Numbers rule Dr. Mei Sharpe’s life. She has no husband, one friend, two daughters, and three random meetings with the same woman within four weeks. Once is chance, twice is coincidence, but upon the third meeting, even Mei in all her empirical rigidness must admit that perhaps the universe is giving her a nudge. A nudge that lands her directly in the path of Lieutenant Morgan Kelly—an affable, charming detective for the Sheriff Department’s brand-new cold case team working down the hall from Mei’s morgue.

For some, the world would end with the dropping of the bombs. For others, a select few, it would present an opportunity to show their true mettle. Those who will take on the challenge to live without, make do, and subsist on are the survivors. Jodi was one of the few. She knew what was coming. She read the signs, and she had friends in low places who kept her informed.

Life has gone to the dogs for Charlie Abella. Years of showing champion Border Collies has left her feeling burned out. Moving on with her life, she heads to college and then takes on the world of business. She is blessed to find a job working in sales for the pet industry, where her knowledge and skills will help her move quickly up the corporate ladder and away from the small town of Searsport, Maine, where she grew up. When she loses a beloved relative, Charlie returns to Searsport for the funeral, believing now, she can finally cut all ties to her hometown.

A chance meeting over a runaway pooch is the start of a journey for each woman. Over the course of one unbelievable summer set on the beautiful shores of Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York, these two women will teach one another, learn from one another, question their own beliefs and expectations, and unwittingly fall in love.

In the midst of the Great Depression, Cassandra Scheimer is trying to keep the family farm afloat in the Big Woods of Wisconsin...alone. As a local midwife and struggling backwoods doctor, she certainly doesn't need more mouths to feed. Stephanie Evans is a widow enceinte with her third child. She accepts a kind stranger’s offer of marriage in exchange for keeping house for him...but he never shows up to claim her. While dealing with unrequited guilt and the desperation of impoverished motherhood, moving in and consequentially falling in love with Cass is the least of her worries.

Allyssa is a young college student living her life to please her upper-crust family who want her to take business courses, join her father’s business, and marry the “right” man. Allyssa loves animals and yearns to take courses that speak to her heart, but her family are deaf to her pleas and she is unable or unwilling to stand up to them. Fiona is an older, more established woman; a veterinarian working towards the goal of starting her own large animal practice.

Homicide detective Tori Hunter was used to doing things her way. But even after six different partners in seven years, she was not prepared for the hot-tempered Samantha Kennedy. Samantha, on the other hand, was trying to juggle a new job and a demanding boyfriend and now finds herself with an even greater challenge - being partnered with the most difficult detective in the entire squad.

Rising star cellist Kate Flynn is new to Chicago and her job at the Windy City Chamber Ensemble. On day one, she is surprised by the board's intriguing president, Vivian Kensington. Not only does the woman come with a formidable reputation, but she's also deaf. However, between a familiar face Kate isn't ready to see again and the difficulties of being a single mom, she isn't sure Chicago is the right place for her.

Hannah Martin has an unusual job: she's a professional cuddler. While she has a big heart for her clients, she hasn't found someone special to snuggle up to in her personal life. Winter Sullivan isn't looking for love. She's an aloof workaholic who's built walls of ice around herself. She would rather drive toothpicks under her fingernails than cuddle, and she certainly doesn't want to share her space with anyone. When Winter's estranged father dies, he leaves her one last surprise: she and Hannah, a perfect stranger, will inherit a building together.

Neve Blackthorne, head of one of the most successful Studios in Hollywood, is the one to rule them all. Powerful, beautiful, and aloof, she's ruthless, yet irresistible. Above all, she has an unquenchable survival instinct. Surely a fleeting entanglement with one Audrey Avens, a bright, young, rising star in her company, won't bring down the Wicked Queen of Tinseltown. Or will it? Neve's public persona has no chink in the untouchable armor, but when the lights go out and the cameras stop rolling, what becomes of an Ice Queen whose heart is ruled by love and fear?

All FBI agent Ethan Thomas wants is to come home to his new apartment and enjoy the luxury of his new flat-screen TV and some frozen pizza. Encountering a tiny toddler alone in the hall changes everything for the rough and rugged agent. Relief sets in when the child's mother appears. But when she collapses at his feet just before a blizzard hits Boston, Ethan is in over his head.

Emotional wounds aren't always apparent, and those that haunt Marika and Rhiannon are deep and lasting. On the surface, Marika appears to be a wealthy, successful lawyer, while Rhiannon is a reclusive, maladjusted loner. But Marika, in her own way, is as damaged as the younger Rhiannon. When circumstances throw them together one summer, they begin to reach out, each finding unexpected strengths in the other.

For months, Molly Sullivan endures the inexplicable: electrical surges, car breakdowns, visions. She even wonders if she might be the cause...and wonders if she might be crazy. Then she discovers her husband has cheated on her. Again. Now Molly realizes she is a newly awakening witch and a woman pushed over the edge.

What's the first thing they teach you in business school? Never let emotions decide your fate. That's how people get hurt. That's how millions lose their jobs. That's how I almost lost everything. When I accepted one of the most highly coveted internships in America, I never expected to fall in love with my boss by the end of the first month. I never expected that my boss, Eric Mann, used to go by another name a long, long time ago. And the woman the world forgot is screaming to come out and speak of the atrocities once wrought upon her life.

Marlena Altizer Durst lives in her husband's shadow. He controls her every move - what she wears, the food she eats, and the friends she's allowed to make. If she disobeys, there are...consequences. And he has all the power. To outsiders, it seems that she leads a fairy-tale life. But nobody ever wonders if Cinderella was happy after she married the prince. Marlena has traded freedom and safety for luxurious imprisonment, and most days, that seems like a bad bargain. Death may be the only exit she's allowed. Just like his first wife. And his second. Unless she flips the script.