Summer Villa

Romance writer Terry Russell (Hilarie Burton) has writer's block. Her friend Leslie sets her up on a blind date with her brother Matthew Everston (Victor Webster) known as Chef Cupid. It goes badly but he's more devastated about a food critic's review. Leslie offers her family estate in France for the summer. Terry arrives with her teen daughter Abby only to be shocked by the presence of a mistaken Matthew. They reluctantly decide to coexist under the same roof. Local chef Jean Luc is taken with Terry. Jean Luc's sister Nadia is the butcher with the family farm. With a little help from Abby, Matthew puts new life into his cooking. The leads are serviceable for this Hallmark movie. It's interesting that they are provided with side pieces but those characters have little development. They're not big enough characters to be even hurdles in a love triangle. The teenage daughter is more compelling. She provides a good avenue for development but it stops a little short. The leads struggle with chemistry and basic romance formula. It's more heartbreaking if Matthew stops being Abby's mentor. That's the most compelling relationship here. It may be more fun to make Abby the protagonist trying to parent trap two romantically challenged adults.

This could've been a great movie if it weren't for the first 30 some minutes that were way too full of whining constantly! From both main characters down to the daughter. Male main character whined cause he couldn't cook the right thing, female main character whined that she couldn't write her book and the daughter whined because she had FOMO so bad with her friends back home and was a spoiled brat. I went into this thinking this would be a favorite Hallmark movie but was disappointed. Not a favorite I did watch till the end. Eh.....

I feel there was great chemistry, storyline and a great setting! I love all 3 main actors and i especially love watching Victor exit the pool! I read some of the negative reviews and I think it is sad that people watch a Hallmark movie and look for perversion.

This is one of the best of the Hallmark movies. You feel like you are in the french countryside. With many of their movies becoming "series", this one should have been made into 2-3 additional movies of the expansion of Matthew and Teri's romance back in NYC and coming back to France along with Abby pondering college/culinary program in the US or France and her growth and romance as a college student along with the paths Mathew could take reopening in NYC, France or becoming a consultant and the paths the movies could take with mentoring other chefs with their challenges/romances while you see the expansion of their story. Loved it so much I am disappointed this was not continued into other movies.