Noël, couronnes et pâtisseries

Very similar or maybe they use they same theme a lot. Corporate guy comes to small homey town to change things in a company and falls for the worker of said company as well as falls in love with the people of the town. Like recycling of a story with a few small changes.

Love Brook D'Orsay not a fan of Daniel Lissing too structured always plays too classy.love Mary-Margaret Homes other casting not familiar with. Charming small town. The man playing Daniel Lissing's dad so caring nothing like his son who wants to automate.Brooke's dad in movie so caring also . Not good chemistry with 2 leads

I really want to love Hallmark's Christmas films, but the phony and/or cheap details ruin them. The real plus in this film was the actors especially Brooke D'Orsay. So I rated this film with a six. But... the phony details ruin so much of the story and they are as follows:

1. Nobody ever looks really cold; and they never wear real coats. They also never wear warm hats...or gloves...or boots! Also we never see the misty breath which is the hallmark (ha, ha) of freezing temps. 2. There are little patches of snow around, but if you look in the background, you'll see plenty of deciduous trees, full of green leaves. These should be stripped bare! 3. The sun is WRONG! It has this intense brightness that is only seen in the summer. 4. Ms. D'Orsay runs around the bakery with flowing long hair. NOooo! She should be wearing the same head gear as the workers - or at least be wearing her hair up!

This lack of authenticity ruins the film for me. Instead of enjoying the show, I'm nitpicking every small mistake! And every year, I find myself watching fewer Christmas movies and enjoying the ones I watch less!

I know I'm prejudiced. There is something about the bright shining face and happy spirit that Brooke D'Orsay does so well. It's hard not to get drawn into that spirit when she has as much screen time as she does in this movie. Add Hallmark favorite Daniel Lissing and you have a winning combination. Give them plenty of screen time together and it's a winner.

There are only so many ways a plot like this can go. I thought there was a nice tiny twist with the rival. The way the Secret/Lie was discovered was totally natural, not forced. On the slightly negative side, Hallmark movie writers have a tendency to make it sound like the star's money making talent can be turned into gold, but if you watch many of these movies, that's not unusual.

I would watch anything with Brooke in it. She's a natural and you feel like she's kind of just being herself. A genuinely sweet lady.

Now with that said, the storyline had a few, nice differences from the typical Hallmark norm but some of the usual things were annoying. There's always that misunderstanding at the end that needs to be cleared up. When the guy makes an attempt twice to clear it up nobody will let him speak. He's also not so desperate to clear the air and just blurt out that they are wrong and explain why. He just kind of says OK and turns around and leaves. Twice. I mean, seriously? This is not real life and it just kills what was such a great story. They could've found a happy heartwarming way to end it with him coming to her and explaining why he was not going to make the changes he thought he would and tell her that was all because of her warm spirit and everything she taught him. That he learned a new life lesson. Instead the writers think it's fun to have this happy build up and then they tear it down and then all is happy again. Its not fun. It's just silly Hallmark.

I do recommend the movie but be forewarned the typical Hallmark cheese is at the end. Interior decorations were once again a little overdone. I would watch it again and I'm on the fence as to whether or not I would seek it out and record it. Brooke is the main reason I would watch again.