Personal trainer Rebecca McCall is furious when her coworker is sidelined and she's forced to teach the “Be Your Best Bride” class. As if being a size two for your wedding photos is all for which exercise is good. Could the whole thing get more vain and sexist? The class is full of preening, giggling bridezillas, but one woman stands out: the one who confesses she's only there because her fiancée signed her up. Who does that to someone about whom they care? And why can't Rebecca take her eyes off her?  

Cassie Miller is broke. Her parents cut off all funding when she dropped out of medical school, and graduate school is expensive. A full-time nanny job at the Wellington estate is the answer to her problems, except working for beautiful, successful Brook Wellington wasn’t in the job description. Brook has always had a head for business. Born into a global shipping empire, she sits at the helm running it with skill and savvy. But success comes at a cost. Her priority is her six-year-old son, but she can’t be in two places at once.

With Don't Ask, Don't Tell nothing more than an unpleasant memory, US Army surgeon Sabine Fleischer is ready to move on with her life - if she can just figure out how to move past her PTSD. Fresh from her first deployment since surviving a vehicle attack in Afghanistan, Sabine is finding the things she's tried so hard to push aside aren't as easy to ignore as she'd hoped.

For Lindsay Kent, Vineyard is her dream job. She's thrilled when her boss leaves her in charge (well, half charge) and tells her to feel free to make changes. Lindsay has tons of ideas that she's been dying to put into action, and this is her big chance to increase the success of the business and prove she's more than ready to run things solo. But getting the boss's daughter on board is harder than expected. The uptight and annoyingly attractive Piper is blocking her every move. For Piper Bradshaw, Vineyard is not her job. She already has one.

Captain Sabine Fleischer is a skilled and dedicated US Army surgeon deployed to a combat hospital in Afghanistan. She is also one of the thousands of troops who are forced to serve in silence because of the military's anti-gay policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)". Usually driven and focused, Sabine finds that battles raging both inside and outside are making it more and more difficult for her to deal with her emotions. Dealing with loss and mortality, lack of privacy, sleep deprivation, loneliness, and the isolation forced on her by Don't Ask, Don't Tell are all taking their toll.

Stockbroker Isabelle Rhodes has a lot of money, a lot of trust issues, and a whole lot of reasons to believe her ex-girlfriend was right when she said that Isabelle sucked at relationships. With that accusation stuck in her head, Isabelle throws caution to the wind and dives into her first one-night stand. Checking that off her bucket list should be something to celebrate - except it turns out that the woman she just spent an earth-shattering night with is actually her newly hired company pilot, Audrey Graham. Ms. Never-See-You-Again just turned into Ms. See-You-Constantly.

For Addison Fairchild, success is a guarantee. Groomed since childhood to run a division of Fairchild Enterprises, she takes her birthright seriously. Maybe a little too seriously, if you ask her friends. But work is so much easier than the rest of her life. For Katie Cooper, money has never been important. That is, until her father gets dementia and needs full-time care. As the bills start to pile up, Katie takes a second job as a temporary personal assistant. Two minutes and one spilled cup of coffee later, she's sure she's not ready for Addison Fairchild.

Entrepreneur and innovator Kadrienne Davenport gets results. A demanding executive and stickler for punctuality, Kade throws herself into work to avoid hurting anyone, convinced she only causes pain to those she loves. When Jennifer Spencer meets an incognito Kade at a conference, sparks fly. But when Kade unexpectedly becomes her boss, Jen's problems multiply. The company she founded is going broke, her grandmother's dementia is worsening, and her attraction to Kade -- her difficult, brilliant, charismatic mentor -- is growing.

Pro alpine skier Aspen Archer's downfall happened in the worst possible way - a career-ending crash on a gold medal run at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Aspen packed up her broken life, picked up her broken body, and now hides in comfortable obscurity at ski resorts around the world, coaching tourists and ignoring her problems. Cate Tierney knows who Aspen is, but the last place she expected to meet the former Olympian was during a ski trip to Australia. Hurt by a past relationship, and with a teenage daughter to protect, Cate's initial reluctance is quickly overcome by her attraction.

Jana Fleischer loves her life - wonderful family, best sister in the world, awesome soon to be sister-in-law, fabulous job, and a never-ending stream of men to chew through and spit out. So what if everyone says she’s too picky and she’s never had a real relationship? When a chance meeting with Brooke Donnelly leaves Jana literally and figuratively off-balance, it doesn’t take long for her initial annoyance to turn into the first sparks of friendship.

Hannah Shephard likes her life, her job, and her perfectly cozy apartment around the corner from her shop. She’s never been one to take big risks and would much rather stay in on a Friday night with a warm cup of decaf and her favorite mystery novel. So, why do her friends insist she needs more? Plus, Hannah has bigger problems to focus on. She’s in trouble. Well, her bookstore is, and if she doesn’t find a way to bring in some more cash, she’ll be closing the doors of A Likely Story for good.

Workaholic Erin Ryder was on the fast track to self-destruction. Reeling after her lover walked out on her, she turned to booze and caffeine to make it through each day. After a family intervention, she finds herself on a remote ranch in New Mexico - on womyn’s land - to detox and heal. No cell service, no internet - she’s convinced she won’t last three days, much less for the three-month sentence her father has mandated.

Estranged for years from her father and four brothers after her mother's death, Carson Cartwright is surprised when she gets a phone call from her twin brother, urging a reconciliation before their father succumbs to his final illness. Though she has spent more than a decade trying to forget her family existed, she is suddenly pulled back to the Montana ranch where she grew up. Carson discovers her brothers divided over plans to change their working ranch into a guest ranch, and their consultant, Kerry Elder, doesn't seem above using her wiles to get her way.

When Claire, an overachieving psychologist with OCD tendencies, hires Lana, an impulsive, out-of-work actress for a fake relationship, she figures the worst she'll have to endure are the messes Lana leaves around. It's only for a few months anyway. And it's not as if she'll enjoy all those fake kisses and loving looks. Right?  

What happens when your life takes an unexpected turn? What happens when you need to protect the one you love from the one you want to love? What happens when you lose something you never knew you wanted? Lambda and Golden Crown Literary Award-winning author Georgia Beers brings to you her long-awaited seventh novel, Starting from Scratch, a story where learning, laughing, loving, and baked goods are just a few of life’s basic ingredients.