The new Hallmark movie The Secrets of Bella Vista is a romantic mystery starring Rachelle Lefevre and Niall Matter. It is based on the 2013 novel The Apple Orchard by best-selling author Susan Wiggs, which is the first in a trilogy called the Bella Vista Chronicles.
New Hallmark movie
In the film, Lefevre plays Tess, who gets surprising news from an estate executor (played by Matter) that she has inherited half of an apple orchard from the father she never knew and has a half-sister named Isabel (Helena Marie) she didn’t know about.
According to a synopsis from Hallmark, “When Tess visits the orchard and connects with her new-found family, she learns that the orchard is deep in debt. Using her knowledge as an antiques expert, Tess and Isabel work to unravel the mystery of their grandmother’s “treasure” that could hold the key to saving the orchard. And, in the process, Tess ultimately finds a new understanding of herself.”
About the cast
Rachelle Lefevre recently starred in the Hallmark drama Moriah’s Lighthouse opposite Luke Macfarlane. A native of Canada, Lefevre was dissevered while waiting tables at a restaurant. Her first role was as Stacey Hanson on the series Big Wolf on Campus. She also had roles on Charmed, The Hunger, Undressed, The Closer, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
In 2008, she played a vampire named Victoria in Twilight, a role she reprised in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
Niall Matter is perhaps best known to Hallmark audiences as Nick Miller in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. He has also appeared on the series When Calls the Heart as Shane Cantrell. He has starred in a number of Hallmark movies, including Rip in Time (2022), A Christmas Together With You (2021), Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (2020), Christmas at Dollywood (2019), Engaging Father Christmas (2017), and Marrying Father Christmas (2018).
Matter has also appeared in the TV shows iZombie, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, Rizzoli & Isles, Supernatural, and The Good Doctor.
The Secrets of Bella Vista will premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries on Sunday, September 18 at 9/8c.