Vince Jennings has had two loves in his life. Music and Bristol Matthews. His guitar skills catapult him to stardom with the most popular rock band on earth. But it takes walking away from Bristol—his first love—to make this happen. Despite the groupies, the success, the fun, life under the bright glare of fame and fortune isn’t enough. Deep, dark pain threatens to derail all he’s worked for, until fate brings her back into his life.

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all - beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn.

Caroline Murphy swore she'd never set foot back in the small Southern town of Peachtree Bluff; she was a New York girl born and bred and the worst day of her life was when, in the wake of her father's death, her mother selfishly forced her to move - during her senior year of high school, no less - back to that hick-infested rat trap where she'd spent her childhood summers.

Melissa had clung to the thin thread of hope given by the adoption agency that someday her newborn son might want to connect with her. When his eighteenth birthday arrived, she called the agency to simply update her contact information, not expecting a response.

Waitress and single mom Jessica “Jessie” Mann is practical to a fault. Even if she had time to date, which she doesn’t, she’d be determined to provide her son with a more secure upbringing than the one she had - and that would mean a husband with big bucks. When Jack Morrison - a sexy-as-sin, seemingly broke customer with a cowboy hat and a seductive grin - tries to flirt with her, she shoots him down.

Sydney Ragsdale is looking for a fresh start far away from her controlling ex-husband and the self-doubt that has plagued her since the divorce. Returning to her childhood home in Hopewell, North Carolina, is just what her soul needs. Praying some Christmas magic will follow her, she moves with her daughter to a farmhouse that once belonged to her grandparents. While there Sydney finds solace working at The Book Bea, her favorite bookstore. Single dad Kevin MacAlea, Mac to his friends, is the local high school history teacher and baseball coach.

At the ripe old age of 29, Veronica Mason has given up on the very idea of love. After a childhood blighted by addiction and foster homes and an engagement that ended with no reason given, she's built walls so big it would take dynamite to destroy them. Then she meets Julie, and those walls begin to crumble. At the age of 22, Julie Summers is ready to embark on her last year of college. Positive, happy-go-lucky, and drop-dead gorgeous, Julie has the world at her feet. And then she meets Veronica.

They say young love isn’t real. It’s only our bodies full of raging hormones and our minds filled with lust that make us think we are in love. I can tell them that they’re wrong. Young love is real. It can and it does exist - at least in my 17-year-old life. My name is Claire Montgomery and I come from a family of snobs. Born into wealth, against my will, my family will do just about anything to uphold the perfect Montgomery name. I ruined that for them the day my car broke down on the side of the road and I met the love of my life, Sam Snow.

Mason Powell. Best friend. Boyfriend. Husband. Father. He's the young man you know but have never met. He's the man who chose love over friendship. He's the man who would do anything for his family and friends. He's the man who stepped up when someone wasn't there. He's the man who has a story to tell.

They call me a hero. I save people. It's what I do. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Then I meet her - the girl with the sad eyes. She's lost everything. Twice. And I know she's using me to forget her past. Just when things seem perfect, that past threatens with the unimaginable. They may call me a hero. But she's the one person I can't save.

My name is Lily Gilmore, and I was supposed to be getting married today. That was until I found my fiancé having sex with my sister in the church moments before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. I grew up with a father who was a womanizer and cheated on my mother every moment he had the chance. He would even stoop as low as to take me and my sister with him on his trysts when we were younger. Cheating was all I grew up with, and I vowed never to live the life my mother did.

Madison Archer was a perfect daughter, with perfectly dark secrets. She did not mind that her father used her as a pawn in a business deal. She knew this role well, but meeting Jackie Westin sent her perfect world into a tailspin. Jackie introduced Madison to a different kind of love in a different kind of world, a world that would bend everything Madison believed about life. This is a tale of forbidden love, in a world of dark secrets, betrayals, and intrigue.

They tell you that a parent's love is all consuming. I never put much thought into it. Not until the minute I heard her take her first breath. That little girl is my world. I'd do anything to protect her. My ex signed over her rights, and her family vowed that my daughter didn't exist. Now that she's gone, they want my little girl. They're trying to say I can't give her what she needs.

Single mom Vanessa Holt has a daughter she loves, a supportive family, and her art. Having given up on finding true love - if that even exists, which she doubts - she's content to put romance on the back burner. But not everyone agrees. Those nearest and dearest are ready to see Vanessa let down her long blonde hair and have some fun. To put their grumbling to rest, Vanessa agrees to go on a date with the next man who asks.

Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She's spent her life looking into strangers' faces, fantasizing they're related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she's ready for answers. Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they're sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She's too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and...oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.