When his estranged wife Jess has a terrible accident, leaving her lying in a coma, Clay Connors returns to his family to care for his two daughters. He has been separated from his family for nearly two years. His eldest daughter Maddie is resentful over his being absent. Sadly, his youngest daughter Jilly barely remembers him.

Ali Jenson's life changed forever the moment her mother died. The 16-year-old was suddenly swept away from the life she knew in California to live with her estranged grandfather in the deep woods of northern Minnesota. Ali's life has never been easy, but it seems her grandfather is trying his best to make it even more difficult. Her only hope is to get through the summer and her last year of high school so she can return to her old life in California.

Poring over a dusty hatbox of photographs in her grandmother's closet, Emily Prentice is shocked to discover her father was married and divorced before meeting her mother. In the summer of 1968, Jack and Libbie fall in love under the spell of their small town, untouched by the chaos of the late '60s. Though Libbie's well-to-do parents disapprove of Jack's humble background, she marries Jack a year after they graduate high school. But soon their happiness crumbles as Libbie's mental state unravels and she is drawn to alcohol and drugs.

Michael DeCara came home from the Vietnam War a wounded man, both physically and emotionally. He tried putting his life back together but found civilian life difficult after the horror he'd experienced. Raising his young daughter Vanessa by himself after his wife left him, he found it difficult to commit to one job or one woman for any length of time. Then Michael met a young woman who made him feel alive again. But a life-changing event occurred, and he had to choose between his past and the present. 

Ryan Collier has lived a quiet life with his golden retriever, Sam, and two orange tabbies since the death of his wife nearly three years ago. Friends and family are encouraging him to move on and find someone new to share his life with, but Ryan feels he will never find someone he can love as much as his wife. Ryan reluctantly gives in and starts going out on weekends, and soon discovers that women have changed as well as the rules of dating.

Mallory Dawson is planning the winter wedding of her dreams. But one month before her wedding, she runs into the man she once loved, who she hasn't seen in 10 years. James Gallagher fled to California 10 years ago to start over after the love of his life, Mallory, refused to marry him. But when his dad passes away and his mother becomes ill, he returns home to help run the family business. Seeing Mallory again brings a flood of memories back.

Everyone believes Rachel is dead. But she’s very much alive. Rachel Scott Emery’s life unravels when she comes upon an old news article online that states she was killed 35 years ago at the age of eight. Even more shocking is her murderer was her then 16-year-old brother. Realizing she must untangle the mess, Rachel leaves her Tallahassee, Florida, home and goes back to Casita, California, to prove she is still alive. But going home again isn’t easy.

1917—Sofiya and her friend Alina are forced to flee Russia as Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and the Bolsheviks take control of St. Petersburg. Their parents send them to America where Alina's distant cousin lives, but soon the girls learn they have traded one danger for another. They are forced to earn a living in the most terrible way, and once again, both girls flee for their lives in separate directions. Years later, trapped in a bitter marriage, Sofiya once again finds herself running away to protect her son and the secret she's been hiding since leaving Russia.

Diane picked up her mother’s phone. “How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after 65 years?” the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. “My grandmother is alive?” That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family. 1955 - Anna Bergman Craine’s life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison. Leaving behind two young children, she is left alone in the world, never to hear from family or friends again.

Two strong women, generations apart, living parallel lives. When Marla Madison’s husband dies, she realizes her life has become very small. Her daughter is grown and Marla has spent the past two decades focused on his friends, his interests, and his home. Feeling lost, she throws herself into fixing up the 150-year-old family manor on the lake. She soon discovers an old journal in a secret drawer and is instantly intrigued. The handwritten book tells the tale of another Mrs. Madison from over a century ago, the first woman to live in the lake manor.

June and Patrick Elden spend their very first Christmas together in their tiny downtown apartment in the rural town of Redmond. As newlyweds, they have their entire lives ahead of them, and their dreams of a home and family loom large. Despite not having much money, Patrick surprises June with a beautiful Christmas star necklace as a symbol of all the years to come. And as their life grows and changes, the story of that little necklace becomes a family tradition that their children and grandchildren cherish throughout the years.

On a vacation to Big Bear Lake in California, Arnie Burke falls in love with the rustic small town. He finds an old log saloon for sale just outside of town and tries to talk his wife, Edna, into buying it and moving there. With two young children and a comfortable life on the California coast, Edna isn’t thrilled with the idea. But Arnie is persistent, promising they will build the lodge up to one day be one of the grandest resorts in town. Edna finally agrees, and the Mountain View Lodge is born.

Claire Martin's life is perfect, or at least she tells herself it is. She owns a successful clothing boutique, has a steady, dependable boyfriend, and a beautiful grown daughter who is about to be married. Sure, Claire's husband of 20 years left her for a younger woman four years ago, but that is all in the past. Now, Claire is looking forward to her daughter's Bahama wedding and spending a week in paradise. The only thing Claire dreads is her ex-husband and his wife will also be on the island. Claire is determined to make the best of it, though.

When sisters Alex, Sam and Jess are called back to the family lake house in Summerville after the death of their beloved father, they learn that he was hiding a devastating secret. Alex is the one who discovers the stash of love letters hidden away in the shed by the lake where they used to play as children during the long hot summers. She adored her father. But she just has to know who wrote these notes, and she doesn’t want to be talked out of it by her husband or her sisters, who each have their own reasons for avoiding digging deeper.

Can a lingering regret and wonder about love that ended tragically decades ago be too great to ignore when empty-nest loneliness, stale marriage, and the stars "align" to give an opportunity to reconnect? As a dedicated, 50-year-old mother of three college-age and adult children, Callie Larson lives a storybook life of affluence and access just outside of Washington, DC. Until recently, her life's fulfillment came through her children to the point she barely missed her husband as he traveled extensively for work. But with all three children gone, her life has an unfamiliar emptiness.