8 Hallmark Stars Who Have Written Books – The List

Many of our screens are tuned in to the Hallmark channel during the holidays or snuggling at home on a rainy day. We love seeing our favorite stars’ acting skills in feel-good movies or cozy mysteries, but the number of them who also have a writing vein in them catches many off guard.

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One of Hallmark’s biggest stars, Candace Cameron Bure, has been in the book industry for many years. Her first one was “Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness,” about her journey with healthy eating and her Christian faith, offering an honest introspection of her struggle with food as she navigated the pressures of Hollywood. The book was an instant hit, debuting at No. 13 on The New York Times’ Paperback Advice & Miscellaneous Best Sellers list in February 2011.

The star of over 20 Hallmark movies went on to write three other books in the following years: “Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose,” where she discusses balancing her life as an actress, wife, and mother; “Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction,” where she writes about her faith in God throughout the multiple highs and lows in her life; and, finally, “Kind is the New Classy: The Power of Living Graciously,” where she shares advice on remaining calm under pressure, handling criticism with grace, dealing with others’ expectations, and more. The actor, who rose to fame as DJ Tanner in “Full House,” may have left the network in 2022, but she is still one of the stars with the most Hallmark movies to her name and is beloved by friends.

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Before becoming a Hallmark Star, Tyler Hynes used to act on stage, and in other films and TV shows, and even directed short films and music videos. However, it seems like he was hungry for more, as he released his first book in 2024: a limited-edition photography coffee table book called “Ty + Js.” He and his best friend, photographer Joshua Schultz, have compiled over 200 photos, many of them self-portraits, with written reflections on each of them about life and their friendship. One of the most heartwarming details of this book launch is that it happened thanks to the encouragement of Hynes’s fans, the self-label “Hynies,” who loved to see his and Schultz’s photos on his social media throughout the years. In an Instagram live in September 2024, the Hallmark star said, “Passing the camera around with my best friend for many, many, many years is something that we do when we run around on our adventures. And you guys,” he went on, addressing the Hynies, “who seem to be enjoying that collaboration, have voiced that opinion over the years and have inspired us to make this book, essentially.”

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As of this article’s publishing date, the only way to buy “Ty + Js” is through Hynes’s official website for $65, a place where he also sells jewelry and Holiday-related gifts. “I’m so stoked, Hynes said in his Instagram live. “I’ve always wanted a coffee table photography book … it’s like, one, that dream [came true]. Two, it’s with your best friend.”

She may have risen to fame for her role as Winnie Cooper in “The Wonder Years,” but Danica McKellar was a beloved Hallmark star before moving on to Great American Family in 2022. What many don’t know, though, is that besides acting, she has had another passion throughout her life: math. “The Wonder Years” had already made McKeller internationally famous by the time she finished high school, but she still decided to go to college and pursue an education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she graduated summa cum laude in mathematics.

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Even though her main job is acting, the “Crown for Christmas” star is the Hallmark actor with the most books in her portfolio, and most of them are about the uses and joys of math. The first one, “Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail,” earned her a spot in The New York Times bestseller list and thousands of online positive reviews. Most of her books have been published by Random House Publishing Group, one of the five largest English language publishers, commonly known as the “Big Five.” In an interview with ScienceBlogs, McKellar said that her goals are “to show girls that math is accessible and relevant, and even a little glamorous” as a response to “society constantly bombard[ing] us with damaging social messages telling young girls that math and science aren’t for them.”

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More than just a passion for the actor, math even helped McKellar find her self-worth after “The Wonder Years.”

Bethany Joy Lenz is just one “One Tree Hill” star who went on to be in Hallmark movies. She was on the hit CW show from 2003 to 2012, and twelve years later, she shared a secret in her first book: she had been part of a cult during that time. “Dinner For Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!)” narrates how a seemingly next-door Bible study group satisfied her craving for belonging in a community before turning dark. She eventually married the cult leader’s son and had a baby with him while at the same time isolating herself from her friends and family. Not only that, over $2 million of her personal funds ended up in their pockets.

