Tag Archives: Spring

Feeling Butterflies

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. Want to read an awesome springtime romance? Try Raspberry Kisses! This sweet romance has over 300 Amazon rave reviews! Raspberry Kisses is about Rhea a grieving widow who is struggling to cope with her husband’s death. When she attends a singles retreat, her life changes forever. Read Raspberry Kisses today! Tell a friend by sharing this blog post!

Now, let’s talk about Feeling Butterflies.

Do you like butterflies?

I liked the premise of this movie. Emily, as well as her nemesis, Mandy, own similar companies. Their businesses specialize in releasing butterflies at special events such as weddings, birthday parties, etc.

Things get heated between these two enemies when a superstar celebrity makes them compete for the honor of doing her wedding. I thought that they’re being rivals colored their perception of how to do business. They do join forces later, but, I would’ve thought that Mandy and Emily would have joined forces when the superstar first approached them to do the wedding. Both of them struggled with having enough butterflies to release at this bridezilla’s wedding event.

This is a Hallmark movie, so, you know romance was involved. Emily meets Garrett when she releases butterflies at his daughter, Amanda’s, birthday party. Garrett is a confused man. A widower, he’s dated a woman, Jill, who continues to run his life. She does some drastic things, such as enrolling Amanda in a fancy out-of-town school, without consulting with him first.

Emily likes Garrett, but Garrett doesn’t seem to know if he likes Emily.

What bothered me about this movie was that Garrett and Emily were “in like”, not in love. The reason I say this is because after Jill arranges for Amanda to attend a fancy school in another state – Garrett doesn’t seem to get very angry about it. He even sells his car (and I’m assuming his home) to follow Jill to a new area. Those are drastic steps for someone to take if they are not in love with somebody. I realize he felt it was best for Amanda, but, well…he seemed like such a wuss.

He had no backbone. He just allowed Jill to take charge and do what she wanted, and they were not even dating anymore. He was ready to leave the area when he miraculously changes his mind and shows up at the wedding where Emily is working. I would’ve thought he would have figured this out before he sold his car (and house?). He even told Emily that he was leaving.

This was not the great romance that’s normally part of a Hallmark movie. I believe Garrett’s actions regarding Jill is what soured things for me. He was about to move to be near her – then in a few seconds changes his mind.

What did you think of Garrett? Did you like him?

RASPBERRY KISSES BOOK LINK

The Wedding Veil

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as The Wedding Veil then you MUST READ Loving Luke by CECELIA DOWDY. LOVING LUKE is about Kim Taylor, an unemployed accountant who has returned home to help her dad in the family’s cookie bakery. While in town, she re-encounters Luke, her high school sweetheart. Luke abandoned Kim years ago, and now he’s returned to town, widowed, wanting to give his daughter a better life. When he sees Kim, romantic memories of eating hot chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk with Kim resurface. Luke has a problem and it appears that Kim can help him. Can they overcome the past and look forward to a bright future? Loving Luke can be found at ceceliadowdy.com/books. You may also access the book via Amazon at the link at the end of this blog post.

In The Wedding Veil three best friends meet up for their yearly antiquing vacation. They find an antique wedding veil. The history behind the veil is so fascinating that they just can’t pass it up. They split the cost between them and they decide that Avery should first take possession of the veil. She leaves the veil at the front desk of her hotel – she’s leaving soon to return home. She meets Peter and the two strangers hit it off as they go on an impromptu date. After the date, when Peter sees Avery picking up the veil, he overhears the desk clerk ask her if she’s chosen a wedding dress yet.

Peter mistakenly assumes Avery is getting married.

When Avery returns home, she’s surprisingly matched up with Peter to plan a special art-related function. There is disharmony between them. Peter still believes that she’s engaged. However, he can’t help but be attracted to her. Avery is confused because Peter is nice and charming, and then he’s the total opposite – all within a few minutes. Peter struggles with his emotions and we’re led to believe his hot/cold personality is because he’s falling hard for a woman who is “engaged.”

Of course, everything comes to light, and he discovers that Avery is NOT getting married.

As they work together on their art-related event, their feelings for each other escalate, and they end up solving the question behind a mysterious painting.

I enjoyed this movie so much! I especially loved the dresses that Hallmark provided for Avery! The wardrobe was fantastic.

My only gripe about this movie is that for over half of the movie the romantic tension between Peter and Avery hinges upon his mistakenly thinking that she’s engaged. I found this excuse so flimsy! Realistically, if two people were spending so much time together planning an event, and they have chemistry, and they have regular conversations…he would have asked her more about her wedding. Or said something like, “too bad you’re engaged. I’d like to get to know you better.” Or something like that.

