of Charles Whitley. He’s having a hard time convincing folks of his identity. He is able to convince the tour guide/actress Megan – who happens to be a descendant of Charles’s housekeeper.
Megan tells of her fascination and studies of Charles Whitley. She tells him that Charles went missing in 1903 – the exact day that Charles had his last evening drink. His disappearance is linked to an old clock. He feels the need to go back in time – back to the night he disappeared.
Since his disappearance things have happened, things that he hopes to fix, and the only way to do that would be to travel back to 1903.
I loved seeing Ryan Paevey in those historical clothes. He is too cute – very easy on the eyes.
Turns out that Charles ends up staying in 2020, deciding not to travel back in time. Of course he falls for Megan and they’ll live happily ever after.
I felt there were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. Since Charles is staying in 2020, how will he live? He has no social security number. He has no identity. Would he have to get falsified documents since, technically, he should be dead? Would he need to obtain falsified documents in order to make a living in 2020?
A Timeless Christmas is based upon a book. I encourage you to purchase it. After you read it, let me know how the book compares to the movie.
Speaking of books, this movie reminded me of the Washington Irving story Rip Van Winkle. Do you remember reading it as a kid? Rip Van Winkle goes to sleep and wakes up 20 years later to a drastically changed world.
So, have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel over 100 years FORWARD into time? What do you think the world be like? Leave a comment!
Have you ever read, or seen, a story about Santa’s daughter?
This was a cute, fun movie. Santa’s daughter, named Annie, takes a trip to sunny California. This is the first time she’s ever traveled away from the North Pole. She stays at the Candy Cane Inn and meets two men – one of the men is worthy, the other is a conniving actor who has ulterior motives.
I really liked how Annie bonded with the Lucy, the Candy Cane Inn owner, and Lucy’s young daughter, Mia. Annie bonds well with children and is a whiz at working with toys. She has fun helping children with a Christmas production. She also assists a struggling toy store owner.
Annie’s sweet naïve nature was touching. When she discovers the scrupulous motives of her male admirer, well, she is hurt and stunned. But, this is a Hallmark Movie and she realizes just to whom her love belongs!
I enjoyed watching this film.
So do you know of other films that focus on Santa Claus’s daughter?
***This is a movie discussion not a review. This blog post is written from the mind-set that blog readers have seen the movie – so it contains spoilers.
Can you imagine, searching for your father, for the very first time, as an adult?
The Father Christmas film series includes the following three movies:
Finding Father Christmas
Engaging Father Christmas
Marrying Father Christmas
Miranda’s mom was an actress. Her mom died when Miranda was only a child. Since her mother died during Christmas, Miranda, now an adult, hates Christmas. Her life changes when she’s contacted by an old friend of her mom’s – an elderly gentleman who works in theater. He’s found an old suitcase belonging to Miranda’s mom, and has gifted it to Miranda.
The suitcase contains clues – clues that might lead to Miranda’s dad. Her mom has never told her the identity of her father, so Miranda, who has no family, is anxious to find him.
You’ll love these movies set in a small Vermont town. As Miranda searches for her father, she discovers other family members – as well as love. Ian works at the inn where Miranda is staying and he helps her with her search.
These were charming Christmas mystery movies, and they showed just how tenuous family dynamics can be. These movies also showed that – before getting married – one needs to know the baggage/problems that your future mate may have. Miranda’s life is somewhat complicated since she has no family. Ian came from a different background – so he needs to understand why it’s so important for Miranda to cling to the new family members which suddenly appear in her life.
Not only does she find family related to her father, but, an elderly gentleman, claiming to be her deceased mom’s brother, also enters the picture. Ian is skeptical and Miranda struggles to accept her long-lost uncle. She doesn’t know if he’s really her mom’s brother, or, if he’s a media person, after her for a story. Her biological father was a famous actor, so, initially she’s unclear about her “uncle’s” motives.
These are charming Christmas movies. It’s best to watch all three of them, in order, to get the full scope of the story.
These movies were based upon the novels by Robin Jones Gunn:
Finding Father Christmas & Engaging Father Christmas
I highly encourage you to read these books and let me know how they compare to the movies.
So, have you ever searched for a lost relative? If so, were you able to find that person?
Have you ever been stranded, and there was nothing you could do about it?
Wedding planner Jessica travels to a small Alaskan town to get rare, highly specialized bridal flowers for her high-maintenance client. When she arrives, she finds herself in a town that has an extremely low population, limited cell phone service, and archaic airplane service.
Due to a series of mishaps, she’s stranded, and it doesn’t appear as if she’s going to make it back home in time for the wedding. Her client is frantically awaiting these special Jingle Bell flowers and Jessica is anxious to deliver them. She has to. Her job depends on it.
Charming Matt grows the Jingle Bell flowers in his greenhouse. Matt shows Jessica around town, and even encourages her to enter the Jingle Bell Pageant.
