Polly vows to be the perfect mother-in-law: loving, accepting, and determined to keep her mouth shut. Then her son marries Amy, a Birkenstocked gal whose organic farm and family ooze a rather creepy serenity. Polly puts her best foot forward...so why does it end up in her mouth?

A shy and brilliant professor-to-be, Beth has lived a sheltered life. Then she meets Sonny, a rugged, sexy carpenter who sweeps her off her feet. The problem? Beth may not survive his loud, affectionate, athletic family, especially when the very beautiful and earthy woman everybody wanted Sonny to marry is still hanging around the family dinner table.

Heiress to one of New England's oldest paper companies, Carolyn the workaholic executive is finally pregnant with her first child, and high blood pressure is forcing her to do something totally alien: relax. But how can she let down her guard when her seventy-something father has gone and eloped with a young bank clerk named Heather?

A free-spirited photographer, Julia has married a man she loves, but he's come packed with baggage. Tim is a widower with a young daughter. But as if being pinned down by the child's slightly manipulative ways and spoiled behavior wasn't enough, there's Tim's ex-mother-in-law, whose meddling is getting nastier by the week.

For Polly, Beth, Carolyn, and Julia, the time has come to stand up for what matters, for their passions, their hearts, and themselves, and they come to find that life is much easier (and a lot more fun) when you've got friends, wine, and chocolate along for the ride.