Hockey star Max Yearwood was everything I needed at the time - fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months, since he’d signed with a new team 3,000 miles away. Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right? Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans.

Trying to put past hurts behind you is hard when your ex is a fool, but buoyed by child support and alimony, Jo Walker is moving forward with her life, pursuing a career, raising her little girl, and trying to live in peace. She believes she has all the bases covered in her world. But what about her heart? Rap legend Everett "Big South" McClain is divorced, too, knows all about failed relationships, and has relegated his love life to casual connections rather than pursuing something real. That is, until he lays eyes on Jo.

The first time I met Merrick Crawford was during my job interview. Well, technically, I’d met him 20 minutes earlier when he’d barged into a fitting room a few doors down from my appointment. I yelled. He yelled. After an argument while standing in my bra, I proceeded to smash the door into the gorgeous jerk, trying to yank it shut. As you might imagine, I was freaked out when I discovered that the rude guy was my potential new boss. Yet he didn’t seem to recognize me. Or so I thought.... Until we wound up bickering again during my interview and he told me to go sniff my armpit.

It all started when I hosted a little party for a bunch of new friends. Though “friends” might not be the right word since the invitees were all the women I’d found out my boyfriend was talking to behind my back. When the guest of honor walked in—aka my now ex—things took a turn… Unfortunately, a stranger witnessed the whole blowout. I was in a mood that night and ended up giving this gorgeous guy an attitude, too. As if my night could get any worse, before he stormed off, he informed me he was actually my landlord.

The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra. So begins Destination Unknown—it's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out—he’s complete out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night. A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship that it first seems?

Caspian Lewis spent his first 22 years living a fairly typical middle-class American life. He attended school, went on dates, and, eventually graduated college. The one constant in his life from kindergarten to that day was his best friend, Elizabeth Winters. That is, until she kissed him. Fast forward to the year 2079, and Dr. Caspian Lewis addresses a Loyola auditorium filled to capacity with past and present students. They have gathered both to wish a treasured professor well on his retirement and to hear a tale he promised to tell once and only once.

At 27, Shannon Murphy has just discovered that she has two sisters she never knew. Now, through Shannon’s loving persistence, the three of them are moving in together above her dance studio in Bridgeport. Shannon is excited to make a home with her sisters and to grow her budding business. Then she meets her newest client - he has all the right muscles, a perfect smile, and a lot of attitude. Will Shannon be able to keep things professional with this charming stranger?

Ashley Adams doesn’t have time for haters. Already too busy dealing with dead bodies after her stepmother purchased a mortuary, she is ready to put the lid on her judgmental peers. But her focus is shattered when a charming pop star turned student needs her help evading his crazed fans. The last place heartthrob Harry James wants to be is back in school. Sentenced to finish his senior year after a case of accidental arson, the singer longs to return to the stage. But he never expected to meet a girl who could see through the fame to the real person inside.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Sarah Spicer took this saying to heart, at least where love was concerned. She had given up any hope in ever finding a decent man. She was convinced they had only one thing on their minds and were untrustworthy and unfit for relationships. This was exactly why she had a strict no-dating policy. That was before she met Collin Ross.

After suffering a very public humiliation, Kenadie Marshall realizes that love shouldn't be left only to personal judgement. Instead of wallowing in her misery, Kenadie creates Binary Search, the perfect balance between a software application and human intuition to help others find true and lasting love, all while personally swearing off relationships for good.

Kristy Martin is 20-something, single, and living it up in Chicago. She has a crew of close girlfriends to keep her social calendar active and is celebrating finally securing employment in her chosen field. While always free-spirited, Kristy is getting tired of the revolving door - or, more accurately, bed - of random guys and failed dates and comes up with a plan to get her act together when it comes to the opposite sex. That idea is quickly shot down by her bestie Breely Laver and replaced with a bet she can’t refuse.

A single dad’s get together. A spark in their eyes. Two men must find common ground. Jonas is a single father of a hard-working kid. Yet, when his son and another boy get into a fight, he never expects to find himself attracted to the other father. Can love grow between men with such different views on fatherhood? Arthur is the father of a heavily troubled teenager, always trying to stay one step ahead. Despite his son’s behavior, he can’t get the other single dad in his life out of his head.

When Shawna Haydel was 16 years old, she dropped Ashton Guidry's name into a potion that would supposedly make Ashton fall in love with her. She knew it was silly, but she clung to one irrational thread of hope their friend Patty's concoction would grant her heart's desire. Shawna's hopes were dashed when Ashton packed up her things and went away to college completely unaware of Shawna's feelings. Twenty-three years after Patty's potion was brewed, Ashton returns to her hometown. She finds time has changed a lot, including Shawna.

What if life as we know it was just a game? What if instead of traditional schools, children learned by participating in a virtual reality simulation, one that allowed them to experience "life" from birth to death - multiple times? What if one player, on his final play, could change the world forever?

The Against All Odds series is a romantic comedy saga with lots of humor and some angst.