Since his wife's death, world-famous author Ford Newcombe has lived a solitary life, void of creativity - or love. Then Jackie Maxwell tears down the walls of his isolated world with her sassy wit and fierce intelligence. Ford's heart is touched by his vivacious assistant - and his imagination sparked by her knowledge of a strange story that drives them to a small North Carolina town brimming with secrets.

Chef Casey Reddick has had it up to here with men. When she arrives in the charming town of Summer Hill, Virginia, she leaves behind a demanding boss at a famous DC restaurant and a breakup with a boyfriend jealous of her success. Some peace and quiet on the picturesque Tattwell plantation are just what she needs to start fresh. But the tranquility is broken one misty morning when she sees a gorgeous naked man on the porch of her cottage.

For nearly 20 years, quiet, unassuming Lillian Manville has devoted herself to her self-made billionaire husband - and enjoyed a luxurious life of splendid homes, trips, jewels, and clothes. But when James Manville dies in a plane crash, Lillian's grief is compounded by a shocking mystery: All that Jimmie has left to her is an old farmhouse in tiny Calburn, Virginia. Now, Lillian's unexpected circumstances are leading her to a made-over life in Calburn, an exciting business - and a sweet new love with a handsome local man. But will she have the courage to unveil the truth?

When Cassandra Madden was 12 years old, she fell in love with Jefferson Ames, a young man she met at one of her mother's business conferences. When she grew up, she went to college and even met a man she thought she'd marry, but Jeff was still in her head. She broke off her near engagement and went to Williamsburg, Virginia, where she secretly got herself a job as a nanny to the widowed Jeff's young child.

Jocelyn Minton is a woman torn between two worlds. Her mother grew up attending private schools and afternoon teas, but she married the local handyman. After her mother died when Joce was only five years old, her father remarried into his own class, and Joce became an outsider - until she met Edilean Harcourt. Although she was sixty years Joce's senior, Miss Edi was a kindred soul who understood her like no one else ever had. When Miss Edi passes away, she leaves Joce all her worldly possessions, including an eighteenth-century house and a letter with clues to a mystery that began in 1941.

Sparks are flying between Jecca Layton and Dr. Tristan Aldredge. At the urging of her dear friend Kim, Jecca put the ruthless New York City art world on hold to spend the summer pursuing her passion for painting while enjoying Edilean’s tightly knit artistic community. For years, Kim’s cousin Tris - the town’s handsome and dedicated doctor - felt a deep connection to Kim’s college “sister” Jecca, though they had met only once before; now, Jecca is swept off her feet by this strong, sensitive man in a summer of sensual delights.

Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming 19th-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman's relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix - fresh from a romantic breakup - but for reasons of her own, Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend's storybook wedding.

After three years, Jace Montgomery is still grieving over his fiancée Stacy's mysterious suicide. He hasn't been interested in another woman since her passing, and her family still blames him for her death. While flipping through one of her old paperbacks, Jace discovers a photo of a house stuck between the pages, bearing the cryptic message "Ours again. Together forever. See you there." The note was dated the day before her death. Obsessed with trying to understand Stacy's suicide, Jace seeks out the property....

Olivia is in her 60s and recently married her first love after 40 years apart. Her first marriage was long and unhappy and she is thrilled to finally be with the man she's always loved. Kathy is in her 40s and is married to a handsome, successful businessman. She is a great business partner for him but he is passionately in love with a woman from his past. Kathy wants to stand on her own in business and regrets ever marrying her husband. Elise is in her 20s and is married to the man her wealthy parents chose for her. She has tried everything to get her husband to pay attention to her but she is certain he is having an affair. When she discovers the truth - that he has a pregnant mistress - her life falls apart.

When two skeletons are accidentally uncovered in the quiet town, an unlikely trio is suddenly thrust together by a common goal: to solve a mystery everyone else seems eager to keep under wraps. United by a sense of justice and the desire to right old wrongs, Sara, Kate, and Jack will have to dig into Lachlan's murky past to unravel the small town's dark secrets and work to bring the awful truth to light.

Petite Kady Long, a celebrated chef about to be married to a gorgeous man, felt she was the luckiest woman alive. But when she tried on an antique satin wedding dress, she was overcome with dizziness. When she opened her eyes, Kady was in the harsh, sunlit landscape of 1873 Legend, Colorado. There, she meets Cole Jordan, a tall, rangy, and very appealing man.

