I don’t trust people, and for good reason. My parents kicked me out the second I turned eighteen, and my friends from high school or college all lost touch. No matter how close we get, how much they claim they love me, they always abandon me. The only person I can rely on is me, which is why I’ve built my own business from the ground up making bookish merch and accessories. So far, I’m hitting or exceeding all my goals and that’s all I need.

Danica Wendell seems to have it all figured out. She's a respected neonatologist at one of the finest hospitals in the nation, engaged to the man of her dreams, and living a life that most only dream about. Well, one of those things is true. The other? Well, that's her secret to keep for now. Petra "Pete" Pancott isn't settling for an average life. She's globe-trotted, embraced every thrill, and carved out a career that's on her own terms. Sure, sometimes she daydreams of a future with a family and a home, but who needs roots when you're flying through life?

I’m so close to everything I’ve ever wanted, including getting my graduate degree in reading education, when a series of unfortunate financial events hits me like a ton of bricks. I need a job and I need one NOW or else I’m in big trouble. This was not in my plan and I’m crossing every appendage I have that I can find something that fits with my class schedule, will pay enough, and won’t destroy my soul. A very tall order.

For Audrey Lind, working with clay still evokes memories of her favorite professor. The woman’s zeal for art history ignited Audrey’s own academic career—and her tweed blazers and British accent kindled her first female crush. After fate brings Audrey back to Northshire University to teach, she’s thrilled to be working alongside her former mentor, but the grumpy woman she encounters upon her return is nothing like the dynamo she remembers.

Closed-off teacher Sloane Sullivan sees only shades of gray since she lost her wife. Desperate for escape and healing, she travels from the United States to Australia to find color. Instead, she finds an unexpected home with a reclusive, prickly actress and her cheeky daughter. Actress Ava James chooses her flings the way she chooses her roles: safe, fleeting, and short-lived. Better not to try than to risk humiliating failure—again. Her ordered life is upended when an American she had one sexy morning with only days earlier turns out to be staying in her mother's guest house—for a whole year!