To Barcelona, Forever

This sequel is certainly less painful to watch than the "To Barcelona, with Love" episode of last week but was still painful. I know that this is Hallmark Channel but still the two lead characters are just not credible in their roles. Their efforts to act out as women in their '30s by being overly chipper, emotional and silly acting just makes it that much worse; playing opposite much younger men only emphasizes the lack of credibility.

It is better than the first part in that at least it showed a few more sights of the wonderful city that is Barcelona, as opposed to the nondescript streets that they showed in the first one.

Everyone reviewing this movie and the other one keep talking about the women being of a certain age and being cast with younger men. When actually both men are the same age as Alison and Ashley. I'm not sure why no one knows that. Stop saying they "look good for their age"... no one says that about men. Do you think you'll always be in your 20s and 30s, think again. If you have the privilege of growing old, thank the Lord. I enjoyed this movie. Learning about saffron was very interesting and entertaining. The scenery was beautiful. I will never make it to Spain, so thank you Hallmark for taking me along.

7.1 stars.

A slight improvement over the first episode only because the romance has more depth. I enjoy the interaction more because it is mixed with the family dynamic and the secrets they must keep, therefore it makes for a more captivating story than the first film.

The silliness and nonchalance is still pervasive, so we don't quite get the full emotional impact of a European love story. I'm not certain why the producers aren't emphasizing the mood as equally as the background and tourism aspects, but I suppose that's a hallmark for Hallmark.

In this sequel, Anna is starting to grow her food blogging/foodie critic, business in Europe, but she needs more followers and an explosive story to get her business up and running. She meets a man whose family has a secret saffron farm and they immediately hit it off after an initial brief clashing of personalities. His family secret just might be what she needs for the opportunity of groundbreaking success.

Over several days, fate takes over, and they bump into each other several times. The coincidences are outlandish, but this is the usual cliché romance, after all. Both couples end up spending much time all together at the "hidden" farm estate as they interact with his family, and attempt to keep some secrets of their own. The dynamic of the blending of many characters in one large villa makes this a somewhat robust and slightly more entertaining experience than To Barcelona With Love.

To mention the obvious, yes these ladies are older than the men they love. It's deliberate, and it's feminine power, and I'm okay with it. The ladies look very good for their age, why not give them a few last hurrahs for taking care of themselves?

Loved the both movies!

For me, the movies were not so much about love, they were more about friendship.

These two women were the true heroes of their stories! They were so full of live. It is so good to watch such energy. I like that they weren't found their place in live yet and that make them feel so relatable to me. Life doesn't always goes as planned and that is alright.

The love story was lovely. I really belived that these two people are in love. There was chemistry and they were so cute together. Love the actor who played Javier. Let's hope that we will see more of him in the future.

The writing was great as well. New twists, different modern approach of the good Hallmark classic moments. It felt good.