When the most suspenseful aspect of the movie is when Lacey is going to put on a swimsuit, you know you're in trouble. I mean there's Hawaii, and a beach, and an ocean. There is a very fit guy as a love interest with many abs and everything. So of course he's in a swimsuit. He's giving her surfing lessons. They are in the ocean together throughout the movie. But I guess if Lacey Chabert doesn't want to wear a swimsuit (not expecting a bikini here) she doesn't wear a swimsuit! You can tell it was an issue because it looks so odd that they have to make a joke about it at the beginning.

Other than Lacey's strange swimwear, and the nice scenery there is not much to see here. She dumps her "boyfriend" because he is a user and disrespects her and flees to Hawaii to be with her Aunt June. And I don't blame her! Aunt June has a house right on the beach and must have cost a billion dollars. By the end, she gets the hot guy, learns to surf, wins a contest, and gets her own restaurant. But (spoiler alert) she never puts on a swimsuit.

The movie has a typical Hallmark plot about a woman whose boyfriend takes her for granted with the added complication that he also takes credit for her work. They've used this plot device on an almost yearly basis. But I was interested in watching it because of the setting in Hawaii. I really wanted to love this movie but it was somewhat of a miss. I always enjoy Lacey Chabert but, as attractive as they are individually, the two leads had no chemistry. Her ex boyfriend looked old enough to be her father. The dishes she prepared with the other chef didn't look or sound appetizing at all and they didn't have a plausible explanation for the ex-boyfriends presence at a contest that he's not judging. He just stood around with mostly nothing to do. I kept wishing it was another episode of Hawaii Five-0 because that cast had real chemistry. The settings were gorgeous and I really enjoyed the aunts character but it's just not enough to watch a second time.

Take a handful of trite ideas. Add two scoops of stale dialogs. Flavor all with a hint of exotic scenery. Grind it and re-hash it coarsely, ... et voila, you've got a new movie! Really new?

The characters are inconsistent, when not cartoonish. The lead actors have poor chemistry and the total resetting of Emma's ambition and affection seems to have but a flimsy ground. More and better views of the surrounding nature could have saved the show, at least in part. The production has failed to provide even this.

Good thing about the movie, it contains nothing crude or offensive. The downsize is that it offers no real drama, little catching action, and minimal entertainment.

One more boring, forgettable entry for Hallmark!