Summer 1939: After touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, Jack Devereux. But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called to his bedside. With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can Romily cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her?

Angel Sands is an old-fashioned seaside resort of bed and breakfasts, cottages to let, and teashops. And with the best views of the tiny beach is Paradise House, home to the Baxter girls. With their mother taking time out to find herself, it’s down to them to maintain the smooth running of the family-owned bed and breakfast. Not an easy task given that their father - now that his wife isn’t around - has suddenly become a moving target for the opposite sex.…

At 30, Katie Lavender thinks she is better than most when it comes to dealing with life's surprises. But when she gets a request to visit a solicitor, she's not expecting the dramatic turn her life is about to take. There, she receives a letter from her deceased mother that literally changes everything she ever knew about herself...

A fateful car crash sets in motions a series of events for Floriana, Esme. Floriana gathers the courage to attend the wedding of her one true love, and Esme journeys with her to Lake Como to find the man who stole her heart many years ago. It’s time for Esme and Floriana to face the past - and the future - on the shore of the most romantic and enchanting of lakes.

Lizzie has always had bad luck. Losing her heart to her boss leads to her losing her job, and with no money in the bank Lizzie finds herself forced to move back home with her parents. Now in her 90s, Mrs Dallimore is also coming to terms with her situation. Old age is finally catching up with her. As they form the bond of unexpected friendship, Lizzie begins to realise that she's not the only person to attract bad luck and that sometimes life has a way of surprising you....

Linston End on the Norfolk Broads has been the holiday home to three families for many years. The memories of their time there are ingrained in their hearts: picnics on the river, gin and tonics in the pavilion at dusk, hours spent seeking out the local swallowtail butterflies. Everyone together. But widower Alastair has been faced with a few of life's surprises recently. Now, he is about to shock his circle of friends with the decisions he has made - and the changes it will mean for them all. For some, it feels like the end. For others, it might just be the beginning.... 

With its winding high street lined with a greengrocer, post office, pub and church, Melstead St Mary is the perfect English village. Neighbours look out for neighbours, and few things trouble the serene surface of the community. But when residents start to receive anonymous letters containing secret information about their pasts - secrets that no one else is meant to know - life in Melstead St Mary is about to change, possibly forever....

As a young child, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they'd never even met. It's a cruel and loveless new world for them and it teaches Lydia to grow up fast. She learns to keep secrets and to trust sparingly. And through it all she suppresses her grief and guilt, believing she is to blame for her mother's death.

Faye has just completed her degree in interior design when she finds herself jobless and boyfriend-less. While debating what to do next, she receives a surprise phone call from her old college friend Charlotte, who now lives in Sardinia and is married to Italian hotelier Fabio. When Charlotte suggests that Faye relocate for a month to house-sit, Faye wonders if a summer break in sunny Sardinia might be the perfect way to recharge her batteries and think about her future.

Rebecca Neumanner's marriage is on the brink of collapse as her desire to be a mother becomes an obsession. Then she receives news from her estranged family in Rhodes. Called back to the beautiful Greek island of her birth, she realises how little she knows of the grandmother she has eluded for over a decade. Bubba has never spoken of the Nazi occupation during her youth, but there have always been whispers. What desperate measures did she take that terrible day in 1944 when her family was ripped apart? Can the rumour she had blood on her own hands really be true? But Bubba intends to take her secrets to the grave.

Having married once for love and been abandoned by her husband, Ellen is determined that her second marriage will be for money. And conveniently Duncan, her divorce lawyer, is not unattractive - and he’s enticingly single. But when she meets painter Matthew, Ellen has to remind herself very strongly indeed that Duncan is the man for her....

Clayton Miller's life is a mess. His career as one of the country's best comedy script writers has stalled and his long term girlfriend has left him for his ex best friend and ex writing partner. Just when he thinks his life couldn't get any worse, he commits a spectacularly public fall from grace and with the press hounding him, his agent banishes him to the middle of nowhere until the dust has settled.

Eva Gatsby has often wondered about her grandfather Lawrence's past, and exactly what happened to him in Burma during the Second World War. But it is only when Eva's job as an antiques dealer suddenly requires a trip to Mandalay that Lawrence finally breaks his silence and asks her to return a mysterious artefact of his own - a chinthe - to its rightful owner. As Eva arrives in Burma her mission soon proves dangerously complicated, and the treasure she is guarding becomes the centre of a scandal that will have far-reaching consequences.

With her marriage in danger of falling apart, Joanna returns home to the beautiful but dilapidated Mulberry Farm Cottage in Dorset, where her sister Harriet is struggling to keep the farm afloat and cope with their eccentric mother. When Joanna discovers a bundle of love letters in the attic, written by a watercolourist named Emmy, she is intrigued and sets out to discover Emmy's true story. Emmy's letters take Joanna to the picturesque alleyways and bridges of Lisbon, Prague, and the most romantic place of all: Venice - where a whole new magical world seems to unfold in front of her.

It's New Year's Eve, and at a house party, three women bond over dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet. But as the months unfold, Gemma, Saffron, and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives. But dare they take a chance on something new?