Hey, friends. I waited a full two days after Thanksgiving before I fired up the holiday romantic comedies. Talk about self-control, right? I could really watch them all year, but I try make this a holiday tradition. Here are the rules of holiday rom-coms:

1. They shouldn’t be well-written.
2. Holiday rom-coms should have plenty of plot holes or scenes/dialogue that aren’t logical.
3. They should be cheesy enough that you roll your eyes, yet still swoon-worthy. See just about every Hallmark and Freeform (previously ABC Family) holiday rom-com ever made.

If you find yourself bored one evening and in search of a holiday rom-com to scoff and swoon at while sipping an adult hot chocolate, I’ve got you covered. Please note, classic holiday movies are not included on this list, but you should go watch Home Alone and Love, Actually before any of these movies. Or start with the bad ones below.

 

As an added bonus I’m assigning an official Palmetto Peaches’ Gingerbread rating to each movie because I seriously think I’m Roger Ebert  in my head.

Gingerbread Man Rating
1 = Meh, not worth wasting 90 minutes

4 =So bad you can laugh at it ironically, but also wish some of this romance into your love life.

Spoiler alert: not one of these movies gets just one gingerbread man 🙂 

5 Wonderfully, Terrible Holiday Rom-Coms

A Christmas Prince (2017) – Netflix

Netflix watchers, you may have seen this pop up in the trending section. I had a 98% match to the movie because I obviously love a ridiculous holiday movie. In A Christmas Prince, we follow Amber, an editor who aspires to be a writer, as she is assigned to cover a press conference in the made up country of Aldovia. Uh, if you’re a fan of the rom-com genre you may have quickly recognized that sounds a quite similar to Genovia, a la The Princess Diaries. Actually, the movie straight up steals scenes from The Princess Diaries 2, but please refer to holiday rom-com rule #1. Anyways, Amber is supposed to find out what would happen if the future king, who is set to take the throne one year after his father’s death, decides not to accept his royal position. I mean I’m pretty sure you could Google succession plans, but please see rule #2. She ends up going undercover, and I bet you can guess,falling in love with the future king. I won’t spoil the ending, but seriously I’m proud of how much awful this movie is and can’t wait for the sequel. A Valentine’s Princess.

A Christmas Kiss (2011) – Netflix

Wendy is an aspiring interior designer working as an assistant to the boss from Hades, Priscilla, who takes credit for all of Wendy’s work. Wendy shares a kiss with a handsome stranger, Adam. As an aside, Adam is played by my favorite alien – any Roswell fans – Brendan Fehr. Later on, Wendy finds out the stranger is her boss’s boyfriend, but he doesn’t recognize her without glitter on her face *rolls eyes*. Wendy and Adam work closely together decorating his home and of course Wendy falls in love with him.

 

12 Dates of Christmas (2011) – Netflix

Kate (Amy Smart) gets set up on a blind date with  Zac Morris Miles (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) on Christmas Eve. She then finds away to ruin the date, but gets 12 chances to relive the date over again until she sets things right. Yup, it’s a Christmas ripoff of Groundhog Day. And I am here for it!

Wrapped Up In Christmas (2017) – Lifetime

This movie revolves around Heather (Tatyana Ali) who is the the manager of a large mall. She is basically ordered be a Grinch and cancel the leases of under-performing stores at the mall. Heather’s niece asks the mall Santa to help find a boyfriend for her aunt. Ryan (Brendan Fehr) is actually filling in for the mall Santa and uses this info to woo Heather. I won’t spoil the plot-twist, but I’ll just say nothing can be simple in a holiday rom-com.

Can we go ahead and crown Brendan Fehr as the new holiday rom-com leading man? I know, I know. That’s not a real thing. I just want to watch a bunch of these movies starring him. The acting in Wrapped Up In Christmas isn’t that bad, plus the movie also includes appearances by Jasmine Guy, Jackee Harry, and Joseph Marcell aka Geofrrey from The Fresh Prince.

The Spirit of Christmas (2015) – Lifetime

An attorney Kate (played by my favorite Days of Our Lives actress Jen Lilley) falls in love with a ghost, Daniel, when she travels to Vermont over the holidays to sell an inn. And the ghost is super hot, y’all. Just look at him! He’s also kind of an asshole, but you know maybe I’d have an attitude too, if I were a ghost trapped in an inn and “forced” into human form for only 12 days a year. Daniel doesn’t remember how he died and Kate, once she decides she believes in ghosts, decides to help him. Of course, they fall in love.

Do you have any cheesy holiday rom-coms you recommend? Leave a comment below and your own personal gingerbread man rating.