When Sophie Weiss boards the SS St Louis, she has no reason to stay in Germany. The Nazis have taken everything from her, and her only hope is escape. But when she meets fellow Jewish refugees Rosa, Hannah and Rachel on board, the friendship they form gives Sophie hope that there can be happiness in her future, after all.

Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in a guest cottage across the lawn from Ella's ramshackle farmhouse. When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just 19, she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the definition of an unconventional set-up. With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens—not to mention her hypercritical mother whose own marriage is coming undone—Ella finds comfort in the company of the charming gardener, Ludo.

It's set to be the perfect wedding - till the chauffeur is asked to keep driving the bride round the church. This wedding is not going as planned. Lottie is a guest at the wedding when she sees Max for the first time in fifteen years. No kiss since has matched their last kiss together. They were on the brink of a beautiful love story. Then something shocking happened that tore them apart. Now here he is, handsome as ever, teasing Lottie in the old way - and that tingling electric attraction is back. But Max is out of bounds.

Polly Penhalligan is outraged at the suggestion that since getting married to Nick and settling into their beautiful manor farmhouse in Cornwall, she has let herself go. But watching a lot of telly and gorging on biscuits, not getting dressed until lunchtime, and waiting for pregnancy to strike are not the signs of someone living an active and fulfilled life. So Polly does something rash.

Alexandra Frobisher, a modern-thinking woman with hopes of a career in England's famous chocolate-making town of York, has received several proposals of marriage, although none of them promises that elusive extra: love. Matthew Britten-Jones is a man of charm and strong social standing. He impresses Alex and her parents with his wit and intelligence, but would an amicable union be enough for a fulfilling life together?