The calendar may havae just flipped over to October, but tis' the season (well, almost) to be holly and jolly. And nothing helps soap opera fans get into the holiday spirit more than Christmas movies featuring their favorite daytime performers. So whip up a mug or two of hot cocoa and peruse these upcoming Hallmark holiday movie choices guaranteed to make you exclaim, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"
Marry Me at Christmas
Starring DAYS' Trevor Donovan (ex-Jeremy Horton)
Premiere Date: Saturday, October 28, 8:00PM ET/PT
Organizing a Christmas wedding is a true treat for bridal boutique owner Madeline Krug. She loves the challenge of finding the perfect dress for the bride and orchestrating an exquisite event. What Madeline didn't expect was to be swept off her feet by the bride's gorgeous brother, movie star Johnny Blaze. Johnny came to the quirky town of Fool's Gold to support his sister -- not to fall in love. Yet Madeline is the most extraordinary woman he's ever met. Planning the perfect wedding leads to candlelit dinners and strolls through snow-covered streets. Madeline finds the real Johnny even more captivating than her celebrity crush. Will the action star be brave enough to take on the role?
Christmas in the Air
Starring Santa Barbara's Eric Close (ex-Sawyer Walker)
Premiere Date: Sunday, November 5, 8:00PM ET/PT
Lydia, a successful professional organizer, is constantly trying to grow her business, but even her ambition takes a back seat to love when she meets Robert, a frazzled widower with two young children. A toy inventor, Robert is asked to present his new Christmas toy line to a superstore. His challenge is he only has twelve days to get his life and his business in order. Talk about a Christmas rush! Lydia shows Robert that this task goes way deeper than messy junk drawers and encompasses every aspect of his life. While she's intent on helping him straighten out details he has long ignored, Robert teaches the buttoned-up Lydia that messiness can be a delightful part of life.
The Sweetest Christmas
Starring AMC's Lacey Chabert (ex-Bianca Montgomery)
Premiere Date: Saturday, November 11, at 8:00PM ET/PT
When struggling pastry chef Kylie Watson learns she's made it to the finals of the American Gingerbread Competition, she thinks her competitive spirit has finally paid off and hopes the publicity will help her jumpstart her new café. There's just one problem -- the oven she's supposed to use breaks down right before the contest. Determined to enter, she reaches out to Nick Mazannti, her old boyfriend from culinary school who gave up his dream of being a pastry chef to take over his family's pizzeria. Nick allows her to use his industrial pizza oven at night to craft her ambitious gingerbread confections. As the two reminisce about the dreams of their youth, their romance is rekindled. But just as Kylie is on the cusp of taking the grand prize -- and embracing true love -- things get complicated when her ex-boyfriend takes drastic steps to win her back. Kylie realizes she must embrace the Christmas Spirit or risk losing both the contest and her new love.
Coming Home for Christmas
Starring As the World Turns' Neal Bledsoe (ex-Gary Bradshaw)
Premiere Date: Saturday, November 18, 8:00PM ET/PT
Allie Richfield is at a crossroads when she lands a job as house manager for the exquisite Ashford Estate in the Virginia countryside. While preparing the place for sale, Allie plans one final Christmas Eve gala for the Marley family, though they seem to be a family in name only. There's Kip Marley, who never met a party he didn't like; Robert, the handsome but all-business executor of the estate; Sloane, who arrives with her two young children, sans husband; and the 90-year-old matriarch, Pippa, a spitfire who doesn't want to put the house up for sale at all. As Allie is inserted into the home and the lives of the Marley family, she finds herself drawn to Robert -- even as Kip pursues her. Can she navigate her suddenly complicated love life while helping mend family feuds and maybe teaching all the true spirit of Christmas?
Reindeer Lodge
Starring DAYS' Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady)
Premiere Date: Sunday, December 3, 8:00PM ET/PT
Sophie Bennett begins a new holiday tradition of spending every holiday at the Evergreen Inn and Ski Lodge, which she inherited from her parents. Evergreen Inn is a special place filled with people who cannot make it home for the holidays or who have had such wonderful experiences that it has become their home-away-from-holiday-home. This Christmas, Sophie will meet an unforgettable family, and her own life will be forever changed.
When Calls the Heart Christmas
Starring Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco Jones, GH; ex-Dominick Marone, B&B)
Premiere Date: Monday, December 25, 8:00PM ET/PT
A loved one returns, Christmas spirit is renewed, and children's wishes are granted in this heartwarming Christmas movie featuring the series' beloved characters. Elizabeth's fiancé, Jack, surprises her, coming home on leave and bringing a young Mountie desperately searching for Christmas inspiration. The community of Hope Valley works together to aid this young man with the help of an enchanted Wishing Tree. And as mayor, Abigail is pretty busy. Recognizing that, her newly adopted son, Cody, engages classmates in creating the town's annual Christmas Celebration. While Sheriff Bill Avery forges a relationship with the disgraced former mayor, Henry Gowen, Rosemary and Lee are reminded that family is the true meaning of Christmas.
Which of the above Hallmark holiday movies are you most excited to see? How do you typically get yourself in the mood for the holidays? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
