I loved that this movie takes place in Salt Lake City, which is where a lot of Hallmark movies are filmed, but they don’t refer to Salt Lake often. I thought this movie had a similar plot as we’ve seen before. Boy hires girl to help with the Christmas season, whether it be shopping, decorating or event planning.

In this movie, Steven (Jonathon Bennett) hires Gretchen ( Alexa PenaVega) to decorate and plan his family activities, and then you can guess what happens… Gretchen captures the hearts of both Steven and his family. After several family bonding activities, Steven and Gretchen discover that their relationship is more then just a professional one. In the end, they end up discovering what they really want to do with their lives. Which means they both quit their jobs to follow their dreams and fall in love. I don’t think quitting your jobs is the most logical solution, but YOLO!

I would only rate this at a 7.5 out of 10.  

Elle (Brooke Nevin) is your typical holiday cheer mister. She plans an epic Christmas party every year for her friends. But this Christmas, she convinces her boss that she can take on and fix a major campaign that was facing a big debacle. During this major fix, she is teamed up with the cute coffee shop boy Max Turner (Michael Cassidy) from corporate to help.

They quickly find out that they are both competing for the same promotion. I was glad to see that Max told her in the beginning that he was going for the same promotion, and like a gentleman who was smitten, he backs out and convinces the board to hire Elle.

I thought it was a little unrealistic that Max left the company to help his mom with a startup business. I imagine that would have been quite the pay cut, but in the end it all works out.

I would rate this movie at a solid 8.5 out of 10. 

Super cute movie, in fact it was one of my favorites on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries this year. I thought both of the main characters were spot on, and killed it! I am glad they finally figured out that it was a misunderstanding that came between the two of them years before.

Emmett (Kristoffer Polaha) was a fantastic book store owner and uncle. And Nell (Ashley Newbrough) was an even better author who had a good grasp on life. At one point during the movie, the old lady in town asked her what she was looking for in a relationship, and I really liked her answer. She said something like, “I am just looking for a partnership that we can support each other in our goals.” I really liked that, I thought it was a nice way of describing a great relationship.

Definitely giving this movie a 9.2 out of 10.   

So I may have to be a little critical of this one… I had a really hard time getting into it. The storyline was OK, but I felt like the exact same plot as a few other hallmarks I have seen before. I liked that it was around a famous country music star, but I think the part that really got me was that his signing didn’t match his real voice at all. That kind-of left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Some of the side stories seemed a little cheesy, like the little boy traveling along with Heath (Josh Henderson). The part that seemed weird was that Heath gave this little boy a treasured gift from his father, who had passed away, after only knowing the boy a couple of hours. It just didn’t seem very believable to me.

I will say that both of the main actors seemed to have good chemistry and it was fun to see that develop during the movie.

I’m giving this one a 5.9 out of 10.

So fun seeing Tia Hardrict again! She did a good job and I really hope she continues to do Hallmark movies. Who doesn’t like a movie with life size gingerbread houses? And for the record, I would give the gingerbread house they designed a 10 out of 10.

I thought that the little girl was darling in the movie, and I loved that she was so cute with Taylor (Tia Hardrict). I thought it was a little bit of a stretch that Adam (Duane Henry) entered into a gingerbread contest to try to get investors in his bakery idea, but perhaps it could happen…

Anyway, with that being said, it was a cute storyline, just didn’t find it super believable. I’m giving this one a 7 out of 10. 

My girl, Jodie Sweeten stars in this movie. She takes on the role of a daughter to a Martha Stewart type person. Her mother can cook, decorate, sew, you name it, but Candace (Jodie Sweeten), can’t quite measure up to her mother in the eyes of many people in the company. When Candace’s mother decides to retire, some people, including Candace wonder if she can run the company.

Luckily, Candace was able to have an experience that taught her that herself is the only person she can be. Of course, she has a couple of people help her figure that out. One is a little girl and her mom and grandma, and another is the local handsome reporter.

I had two thoughts that didn’t seem to add up for me in this movie. One is that Candace looked like she had no idea how to cook at all, which I had a hard time believing. The other was that she would stay in the town with a family she didn’t even know very well during the holidays. In the end, I think it all worked out and I really liked it. Plus the main guy in the movie was very handsome!

I’m giving this one a 8.5 out of 10. 

This one was pretty good. I really liked the connection between the two characters and I love that they bonded over Noelle’s late Mother and Christmas. It did seem a little strange that the entire town was so upset about the Christmas Gala going away. I don’t know why they couldn’t just move the gala to another location?

The best part of the movie was when Noelle told off her co-worker that was using her to get projects completed. In the end, I am glad it worked out, and she ended up staying in that darling house with the cutest town. I think my favorite character was Dave’s sister, she just handled every situation very well and was a big reason it worked out between Noelle and Dave.

With that being said, I’ll be giving this one a 7.5 out of 10.

Character development. That is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this movie. At the beginning, I didn’t know how I felt about both of the main characters, but especially Jennifer Finnigan (Madison). However, throughout the movie I grew to like her character more and more. It was great to see her bonding with Eric Mabius (Gage McBride’s) daughters. That seemed to make a big difference in the movie.

The only thing that seemed a little off was the resolution at the end of the movie. It seemed a little unrealistic to make the town of Christmas a Christmas destination all year long. I mean, I guess it could work, but it didn’t seem like it was well thought out. But, with that being said, it was a good movie and I enjoyed it with great company.

Also, any movie involving a small town already  had my heart, so that was a plus as well!

I’m giving this one a 9.1 out of 10. 

OK, this one is a heart warmer, seriously, it will get you! I am pretty sure that Chris (Brett Dalton) is probably the best guy in al of the Hallmark movies combined. I didn’t expect the transplant to come and go so soon in the movie, I thought it was going to be more of a climax near the end.

Also, the fact that it was based on a true story. Talk about inspiring, I loved it. Maybe that is why it was a little bit more realistic. I could totally sense their concerns about falling in love after they had gone through such a life changing experience together. I am glad it worked out well! I’d like to give this one a 8.7 out of 10.