I felt that the misunderstanding was a bit contrived and unrealistic. They could have cleared things up at the beginning with a 2-minute conversation!

C’est la vie! It’s a Hallmark movie after all!

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you like movies such as The Wedding Veil then you MUST READ Loving Luke by Cecelia Dowdy. LOVING LUKE is about Kim Taylor, an unemployed accountant who has returned home to help her dad in the family’s cookie bakery. While in town, she re-encounters Luke, her high school sweetheart. Luke abandoned Kim years ago, and now he’s returned to town, widowed, wanting to give his daughter a better life. When he sees Kim, romantic memories of eating hot chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk with Kim resurface. Luke has a problem and it appears that Kim can help him. Can they overcome the past and look forward to a bright future? Loving Luke can be found at ceceliadowdy.com/books. You may also access the book via Amazon at the link at the end of this blog post.

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

LOVING LUKE BOOK LINK

Paris, Wine and Romance

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Hallmarkies, Have you ever been to Paris?

I have, although, my trip was not as romantic as Isabella’s and Jacques! Isabella owns a winery in Oregon. Her uncle has sent her pinot noir wine to Paris to enter a competition. She’s shocked when she discovers that her wine has final-ed! So, she’s whisked away to Paris to attend the competition.

She then meets Frenchman Jacques – the hotel has mixed up their suitcases. Jacques, also a family winemaker, is attending the contest with his mother and brother. Both him and his brother have entered their wines into the competition.

I loved seeing Jacques and Isabella interact. Hallmark used lots of nice, Parisian romantic touches to this movie – wine, cheese, fashion, etc. I thought the mishap with Jacques’ wine, where one of the volunteers drops the entire crate and ALL of the bottles were broken, was a bit over the top! What were the chances of something like that happening? I buy crates of wine to keep in my basement. Those bottles are usually packed tight and they don’t break unless you remove one and then smash it to the ground!

I also thought it was a bit over the top when the journalist mistook Jacques brother for Jacques since the brother was mistakenly wearing Jacques’ nametag. Usually a journalist will verify his/her source before placing a quote in a national (or international?) newspaper. Definitely artistic license was being used in those 2 instances.

I thought that the accents for Jacques and his family sounded authentic! So French. I’m no expert, but, they sounded lovely and Jacques was a nice, sweet guy. He was perfect for Isabella and I really liked how he suggested to her that she was over-anxious and needed to calm down. They got to see the sights of Paris! How romantic!

Speaking of food and Paris, I wanted to mention my novel Sweet Delights. In my romance story, the heroine, Patty-Lynn has won the prestigious International Paris Pie Competition for her Banana Cream Pie! There’s even a sweet, delicious recipe for Banana Cream Pie at the end of the story! You should try it if you like, good, old-fashioned sweet romance! Great Amazon reviews, too!

So, have you ever been to Paris? If so, what sites did you see? Did you enjoy yourself?

Chance at Romance

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Chance at Romance – Podcast

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC. Check out our wholesome, Hallmark-style romances by visiting ceceliadowdy.com/books.

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.

Hold on a second. Do you like clean, wholesome romance stories that remind you of a Hallmark movie? If so, you should read my novel Loving Luke. Loving Luke is every bit as good and sweet as a Hallmark Christmas movie! Now back to Chance at Romance…

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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Bottled With Love

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This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Bottled with Love 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.

In Rocky Road Dreams, Melanie writes Kyle a letter, telling him how she feels about him. You must read this wonderfully engaging story! It’s a perfect beach-themed Christmas story that you’ll enjoy each year! Be sure to tell your friends by sharing this link, or, by sharing this blog post. The purchase link is also at the end of this blog post.

Now, let’s talk about Bottled With Love.

When was the last time you wrote a letter?

I’m not talking about an e-mail, but, a real, honest-to-goodness letter where you have real paper and a real pen and you actually WRITE the words directly onto the page?

Well, Abby, is writing a letter, a letter about all of her wonderful qualities, and her deep thoughts and desires. After she’s dumped by her boyfriend, right before a wedding, her Aunt suggests she write the letter to herself – so Abby does this. She then tosses the bottle into the sea.

Then, the bottle is found by Nick – who coincidentally is the son of Abby’s boss. Abby’s employer is seeking a new business acquisition and Nick, the estranged son, has been convinced to come home, temporarily. He’s going to assist Abby to search for a new company to acquire for his father’s business.

I thought this movie was cute and sweet, but, it was not phenomenal or anything like that. Hallmark had been advertising this movie like crazy, making it appear as if it would be the best movie of the year! I liked the movie, but, I didn’t LOVE it.

