It's no secret that I love life. And Dr. Pepper. But also, I love a challenge. So when the coach of the Chicago Comets gives me the opportunity to help their star player, newly traded to their team, acclimate to life in Chicago, I'm all in. I have to be. After my last job went up in flames, I have something to prove. It turns out that the player, Grayson Hawke, is the rudest, most off-putting, reclusive guy I've ever met. It also turns out that he is the beautiful stranger I kissed on New Year's Eve.

He's a grumpy cowboy and a single dad. He's also my overprotective brother's best friend...and when I agreed to stay at his ranch, falling for him was never in the plan.

Callum Sterling is a grumpy jerk. A ridiculously hot one, but still. I’ve battled with Callum during our quarterly conference calls over the past year, but now we get to spar in person. And not only are we forced to work together every week, but we have to spend time together outside of work, too. At first, I was ready to fight, but the chemistry between us becomes undeniable, the more time we spend together.

Shaw Daniels is the bane of my existence. Always has been. Always will be. When we were kids, he annoyed me to no end by being good at everything. He didn’t have to study or really even try. Meanwhile, I tried too much and still lost to him. Then when we were teenagers, our rivalry became twisted. He started sabotaging all my relationships. I retaliated by doing the same to him. Now, we’re adults and we should be able to move on. But when I become a physical therapist for his professional hockey team, it seems as though we can’t let go of our rival tendencies.

When Rene Dubois comes from France to visit my sister and her husband, I obviously keep my distance. I don’t need his kisses to my cheeks, his flirty banter, or the way his bright green eyes make me feel flutters in my belly and tingles across my skin. I don’t do flutters or tingles. My sister keeps assuring me Rene is amazing and harmless. But she’s the dreamer in the family. Rene may be gorgeous, have a buttery French accent, and a charismatic personality. All I know is He’s so not my Valentine.

So . . . I signed up for something. Not a gym or Costco membership, which probably would have been wiser. Oh no, I signed up for a social experiment. You heard me right. I, Lanie Davenport, am going to be the subject of a scientific study. Do I know what this study is for? Not exactly. But I know it means I have to live with a stranger for twelve weeks and do a video diary once a week, answering the researchers’ questions.

It’s not stalking if he’s your hot neighbor…right? At least, that’s what I tell myself when Adrian Carter moves in next door. His scowl should make me want to run in the other direction, but when I catch him smothering a smile around me, it makes me want to get to know him more. And when Adrian starts to open up, I find myself falling in love with the cinnamon roll center hidden beneath his gruff exterior. But between my emotional baggage and his aversion to relationships, it’s looking like we’ll never be more than neighborly.

All Maddie wants for Christmas is to stick it to her cheating ex. But how? Enter Sebastian Slater, the NHL’s most infamous player. On a drunken night out in Vegas, Maddie asks the superstar athlete to pose as her new boyfriend. She’s kidding, mostly. But Seb shocks her by making a counter offer: he doesn’t want to date Maddie for the holidays…he wants to marry her. Show up at her ex’s cabin alone or with a surprise new hockey-playing husband? Maddie opts for the ultimate level-up.

It was just one date. My friend told me I needed more fun in my life, so I reluctantly said yes. Fun wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. After watching my own mother’s love life implode time and time again, it’s only natural that I have a few rules to protect myself. Actually, it’s just one rule: avoid relationships with men so I don’t get attached. This guy was just a warm body in a chair. I was here for the basketball game. I was absolutely NOT here for my date. Or the kiss cam. Or the kiss. Or the impromptu evening with the one man who seems bent on throwing my tidy world off of its axis.

Kate Fletcher is my kryptonite. She's also my best friend. Former best friend? I'm not sure what you call it when we grew up attached at the hip and then she left Silver Creek (and me) to travel the world. The important thing is: Kate is back. (Temporarily.) And I'm still in love with her. (Permanently.) But something is different now. The attraction doesn't seem one-sided. I don't think I'm imagining the heat in Kate's eyes or the chemistry crackling between us.

Lauren Foley and Jack Fletcher already tried to be amicable once—on a blind date that ended in complete disaster. Now, years later, they have to put up with each other for the sake of her sister and his best friend, who are eloping on a cruise to the Bahamas. But that’s not the worst of it. No, Lauren’s in even deeper water when she finds herself agreeing to play Jack’s fake girlfriend for the duration of the cruise. Now the only thing on her mind is trying not to strangle him when he dials up the charm.

Trying not to fall in love can be…challenging. One might think that, as an ER nurse, I live a full and exciting life. If you think this, you are sadly mistaken. I’m pretty sure there's hardly a soul more boring than me. Ask my best friend, she’ll agree. Which is why she's come up with a 30-day plan to transform me from boring Lucy to, well…the real Lucy. The Lucy before the accident. Each day, I have to complete some ridiculous challenge, usually involving something embarrassing or new. That includes getting my coworker, Dr. Graham Shackwell, involved.

Meredith has plans. Big plans. She is done being safely wrapped in bubble wrap. She is ready to live. That's what her list is all about—living and experiencing. Is it fate that her list of learning, trying, and experiencing continues to bring her into the path of grumpy Levi Bailey? She isn't sure—but she doesn't mind. Levi is just a misunderstood cinnamon roll and Meredith plans to enjoy every second of helping him realize that.

Falling in love is easy. Finding the right guy to spend happily ever after with... that's the hard part. But I have a foolproof plan. I'm taking the tropes that work in romance books and applying them to my love life. Only one bed? Never fails. Caring for someone when they're sick? A classic. Who did this to you? Seals the deal every single time. So long, loneliness. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. But the more I try to force romance, the more feelings naturally progress with the one man who's off limits: Walker Collins, the guy I've had a secret crush on since 7th grade.

Coming on the heels of a big, fat failure at work, my best friend Madi's glamorous French wedding is the perfect opportunity to prove I can do some things well–even if it kills me, which is looking like a distinct possibility. Maid of honor duties are no joke. And while I could honestly use an extra hand or ten, I have to refuse the offer of help from Madi's flirt of a brother, Jack. Nothing would spoil the beautiful wedding festivities faster than her finding out about that thing that happened between Jack and me that one time . . .