Beatrice Callahan loves lists. Sometimes she even makes a to-do list of things she's already done, just to go check, check, check and feel accomplished. So it's easy to understand why, when her divorce is finally final and her ex is all moved out, Bea takes a cool, close look at her life...and makes a list. It's not exactly a bucket list. It's a love list. Bea loves the outdoors, so she puts visit 10 National Parks on the list. She loves animals, and on goes get a puppy. She loves the beach, and she adds take a dream vacation to the list, and decides to do that one first. After all she's been through and all she's lost, she needs time to relax, rest, and reset. On the first day she arrives in Hilton Head Island, she meets Grant Turner, the man whose house she's renting for her fabulous beach vacation. He's just there to make sure she settles in properly and has enough towels. But when Bea asks for recommendations around the island, Grant quickly becomes her tour guide and then a friend and then...more than friends. Bea turns to her lists when things get confusing and her love list morphs once again... Can she add fall in love at age 45 to the list and check it off?

Cassandra Haslam loves plans. Lunch plans, wedding plans, and floor plans—they all bring her joy. In fact, she's had her entire life planned out—career, marriage, and family—since age ten. She's smart, hard-working, and a real go-getter, and everything has fallen into place so far. Until her husband dies suddenly, right when she's about to enjoy the fruits of all of her hard work and planning, leaving Cass reeling and...well, without a plan. When her youngest graduates three months later, making her an empty-nester as well as a widow, Cass decides it's time to make a new plan for herself. It's not a back-up plan. It's a paradise plan. With one of her best friends now living in Hilton Head, Cass makes a move and purchases a piece of waterfront property on the island. It's the perfect place to build her paradisiacal life and her new self as she designs and constructs a beautiful beach house. But when she injures herself—not in the plan, by the way—she meets general-contractor-turned-doctor Harrison Tate. He helps her out of a jammed thumb, a sprained ankle, and a bruised ego. When he keeps showing up unannounced at her construction site, sometimes with her favorite pastries, Cass starts to wonder if she should add him to her daily routine... If she does, will her perfectly laid out plans fall short of paradise? Or could she find her new life and a new love, all without any plans at all?