Holiday: If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s my family to be all in my business. No matter how many times I explain boundaries and privacy, they’re just not getting the memo, especially when it comes to my relationships. For years they’ve been asking me why I don’t date my best friend and roommate, Daniella. No matter how many times I say the words “we’re friends,” they’re not getting it.

Daniella: I love my family. I really do. But they will NOT leave me alone about being single. Every time I show up, they’re throwing someone new at me or making pointed comments about Holiday that aren’t subtle at all. Since murder isn’t an option, I’m going to need another idea.

Holiday: With my family Christmas celebration coming up, I honestly think about cancelling, but then I have a better idea. Since everyone already believes that I’m secretly in love with Danny, why not just go with it? We’ve known each other for so long, this will be easy to pull off.

Daniella: Leave it to Holiday to come up with an absolutely wild, but completely brilliant, plan to get our families off our backs. The two of us are so comfortable that pretending to date shouldn’t be that different than being besties. And then…it is. Very, very different.

Jo: I’m so close to everything I’ve ever wanted, including getting my graduate degree in reading education, when a series of unfortunate financial events hits me like a ton of bricks. I need a job and I need one NOW or else I’m in big trouble. This was not in my plan and I’m crossing every appendage I have that I can find something that fits with my class schedule, will pay enough, and won’t destroy my soul. A very tall order.

Larison: One minute I’m a single mom in grad school, living away from my family for the first time, and the next I’m withdrawing from school, moving back home, and signing a lease for my very own romance bookstore, all thanks to an inheritance from my beloved grandmother. The new bookstore is taking up all my time and both of my moms are unavailable to watch my daughter, Juniper, but my best friend, Sophie, knows someone she thinks will be perfect.

Jo: Looking after Juniper should be a breeze. She’s a fun, well-behaved (relatively), and engaging kid. The problem is her mother, Larison. I never should have taken the job when, during the interview, I was hit by a bolt of lust so strong, I almost blacked out. She’s definitely a Mom I’d Like to…well. You know. If this were a regular workplace, I’d report myself to HR, but I seriously need the cash from this job. All I have to do is keep it in my pants until I’m financially out of the woods.

Larison: Being distractingly attracted to my new nanny was not something I ever saw happening to me, but here we are. Jo is driven and gorgeous and she’s wonderful with my daughter in a way that makes me feel all kinds of inappropriate things. The combination is lethal and I’m struggling to keep my professional distance, but it’s taking a toll on my sanity. I never should have hired her.

Cade: When I applied for a job as a personal assistant, I had no idea I'd be working for THE Eloise Roth. One of the queens of romance novels, who has dozens of bestsellers under her belt. I also had no idea that she would be strict, demanding, and difficult. Every single day I think about quitting, but for some reason I keep coming back for more.

Eloise: My new personal assistant Cadence “Cade” (ridiculous nickname, honestly) McCord is a chaotic mess who obviously lied on her resume, but something about her made me hire her anyway. Now I'm having regrets, but I'm also…intrigued. She's young and there's an energy about her that I like having around.

Cade: I have no idea when the hell Eloise went from my intimidating boss to the woman who stars in all of my dirtiest fantasies, but it's becoming a real problem, and my already scattered brain is having even more trouble functioning. I'm so getting fired.

Eloise: I'm going to have to fire her. There's no other solution to the situation I've found myself in. People assume that my life has been full of romance, but it's actually the opposite. I've always been laser focused on my career. So why am I suddenly having new and embarrassing (and inappropriate) feelings for my absolute disaster of an assistant?

Hunter: Things had been going pretty well for me. My time was filled with my jobs and friends, and my parents seemed to have finally given up on bullying me to go to law school. Then everything changes in the blink of an eye. One minute I'm teaching a yoga class, and the next there's smoke and then fire and with it comes firefighters. One in particular.

Stace: There are only three things that I take seriously—my job as a volunteer firefighter, my work with the animal shelter, and my family. Everything else? Not so much. And then we get a call and I end up carrying an unbelievably gorgeous woman down the stairs and I feel like my entire world has shifted and nothing will ever be the same.

Hunter: She lifted me like some hero from a romance movie and I couldn't help but notice how good she looked when she took her helmet off and smiled at me. But that's neither here nor there. I'll never pursue someone like Stace. Love doesn't work out for me, not for any member of my family. It's just not in our genes. Why would I sign up for the inevitable downfall that will wreck my life? I'll keep my heart whole and intact, thank you very much. Stace is the kind of person who demands all or nothing, and I have nothing for her.

Stace: Hunter is…complicated. Closed-off. A challenge, not to mention she's so beautiful that she'd make angels jealous. I've never met anyone who deserves to be seduced and spoiled by affection more than her. So that's what I'm going to do. Because I have to have her.

Reid: According to my mother, I ruined my life the minute I quit ballet in college and destroyed her dreams of having a professional dancer in the family. My steady bartending job, friends, and fanfic hobby weren't good enough apparently. Not that I cared what she thought anymore. Mostly. Things had been pretty conflict-free up until my new neighbor showed up and threw everything into chaos.

Sophie: I never expected to run into Reid Hayward of all people when I moved into my first off-campus apartment. To say that she isn't thrilled to see me is an understatement. That's fair, considering the last time we saw each other she and my sister were in the middle of a very loud breakup that I witnessed. Reid is still livid though, as if I was the one who lied to her and ended the relationship years ago.

Reid: The last time I saw Sophie Love, she was this annoying teenager who was always asking to tag along on my dates with her sister. That was a longggg time ago, because she's all grown up now and I'm doing my very best not to notice. That becomes even more of a challenge when I discover that our beds are up against the same wall and I can hear…a lot of things. Personal, intimate things, if you know what I mean. My first instinct is to pound on the wall to get her to stop. My second is to listen.

Sophie: Mortification doesn't begin to cover the way I feel after I realize she heard me last night. The awkward conversation after doesn't kill me, but it does give me an idea. You see, I've only recently realized I'm not as straight as I always thought, and Reid works at the only sapphic bar in the state. If there's anyone who knows about this stuff, it's her. What if she took me under her wing and taught me how to date a woman? Reid doesn't even like me, so it wouldn't mean anything. Just a way to get all my nervousness and fumbling out of the way before I try to do this for real. It's a wild idea, but what's even wilder is that she agrees.