Netflix sees a swarm of streaming around Christmastime of those sappy, romantic holiday movies. It’s not a Netflix phenomenon by any means – those movies are all imported from poor-quality television channels that have low budgets and even lower standards. Generally, it shows, and generally, it doesn’t matter. But people are starting to wonder why the bump in ratings has to wait for Christmas. The Hallmark Channel recently hosted a Christmas in July. Netflix, on the other hand, is turning out non-Christmas movies that follow the same basic principle.
They’re cheesy as hell, but if you’re choosing to watch, you know what you’re getting, and you must like it. This particular one, though I have not yet forgiven it for the terrible pun in the title, is about a hard-working city-slicker named Gabriela (Christina Milian) who is going through a turbulent time of transition; in just a few days she loses her job and her boyfriend. But her luck’s not all bad: a “win an inn” contest she entered has borne fruit! So this San Franciscan packs her bags and heads to New Zealand to claim her praise.

The catch? The inn, though pristine in press photos, is derelict. The movie might have turned into a money pit situation were it not for a hot young widower carpenter, Jake (Adam Demos), who likes helping out beautiful Americans almost as much as he likes whipping off his shirt with little to no provocation.
Demos is actually Australian, not a New Zealander, but surprisingly, much of the other cast is in fact Kiwi, and the production seems to have actually filmed there.
Of course, the couple in question MUST start off on the wrong foot. Gabriela intends only to fix and flip the inn, and she’s obsessed with making everything eco-friendly, putting her at odds with Jake, who feels a special attachment to each and every one of the inn’s original fixtures, even the rotted, crumbly ones. But she keeps endearing herself to the locals and he, the handyman-cum-firefighter-cum-beekeeper remains tantalizingly unavailable, what with the tragic dead wife and all.
And then there’s the fun stuff, like the inn being haunted by a goat, and a rival innkeeper getting her knickers in a jealous twist, and controlling ex-boyfriends showing up unannounced. It’s not just renovation porn, but it is that too.
So if you like your romance uncomplicated, Netflix has your back.
My brain hurts already. But heck, when it finally snows, I will probably catch renovation porn (again)
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As a former innkeeper and owner of a large money pit Victorian, I’ll have to check out this film.
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All the tropes are there, it seems. It sounds like a great way to spend an evening escaping of all the horror going on in the real world.
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I’ll just use my master’s degree in history (public history/historic preservation/museums) as an excuse to watch this…at least my degree will have a purpose. *laughs*
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Hopeless romantic…. loved the movie!!! ❤️
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You mean Hallmark movies. They’re nice and mindless when one wants to have something on in the background and doesn’t much care what it is.
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“It’s not just renovation porn” needs to be on a t-shirt.
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Wish you all the Love you need.
Kind regards,
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one year ago fall in love now she hurt me…..need romantic movie .
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