Christmas at the Catnip Café is as adorable as you'd expect. Cats everywhere, mostly. While Hallmark surrounds the cats with the typical city girl-meets-small-town-boy rom-com plot, it also needs a similar story. It keeps things simple, while viewers can just watch cats and the occasional odd dog as the romance unfolds.
Olivia (Erin Cahill) is the city girl: a successful marketing executive in California trying to buy an expensive apartment; then she learns that her late aunt left her 50% of a cat café in upstate New York. Perfect for her, she just needs a quick sale and then she can buy her dream house.
Director: Lucie Guest
Writers: Tracy Andreen, Elena Valdez
Stars: Frances Flanagan, Ian Collins, Meganne Young
Upon arriving in Felcity, New York, Olivia and Ben feel an immediate attraction; they're just strangers through a window, but they can't stop smiling at each other. That is, until they discover they're co-owners of the cat café, and Ben has no intention of selling and is annoyed by Olivia's cold attitude toward the café and the town.
Paul Campbell plays Ben, the small-town guy who works as a veterinarian and is also the town handyman. I have no idea why they included the handyman role. Don't they think he's busy enough as a vet? In any case, he's a great character, and Paul Campbell plays him with total warmth and sincerity. Ben will melt viewers' hearts in minutes and will have no problem melting Olivia's by Christmas.
The cat café will be just as you'd imagine: a cozy café with sofas, tables, a tree, and lots of cats wandering around (i.e., sleeping in various spots). The cats are available for adoption, so clearly the café also doubles as a shelter. They mention that it's not a profitable business, because of course it isn't: this is supposed to be a very small town where everyone knows each other, and that kind of town can barely support a café, let alone a cat café and pet shelter. Hallmark's lack of understanding of small towns is nothing new; it's just a minor detail in an otherwise adorable romantic comedy about cats.
The cats are the hook and the attraction, but Ben and Olivia's romance is one of the best you'll see this Christmas. They have genuine conversations and get along famously. Christmas at the Catnip Café is a must-see for cat lovers and fans of Hallmark Christmas movies, so you can't go wrong.

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