Cat lovers Zachary (Brandon Routh) and Marilee (Kimberley Sustad) are back in this delightful sequel to 2014’s The Nine Lives of Christmas. A stray kitty brought the fireman and the aspiring vet together in the first film and a box of abandoned kittens prove to have the same matchmaking properties in the second.

While the last movie ended with a seemingly happily ever after, in the new movie, Marilee has moved to Miami where she’s started her own vet practice, which she runs with her new workaholic boyfriend, Miles (Nathan Witte).

She’s a little nervous about returning to celebrate Christmas in her home town in Oregon for the first time in years, but that’s exactly when Zach takes his ski trip, so he’ll be out of the picture. Except that finding homes for the kittens means Zach isn’t going anywhere. And Miles insists he has to fix problems at work and won’t be able to join Marilee and her family.

These two actors have great chemistry and of course we’re rooting for them to get back together. (Sorry, Miles!) And we get ample close-ups of the adorable the kittens, who end up being named after Santa’s reindeer by Marilee’s niece.

There is some sadness as we learn that Marilee’s cat Queenie has passed away. She has a new kitty named Duchess and fortunately, Ambrose, the orange tabby who brought them together in the first place, is still doing great. Naturally, he and Duchess do their part to make sure their humans find their way back to each other.

It’s everything you’d want from a Hallmark holiday movie – it’s sweet, heartwarming, and incredibly wholesome and festive, with the characters engaging in gift wrapping, Christmas tree shopping, baking, and plenty of time spent cuddling kittens.

A must for every cat fan in your household.

Rating: 3.5 paws