Time is ticking and Jessica really needs to make it back with the flowers, and her colleague swoops in, trying to steal Jessica’s client away since Jessica is stranded in Alaska.
Can Matt and Jessica make their relationship work, especially since they live far away from each other? Of course they do! This is a Hallmark movie after all!
It was refreshing to see an inter-racial couple. Hallmark has really been working hard on their diversity, which is a good thing.
I’ve never seen the actor playing Matt (Ronnie Rowe Jr.) on a Hallmark movie before. Although Matt and Jessica looked cute together, I didn’t really see a strong attraction between them.
So, have you ever been stranded? If so, where, and for how long, were you stranded?
Have you ever taken a second chance on love?
It’s Christmas, and due to a mishap, Margot, a famous pianist, is now able to spend the holidays with her family – at the Christmas Chateau. Coincidentally, during her stay, she runs into Jackson, who assists the chateau with their annual Christmas concert. This is a Hallmark Movie, so, you know that Jackson will need Margot’s musical talent to contribute to the concert’s repertoire.
Jackson is also a musician. He has his PHD in music and he’s awaiting news about a fellowship for which he’s applied. Jackson and Margot broke up years ago so that they could pursue their dreams.
There’s also a side romance between two violinists. This movie was full of music and wonderful Christmas scenery.
As mentioned in other blog posts, Luke Macfarlane is one of my favorite Hallmark actors. He’s so cute! He’s got such a nice, engaging smile, too. When he grins, he almost looks like he’s hiding a secret or something.
I thought this was a sweet movie to kick off the Christmas season.
So, have you ever taken a second chance on love? If so, were you glad that you did?
Speaking of second chances, if you like second-chance romance then try Loving Luke! It’s only 99 cents and is available as an e-book and as a paperback! Loving Luke is a sweet, second-chance romance that will lift your holiday spirits! If you’ve already read it, consider leaving a sweet review on Amazon and gifting a copy to a friend for Christmas!
Hey, Hallmarkies! Are you a writer! I just discovered this little nugget of info…Hallmark will be entering into a unique deal with Walmart. Hallmark Publishing will be expanding by producing mass-market paperbacks which will be sold in Walmart stores! Details here.
Have you ever been estranged from your parent(s)? What did you do about it?
This is a review of the book, The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe. The Hallmark Channel Movies and Mysteries Channel (Hall of Fame) featured The Beach House as a movie which was based on the book. I’ve seen the movie, but, it was a long time ago. I recently read the book, and loved it! So, when I can, I will compare the book to the movie based on memory.
Disclaimer – SPOILER ALERT! If you’re a book reader then just letting you know I’m going to give spoilers in my review. This book review is in the same format as my Hallmark Movie reviews. I’m talking freely about the book as if folks have already read it and have seen the HM Movie!
When Caretta/Cara gets fired from her job, she returns to the beach house where her mom currently lives. She’s estranged from her mother and since she’s upset about being unemployed, she decides to seek rest and relaxation at the beach house. The beach house is where Caretta fondly spent many of her childhood summers.
Cara’s mom, Olivia (Lovie) is dying from cancer. Looks like she only has one more summer to live. She has a companion, Toy, a pregnant, homeless teenaged girl. Toy is wrestling with emotional drama of her own – she’s still in love with her baby’s father – a loser named Darryl.
Cara and her mom work through their issues during this bittersweet summer. Cara learns about herself. She becomes acquainted with Brett, a boy from high school, who has always been fancied with her. Brett is too good to be true as he cares for Caretta and her mom. He’s a wildlife expert who runs a tour boat on the beach.
Brett knows SO MUCH about wildlife and he can cook, too! He catches fresh seafood from the ocean and grills it over an open fire. Delicious. The attraction between Cara and Brett is strong. Cara doesn’t know what to do with such strong emotions . Cara wants to be in control of everything – she’s out of her element here at the beach house since she’s no longer part of corporate America.
This was such a strong, emotional story. It’s a book about fixing family relationships – relationships that have been broken for a long time. Not only is Cara estranged from her mom, she’s also estranged from her brother and her deceased father.
Lovie had deep faith in God. She goes to church regularly and reads her Bible. This was a gentle book and although it is secular, I could see this book easily being re-written as an inspirational. I say this because I write inspirationals and I’ve read countless inspirational novels. Lovie even recites the following scripture not long before her death:
This family had so many things wrong, so many problems. Lovie finds solace living her beach house – which she refuses to leave now that she’s ill. She wants to spend her last days at the beach house and she wants to nurture her turtles.
I loved the turtles! I learned so much about loggerheads and about how they lay eggs on the beach. Lovie is mesmerized by these creatures and she even moves turtle nests when they are in danger. She’s part of a group of ladies called The Turtle Team. The Turtle Team scour the beach each morning for nests. The nests are tracked and monitored. I loved reading about the turtles hatching from their eggs.
