Ten years ago when she was living the rock star lifestyle as a music journalist - touring the country, going to gigs and hanging out with celebrities - she never thought she would end up living an uneventful life in suburbia, in a relationship that is well past its sell-by date. Nicole knows that her days of wild parties and tour buses are over, but yet there is something that keeps drawing her back to her old life. So when rock star Dylan King turns up on her doorstep needing her help to restore his public image, she can’t resist one last trip down memory lane.

As an estate agent, Alex’s job is to create happy-ever-afters. It’s just a shame she can’t work the same magic on her own life. Her long-term boyfriend Thomas still lives with his mother, and her hopes of them taking the next step are dashed when he announces he’s spending all his savings (savings she’d quite hoped he’d want to put towards their future home) on an ‘artist retreat’ in San Francisco.

Wedding planner Madeleine lives in a picture-perfect thatched cottage, in a picture-perfect English country village. There’s only one problem - dream cottages take a lot of work, and with a leaking roof, and not enough money to pay for it, what Maddie needs now is a big wedding to plan. So she’s delighted when she takes on the wedding of Californian heiress Peyton, to all-round good guy Patrick. She’s less delighted to find out that she's going to have help – from the admittedly gorgeous, but equally maddening, tall, dark and handsome best man Lorcan.

An expert at keeping moving, with her trusty motorhome and faithful dog Muffin, Sophie has built her life around keeping her loves and loyalties to a minimum. Fabulous fifty-something Hattie Langford has kept her heart and past safely stored away too. But for reasons she’s only willing to share with a stranger, Hattie needs to tell the story her family has been hiding at Riverbend, their home in Sherwood Forest. There is a history of heartbreak and hurt that Hattie is now ready to face.

Lara and Sonny are sworn enemies. As rival showbiz journalists, they are always out to get one-up on each other – whether being the first to scoop the latest celebrity gossip, or sabotaging a potential lead. So when their bosses ask them to join forces and go undercover at an exclusive celebrity retreat, they can’t think of anything worse – except that they are going to need to pretend to be in couples therapy to blend in.

Drew Harrington knows exactly who he is—a legal shark with a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude that works just fine in his cutthroat world. He’s on the cusp of being named a partner in his firm, but only if he can prove to his colleagues that he has a more human side. Becky Fletcher is running from her past, so the last thing she’s looking for is love. What she does want is a friendly face in a cold city. Her sunny outlook is the perfect opposite to Drew’s hard exterior, but can she afford to let down her guard?

What if what you really need is right there in front of you, if you just take a moment to look up? Milly has been waiting for this moment forever, and finally it’s just an hour away - an interview with Vogue magazine and the opportunity to get her Louboutin-clad foot in the door. There’s just one problem - totally engrossed in her mobile phone, Milly doesn’t see the bus that is fast approaching - until it’s too late....

Poppy is a therapist. You’d think her parents would be proud. But Poppy is the type of therapist that makes her mother cringe - she helps people with their, ahem, bedroom problems… Normally Poppy deals with her difficult family - two parents, one brother, a couple sisters and an assortment of nieces and nephews - by keeping a county or two between her and them. But with her little sister about to get married there’s no avoiding the week-long family holiday in Cornwall.

Daisy’s life is going nowhere, but that’s just how she likes it. Unable to move on from the tragic accident that killed her parents ten years ago, she’s living each day as it comes. After all, what’s the point of plans and dreams if one random event can rip them all from you? She’s quite comfortable with her dead-end job and her lacklustre love life, thank you. When she and her sister inherit a run-down café from a distant relative, her first instinct is to sell it.

When Charley finds herself suddenly single on Christmas Day, it feels like her world has fallen apart. Forced to move back in with her parents, she embarks on a journey of re-invention. When she meets Ed, who is on honeymoon alone after being jilted at the altar by a bride he's never met, it looks like her life may be taking a turn for the better. Fate, however, has other ideas, and she and Ed are forced apart.

Madison reckons she’s a pretty good judge of character. When a disaster at work brings professional photographer Toby into her life, she has him all worked out within minutes. As their work collaboration blossoms into friendship, her preconceptions about him are only strengthened. The problem is that Madison has got one aspect of Toby completely wrong, and it tears their friendship apart when she finds out. How will she make sense of his revelation and, more importantly, how on earth will she get him to talk to her again?

Eleanor Sharpley has been living a lie. Needing to escape her London life quickly, Eleanor throws her things into the back of her car, and heads to her erstwhile best friend Charlie’s family farm. But Charlie isn’t there. Instead she finds Charlie’s grieving brother, Daniel, her eight-month-old daughter, Hope (a daughter Eleanor had known nothing about) and a crumbling and unloved Damson Farm.

Cara and Millsy have broken up...sort of. After years of being everyone's favourite couple, always up for a party and having fun wherever they go, things have fizzled out. But when they realise they have a whole calendar of events and celebrations with friends and family coming up, Cara and Millsy can't face letting them down. So they decide to make a pact: just convince everyone they're as madly in love as ever and get through the festivities without causing suspicion, and then deal with the break up in the new year. How hard can it be...?

Thirty-three-year-old Ruth Henderson and her daughter Maggie have some hard choices to make. Following the tragic death of Maggie’s father, they are left with a mountain of debt and broken hearts. So, despite her vow never to return home after the fall-out from her teenage pregnancy, Ruth can’t see any option other than for the two of them to move back in with her parents.

Since she inherited the Starfish Café, Hollie has poured her heart into the business, striving to keep her mother's traditions and warm-hearted spirit alive. But behind closed doors, Hollie is searching for true happiness, as she grieves the tragic loss of her family who were once the beating heart of the café. Jake lives by two rules: don’t let anyone get close, and don’t talk about what happened. Can Hollie and Jake break down the barriers that have been holding them back from finding love and happiness before Christmas comes around? With courage, nothing is impossible.