Heart of the Game

They say you can't go home again, but Raine St. James doesn't know why anyone would want to. Rory St. James was disowned after she came out at 17. She rebounded by moving to Chicago, changing her name to Raine and putting down her hometown to audiences around the country. Now, 10 years later, too old to be considered a gay youth, broke, evicted, and fresh off a much needed break-up, Raine St. James is forced to accept a job teaching at Bramble University in Darlington, the town she's been publicly bashing for the last decade.

Taylor Andrews is at the top of her career. Everything she touches turns to gold and the studios know it. Just when she's on track for total television domination, Isabel Chase arrives in her office and slowly turns her world upside down. Isabel is intelligent, sarcastic, and dammit, downright beautiful. Unfortunately, she's the one person that can take away all Taylor has worked for. Will Isabel's success lead to Taylor's downfall? Or perhaps Isabel is all she needs....

Ren Molson should be chasing a bright new future. Instead, she's spent the last two years floundering in a small-town community college. She hates being the only lesbian she knows, and a virgin. She's tired of watching her friends move forward while her momentum stalls. Most of all, she's sick of feeling lost and confused about who she is or what she's supposed to do with her life. Desperate for a change, Ren hopes to use her Spanish class tour through Spain to remake herself.

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.

After a devastating ultimatum from her lover, Campbell Carson returns to her childhood home, Bear Run Ski Resort, seeking her family's unconditional solace and support. Parker Riley escapes to the mountain after the high-powered world of Chicago's political machine leaves her questioning her judgment in both life and love. Despite their initial wariness, the women find their budding friendship snowballing toward romance. The idyllic mountain resort is the perfect setting for them to learn to rebuild trust, and perhaps to find a second chance at love. However, when Parker's past resurfaces, Campbell is forced to face her own hard truths. As barely healed wounds reopen, the unexpected obstacles in their path threaten any hope for a future together.

Life coach Elaine Raitt is educated, elegant, and dedicated to her profession. Blue-collar boi Joey Lang is too insecure to even approach her - that is until her well-meaning but meddling best friend Lisa decides to make Joey a life-coaching appointment with Elaine. A session meant to bring clarity only leaves them both feeling more confused about their purpose in life and love. Will Joey be able to find the strength to chase the woman of her dreams, and even if she does, will Elaine be willing to risk the life she loves for the woman who could be the love of her life?

Twenty-eight-year-old Brooklyn Campbell is having a bad day. A speeding ticket, a towed car, and a broken heel are all working against her laid-back vibe. To top it all off, her birth mother, whom she's never met, has requested contact. The only bright spot is an impromptu date with a beautiful and mysterious brunette. Jessica Lennox is what you would call a high-powered executive. She's the head of a multimillion-dollar advertising firm in New York City, and it didn't happen by accident.

All work and no play has Autumn Primm in the market for a little excitement. Her Venice Beach coffee shop, The Cat's Pajamas, is her pride and joy, but the time has come to take off the apron and see what the world has in store. Kate Carpenter needs to get away. And quick. A former firefighter, Kate's been crowned her town's new hero for reasons she can't quite get behind. A free flight and some time off have her fleeing the scene to sunny California. Dreamy Autumn Primm was never supposed to be part of that bargain.

Sarah Matamoros can’t complain. After immigrating from Mexico when she was nine years old, she’s content with the life she’s made for herself in sunny San Diego. She works hard at her mother’s housecleaning service by day and spends the evenings with her quirky eight-year-old daughter, Grace. From a very young age, Emory Owen had several concepts drilled into her head. Success is everything. Be the best. Fight your way to the top. Expectations were high in the Owen household and the world was watching. Born into a high society family, Emory never wanted for anything...at least anything money could buy.

With the arrival of Courtney Carrington, Margaret's youth sparked into color. But first loves can scar. Margaret hasn't seen Courtney in years and that's for the best. But when Courtney loses her father and returns to Tanner Peak to take control of the family store, Margaret comes face-to-face with her past and the woman she's tried desperately to forget. The fact that Courtney has grown up more beautiful than ever certainly doesn't help matters.

Susanne Wolff isn't thrilled when her mother sends her all the way across the country to Freiburg to save her uncle's stationery store from bankruptcy. Freiburg is too provincial for her taste, and besides, pen and paper are outdated anyway. Anja Lamm, Paper Love's only full-time employee, takes an instant dislike to the arrogant, digital-loving snob who's supposed to be her temporary boss. But thanks to a meddling cat, a business trip to a stationery fair, and an armada of origami boats, Anja soon starts to see beneath Susanne's aloof exterior.

In the aftermath of a shattering personal loss, Detective Kyle Bain buries her pain in the routine of fulfilling her professional and family obligations. When she meets Lane Connor, the owner of a popular restaurant on the shores of the Pacific Ocean who is struggling with a broken heart of her own, the chance for happiness suddenly seems possible. As Lane and Kyle take the first tentative steps toward rebuilding their lives and exploring the attraction between them, Kyle makes a shocking discovery about the woman she is coming to love.  

Anastasia Mikhelson is the rising star of the New York City Ballet. She's sacrificed creature comforts, a social life, as well as her own physical well-being for perfection in dance. Even her reputation as the Ice Queen doesn't faze her. Though Ana's at the peak of her career, competition from a new and noteworthy dancer puts all she's worked for in jeopardy.

Grieving over the loss of her family and feeling like her life is unraveling, Lindsey McDermott quits her job, gets a puppy, and retreats to her grandparents' home in the Texas Hill Country. She spends her solitary days walking childhood trails and reminiscing, trying to reconcile the conflict within her as she struggles with survivor's guilt. After the death of her husband, Hannah Larson needs a change. At the suggestion of her mother-in-law - and against her better judgment - she and her son Jack move to tiny Utopia and into her husband's grandmother's house.

Gina Antonelli had big dreams once, of riding her athletic achievements all the way to West Point and being the first in a long family line of soldiers to serve as an officer. When that dream died along with the girl she'd planned to marry one day, she'd vowed to forget about happily ever afters. When Gina agrees to renovate Carrie's soon-to-be new house as a favor to her brother's boss, she doesn't welcome Carrie's overtures at friendship or her own unexpected attraction.