Abby and Nick have some problems getting along in the first part of the movie (which is typical of lots of Hallmark films) but, they do learn to work together, which is nice. I also enjoyed seeing them texting, not knowing the identity of one another.

One of my main problems with the film was – I just found it a bit….unbelievable and TOO coincidental that Nick happened to find Abby’s bottle, in another state, and just HAPPENED to find the bottle accidentally in his suitcase after he came to Boston. Then he just happened to be paired up to work with (Abby) the girl who wrote the letter. The letter that Nick had found in ANOTHER STATE!

Whew, that was a mouthful. I guess I would’ve liked it better if…well…if he’d found her letter and then they got to know one another online before meeting. Not sure how I’d work that out in the story, but, there were too many coincidences – yes, the way the events played out was possible, just didn’t sound very plausible.

I thought both of them did a nice acting job and I especially loved seeing them work together at the cider orchard. Oh, this just my personal opinion, but, I thought Abby’s glasses seemed a bit out-dated or something! I thought she looked prettier without those large-framed glasses on her face! 🙂

So, overall, a nice, sweet movie, that’s likable, but, not lovable.

This movie made me think of a nice book that I read A LONG time ago! It’s called Echoes and it’s about a woman and a man who meet online. The details are kind of sketchy since I read it several years ago. But, I’d thought how the characters in this book interacted and met seemed realistic and plausible. You should read it if you like clean, sweet stories!

So, when was the last time you wrote a letter? To whom did you write the letter?

ROCKY ROAD DREAMS BOOK LINK

Home by Spring

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Are you ready for spring?

I’d noticed that Hallmark has been showing Home By Spring recently. They’re gearing up for the spring season! Doesn’t that sound like fun? Almost one year ago, I was a guest on The Bubbly Sesh. We had a great discussion about the movie, Home By Spring.

Come listen to the podcast to learn my opinion about Home By Spring. It was a giggly, fun, and lively discussion! They even let me plug my Christmas novella, Loving Luke – which is now available as a paperback!

Love Under The Rainbow

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Love Under the Rainbow PODCAST

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Love Under the Rainbow 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.

Have you ever seen a rainbow?

This movie starts with Lucy (the female lead character) hanging out with her pregnant sister. As is classic of a lot of Hallmark Movies, her sister is nagging her about getting married/dating. Of course, as in most Hallmark movies, the “nagger” is always a female that has a close relationship with the leading lady.

Another classic Hallmark move – when Lucy encounters Jack at a coffee shop, she accidentally spills coffee on him. Ouch!

Turns out that the man on whom she’s spilled the coffee shows up at her classroom with his daughter, Sophie. Jack is a widower and he’s recently relocated to town with a new job.

Sophie misses her mom and she wants to do a science fair project about rainbows. Her mom was a rainbow fanatic and Sophie feels closer to her mother by working on this project.

Of course you know what happens. Jack is still somewhat grieving over his deceased wife as he gets to know Lucy. They keep running into each other and having impromptu dates.

I loved the rainbow park where Lucy takes her school kids on their field trip. Does such a park exist? I’ve never heard the term “chasing rainbows” until I saw this movie.

Overall, a cute, sweet, film. You even get to see Lucy’s sister have her baby, too. Seeing a newborn baby is always nice in a film! I also loved all of the rainbow effects throughout the movie. Sophie has a rainbow set of drawers. Folks had rainbow socks, rainbow headbands, shirts, etc. When I was a teenager, I remember that folks would dress up in white, three-quarter-sleeved shirts with a rainbow splashed across the front. A LOT of the teenaged girls were wearing these shirts when I was in high school.

At the end of the movie, they showed a moonbow.

Have you ever seen a moonbow? Had you heard of a moonbow before you saw this film?

Honestly, I’d never heard of a moonbow, so I researched it. Reason why I’d not heard of it is because it’s rare. The bow is formed by moonlight reflecting off of moisture instead of sunlight. Also, on a moonbow, you usually can’t see the colors since the light is so dim. Moonbows are usually white.

I’ve always been fascinated with rainbows. It’s probably because I’ve not been able to see them very often. If I’m driving and happen to spot a rainbow, I’ve pulled over to the side of the road just to stop and look at it.

Another fascinating bow is called a sundog. An author friend of mine told me about them some years ago. Sundogs are formed by light reflecting off of ice crystals. It’s so PRETTY, don’t you agree?

So, when was the last time you saw a rainbow?

Genesis 9:13-16

13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

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

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy movies such as Love Under the Rainbow 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?