8.2 stars.

Sustad is the source of this drama gold if you ask me. Just about every movie I've seen her in is a winner. I don't know if that's dumb luck, or she has some special connections with one of the big wigs, or she's just that good. I am always ready for a fun time with her characters. Although most of her personalities are similar, they have some minor nuances that she likes to surprise us with now and then. Her character in this film is a very down-to-earth woman who misses her dad something awful, he died recently. Her stepmother is the only person she has left, and their relationship was never a close one.

She has a bestie who helps her through the trials, but the people she meets, a man and his cousin, these become new and wonderful friends. The whole town supports her, they keep her little secret because of a mystery behind a man on a motorcycle. He crashes into some trees, gets injured and she rescues him, but why is he there, what does he want? She hides her identity from him in order to maintain a low key surveillance operation. All these factors come together to make this a very rich story, full of entertainment and very interesting personalities. What an amazing movie.

Probably half of the Hallmark movies I've started watching this year, I didn't end up finishing. This is by far the best one I've seen this year. Kimberley Sustad is probably my favorite Hallmark female lead, and I didn't know Mark Ghanime, but he was great, and they were very good together.

I loved the humor in this one! The creepy Santa was such a nice touch, and all the funny lines about him. The thief dog was very cute, though started a little silly with the woman saying she had seen him in her shed but didn't know what to do. . .uhm, call his owner? Another minor complaint is the stepmother. She was so cold, almost "wicked" stepmother vibe for most of the movie, but then there is a 180 done with her character.

My big complaint about the movie is the moment when the confrontation happens with the letter. I felt Ceci's reaction was really over the top. I would understand her needing some time to process and such, but the way she treats Sam and tells him to go away, felt out of place in the movie. Besides she was incredibly deceptive with him originally. I dislike when Hallmark has those type of moments just to create a conflict in an otherwise good story. Those moments are not always necessary, especially in this movie where the reveal of the letter was enough of a moment on its own.

Overall, there was so much good in this one, and it heavily outweighs my minor complaints, and even my main one. I would rewatch this one again!