Team Norman in Books. Team Mike on TV.

I think of the Hannah Swensen Mysteries / Murder, She Baked series as an O.G. in the cozy world. It’s a series that helped define the genre. Everyone seems to have read or watched at least one and the pastry cover art is iconic. 

I’ll admit I don’t think everything is perfect and it does show how long the series has been around when in early books, characters refuse to get computers or cell phones. However, I do truly love this world. I’ve read all 28 books currently in the series, think I’ve caught all the short stories in other anthologies, and watched all the Hallmark movies. I love the small-town charm of Lake Eden, all the delicious descriptions of the desserts served at The Cookie Jar, and how this baker sleuth can uncover clues in a mystery. I always root for Hannah to catch the killer, create the perfect new recipe - and to figure out her love life.

In the series, there are two rivals for Hannah’s affection (and, in the books, a third one who is a college friend with some dark secrets, but we’ll ignore him for now.) One is Norman, a dentist who is always willing to help Hannah investigate. The other is Mike, a hunky detective who recently arrived in town.

I’m always interested in adaptation and seeing what changes and what remains the same when a story moves from one medium to another. While the heart of the series stays the same between the books and the Hallmark movies, there are some definite differences. In the books, Hannah has two sisters, but on TV, they only kept the realtor/sheriff’s wife, Andrea. The Cookie Jar is larger and has a lot more staff on TV, while when the book series started Hannah only had one employee, Lisa. There are also differences in the romance, and this is where my feelings on who I would prefer Hannah to end up with comes into play. I won’t tell you who Hannah chooses in each format. (Honestly, I can’t reveal the answer from book series because she hasn’t made up her mind yet! There have been complications.) However, I can give you my take on it. 

First and foremost, I want Hannah to be happy. I think the book series does a great job of really balancing the two love interests so that we know that both of them are good guys and either one could be a great partner for Hannah. That’s why her decision is so hard. She cares about both of them and beyond the potential for romance, she also has a strong friendship with both of them.

I’m still rooting for her to end up with Norman there. Norman isn’t quite as sexy as Mike in the books. He is described as having his hairline start to recede and he doesn’t have a smile that makes Hannah’s knees go weak like Mike does. However, he is caring, smart, and willing to go the extra mile for others. Not only is he a dentist and can give medical insight on a case, but he is also tech savvy. He’s the one who finds clues on the computer, is great with photography and finding hidden things in a picture, and is always looking for new hobbies to improve himself. 

[Slight spoiler for this sentence] Besides all that, his cat and Hannah’s are best friends, and he actually built the dream house that they designed for a contest and made it a reality! I swoon thinking about that.

Mike is still great in the series. He’s attractive, great at police work, and despite a wandering eye, does care for Hannah.

I think the deciding factor for my choice in the books boils down to this. I root for Norman because he always supports Hannah. Mike is constantly trying to get Hannah to stop investigating and meddling in his cases. He’s a detective. I get why he does this. However, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s limiting her in this regard and telling her to sit on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Norman is at her side, assisting her to accomplish her investigative goals and pushing her to become better at something that she is clearly good at and is important to her.

I read the books first, so I was all set to have the same opinion and be on Team Norman when I watched the movies. I was surprised that I found myself rooting for Hannah and Mike to be a couple.

I think there are a few reasons for this. One is that Hallmark clearly wasn’t planning on having almost thirty movies over which Hannah could make her decision, so they started dropping hints about who they thought Hannah should end up with so we would feel satisfied when she eventually decided. I feel like because they wanted to have two hunky actors play Mike and Norman (not complaining!), they found other ways to differentiate the men. 

It fits into the Hallmark trope that one suitor is rich and materialistic while the other is down-to-earth, and I think they put a little bit of this into Norman’s character with his dental practice doing so well. Through the course of the series, he does still assist Hannah on her cases, but to me he does start to feel more like a friend than a boyfriend. 

Meanwhile, I see less of Mike’s wandering eye as the TV movies progress, and more of his heart. Both the books and the movies have the same backstory, but perhaps seeing it on screen makes it tug at the heartstrings more. The death of Mike’s wife was the reason that he transferred to Lake Eden and it’s the reason he was slow to dive into another meaningful relationship. 

There is chemistry between Hannah and Mike on the screen and I am rooting for her to help his heart heal while she gets over her fear of commitment. 

Those are my thoughts on Hannah’s love life and who I hope she chooses. However, as long as she keeps baking cookies and catching killers, I will continue to follow her stories.