The Book That Inspired The New Hallmark Movie Christmas Class Reunion

When the holiday season hits, it's time for one of people's favorite traditions — Hallmark Christmas movies. Covering a vast variety of snowflake and holly-jolly themes, with sentimental emotions and romance thrown in for good measure, there's a movie for everyone.

If you've ever attended a high school reunion, "Christmas Class Reunion" is the one to watch this year. The movie stars Aimeé Teegarden as class valedictorian Elle: you might recognize her from "Friday Night Lights," according to Hallmark. Tanner Novlan features as bad-boy Devin: you'll recognize him as the "Bad Actor" in the Liberty Mutual commercial or as a series regular on "The Bold and the Beautiful," per his Hallmark bio.

In a post on Instagram, Novlan shared the description of the movie, "High school classmates, who once dubbed themselves the 'cursed class,' reconnect at Christmas for their 15-year reunion. Over the course of their time reconnecting, the classmates challenge each other to remember who they were, who they are, and who they want to be." 

So how, exactly, did Hallmark come up with the idea for this movie? It turns out it's all based on a book.

The book "Christmas Class Reunion" was originally written by Paul Wooten, and published in 2018. Wooten also works with his wife, Robin, and the two release romance novels under the pen name Robin Paul. According to the Robin Paul Romance website, Robin comes up with ideas, and Paul writes them down.

After adding a bit of additional romance, "Christmas Class Reunion" was re-released under the Robin Paul author name. According to the book's forward, which can be viewed on Amazon, the story was given a new update after Hallmark expressed interest in a holiday movie.

"When it became clear this would really happen, Robin insisted that Paul update the original story," reads the forward. "It needed more romance, and that's Robin's specialty." A new ending and more character development were included. "It's a long way from the movie you'll see on Hallmark, which is excellent in its own right, but is full of the kinds of relationships and romance you expect from us."

Fans of the book "Christmas Class Reunion" have been eagerly awaiting the Hallmark holiday movie of the same name and expressing their enthusiasm. In an Instagram post on Robin Paul's page, a follower commented, "Congratulations! We can't wait to watch the movie!! The book was fantastic!!"

Good Reads also has its share of the book's fans looking forward to seeing how the pages transform into a script. One reader shared, "This was a great story of a class reunion and long ago secret crush . . . Now cannot wait to see the movie."

Reviews on Amazon not only praise the book but mention the movie as well. One reviewer started with the subject line, "Great rewrite of a Christmas Story worthy of Hallmark Holiday offering," and continued by complimenting the re-released version of the book, saying, "Paul and Robin have done a masterful task in a rewrite of Paul's original work. The ending leaves the reader in a peace of mind place." Another fan noted, "Some love stories are just meant for the big screen, and 'Christmas Class Reunion' fits the bill. I can't wait to see what the Hallmark Christmas movie team has done with this classic story of high school crush revisited years later."