Officer Clare Sawyer, newly arrived at the University of Washington’s campus police department, hopes her investigation of a murdered professor will give her a chance to show her worth and prove to herself she made the right choice leaving the big city behind. Life on campus brings back uncomfortable memories, but she is determined to do her job and remain on the outskirts of the academic world. Until Professor Hart walks into her interrogation room....

After I returned to my small hometown six months ago to attend my estranged grandmother's funeral, I swore I would never go back. That is, until my grandmother's lawyer calls me up. If I don't return to Harmony Island and fulfill my grandmother's stipulations, the generationally owned family inn will be turned over to the state and sold off to the highest bidder—my grandmother's rival and mother to the man who broke my heart, Missy Willis. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to return home, but I also know, I can't let Miss Willis win.

After a lifetime of moving and change, Jan Carroll wants nothing more than to settle down and build a home. Then her father gets sick, and the stable life she's made as a high school geometry teacher threatens to crumble around her. She wants little to do with newcomer Tina Nelson, a shallow and unreliable playgirl. Especially since their mutual friend Brooke Stanton has been not-so-subtly matchmaking. Sometimes, though, love makes you throw away life's careful script. Can these women learn to improvise?

There'd been a Rivers at the helm of Argyle Community Hospital for six generations, and Harper Rivers was set to take her father's place whenever he decided to hang up his shingle. Unfortunately, the board of directors had other ideas - they accepted a buyout offer from a health-care conglomerate with plans to close the hospital's doors to the community that depended on it. And Presley Worth, a high-powered corporate financier, came to town to oversee the closure.

Animal rescue worker Iris Mallery thinks she has created a stable and secure home for herself, but when her small town is battered by an earthquake, Iris needs to rebuild not only her own life, but the lives of the displaced dogs and cats now filling her shelter.

After a life of wrong turns and lost hope, can true love be more than a bittersweet fantasy? Melinda Andrews arrives on the Oregon coast with a dream of running the Sea Glass Inn. Still reeling after an unexpected divorce, Mel believes she has missed her chance to find love. All she wants is to make her business a success and regain her independence. She locates the artist who inspired her move so she can commission more paintings for her new inn. Pamela Whitford runs a gallery in a small seaside town, planning events and supporting other artists while neglecting her own talent.

Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. But when it comes to actual romance… Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes.

The isolated, sleepy little village of Timber Falls—built on the bend of a swift mountain river—swells during the summer months as tourists flock to town to run the river, lured there by the Class IV and Class V rapids. A gruesome murder of a college student—a river rat—brings the FBI to town. Lynn Carter, a disgraced LAPD detective, was offered an out—a position on a team of unorthodox FBI agents. When her commander sent her to Timber Falls—a town by only the stretch of the imagination—she had no idea she would find her peace there. No idea she might find love.

Abby Carpenter is in a tailspin knowing she is about to spend 10 days in the company of her ex-girlfriend - who is now engaged to her brother - for a family holiday gathering in Red River, New Mexico. The same ex-girlfriend who last year at Christmas had lured her into bed. Abby’s solution? A pretend girlfriend for the holidays would surely keep her ex away and in her own room at night, right?

91 year-old Ira Levinson is kept concious after a car wreck by visions of his late wife, Ruth, who recounts stories of their lifetime together. A few miles away, at a local rodeo, Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forest, meets a young cowboy named Luke. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

Ben thought coming out was his best chance of finding love. Once everyone in his high school learned the truth, he ended up lonelier than before. After a not-so-accidental collision with Tim, an attractive athlete and artist, Ben is convinced that he’s met his soulmate. Their budding romance is soon tested by spreading rumors, the danger increasing along with their passion for each other.

Alison arrives at the beach house in June to spend a month with her restless grandson before he leaves for his freshman year in college. Over a decade before, Alison lost her beloved husband, and has faced life alone ever since. Now she discovers a new life, and possible new love. August brings together four college friends facing a milestone. Across summer's final days, they share laughter, tears, and love-revealing long-held secrets and creating new and even more powerful bonds.

Sawyer Drake has never known what she wants - except it isn't working in the family restaurant. In order to outrun her destiny, she bounces from job to job - and woman to woman. Nothing keeps her attention for very long. Nothing, that is, until she meets shy pastry chef Jori Diamantina. But Jori has no intention of risking the job she loves and a life she's comfortable with for a passing fling with Sawyer, no matter how strong the attraction. Sawyer has no idea what she wants from Jori, or from life, but she's about to find out - because Jori makes her want to stop running.

Best-selling mystery writer Sam Torres loves jetting around the world, researching her next plot, and enjoying local culture, cuisine, and women. Her next stop: the Big Easy. Tess Arceneaux is a New Orleans native who likes life simple and uncomplicated. That includes shucking oysters for wealthy tourists and singing at the neighborhood bar-no pretense and no pressure. When Sam saunters in looking for company in addition to dinner, she sets her sights on Tess.

Nora Calhoun keeps her life just like her Provincetown B and B, neat and tidy. She's thrilled when her niece, Graham, comes to stay with her while completing her graduate fieldwork aboard the Dolphin Fleet. She's less than thrilled when Graham starts hanging out with Willa Lange, a sexy wanderer who works for the Fleet and seems to have her sights set on Graham. At the encouragement of her sister, Emerson, Will's short stay in Ptown becomes a fresh start. She's doing great - a decent job, a place of her own, and new friends. But when she meets Nora, she finds herself pining for more.