London City Vet, Phoebe Dashwood, finds her partner Hugh and their boss in a passionate clinch beneath the mistletoe at their works Christmas party. Heartbroken, she bolts to the New Forest, her childhood home to regroup and soul search. Being home gives Phoebe the chance to reconnect with friends and family and especially with her fiercely independent gran, widower Maggie Crowther, owner of Puddleduck Farm, and makeshift animal shelter New Forest Neddies. Deciding not to return to London, Phoebe hunts for work locally, hoping she can also help Maggie.

All Willow knows is that she needs an escape. So, she takes an extended break from her PR job and retreats to her grandmother’s cottage by the sea, where a limitless supply of hot chocolate will soothe her broken heart and a limited wi-fi connection will prevent her workaholic tendencies. Willow is soon made to feel welcome by the friendly locals - although grumpy artist Noah Atkinson doesn’t seem to like her very much. But then Willow is asked by her grandmother to approach Noah with a very special commission, only to discover that he hasn’t painted people for a long time.

As Samantha Wishaw watches the love of her life marry another woman, she’s ready to give up hope of finding her happy ever after. But when a chance encounter leads Sam to find friendship in Thomas - a lonely, grumpy elderly widower living at derelict Hedgehog Hollow - her life is about to change forever. Glad to have a distraction from family feuds and match-making, Sam vows to fulfill Thomas and his wife Gwendoline's dreams of restoring Hedgehog Hollow to its former glory, and to open a hedgehog rescue centre.

She wanted an adventure. What she found was so much more... Adira Summers has spontaneously quit her high-flying career as a barrister in London. She needs to escape from the rat race and, encouraged by her bohemian gran, has bought a campervan to do so. Taking off for a tour around Britain, disaster strikes early on when her van breaks down outside the quaint village of Lilacwell. But things look up after she meets handsome Jasper, who is visiting to check on his ailing uncle and his crumbling estate, The Laurels.

When Beth Brown loses her job and her boyfriend in the space of twenty-four hours, she thinks life can’t get any worse. That’s until she finds herself in the depths of the English countryside working for chef Rocco di Castri. Not only does she have to deal with his legendary moods, but she’s also expected to get his chaotic schedule and workload in check, all while she’s nursing a broken heart. It’s not long before Rocco’s idyllic home starts to work its magic and soon she sees a softer side to her boss too.

When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, it’s not the ‘good life’ she’d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yield a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear. So when her friend entreats her to join the new book club she’s forming, Leah decides it’s something she will do for herself.

Life in London has lost its sparkle for Stella Simpson. So when she gets the opportunity to escape to the country for a year, it seems too good a chance to miss. In the beautiful Somerset countryside, the majestic Roseford Hall has been painstakingly restored and is now ready for its grand opening. And as the writer in residence, Stella gets to see it all - from the rowdy resident peacocks, the hidden secrets of the Hall, to befriending the Lord of the Manor himself.

Ellie Browne has left behind her high-flying job in London to return to the charming Buckinghamshire village of Little Leyton. Working shifts at the Dog and Duck pub and running her own doggy-daycare business, Ellie's looking for a simpler way of life in this idyllic English setting. But Little Leyton's landscape is changing: Johnny Tay, Ellie's ex, wants to pick up where they left off; sultry property developer Max Golding has moved into the village and is ruffling feathers; and rumour has it that the pub, which holds a special place in Ellie's heart, might be sold.

As time ebbs and flows over the summer both Katie Teague and her godmother Mattie Cranford discover their lives are at a crossroads. Mattie shackled to the family wool shop for over 50 years, feels life has passed her by. She dreams of seeing the world and shaking off a lifetime of regrets. When Katie is made redundant, Mattie seizes the moment and asks Katie to move back to her home town of Dartmouth and breathe new life into the rundown wool shop and to her surprise Katie agrees.

When Danni Carter moves to Cornwall from London, she hopes it will be the fresh start she so desperately needs. She’s nervous, but hopefully the change of scene will help her to finally forget her feelings for Lucas Newman, a man she can never be with, because he’s already engaged to Danni’s best friend, Esther. But when Lucas and Esther decide to follow Danni to Cornwall, and both announce they will be working with her at the new St Piran’s hospital, Danni is thrown into turmoil again.

Autumn Laine has lost her creative sparkle. After losing her grandad and her job as an illustrator in quick succession, she is at a crossroads in life and needs a break. Spending time with her parents in Paris, even in the artistic community of Montmartre, doesn't appear to be the answer. So when her penpal, Rosie, invites her to stay in the Lake District, Autumn jumps at the chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of Paris. After all, where better to re-discover her creativity than the place which inspired her heroine Beatrix Potter?

Nestled high in the Tuscan hills lies Villa Volpone, home to renowned crime writer Jonah Moore and his creative writing course. It’s also the last place retired DCI Dan Armstrong expected to spend his retirement! Dan’s no writer, but maybe this break will help him to think about the next chapter in his own life story? But only days into the course, Jonah Moore is found stabbed to death with his award-winning silver dagger! And Dan finds himself pulled out of retirement with a killer to catch.

Abbey Carter should be feeling on top of the world. She has the home of her dreams - a picturesque cottage just walking distance from her beloved Primrose Woods. She has a job she adores, great friends and most exciting of all - a wedding dress hanging in her wardrobe ready to be worn. So why does she feel so lonely?

After the end of a long-term relationship, local weather girl Bea Armstrong has been avoiding her family, and their inevitable 'I-told-you-sos'. But with Christmas fast approaching, she is finally on her way home to Charis House, the school in Sherwood Forest that her mum and dad run in their old family home. And to top it all off, the insufferable Henry Fairfax—who her parents have always wanted her to marry—has also been invited.

As a young mother with a toddler and a live-in boyfriend, Maggie Fisher's job at a checkout counter in downtown Phoenix doesn't afford her much financial flexibility. She dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher, options she squandered when she fled her family home as a teenager. When Maggie stumbles onto an ad offering thousands of dollars to women who are willing to gestate other people's babies, she at first finds the concept laughable. Before long, however, she's been seduced by all the ways the extra money could improve her life.