The latest addition to the Hallmark Channel’s Winter Escape 2026 film series is mystery rom-com Caught by Love. Starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Luke Macfarlane, the title follows a hard-working Midwestern woman whose relaxing Malta vacation is interrupted by a handsome private investigator and his quest to recover stolen jewels. As she inserts herself into his investigation, they grow closer to finding the culprit, while falling for each other in the process.
The Gist: Annie (Rachael Leigh Cook) is a polite, kind, and optimistic American woman who gets the opportunity to take a much-needed vacation when her friend, Joanna (Ruby Kammer), becomes too busy to attend a weeklong stay at a rejuvenating Mediterranean resort, sending Annie in her place. Annie isn’t used to putting herself first and sees this stay at the beautiful Monarch Malta as a chance to find herself and rediscover what she really wants out of life. But after Annie (quite literally) bumps into American finance guy and fellow guest, Jake (Luke Macfarlane), she soon has something else to keep her occupied during her trip.
Although he’s charming, Luke is distant, keeping a polite distance between himself and Annie as he watches the other guests in their week’s group. It turns out that Jake is a private investigator whose struggling independent agency just consists of himself and his associate Lara (Amanda Victoria Vilanova), who is undercover working as a new hire at the Monarch. After receiving an anonymous tip, Jake and Lara came to the resort to see which of the guests is the buyer for the Crestfield Diamond Necklace that was recently stolen from New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, so they can catch the culprit and win the staggering sum of reward money.
With the future of his business on the line, Jake sees all of the guests as suspects, namely influencer Kimberley (Nichola Manners), tech mogul Colin (Emrhys Cooper), billionaire married couple Peter (Fernando Corral) and Carolyn (Suzanne Debney), and European royal Rebecca (Denise Capezza). However, after Annie catches Jake’s eye, he can’t tell if he finds her suspicious or merely appealing. As the two continue to hover around each other, Annie inadvertently gets pulled into Jake’s investigation, discovering his true identity and determining to help him in this case. Will she also find herself — and true love — along the way?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? The initial setup reminded me of the TV shows The White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers more than anything else. But once Caught by Love settles more into tones of lighthearted mystery hijinks and rom-com tropes, it might remind you of other scenic Hallmark movies like For Love & Honey, Love in Maldives, Mystery Island, and The Dancing Detective.
Performance Worth Watching: Amanda Victoria Vilanova shines as private investigator and undercover hotel worker, Lara, easily emanating charm and commitment in every scene she’s in (of which there should be more). She delivers the most natural and engaging performance in this movie, and I hope we see her on our screens more often in the future.
Memorable Dialogue: This exchange between Annie and Jake is a good example of her attempts at quirkiness:
“Jim, Jim, he likes to swim. Swim, Jim.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s nothing really. It’s just a silly thing I do to try to remember people’s names. I say their name and then associate something with that, maybe what they like to do or how I met them.”
Sex And Skin: None.
Our Take: The setup to Caught by Love felt so promising. We’re introduced to a fancy resort that’s almost sinister-feeling in its perfection, and self-involved guests that would fit right in at any season of The White Lotus. Unfortunately, the interesting beginning quickly unravels into your standard Hallmark movie formula as Annie and Jake undergo their own investigations and wacky hijinks to uncover the criminal behind a jewelry heist, inevitably falling for each other in the process. This isn’t to knock the Hallmark formula; when it works, it works, and it’s a lot of fun. Caught by Love just lacks the necessary heart, humor, and charm to make it feel worth watching over any other rom-com out there now. Aside from Lara, the characters are all a bit one-dimensional, and their relationships to each other ring hollow.
Somehow, I found that Lara and Jake had more chemistry and potential as a couple than our leads, Jake and Annie, perhaps due to the latter two characters’ manufactured quirkiness and general blandness that makes it hard to feel connected to them. I mean, Jake’s only fun fact about himself is that he collects stamps, so it’s not like the actors had a ton to work with in the first place. Besides some entertaining moments of physical comedy (Rachael Leigh Cook really put her body and soul into those aerial yoga scenes) and the gorgeous Malta backdrop, there’s nothing that really makes Caught by Love feel especially memorable or must-see.
Our Call: The most unique and engaging thing about Caught by Love is its stunning shots of Malta. Take that away, and there’s not enough emotional honesty, charm, or plot stakes to set this movie apart from other run-of-the-mill rom-coms. SKIP IT.
How To Watch Caught by Love
The only way to watch Hallmark Channel live without cable is by using a live TV streaming service. We recommend DIRECTV, which comes with a five-day free trial before payment begins.
DIRECTV offers a number of flexible subscription options, including Genre Packs, so you can best choose which streaming plans fit your needs and budget. Plans start at $49.99/month.
Maddy Casale is a Chicago-based writer and comedian who covers everything from animated series to Hallmark movies. Follow her on Duolingo @MCasale.
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