Karen Kingsbury’s Maggie’s Christmas Miracle
Listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast here!
Watch & Stream the movie here! #Ad
Stars: Jill Wagner & Luke Macfarlane
Synopsis (via Hallmark)
Shortly after Maggie experiences her first love, her father leaves her mother at Christmas as a child. After her ex-husband leaves her family at Christmas twenty years later, Maggie forms a protective shield over her heart and her son, Jordan. Jordan, however, sees that Maggie is lonely, and writes letters to God praying for her happiness.
Jordan’s prayers are answered when Maggie meets his tutor, widower Casey, and forms an instant connection that is stronger than the one she has with Tanner, the fellow divorce attorney she had been dating. When Maggie and Casey begin to fall in love, though, Maggie pulls back. After discovering a coincidental childhood connection with Casey, and reading Jordan’s letters to God, though, Maggie must decide if Christmas is the right time to open her heart to love.
Thoughts
We start off with two kids (Cade and Maggie) making snow angels, taking photobooth pictures, and talking about if they believe in Christmas miracles. They have a blossoming romance and everything is looking up, until the little girl goes to her room at the snow lodge to find her mother alone with a letter. Her father left his family on Christmas Eve!!! Now she will never believe in Christmas again.
Flash forward to Maggie, a single mother (her husband left her three years ago a week before Christmas) with a J.O.B. She is overprotective of her son (Jordan) and is concerned when the teacher at school suggests he needs a tutor. (Instead of answering any questions on his math test, he draws pictures. Sounds like little me.) Maggie realizes that maybe her son needs a tutor and calls Casey to schedule an appointment, but she is apprehensive and sends her mom (who slut-shames her for having a fake tree) to investigate.
One their day of fun (and investigating), Grandma and Jordan get hot chocolate where he talks about his dreams of becoming an inventor and that he forgets how his Dad looks. They also go and get a real Christmas tree before ending up at a diner. Casey is the owner of said diner and is dead sexy! Woo gurl! (With a five o’clock shadow and a really tight sweater.) They quickly put the kid to work and he helps them unload Christmas trees, and (of course) get injured. Maggie freaks out and takes Jordan to dinner with his potential new Dad, Tanner (a co-worker from her law firm).
Maggie decides to give Casey a chance as a tutor, instead of meeting at a coffee shop or the diner that Casey owns, he offers to make her dinner… at his house?!?! Skimming right over things like Jordan and maybe the subject he needs help in, we learn that Casey’s wife died of cancer three years ago. Not sure if it is pity, or the wine, but Maggie agrees to drop Jordan off at the diner to learn in a non-classroom environment.
At the law firm, Maggie’s friend Lauren is getting a divorce and her new boyfriend, Tanner Ryan, has taken on Lauren’s future ex-husband as a client.
“What does it mean?” Lauren asks distressed.
Maggie’s response? “Scorched Earth.”
WHY IS SHE SO DRAMATIC?!?!?!?!
Later, on a Christmas stroll with Casey. They talk about Galileo and lot of science things that I couldn’t care less about. They make another date together at her place—where she will attempt to cook. Maggie doesn’t know the difference between a saucepan and a saute pan or how to mince vegetables. Casey whips up an amazing dinner for Maggie, and then Grandma and Jordan show up… because they live there, too (but I totally forgot about them for this whole scene).
On ANOTHER date, Casey opens up about his wife’s cancer. He offers up such gems as:
“You know that saying? Life’s a river, it will carry you to your future whether you want it to or not.”
Maggie breaks up with Tanner Ryan and then has a very dramatic scene by a Christmas tree with Casey, where she explains why she hates Christmas and can never love again. This is all after he triggers her by telling him he is falling in love with her.
Dumb Casey doesn’t realize that when she is telling him about her Dad leaving her on Christmas at the Tahoe lodge, that IT WAS HIM. It isn’t until he shakes a snow globe that he remembers.
Then Jordan gives Casey a letter to give to God, that he has been working on the whole movie (I guess tutoring isn’t working) and he wishes for his Mom to just be happy and stop worrying all the time.
On Christmas Eve, Maggie receives a snow globe from Casey that is from the Lake Tahoe Lodge from her childhood and a letter from Jordan, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TO GOD, which sends Maggie running to Casey’s apartment. (With no coat on.)
Upon arrival, Casey shows Maggie the picture from the photo booth! It’s Casey! They are reunited and in love. She gets Casey and Billy (His POC friend) to bring a real tree to their home just in time for Christmas morning. God answered Jordan’s wish, but couldn’t it have just been Santa all along?
Side Note
I really like Jordan’s glasses, they are super cute.
Lane Edwards plays the rejected boyfriend in this movie and also in The Sweetest Christmas
Based on the book Maggie’s Miracle by author Karen Kingsbury.
Don’t forget to listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Donate to keep the blog and podcast going 😊
Overall rating
🎄 (1 Christmas Tree)
🍷🍷🍷 🍷(4 glasses of wine required)
*Photo Credit: © 2017 Crown Media United States, LLC
Maggie should be worried about Casey tutoring her son in math, since he’s clearly terrible at it. If you add up the gifts from all of the verses in “12 Days of Christmas”, it definitely does not equal 364.
Love this! Haha, thanks for the comment Karen!
Sorry, but actually you do. You have to count all the verses. You sing partridge in a pear tree 12x (12) + 2 turtle doves 11x (22) + …