Eva (Kathryn Davis) runs a concierge business. She is given an assignment by a favorite client to decorate her son's NYC condo for Christmas to pick up his spirits, his wife died 3 years ago on Christmas day. Eva was going to stay at the condo since the son, Lucas (Oliver Renaud), was in Vermont and wouldn't be in NYC until Christmas, however, unbeknownst to the mother, Lucas had already returned to the NYC condo. Since Eva has no place to go, Lucas agrees to let her stay in the guest room. Eva is a Pollyanna type of person with a sunny and optimistic disposition, while Lucas is a pessimistic, recluse, a cold hearted writer, two opposites living in the same place. The plot takes us on a journey of how the two very different personalities impact each other.
Kathryn Davis is one of my favorite Hallmark female actors, she plays the role of Eva with a sparkling positive personality PERFECTLY! Some have criticized Oliver Renaud's performance saying he was too cold and stiff. However, that is EXACTLY how the character of Lucas was written in the script, at the beginning we see a depressed recluse, and the viewer watches Luca's character change and his feelings for Eva grow. I think Oliver did an excellent job portraying Lucas's transformation. The only complaint I had was toward the end of the movie when Lucas starts to reveal his feelings for Eva, and all of a sudden she does a 360 change in her personality and seems to blame her lack of understanding and experiencing what true love really is on Lucas! She also seems to suddenly forget all the nice things he's done for her. It was like they switched personalities, and was an awkward moment in the script. (perhaps it was Hallmark's set formula of incorporating their usual "conflict" which didnt work in this case since it was too much out of character for Eva.) But overall, this was an enjoyable romantic Christmas movie.
