Hallmark Fans Love Sequels & Sagas
Hallmark fans buzz about their favorite movies, especially when they fall in love with the characters and the story and want to learn how life pans out for them via future sequels.
All of My Heart trilogy fans beg for a fourth movie to see what improvements are made to the inn and to learn if the family grows any bigger.
Evergreen enthusiasts anxiously anticipate a new story involving this beloved town as they watch for glimpses of characters from past installments.
The Time to Come Home for Christmas series is unique. The movie title is slightly retooled for each new story, and there is no overlapping of characters. Towns change, and each new saga stands alone.
The common thread among all three movies is that they are produced by country singer, Blake Shelton. The original Hallmark film was inspired by his 2012 song, Time for Me to Come Home. His mother, Dorothy Shackleford, took it a step further and wrote a Christmas novel by the same name. Included in her story are real-life holiday memories she shared with Shelton.
Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas-2020
Lacey Chabert and Stephen Huszar star in the most recent Hallmark release in the series. Anything Chabert touches turns to gold, so this is my personal favorite of the three (you get to vote for your favorite in the poll at the end of this post!).
There is an intriguing air of mystery about this movie. Five guests are mysteriously invited to Snowfall Inn to celebrate Christmas. Ben, the new owner of the inn, helps Sarah keep digging to find out how all five of them are connected.
It is pretty obvious to the viewer that Frenchi, the previous inn owner, is the only common denominator. Decades prior, her inn was struggling from a lagging stream of guests. A group staying at the inn at the time encouraged her to stick with it, and six months later, she met her husband. When Frenchi sees Ben struggling to keep the business afloat, she tries to recreate the same magic for him by inviting the same group of people, or their prodigy, to the inn.
Ben finds love too, so Frenchi's plan works!
Lacey Chabert and Stephen Huszar. Image: Crown Media
Time For You to Come Home for Christmas-2019
Lucas Bryant plays Jack, a man we learn has been in the military and is trying to find the medic who saved his life. Jack's only clue in finding this mystery man is a pocket watch he dropped while tending to Jack.
The pocket watch leads Jack to Provincetown, Virginia, where he is also playing guitar in a band.
Alison Sweeney is a widow named Katherine who finally finds the courage to return home with her son for the holidays. Since losing her husband, the memories of their time in Provincetown have been too painful to face.
As fate would have it, the pocket watch belongs to Tyler, Katherine's husband. As if that isn't coincidental enough, the spot Jack takes in the band is also Tyler's. By the end of the movie, Katherine and Jack fall in love, so Jack pretty much hijacks Tyler's entire life.
This movie tries to incorporate mystery, but it's pretty weak and flimsy. Instead of coming to town and saying, "Hey, can you tell me who owned this watch?," Jack is very enigmatic about the whole thing, which is a little over-the-top for something that doesn't even come close to being a bombshell revelation.
Sweeney and Bryant just don't seem like a couple....at all....which is why this movie comes in at number three on my list. Bryant's best chemistry with a co-star is captured in Hallmark's
The Angel Tree with Jill Wagner.
Alison Sweeney and Lucas Bryant. Image: Crown Media
Time For Me to Come Home for Christmas-2018
Megan Park and Josh Henderson star in this story about two people headed to Oklahoma for Christmas, only to be thwarted by inclement weather. As they make the trek together, they share their stories, especially the pain of each of them losing a parent, and the journey draws them closer.
Heath Sawyer (Henderson) is a famous country singer in need of inspiration for his song-writing. Conflicts arise--Cara thinks Heath is involved with a model, plus he offers financial aid to her struggling father, which is not well-received.
Josh Henderson and Megan Park. Image: Crown Media
This movie has all the usual tropes, but our couple ends up together, and Heath plucks away on his guitar singing for his family at Christmas. Henderson is a seasoned actor with many film and music credits on his resume, so I enjoyed his performance, earning this movie my number two spot.
Since Shelton's song inspired this original movie, you can check out the track that started it all:
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Vote For Your Favorite Installment
I've shared how I rate each of these Time to Come Home for Christmas movies, but I'd love to hear what you think. Let's see if we agree (but it's okay if we don't!).
Cast your vote in the poll below:
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