Hallmark is the last place you'd expect to find a low-budget movie that decries excessive automation and advocates for local businesses, but for some reason this is the setting against which Love & Jane's story is told. And the movie doesn't come across as insincere either, as it uses a familiar romcom template to actually encourage its protagonist to grow beyond the romance novels she loves and to engage with her own experiences and emotions. Unfortunately, the rest of the film feels oddly obligatory, including a bland love interest and his half-baked chemistry with the heroine, and the inclusion of Jane Austen herself, who really has nothing to do here.

One promising aspect to the film that unfortunately doesn't get explored all that much is the book club that Lilly leads. An early scene establishes that the club is made up of not just the stereotypical Jane Austen audience, but others (including a truck driver) who've found comfort in her words. There's something quietly clever and subversive about this, especially since the film doesn't portray these other club members as the most articulate with their literary analysis, but it never looks down on them or makes them the butt of the joke.