The Maxwells and the Popes have been friends forever. The women were college roommates, their husbands are partners in the same law firm, their kids have grown up next door to each other, and the two families share both vacations and holidays.

Writer Sabrina Stone had married wealthily and unwisely. Her husband's refusal to love their handicapped son added more strain to an already failing relationship. Yet Sabrina feels a commitment to her marriage - one that she has vowed to honor. Then one day, she encounters an investigative reporter named Derek McGill....

Spencer Brooke always knew she was destined to be CEO of her grandfather’s business—the most respected and luxurious department store in New York City. Brooke’s has been at the center of every happy memory she has, but it hasn’t been an easy journey. Seven years after her father’s death, her life is very different from the days when she walked through the store with her grandfather as a young girl. She may be the owner of Brooke’s, but she’s also now a divorced single mother of twin boys.

Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's family's island house, but they have since grown apart. When Nicole returns to the island house in order to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole would like her help interviewing locals for her book. But what both women don't know is that they are each holding a secret that may change their relationship forever.

Blueprints is the story of two strong women - Caroline MacAfee, a skilled carpenter; and her daughter, Jamie, a talented architect. The day after her 56th birthday, Caroline is told the network wants Jamie to replace her as the host on Gut It!, their family-based home construction TV show. The resulting rift couldn't come at a worse time. For Jamie life changes overnight when, soon after learning of the host shift, her father and his new wife die in a car accident that orphans their two-year-old son.

After the death of her adoptive mother, Chelsea Kane is a woman consumed by a need to discover her natural heritage. She arrives in the New Hampshire town where she was born, aching for answers. It is while she is looking for them that she finds something quite unexpected: a love she thought she would never know.

Along with their husbands, Amanda, Karen, and Georgia are a close-knit circle of friends enjoying seemingly ideal lives in an upscale neighborhood. But when they learn that their lovely younger neighbor, widowed for a year and presumably still unattached, is pregnant, the strains and imperfections of their lives come into full focus. As they ponder who the father might be, each of the women harbors suspicions about her own husband - and each is forced to a crisis point that will strengthen or shatter her marriage.

Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes. Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, a rambling old house in need of repair, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known.

Preston and Constance Whittier have built a happy life together, with a brood of six children raised in a beautiful historic Manhattan mansion. Now, with a nearly empty nest, it’s easier than ever for the Whittiers to maintain their tradition of a solo romantic “Wintermoon” ski trip. But with this year’s trip comes tragedy, and suddenly the Whittier’s adult children find themselves reuniting in the family home without their parents for the first time ever. The eldest four are forced to put aside their personal issues and their grief to keep the family together.

Clare Wilson is starting over. She's had it with her marriage to a charming serial cheater. Even her own son thinks she's given his father too many chances. With the support of her sisters, Maggie and Sarah, she's ready to move on. Facing her fortieth birthday, Clare is finally feeling the rush of unadulterated freedom. But when a near-fatal car accident lands Clare in the hospital, her life takes another detour. While recovering, Clare realizes she has the power to choose her life's path. With enthusiasm and a little envy, her sisters watch her bloom.

Dr. Kelly Hall had lost all hope of ever having a family - until single father Tanner Malone burst into her hospital, asking her how to raise his newborn daughter. What else could she do, so soon before Christmas, but lend her expertise to the gorgeous contractor? His charming smiles and come-hither glances draw her like a moth to a flame, but she's in no position to get involved with anyone. After a devastating heartbreak, Kelly has given up on happiness.

In Berry Ridge, Vermont, Beth Callahan had found a place to start over. She'd started a successful real estate and design business in the quaint, picturesque town, and she'd even found her perfect house...where she dreamed of someday living and raising a family. Until a reckless bachelor bought it out from under her.

Successful businessman Ryan Bennett had agreed to masquerade as his wealthy cousin for a blind date. But from the moment Ryan saw Julie Nelson to the moment he should have said good-night, he was captivated and couldn't resist an invitation to share her bed. In the hazy afterglow of their heated lovemaking, Ryan confessed his true identity, claiming the passion between them was real despite his deception, but Julie wasn't buying it. Obviously she considered him the enemy.

Mr. December: Duncan Patrick, CEO Scrooge. A powerful businessman, Duncan didn't like ultimatums, unless he was making them. But the board demanded his public image change. When he encountered sweet kindergarten teacher Annie McCoy, he knew she'd make him look like a perfect angel, though it would take some devilish manipulation.

Is there anything sweeter than a first love? Don't ask Claire Keyes. The 28-year-old piano prodigy has never had a regular boyfriend, much less a real romance. Her music career has left little room for friends or family - which is just part of the reason she hasn't seen the family bakery or her two sisters in years.