May 27, 2025

Summer Villa (Hallmark Channel - 2016)

37 minutes

Watch on Philo! - Philo.tv/DTH

Terry Russell is an author, but it’s hard to get any writing done over her daughter’s loud music.
We meet Matthew, who owns a restaurant and is just kinda grumpy—especially after a critic gives him a really bad review.

Terry’s publisher and best friend, Leslie, sets her up on a blind date with her brother… Matthew.
Terry shows up for the date and is excited—until she sees Matthew walk up and talk to the wrong woman. The date ends up lasting all of two minutes before she bails.

Terry has writer’s block, and Matthew is in a funk after that review. Both could use a little getaway.

Leslie tells Terry that she and her daughter should go stay at their family’s summer villa. But when Terry arrives, she’s shocked to find Matthew swimming in the backyard.
He’s like, “I’m not leaving. I need time to get out of this funk.”
She’s like, “Well, I’m not leaving either.”
They call Leslie, and she tells them the house is big enough—why not just share it? They (reluctantly) agree.

He’s immediately annoyed by how they’re handling the kitchen, and she’s immediately annoyed that she still has writer’s block.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Abby, is there and keeps trying to cook for Matthew because she’s into it.

Terry goes into town and meets local chef Jean Luc, and she’s pretty taken by him—and his accent. Jean Luc also wants Matthew to join a local cook-off.

Matthew spends a lot of time in the kitchen trying to get re-inspired, but it’s not going well—even though Terry tries one of his dishes and tells him it’s delicious.

One night, she can’t sleep and finds Matthew in the kitchen. Instead of telling her to scram, he invites her to share some homemade hot chocolate. They start to bond.

Jean Luc shows up unannounced and asks Terry out. Matthew is not impressed—by Jean Luc or the fish he brought over. And by “not impressed,” we mean very jealous.

Terry takes Matthew to the street market for inspiration, where they run into Jean Luc’s butcher, Nadia. She invites Terry over for dinner.

Abby picks up on the fact that her mom is kinda into Matthew and is like, “You should go for it.”

But when Terry sees Matthew and Nadia talking late at night, she gets suspicious, spies on them, and ends up falling into the pool.
Nadia thinks it’s weird that he’s sharing a house with another woman and leaves.

The next day, Terry goes on a picnic with Jean Luc. Naturally, Matthew picks a fight with her when she gets back.

Abby is not leaving this to chance, so she starts working on ways to get Terry and Matthew in the same room.

He begins to inspire her writing. One day, during a walk, he feeds her a berry and she immediately runs off to write.

He asks her out to dinner. The sparks are flyingggg.

But when they realize the restaurant is short-staffed, he jumps back into the kitchen—and sees Terry helping out with the waitstaff.
That’s when he realizes: oh snap... she’s the one.

They get back to the villa and are about to kiss—finally—but Abby comes downstairs in tears. Her friends are being mean to her on social media.

Later, Terry starts inspiring his cooking. They almost kiss again... but there’s a knock at the door.
It’s Dianne, Matthew’s business manager. She tells him she invited that same food critic to the cook-off. He’s not thrilled.

Matthew asks Abby to be his sous chef for the competition. He’s overwhelmed—until he looks out at Terry.
Sometimes, that’s all you need.

They win!!!
The critic comes up to Matthew afterward and tells him, “You’ve got your mojo back!”

The next day, Terry is about to give Matthew her new manuscript—but they’re interrupted by big news: TV producers want to give Matthew his own show. He’d travel the world making food for women. Chef Cupid, baby.

Terry is very sad. She figures it just wasn’t meant to be. She tells Matthew she had a great summer, but she’s going back to New York. He’s confused.

Later, he finds her manuscript, reads it, and realizes—she doesn’t want him to be Chef Cupid.
He races off to find her.

He tells her, “The manuscript is our story. I want to find out what happens next.”
They kiss big ones.