I recommend The Beach House to all who enjoy strong emotional stories. Show Mary Alice Monroe some love and purchase this wonderful story! I guarantee you will love it! You should also watch the Hallmark Movie, too! Most of the elements that I’ve mentioned in this blog post were covered in the Hallmark Movie. I recall that this movie was more serious than most Hallmark Movies.
So have you ever been estranged from your parent(s)? If so, what did you do to rectify it?
Carly and Jason meet at a cooking class. Jason suddenly leaves the class, before he’s finished with it. Carly has no idea as to why Jason left – she’s a bit disappointed and wonders what happened…
Fast forward 3 years and both Carly and Jason are working as chefs in restaurants. Both of them want to own their own restaurant. But, it’s tough to just open up your own restaurant…know what I mean? You need start-up capital and such. Anyway, both of them see that they can enter this cooking competition – grand prize is your own restaurant!
So, both of them, as well as some other folks, are chosen for the competition! The competition takes place in a few cities and after each round, someone gets eliminated.
Carly has big shoes to fill – her dad is a renowned chef and she wants to be a chef on her own, without being compared to him. Her dad doesn’t approve of her competing, but, he does show up to support her anyway.
I thought that Jason was cute as could be! Oh, my, Luke Macfarlane is one of the cutest Hallmark actors!
I also loved Carly’s support system. Her next-door-neighbor/best friend and her best friend’s daughter were wonderful supporting characters for this film.
The competition. Reminded me of a Food Network Competition, the dialog, the description of the food, all of it.
Overall this was a cute, sweet, movie, not one of my faves, but, enjoyable nonetheless!
Well, Maggie is not really Hank’s coworker, per se, but, they do work together closely in this cute, sweet Hallmark Movie. I’ll admit, although this movie was cute and sweet, it’s not one of my Hallmark faves.
Hank, a widower, is stubborn when it comes to his cooking. A perfectionist, he wakes up early in the morning to make elaborate meals for his daughter’s breakfast. His daughter flip flops, not able to make up her mind, about being a vegan. She doesn’t always eat his food, which annoys me – who wakes up early to make all that food with nobody to eat it? I believe once in the movie, Hank had mentioned that he took the leftovers to the staff at his restaurant.
Hank’s restaurant – it’s failing! His brother-in-law (Bernie) used to be the bartender in the restaurant. After Bernie’s sister (Hank’s wife) died, Bernie stepped up to manage the restaurant, but, he’s a terrible manager! I’ll admit that Hank is a terrible business owner! Neither of them know how to account for their earnings and they even have an employee who was stealing cases of wine, and they had no knowledge of this until Maggie stepped in!
Maggie wants chef Hank to work with her company to create a gourmet line of frozen foods. Hank reluctantly agrees since he needs the money. Bernie admits that they have over-due bills. (BTW, I HATED Bernie’s tie clip! It looked so DORKY! I know that they wanted to portray Bernie as a business man, but, he needed to ditch the tie clip!)
Maggie agrees to help Hank make his restaurant profitable if he agrees to do the gourmet food line for her employer. While Maggie helps Hank save his business, she bonds with his daughter. They go shopping and Hank’s daughter admits that Maggie reminds her of her mom.
It was terrible when Maggie’s boss, Andrea, tells her that they won’t pay Hank any more money. After he’s given them their recipes for the frozen food line, Andrea refuses to pay him for more, and threatens to fire Maggie if she continued to work with Hank in his restaurant.
When Maggie tells Hank that she has to leave and go in search of another chef to create yet another line of frozen foods, Hank gets mad. Maggie’s boss, Andrea, was supposed to pay Hank more money and she’s not holding up her end of the deal. Maggie tells Hank that it’s not her fault – Andrea is the one who controls this whole project. Hank tells Maggie to leave his restaurant and he also says that she should’ve quit her job.
Really Hank? He’s so dumb. Such a goofball! I know if I’d been in that position, I couldn’t just up and quit my job – I’d have needed the money. I have my own bills to pay – the most I could’ve done was to seek out other employment while working for my current boss. (Although it does come up later that Maggie has a comfortable savings).
Hank finally admits that he’s wrong and asks Maggie to come back to his restaurant. Maggie swoops in and saves the day and becomes an investor in Hank’s restaurant and quits her job!
I loved seeing the food that Hank makes.
I love it! I make my own spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes and I also make homemade pizza using my sourdough starter for the crust! Yummy!
I loved seeing those homemade pizzas and pasta that Hank created! They looked so good! If Hank wasn’t so pig-headed, it wouldn’t have taken him so long to realize that he needed to update his menu. Just because a menu is classic, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be updated, just a little bit! Especially when profits were dropping!
I would’ve loved to have seen a recipe for Hank’s homemade pizza on Hallmark’s website!