Are there rules to falling in love? According to a seemingly endless number of books, some people certainly think so. Truth be told, there’s something comforting in the thought. If you follow a simple series of rules, you can find the love that lasts forever. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending upon your point of view – you can’t follow a guidebook to find true love. It’s a lesson Abigale Slater (Maria Menounos) needs to learn in the It’s a Wonderful Lifetime film, The Holiday Dating Guide.
Abigale is an aspiring self-help guru. She’s on the verge of publishing her first book – a how-to guide for dating around the holidays. However, when she hits a roadblock getting a publisher to sign her on, she makes a bet that she can prove her book works in twelve days. Enter Michael Ryan (Brent Bailey). Following her own advice proves to Abigale that love is both simpler and entirely more complicated than she ever expected.
Love doesn’t require an endless series of rules to follow. Which is a good thing, because the honestly sound exhausting. Don’t see each other two days in a row…be mysterious…lightly get to know each other…It’s entirely too much to try to keep straight. While also having fun without making a complete fool of yourself in public.
Over the course of the film, Abigale slowly but surely breaks every single one of her rules. She sees Michael too often, gets to know him too much, meets his friends too soon. She falls too fast – but only as fast as he falls in return. And in so doing, she realizes that there’s something underhanded about making someone fall in love with you as a “test” to advance your career.
As one would expect from a movie, it all blows up pretty spectacularly in her face. In the exact worst moment it could possibly do so. And, as one would also expect, she manages to make things right, in the end. Because love is messy and unpredictable. It doesn’t follow a sequence of steps or a guidebook. It comes when it’s least expected. But, when it’s real, it can also be forgiving.
After all, you can’t be angry at someone for using a 12 step guide to make you fall in love when they actually ended up following exactly 0 of those steps. Right?
The Holiday Dating Guide is a lighthearted, sweet movie for the Christmas season that shines even brighter because of the chemistry between Menounos and Bailey. It was easy to believe why she’d break her own rules to fall in love with him, which makes it the perfect rom-com for the season.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of The Holiday Dating Guide? Share with us in the comments below!
I absolutely loved this movie. The characters were relatable and their chemistry was so real. I loved the addition of the vintage cars as well. I have watched it twice.