As many other reviewers have pointed out, the main issue with this movie is that the female lead, Jules, spends the majority of the movie alternating between giving her love interest a frosty cold shoulder and pushing the borderline of rude every time she interacts with him (others have referred to her behavior as "hostile" -- this seems to me to be the perfect word for her communication with him, which manages to be both passive-aggressive and just plain aggressive). The movie banks entirely on the cushion that their shared past rationalizing their attraction and ultimate happy ending; without it, the two of them would've seemed much too cold and incompatible to even be considered a plausible couple. Hallmark enjoys playing with the trope of giving people second chances, a cliche frequently used in their movies when the leads meet each other in an unfavorable situation and form unhappy opinions of each other that are slowly unwound as the movie goes on. Personally, I find that Hallmark has wrung this plot device dry at this point (as crazy as it may seem, I enjoy watching people who genuinely seem to like each other much more than watching characters claw at each other until love saves the day), but if nothing else, should dial back on the bickering and bantering and amp up the compromising, forgiving, and affection a little bit more. These movies are short, and there's very little time to actually convince the audience the leads make sense together when more than half the movie is full of petty arguments. Even worse, I have to say, is that the main point of conflict between Jules and Lance is a (somewhat) botched flip job they did together years ago. After a bit of build-up hinting at the bad blood between them, I was expecting something a bit weightier than "he removed the closet in the master bedroom." How's -- "he bought expensive equipment on a whim" or "he agreed to sell the property to someone without consulting me" or literally anything other than a closet somehow being to blame for all their trust issues.
Aside from the constant fighting, I did find that this movie was juggling around a few too many hats. There were consistent, random conflicts that were occasionally hard to keep track of because they would swim in and out of the storyline, posing small obstacles but no real threat, such as the missing permit or the misplaced floors. These issues didn't advance the plot at all, even if they would have had the opportunity to. For example, there is a brief moment during which Jules suspects that the missing permit could have been sabotage by the hand of Lance, but this is quickly dropped, offering no real substance to the plot or threat to their budding relationship. If this was all meant to show just how finnicky and unexpected the business of house flipping can be, I feel these plot points should have at least been woven into the bigger picture. Same with the glossed over issue of Jules essentially abandoning her mother's flower store -- a few charaters seem to hint at this causing tension between Jules and her mother, but that is all completely dropped from the plot. Her mother is useless as a character, and even Jules' supposed experience with botany is barely mentioned aside from the throaway conflict over who gets to tackle landscaping for the duplexes. The only time her knowledge of flowers ever seems to tangibly come up is during an absolutely absurd display of "flower arranging" at a home and garden expo (which Jules has time to attend, not just for her own business, but for her mother's as well, despite her dwindling deadline with the duplex) which is nothing but a series of fluff words about flowers that are really just metaphors for her relationship with Lance. The movie also attempts a hint of a side romance with Lance and Jules' respective realtors, although these characters get little more than a few lines of dialogue and no wrap-up whatsoever.
Overall, this movie had too many loose ends and bad time management to leave a positive impression. Julie Gonzalo is usually a warm and convincing actress perfect for these movies, but bad writing ruins any affection the audience could've had for her character.
Aside from the constant fighting, I did find that this movie was juggling around a few too many hats. There were consistent, random conflicts that were occasionally hard to keep track of because they would swim in and out of the storyline, posing small obstacles but no real threat, such as the missing permit or the misplaced floors. These issues didn't advance the plot at all, even if they would have had the opportunity to. For example, there is a brief moment during which Jules suspects that the missing permit could have been sabotage by the hand of Lance, but this is quickly dropped, offering no real substance to the plot or threat to their budding relationship. If this was all meant to show just how finnicky and unexpected the business of house flipping can be, I feel these plot points should have at least been woven into the bigger picture. Same with the glossed over issue of Jules essentially abandoning her mother's flower store -- a few charaters seem to hint at this causing tension between Jules and her mother, but that is all completely dropped from the plot. Her mother is useless as a character, and even Jules' supposed experience with botany is barely mentioned aside from the throaway conflict over who gets to tackle landscaping for the duplexes. The only time her knowledge of flowers ever seems to tangibly come up is during an absolutely absurd display of "flower arranging" at a home and garden expo (which Jules has time to attend, not just for her own business, but for her mother's as well, despite her dwindling deadline with the duplex) which is nothing but a series of fluff words about flowers that are really just metaphors for her relationship with Lance. The movie also attempts a hint of a side romance with Lance and Jules' respective realtors, although these characters get little more than a few lines of dialogue and no wrap-up whatsoever.
Overall, this movie had too many loose ends and bad time management to leave a positive impression. Julie Gonzalo is usually a warm and convincing actress perfect for these movies, but bad writing ruins any affection the audience could've had for her character.