The Christmas Note + Two Books

This film was on Hallmark a few weeks back. I missed the beginning but was able to find it at the library. 

The most familiar face is Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), who has a podcast with Christiana Applegate about MS. The lawyer is also a familiar player in these sorts of films.

The Christmas Note is based on a novel, which is often the case with these films. A mom with a young son comes back home while waiting for her husband to return from military service. (It is hinted early on that he's dead but he's just injured.)  She helps a neighbor when her mother dies. 

While at the mother's house, they find a note from the mother letting her daughter know that she gave up a child for adoption. The mom and daughter had a difficult relationship, ultimately not seeing each other for ten years. The two women, growing close, try to find the sibling. 

The reveal is not too surprising. There is an annoyingly heavy-handed soundtrack. The film tones down the negative aspects of the mother found in the book Wikipedia tells me, e.g., the mom is portrayed as an alcoholic and sexually promiscuous in the book, which is not covered in the film.

It is a nice film overall, one that covers somewhat different ground than the usual Hallmark Channel film. There are three channels now and this would be appropriate for the "family drama" channel when it isn't playing The Waltons or something.  

The film tosses in a small romantic subplot involving the mom's [played by Sigler] long divorced parents. There is also a theme about the importance of family and redemption. The film is somewhat heavy-handed at times and the son is a bit annoying. 

Still, the whole thing is well-paced, and the search for the sibling is well done, serving as a chance to address other themes. Overall, recommended.

==

The free rack at the local library often has romance paperbacks. I read a couple recently. There are so, so many romance novels out there. Overall, I am not much of a fiction reader. As a child, I never really read fiction. I didn't have the usual childhood fiction. 

Taking Love In Stride is part of a series of books that take place in each state of the Union. The authors of the fifty books (none listed for Puerto Rico etc.) appear to be all women. Short book of a little over two hundred pages (at least my copy). It is from 1991.

The book concerns a woman track coach falling for the father of a student. There is some family drama, including the grandfather who was once a runner, but who is now in a wheelchair. 

Early on, the book shows the point of view of both leads but then it focuses on just the woman. She has a bad relationship with her father and it slants her view of the dad she falls for. The whole thing is okay. It's a PG-related affair -- no sex though some passion.

A Haven for Christmas is a more recent book. It is part of the Amish romance genre. This time, a cowboy and former military guy who is also a recently on-the-wagon alcoholic falls for an Amish widow. 

The book is somewhat more in his point of view but we see things through both of their eyes. His adaption to the Amish lifestyle is rather smooth, even a potential rival for the widow/mom's affections soon being on his side. A tad too smooth, to be honest.

It is quickly apparent they care for each other though her being Amish and all makes it seem like nothing can come of it. This being an Amish tale, we do not see any hot and heavy stuff though they do kiss near the end. Racy! Again, there is some passion. 

Other than a late conflict (the whole thing is dealt with in the last twenty pages or so), things go rather smoothly. The Amish lifestyle and the cowboy struggling with his addiction/need to find a purpose in life are handled pretty well.  

Overall, it was a pleasant enough read, light enough to quickly consume while having enough serious components to still be nourishing. It was a "larger print" book -- new to me -- so easier to read without being completely large print.  

[The Amazon link has the book listed as 224 pages while my copy was closer to 400 pages.]

Some books use too small of a font. I suppose it is part of my eyes wearing down some but it does seem noticeably bad in some cases. I don't need large print and can manage to read the smaller print books. Still, this is a good middle approach.  

The book had multiple forms to send for free copies of romance novels to encourage people to obtain a subscription. The book is from 2020 and I will see if I get any.  One form promised the free copies and then you are sent more but can return them. 

I am reminded of the ability back in the day to obtain four or so hard-cover books for only the price of shipping and handling. Sometimes, they sent you a book you didn't order, and I would just drop it in the mailbox. That is when you could do that. Now, they only have a small slot, people trying to steal mail.

ETA: These books, like all romance novels I recall reading, are rather predictable. If one of these books went in a surprising direction, I guess, readers would feel cheated. The same would be true if there was no happy ending. Some books might have that plot device but standard romance novels do not. 

One new film shows that some authors go another way but even there people by now expect it.