I thought that if i let anyone in, they’d find out what was broken about me. And then not only would they know, i’d know too.
— Naoise Dolan, Exciting Times
The Feels

The Feels

And despite February being my birthday month (along with 2 other siblings), it seems the world does not want me to forget it’s Valentines and so my favourite channel, yes it’s my fave, Hallmark has decided to make a month-long event out of their manufactured holiday. And you know what, if it gives me four pretty amazing Hallmark movies out of it, who am I to complain?

The Story Of Us

My least favourite of the four movies, happens to be this one and I don’t know if it’s because I’m not a fan of either of the leads (though the lead guy does bring me back to Gossip Girl days), but it just didn’t hit home as I’d have liked considering the trailer played At Last which basically seals the deal for me when it comes to romance.

I do love a good bookstore inclusion and I’ve seen one too many big developer comes in to remodel small town (hello, Welcome to Christmas) but the book store angle was a predictably nice twist. I wish it gave me more You’ve Got Mail vibes (complete with love letters) but it just wasn’t there. Not bad though.

Valentine Meter: 💖💖💖

Valentines int he Vineyard

I had such high high hopes for this one even if I was really scared because the third time in Hallmark world usually isn’t the charm, but it had the older brother from Chesapeake Shores and it has Rachel Leigh Cook and that’s usually a guaranteed slam dunk.

So even if it was really nice to see them go through the motions of being engaged, the ‘compatibility test’ trope could have gone better. Still, I’m really a sucker for a vineyard setting (hello, A Walk in the Clouds with Keannu Reeves), so it was nice to kind of go back to Sorrento. Something tells me there might be a fourth movie and though this one could’ve gone better, I won’t complain.

Valentine Meter: 💖💖💖

Love on the Menu

It’s really down to the lead and the chemistry for me and Autumn Reeser always delivers no matter who she’s paired with. And this time, as she plays big time company lady working a chef for original recipes to turn into frozen meals (I know, the plots get crazy), she was super effective. She even made me not cringe to hard in the single dad with teenage daughter moments (because Hallmark loves those).

Apparently, the lead guy is from When Calls the Heart which is the only Hallmark thing I have yet to see. And though he wasn’t necessarily all that for me, the combination with Autumn and see him be the tough but amenable chef, kind of softened me up for him. Also, Hallmark is getting great about using songs that have been showing up on my Discover Weekly. Is this all a big conspiracy?!

Valentine Meter: 💖💖💖💖💖

Love, Romance and Chocolate

And for my favourite movie of this countdown, I’ll give it to Lacey Chabert, the queen who can do no wrong (or at least she hasn’t lately. The title was pretty clear but it’s nice that it had the most quirky of elements: foreign location: Belgium? Check! Royalty but only in the periphery: check! Chocolatier: check!

Still, Lacey can be paired with anyone and she will work it, but having her paired with this guy — who you’d think has been in a Hallmark thing but apparently hasn’t (he should be, he’s really quite effective!). was quite a nice touch. He’s vaguely European in the accent department and just cute enough to make him stand apart from the very obvious ‘other suitor.' (aka the evil one). This movie really made me wish I could visit Belgium soon.

Valentine Meter: 💖💖💖💖💖

Someone bring me the next batch of Hallmark movies because this batch was such a winner, I kind of want more.

Currently: February 2019

Currently: February 2019

The Cupid Above

The Cupid Above