Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane
Stars: Alicia Witt & Colin Ferguson
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Synopsis (via Hallmark)
Emma Reynolds returns to Oliver’s Well to celebrate Christmas for the last time with her siblings in the home they grew up in. After their parents recently passed, the siblings reluctantly agree to sell the family home on Honeysuckle Lane after the New Year—leaving Emma in charge of its belongings. While the antiques expert, Morgan Shelby, appraises Emma’s mother’s collection, they find a hidden surprise in an antique desk that takes them on a journey to discover the power of love and family during the holidays.
Thoughts
Emma is back home for the holidays. Her sister is a best-selling author who wants to know why Emma has been away for so long. Emma has recently been promoted and her father recently died (so did her mother), so this will be the last family Christmas at the Honeysuckle House.
While shopping at a local Christmas pop up wreath store (yup, that is a place in this movie), Emma overhears a handsome stranger dissing her mother’s blue wreaths. The man is caught off-guard and asks what he did to her to earn her immediate disdain.
“Am I bothering you? Have we met? Did I steal your parking spot?
Emma leaves but not before shooting the handsome stranger a dirty look.
When they get home, they see that Emma’s brother is having the annual holiday party in his parents honor. (Their parents loved Christmas and even got married on the day.) Emma is having crazy flashbacks of her Christmas growing up. Seriously, everything in the house causes a flashback. Emma’s siblings don’t seem too concerned about her mental health and are more concerned about when Ian is putting a ring on it. (Too bad Emma broke up with him—despite their being together forever.)
The family has a list of things to do: Snowman Festival, Tree Lighting, house tree decorating, and Mary Bernadent’s Christmas Eve Ball—all while getting the house appraised. Morgan Shelby is the recommended appraiser because he went to Harvard and owns the antique store. It is, of course, the handsome stranger!
Morgan Shelby comes over and is impressed with quality of items in Emma’s parent house. He finds a hidden drawer in a desk and it has love letters from… NOT EMMA’S FATHER! (From someone named RJ.) Emma keeps it a secret from her family until she can figure out the mystery. (She searches Wikipedia and finds RJ immediately.)
At the Snowman Festival, where people build snowmen. Emma and Morgan are paired together and we learn that Morgan hasn’t really experienced the town Christmas before. Morgan starts hanging around more and helps the family decorate their house for Christmas. (When the decorations get stuck in the attic, Morgan breaks the lock and gets them.) They even make Morgan take the family picture in front of the tree.
Ian calls and tells Emma he is not going to give up on her, but he is also rude on the phone.
The sale of the house is moving quicker than Emma would like. A nice, young couple expecting their first child are hoping to make a home on Honeysuckle Lane. They want to see the place in the next few days.
Emma keeps opening up to Morgan, and she even tells him about why she hasn’t been home for so long. Emma got into a fight with her mom and said awful things to her. She regrets ending things on bad terms.
Ian shows up with presents and an annoying persistence that can’t be rivaled. He begs Emma to let him stay and she agrees—for one night only.
Instead of spending time with either man, Emma tells her sister about the letters and photos she has found of the other man their mother was engaged to.
Ian just won’t go away! He makes the family gluten-free pancakes and shows the young couple the house. He then proposes and it’s like this dude cannot take a hint and shoves the engagement ring on her finger, which gets stuck….
At the ball, something happens with the waitstaff and the women of the family agree to help serve the appetizers (their brother is the chef). Morgan shows up to the party and Emma is excited to see him because she found out who RJ is. RJ was the husband of the shop owner from the beginning of the movie. Someone notices Emma’s engagement ring and makes a big deal of it. Morgan is rightfully upset that Emma, by all appearances, has chosen Ian. (But she hasn’t.)
The siblings sit around the Christmas tree in their PJ’s and get all emotional. Emma tells them she is planning to move back home but the brother already sold the place to the young couple. They then open presents as a family and Emma gets a very thoughtful gift from Morgan. He sent her a replica of the nutcracker she broke when she fought with her mom.
Emma runs to Morgan’s house and thanks him personally. She tells him that she wouldn’t have been able to get through this tough Christmas without him. She gives him the blue wreath that he hated from the beginning of the movie. Emma thinks he is dating someone but he isn’t, however that someone is at his house and tells him to go after her. (But not before we see that he already bought a blue wreath that Emma loves.)
Morgan shows up at Honeysuckle Lane. They clear everything up and decide to open themselves up to change, and they want to be together. They are in love with each other and they kiss! The house is Emma’s (the sale fell through), and she takes a job in town! The End.
Side Note
Minority Report: Emma’s Godparents
I cried at the end when Morgan already had a wreath, why? I have no idea!
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Overall rating
🎄🎄🎄 (3 Christmas Trees)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required)
*Photo Credit: © 2018 Crown Media United States, LLC
Who played Ian
Pretty sure it was Giles Panton, but it isn’t listed on IMDB.