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“One Tree Hill” fans will be pleasantly surprised to read how Lenz considered the show life-saving. She told Variety, “[My castmates] were all trying to save me and rescue me, which is lovely and so amazing to be cared about in that way. But I was very stubborn.” She also mourned all the opportunities, such as offers for films and Broadway shows, she lost for prioritizing the cult. To share this story with the world, she first had to deal with shame she felt about the whole experience. “Shame … causes us to close up and not want to expose that part of ourselves for fear of being seen and then being further shamed by outside sources,” she explained.

Lenz’s memoir was an instant hit. It was published by Simon & Schuster, another of the Big Five publishing houses, and it was included in The New York Times’ list of “22 Non-Fiction Books to Read This Fall” in 2024.

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Our fifth Hallmark-star-turned-writer is none other than “Mystery 101” actor Kristoffer Polaha. As of February 2025, he has published two of the five books from “From Kona with Love,” a saga he is currently writing alongside writer Anna Gomez. Each book explores different characters’ romantic journeys in Hawaii. The first book, “Moments Like These,” tells the story of Andie, a woman who helps her best friend run her coffee shop in her absence. On Christmas Eve, a man called Warren catches her eye, and they explore Oahu together as they fall in love.

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The second installment, “Where The Sun Rises,” is set on the island of Kauai, and the romance is centered around two polar opposites: Maele Moana, the daughter of a plantation worker, and Adam, the son of one of the richest men in Oahu. Both books have an average rating of close to five stars on Amazon and have received rave reviews from fans.

Even if Polaha adores working at Hallmark, he has other ambitions, too. “Moments Like These” has been optioned by a production company and will potentially become a feature film co-produced by Polaha’s company, Podunk Productions.

Husband and wife Carlos and Alexa PenaVega are two more Hallmark stars who rose to fame with other roles. Alexa spent her teenage years playing the role of Carmen Cortez in the “Spy Kids” movies, while Carlos spent his early twenties in the Nick hit TV show “Big Time Rush” and in the namesake boy band. They fell in love after meeting in a Bible study in Los Angeles, where both actors resided, and two years later, in 2014, they tied the knot and combined their last names, Pena and Vega. Besides their religious beliefs, the “Love at Sea” couple connected over their experiences with fame, something they wrote about in their first book, “What if Love is the Point?: Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World,” where they share their perspectives on faith and life.

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The book was published in 2022, after three kids and many Hallmark films, TV shows, and concerts under their belt. The couple’s goal is to share with their audience how to center their lives around God. In fact, Hallmark star Cameron Candace Bure, mentioned above, kindly praised the book in a blurb for Amazon. She said, “Growing up in the spotlight is hard, but Carlos and Alexa have done it with style and grace. They leaned in and trusted Jesus as they found a way to juggle life in Hollywood with seeking truth.”

Last but not least, “Murder, She Baked” star Alison Sweeney first ventured into writing with her autobiography “All The Days of My Life (So Far)” when she was 27. In it, she reflects on her early acting career, especially about her time on the NBC soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” where she played the cunning Sami Brady for twenty years. Her next book, “The Mommy Diet,” came out six years later. In it, she spilled all the details of her pregnancy experience while sharing tips on staying healthy through the journey and the recovery process after giving birth — all while being a hardworking actress.

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However, it wasn’t until her third book that the “The Chronicle Mysteries” star embarked on novel writing. She published “The Star Attraction“ in 2013, a story about a Hollywood publicist who falls for an actor she works for despite having a boyfriend. Similarly, the other two novels she wrote later are also about life in Hollywood. “Scared Scriptless” follows Maddy, a script supervisor who hates Hollywood and has a strict “no actors” dating rule, but just like in Sweeney’s first novel, Maddy also unwillingly falls for an actor here! Finally, “Opportunity Knocks” tells the story of Alex, a makeup artist whose job is put on the line and who must navigate the stress and insanity of Hollywood’s life behind the scenes.

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