Montana in December means you can go outside in a turtleneck and a shoulder-wrap sweater, right? The average temperature for Montana in December is in the mid-30s (Fahrenheit). That might be a little chilly for a light sweater.

Mark (Duane Henry) is a single father to two children. He brings them to Paradise Ranch, run by Merry (Melissa Joan Hart), for Christmas break. None of them expected this to be the best Christmas of all of their lives.

What to say about Mistletoe In Montana? It is pretty bad. Not so much for the story and the acting, although they aren’t great. But moreso for the absolute unbelievability of everything that happens. For those of you that are terrible at US geography, Montana is one of the northernmost states in the continental United States. It gets very cold there and it stays very cold for a long time. Thanks to Lifetime movie magic, there are few times that any of the characters are wearing non-cowboy hats or gloves. They could have easily placed this movie in a number of other states but they picked Montana. While the state is very pretty, all of these people would have had some sort of frostbite at some point.

But let’s overlook the fact that the writers didn’t even attempt to make any of the weather based in reality. Instead, let’s look at what a terrible businesswoman Merry is. She frequently has guests staying at the ranch for a “ranch experience.” She straight up allows Mark to do things that would hurt either himself or her horses. More than once he tries to mount a horse improperly. Once he even sprains an ankle! Her insurance rates must be through the roof. I get that Mark is supposed to be egotistical at first but it is her job as the ranch owner to put her foot down and not allow anyone to do anything that would cause injury.

As for the romance aspect? Merry and Mark make zero sense together. Jasper (Sam Marra), one of the ranch hands, literally falls head over heels in love with Mark’s nanny, Debbie (Harley Bronwyn), the minute he sees her. That would be fine if it was the main plot of the story but it barely makes a sub-plot. We only get a few scenes of them spending time together in order to make them a feasible couple. It’s almost like the writers forgot that these are supposed to be romantic Christmas movies.

I would say skip Mistletoe In Montana. There isn’t really anything good here, unless you want to look at horses. Though we don’t get to see a lot of the horses either. Just forget about it altogether.

OMG. Another movie with a baker? But this time the baker is a MAN?! What is the world coming to?

So. In A Gingerbread Romance, Tia Mowry-Hardrict plays Taylor, an architect who is given an assignment to participate in a life-sized gingerbread house contest. Taylor gets Adam (Duane Henry), a local baker, to be her partner. Along with his daughter, Brooke (Melody Nosipho Niemann), Adam teaches Taylor the ways of Christmas.

I am going to give the movie props for making the male lead the baker and the female lead the architect. (Yeah, we’ve already seen a female architect this season in A Majestic Christmas. Maybe it’s a new trope.) However, I have one giant problem with Gingerbread. I’m not sure if Mowry-Hardrict is uncomfortable with her mom bod or the director was trying to hide her second pregnancy (I’m not sure when the movie was filmed but she gave birth on May 5, 2018) but she spends the entire movie in either a cardigan, a jacket, or one giant sweater. (Yes, she has one giant sweater she wears without the jacket or cardigan. Everything else is covered up.) It was a little distracting to see everyone else wearing typical winter indoor wear and she has on a trenchcoat. As a matter of fact, it is what ruined the movie for me. It made it feel like there was some sort of judgement toward larger people. Which is annoying because she is absolutely not fat!

The rest of the movie was pretty bland. Taylor kept going on about how she travels so much and how she is an ARCHITECT so, therefore, she knows what she is talking about. And Adam repeatedly talks about how he wants to own his own bakery but the investors wouldn’t back him because he dropped out of culinary school. (I don’t think that’s how it works?) I suppose it’s awesome how Taylor includes Adam’s daughter in the project but it somehow feels contrary to her character. It’s more Tia and less Taylor.

If you are a fan of Tia Mowry-Hardrict, it isn’t a terrible watch. Just don’t expect an epic romance or even a decent story. It’s just meh.