As another reviewer (Jackbv123) pointed out, Rachel Boston and Paul Campbell essentially recreated the roles they played in The Last Bridesmaid. They have a nice breezy chemistry that, frankly, works so well it undercuts the credibility of their "pretend" dating. In real life, I don't see how they wouldn't talk about "real" dating after that first night out. To be fair, the implausibility of continuing that charade does get discussed at the bakery the next day, but Maggie inexplicably decides to keep up the pretense. That seemed more than a bit forced, especially with the ridiculous caricatures that she dated.
Random observations:
Parmiss Sehat was great as Devon, the friend and co-worker.
The teens were realistically dorky and awkward. The scenes with Emma (well played by Zoe Christie) were especially well written by Jennifer Barrow. She wrote Sun, Sand and Romance which also starred Paul Campbell (and she also wrote another Hallmark movie about how to date called the Dater's Handbook, which starred future princess Meghan Markle).
The cake portion sizes were ridiculously large.
Make it, bake it, cake it? It sounds catchy, but it also sounds stupid. And there wasn't much to the show once it aired.
I loved the waiter's solution to Bad Date #1
The jokes WERE often cringeworthy, but they did establish and reinforce the connections between Maggie & Michael and Emma & John, and those moments were often quite cute (even if they also induced groans).
My biggest complaint was Maggie's plan to attend her ex's wedding. In what alternate universe would the ex-wife even think about going to her ex-husband's wedding???? First, he's a jerk who can't be bothered to spend time with his own kids even though he apparently has plenty of time for his next wife. Heck, it'll be hard enough to get his kids to show up. But his ex-wife?? That would be wildly unrealistic and beyond awkward. I'd rather have a root canal without anesthesia than see my ex get married. Ugh.
I liked the response to "how did you know you liked him?":
"It's not gonna be the same for everyone. It's gonna be a combination of things. Common interests, the ability to talk to one another, a similar sense of humor...I think you want a gentleman. Someone who treats you well but also knows you are strong, you are smart, you are capable. He lets you be you. You shouldn't have to shrink in order to make him feel big."
Overall, a sweet but flawed movie with 2 likeable leads.
