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The story is about Harrington, (Paul Campbell) a writer of bestselling Christmas fantasy novels that are based on his hometown of Mistletoe. After the death of his parents he has become a cynical recluse, he no longer believes in the magic of Christmas and views it as just a way for people to make money. He posts his feelings on social media which creates a lot of negative backlash. The timing couldn't be worse because it coincides with the release of his latest Christmas fantasy book. The publishing house sends a publicist, April (Lyndie Greenwood) to do damage control and save book sales and Harrington's career. Her plan is for Harrington to return to his hometown in order to restore his love of Christmas by showing him how much his books mean to his fans and also the town of Mistletoe. Harrington is anything but cooperative, and she threatens him with a lawsuit to make him cooperate. As April takes Harrington on a schedule of events coinciding with Mistletoe's Christmas Festival, she sees a softer side of him, and sees how the town really loves him. Harrington starts to warm up to what Christmas really means and also warms up to April too. However, several conflicts arise due to emotional memories from his past. The question is will Harrington overcome these obstacles and will his love of Christmas and trust in people be restored?

Lyndie Greenwood is a delight as the charismatic and always way too prepared April ( I'd like to see her in more Hallmark movies). Paul Campbell is perfect in the role of the the moody and cynical and wise cracking Harrington. Greenwood and Campbell have great chemistry together and the dialog is witty. The movie is a little slow paced at times, yes it's predictable, and the ending is a bit rushed. But overall, its an enjoyable and entertaining movie.

This basis of the movie is yet another "fake date" to impress the family, BUT there's a twist that makes this tired plot unique and fun. Amy Groening plays Jessie, who doesn't want her family to cancel the family Christmas festivities because she doesn't have a date. A friend comes to the rescue and signs her up with an online dating service for a Christmas Eve blind date. Bryan played by Robert Buckley is intrigued and agrees to join Jessie and her family for a day filled with holiday events. However, the family thinks this is a serious relationship going on between Jessie and Bryan and they don't know it's just their first date. The fun part of the movie is The Christmas Olympics where the family participates in a variety of events. We witness Bryan getting involved, liking the family, and enjoying the festivities as well as developing romantic feelings for Jessie. Complications arise when Bryan's family owned business impacts a family member with heartbreaking news.

Amy Groening's and Robert Buckley's chemistry is terrific, and Mimi Kuzyk as Aunt Lilly provides a lot of fun! Unfortunately, the movie goes downhill as the plot refocuses on the usual Hallmark "conflict" and of course this leads to the way too predictable conclusion. Also, It would've been better to allow more time for the romance, the ending felt rushed!

This story starts out with something we've seen before but with a slight twist. Merry Griffin is a social influencer on relationships. She writes an advice book about how she found the perfect guy that checked all her boxes and has the perfect relationship and how the reader can have the same result. However, this is just a fantasy that she made up, her Publisher finds out and she gives her the ultimatum to FIX IT, they can't publish this book of lies!! Her Editor and best friend, Darlene, encourages Merry to come with her to her family home in Vermont for Christmas, where they can work on a solution to fix the problem. There she gets reacquainted with Darlene's brother, Adam, whom she met before and loathed. Merry's Publisher, Sonia, later follows the ladies to Vermont to give them the ultimatum and a deadline to come up with a new book idea or they will both be fired. Meanwhile, Merry and Adam start to connect and fall for one another. There's a complication, Darlene has a crush on the diner owner's son, James, who also returned to Vermont for Christmas, but it appears he likes Merry, but looks are deceiving. There's also a subplot about Darlene and Adam's parents announcing that they are retiring and selling their farm and store, which upsets Adam. Yes, it all sounds somewhat complicated and also figures to be a promising story to unravel. However, the plot drags horribly in the middle (mostly because of time spent on a romance between Sonia and James's father, Joe, and the sale of the store and farm ). ALSO, parts of the script that were meant to generate suspense FAIL, and all the story components conclude with VERY VERY predictable endings. Although there are entertaining and witty moments, this movie is sadly a disappointment.

Rachel Leigh Cook, (Merry), Travis Van Einkle, (Adam), and Amy Groening (Darlene) all do an EXCELLENT job in their roles, they come close to saving the film, but the too predictable script failed them.