In 1844 Ireland, Liam O’Connor, a rogue and a thief, fell madly in love with a squire’s daughter and unwittingly altered the future. Shy and naive Cora McLeod thought Liam was the answer to her prayers. But the angels disagreed and they’ve been waiting for the right moment in time to step in. Now Liam finds himself reunited with his beloved Cora in Providence Falls, North Carolina. The angels have given Liam a task. He must make sure Cora falls in love with another man - the one she was supposed to marry before Liam interfered.

The year is 1909, and Temperance O'Neil is a woman ahead of her time. At 29, she is happily married to her work helping single mothers on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, Angus McCairn - her new stepfather - controls the purse strings to her substantial inheritance. Angus insists she quit her career and live in his house in Edinburgh. Temperance heads to Scotland with one mission - to drive Angus crazy.

When wealthy, hard-driving corporate genius Jason Wilding reluctantly takes a break from his business and his husband-hunting girlfriends for a Christmas visit to his hometown in Abernathy, Kentucky, he has no idea what his physician brother, David, has in store for him. It seems that Amy Thompkins, a whimsical young widow with definite artistic talent, has captured David's heart, but courting her with a demanding baby in tow has been difficult. In order to pursue her, he persuades Jason to move into her home and take care of her spoiled but adorable son, Max, for a week.

At the flower-bedecked altar, the first touch of their hands ignited an all-consuming passion. Gavin Montgomery looked deep into her golden eyes and burned with desire for her...but his heart had been pledged to another. Humiliated and alone in a strange castle, Judith resolved to hate this husband who took her body but rejected her love...never admitting her fear of losing him.

Since his wife's death, world-famous author Ford Newcombe has lived a solitary life, void of creativity - or love. Then Jackie Maxwell tears down the walls of his isolated world with her sassy wit and fierce intelligence. Ford's heart is touched by his vivacious assistant - and his imagination sparked by her knowledge of a strange story that drives them to a small North Carolina town brimming with secrets.

Jocelyn Minton is a woman torn between two worlds. Her mother grew up attending private schools and afternoon teas, but she married the local handyman. After her mother died when Joce was only five years old, her father remarried into his own class, and Joce became an outsider - until she met Edilean Harcourt. Although she was sixty years Joce's senior, Miss Edi was a kindred soul who understood her like no one else ever had. When Miss Edi passes away, she leaves Joce all her worldly possessions, including an eighteenth-century house and a letter with clues to a mystery that began in 1941.

Amy Stedman arrives in North Carolina to clear the family house of her grandmother's belongings and find clues to her unsolved murder. While she's there, Amy reflects on her own life. Married to a vain man who doesn't love her so much as value her family's lucrative legacy, Amy realizes their relationship strangely echoes her parents' unfortunate marriage. Within this old house, dark recollections of unnatural death permeate the air, adding a premonition of menace to Amy's increasingly troubled thoughts.

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side - and its crime buffs. One of them is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime - until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss.

There's a stranger living in Kimber Hannon's house. He tells the police that he has every right to be there, and he has the paperwork to prove it. But Kimber definitely didn't invite this man to move in. He tells her that he knows something about her, and he wants everyone else to know it too. "I was there. I saw what you did." These words reveal a connection to Kimber's distant past, and dark secrets she'd long ago left buried. This trespasser isn't after anything as simple as her money or her charming Craftsman bungalow.

A shattering childhood tragedy left Quentin Fears devastated. But the wealthy, enigmatic recluse has experienced the extraordinarily unexpected: love at first sight, with Madeleine. Now he must meet his new wife's family. A bizarre, dysfunctional collection of extreme characters, they are guarding a secret both shocking and terrifying, as is Madeleine herself. And suddenly Quentin Fears must prevent his dream woman from unleashing an ageless malevolence intent on ruling the world.

Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It's not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren't helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

The man at Charles Blakey's door has a proposition almost too strange for words. He wants to spend the summer in Charles' basement, and Charles cannot even begin to guess why.

Satisfied with her life and a new relationship, Abby Mitchell is most happy to be reunited with her sister, who was separated from her after their parents died. The siblings are planning a sumptuous party, unaware that an uninvited guest is coming, one who'll do anything to help keep the past hidden.

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.

Hope Stevens thinks Wedding Tree, Louisiana, will be the perfect place to sort out her life and all the mistakes she's made. Plus, it will give her the chance to help her free-spirited grandmother, Adelaide, sort through her things before moving into assisted living. Spending the summer in the quaint town, Hope begins to discover that Adelaide has made some mistakes of her own.