And this is a Deck the Hallmark podcast synopsis!

"A Not So Royal Christmas" originally aired December 2nd, 2023. And it went a little something like this...

Count Dracula is alive and well and folks are touring the Count's castle, disappointed they're not gonna see the royal family.

We meet Charlotte - she works for RGE - Royal Gossip Entertainment. It's like TMZ but exclusively royal. She wants a raise but it's not looking good.

We meet Adam, the groundkeeper for Dracula. While decorating the castle for Christmas, he finds a gold medal. Count the gold medals with me - ONE!

So Count Dracula is notoriously evasive. He just never shows up. So Charlottes bets her boss that she can get an exclusive with the Count. If she gets it, she gets a raise.

So she shows up at the castle and sneak around, trying to find the Count. She ends up finding Adam who is there trying to return the gold medal, but when she sees it, she assumed that Adam is the Count. She snags a picture of it.

She is thrown out by security but she says give me a 1-on-1 or a leak the pictures. This is a big deal cuz no one knows what the Count looks like. The security guy approaches Adam and says, “hey so there is no count. He fell in love in Daytona Beach and left and never returned. would you mind acting like you're the count and letting this women do an interview? It'll help us out cuz people are starting to talk.”

She starts her interview but that night, she spots him at a bar, looking like a commoner with glasses. He says, “I come here in disguise so I can still have a normal life.”

A paparazzi photo shows up online, and Adam is publicly identified as the Count. Charlotte’s editor, Tony, is the one who took the picture and learns about the lie she has been telling.

The King sees the picture as well and calls Adam. They converse on speakerphone and plan to continue to have Adam serve as the Count. Adam agrees only if his mother can make the deserts for the Jubilee, an annual holiday event.

Adam meets the King and Queen and learns about Lars, the real Count. He refused the title to marry an American. Adam feels like his job is done with the interview, but they want him to host the Yuletide ball. Adam agrees to open up the ball to the public and insists on using local vendors. The local economy has been booming since the handsome Count was received.

Tony releases another article, and Adam realizes that Charlotte works for a gossip magazine. They throw her out of the castle. Charlotte is upset with Tony for publishing her article, and she quits.

Charlotte visits Adam’s mom’s bakery and offers to help randomly. It is just a plot device for her to learn that Adam is the baker’s son. She confronts Adam, and he tells her that he likes her. She says she liked him, but he is a LIAR. (I think they both are liars.)

It is time for the Yuletide Ball, where Charlotte and Adam will kiss and make up. Adam is about to make an announcement to the whole party when Charlotte walks in a dress. Adam admits he is not the Count and was pretending for a press interview. He tells them he loves the town and everyone in it… including Charlotte!

They apologize to one another while doing a waltz. They laugh about whose lie was worse. Adam plans to stay in town, and Charlotte is switching professions to a HISTORY PROFESSOR? I missed something.

Adam becomes an honorary Count, so everything is all good! They kiss. The end!

And that my friends was “A Not So Royal Christmas!”