As stereotypically Hallmark as you get. In a good way.
Cate Merriweather (Stephanie Tanner Jodie Sweetin) has inherited a candy cane company from her Grandma located in Britewell, Ohio, the "Candy Cane Capital of the World". The candy cane business is great from August through December, but not so much the other 8 months of the year. Cate was never really involved with the business but has been CEO for a year and is operating exactly the same way her Grandma did - same workforce, same suppliers, same everything. Doing things just because "that's how they've always been done" keeps Merry & Bright backsliding and not really turning a profit. Empire Corporate Recovery has been hired by Merry & Bright's "board" to deep dive into their business operations to find any opportunities to increase revenue, and who better to take on this consulting gig than Gabe Carter (Andrew Walker).
Gabe, an admitted Grinch, isn't keen on heading to Britewell and wants to wrap up the study of Merry & Bright as quickly as possible. After confusing Gabe for one of her mom's many set-ups, Cate shows a distinct reluctance for change. Gabe's got lots of ideas for Cate, but she balks at all of them, choosing to stay true to Grandma Carol's way of doing things.
Gabe soon becomes fully entrenched in Britewell's Christmas festivities and even lights the town Christmas tree. After only a few days, he laments to his mom/boss that everyone's been so welcoming and he's becoming to feel at home, and he definitely is too big-city to feel at home in small-town Brightwell.
Once Gabe gets a hold of the homemade chocolates Cate has been making for staff presents, he has an a-ha moment and sets off to convince Cate to expand her product line to include multi-seasonal chocolates. He helps her put together a presentation to attract investors.
Their pitch to a big food investor goes well, but the folks at Bermax Foods want to phase out the candy canes. Cate is, obviously, not thrilled with this prospect and won't sign the deal, especially after finding some notes of her Grandmother's with alternative candy cane flavors - gingerbread, sugar plum, eggnog... I'm not going to lie, they sound absolutely disgusting. Miraculously, after sending Bermax a sample of these gross new flavors, the CEO has a change of heart and wants to explore this new line of candy canes. Gag. Where's his "board"? Someone should fire that guy.
Meanwhile, Cate's mom, Joy (Sharon Lawrence), is acting real squirrely. She keeps making excuses to get home early or skip events and making Cate very suspicious. Turns out Joy has adopted the cutest, scrappiest little rescue pup for Cate. Mom's all strict with the pup at first, but nobody can resist that little face and even though she adopted the little guy with the best of intentions, Cate recognizes how must Joy loves him and regifts him back.
We end with a flash-forward, which I love! Cate tells us that the new line of candy canes (now including key lime for St. Patrick's day - nothing says Ireland like key limes, pumpkin spice for Fall and cinnamon for Valentine's Day) has been a huge success.
Cate's grandma used to say to "always leave them with something sweet" and the last scene, aptly, is of Gabe proposing to Cate in Merry & Bright museum room.
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"Do you like all types of reindeer, or only Santa's?" What a great question!
There's a secondary plot where Cate is recruited by her friend/assistant, Sophie, into convincing her boyfriend, Pete, into proposing. It's cute - Cate has to talk him out of buying a mountain bike in favor of something "Sophie can wear". Pete innocently asks "like a bike helmet?"
I want to live on this block.
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| via Hallmark Channel |
Gabe, an admitted Grinch, isn't keen on heading to Britewell and wants to wrap up the study of Merry & Bright as quickly as possible. After confusing Gabe for one of her mom's many set-ups, Cate shows a distinct reluctance for change. Gabe's got lots of ideas for Cate, but she balks at all of them, choosing to stay true to Grandma Carol's way of doing things.
Gabe soon becomes fully entrenched in Britewell's Christmas festivities and even lights the town Christmas tree. After only a few days, he laments to his mom/boss that everyone's been so welcoming and he's becoming to feel at home, and he definitely is too big-city to feel at home in small-town Brightwell.
Once Gabe gets a hold of the homemade chocolates Cate has been making for staff presents, he has an a-ha moment and sets off to convince Cate to expand her product line to include multi-seasonal chocolates. He helps her put together a presentation to attract investors.
Their pitch to a big food investor goes well, but the folks at Bermax Foods want to phase out the candy canes. Cate is, obviously, not thrilled with this prospect and won't sign the deal, especially after finding some notes of her Grandmother's with alternative candy cane flavors - gingerbread, sugar plum, eggnog... I'm not going to lie, they sound absolutely disgusting. Miraculously, after sending Bermax a sample of these gross new flavors, the CEO has a change of heart and wants to explore this new line of candy canes. Gag. Where's his "board"? Someone should fire that guy.
Meanwhile, Cate's mom, Joy (Sharon Lawrence), is acting real squirrely. She keeps making excuses to get home early or skip events and making Cate very suspicious. Turns out Joy has adopted the cutest, scrappiest little rescue pup for Cate. Mom's all strict with the pup at first, but nobody can resist that little face and even though she adopted the little guy with the best of intentions, Cate recognizes how must Joy loves him and regifts him back.
We end with a flash-forward, which I love! Cate tells us that the new line of candy canes (now including key lime for St. Patrick's day - nothing says Ireland like key limes, pumpkin spice for Fall and cinnamon for Valentine's Day) has been a huge success.
Cate's grandma used to say to "always leave them with something sweet" and the last scene, aptly, is of Gabe proposing to Cate in Merry & Bright museum room.
-
"Do you like all types of reindeer, or only Santa's?" What a great question!
There's a secondary plot where Cate is recruited by her friend/assistant, Sophie, into convincing her boyfriend, Pete, into proposing. It's cute - Cate has to talk him out of buying a mountain bike in favor of something "Sophie can wear". Pete innocently asks "like a bike helmet?"
I want to live on this block.
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