Handsome young heir Adam Brody sees nothing but possibilities in the sprawling old building he's just purchased. With a little hard work, he will transform it into a hotel to meet the needs of those traveling by railroad. Aunt Caroline believes he's lost his mind, but she agrees to help him give it a try. Left a widow with a small daughter, Elizabeth Caldwell must find work. When she sees an advertisement in the newspaper inquiring about cheerful young women to work in a hotel, she decides to apply. However, the hotel owner specifically requested single ladies, so she must hide her former marital status, and her child, if she wishes to get the job. With cloudy pasts to overcome, both Adam and Elizabeth want to believe in a bright future. Will they find the strength they need in each other, or will their differences keep them apart?

Harriet Martin left her plantation home in Atlanta and came to Kansas with one thought on her mind—finding the mother of the man she was supposed to marry. She will never find peace or be able to move on until she knows that Jane, a former slave, is safe and happy. Tom White wants nothing more than to be his own man—traveling where he will, taking whatever jobs come his way, moving on again when he gets feeling itchy. Now working at the Brody Hotel, he starts to put down roots for the first time since he was forced to leave his home at the age of fifteen. Both stubborn, independent, and free spirited, Harriet and Tom have more in common than either one wants to admit. By the same twist of fate, they each have exactly what the other needs—if destiny will allow them to find the happiness they’ve been seeking.

Jeanette Peterson and her sister, Abigail, are running from a dark past and hiding from an even darker future. When they happen upon the Brody Hotel in Topeka, Kansas, they're given a chance at a whole new life, one where they can choose who they want to become. When Jeanette assists the town doctor with a difficult case, she realizes she has a calling and a passion to become a nurse. Dr. Phillip Wayment is a set-in-his-ways bachelor, more than happy to run his medical practice alone. When Jeanette asks him to mentor her, he's hesitant at first, not wanting some woman underfoot. But as they work together, he comes to realize how valuable she is to his career ... and to him. Will the secrets from her past ruin what they've built?

Olivia Markham is a socialite from New York City who came to Topeka with one goal—to marry Adam Brody. But Adam has married someone else, and Olivia has nowhere to go. Taking a job at the Brody Hotel requires her to swallow her pride, but she has no choice in the matter. Now she must learn to adjust to simple living and wearing cotton dresses—cotton, when she should be wearing silk. Pastor Robert Osbourne has taken on the huge responsibility of overseeing the spiritual welfare of a large congregation, and at times, he feels overwhelmed. He preaches on Sunday morning, but by Monday night, everything he’s said has been diluted by the alcohol at the saloons. He wonders if he’s doing any good for the people at all. Olivia doesn’t see a need for God in her life. Robert can’t imagine living without Him. Drawn together for reasons neither can understand, can they find a way to overlook their differences and realize that love doesn’t have to make sense to be real?

Caroline Hampton is an unmarried, independent woman, able to come and go as she pleases. Working as the manager of the Brody Hotel has suited her, giving her both a home and a career. But lately, she has begun to feel restless, wondering what else might be out there for her. Since the death of his wife, Wallace Dupree has spent his time alone, working as a train conductor and reading poetry. When he catches sight of the beautiful Miss Hampton, he realizes that a second chance just might be in his future. First, though, he has to convince her to give it a try. Can a man with a soft heart and an iron will win the heart of a woman who has sworn to remain single forever?

When Rachel's fiancé was killed in a railroad accident, leaving her with nowhere to go, she came to the Brody Hotel as a last resort. With the help of her new friends, she found comfort and healing, and now she believes herself as content as she can be. But when Nicholas Hardy, her fiancé's brother, walks into her dining room, her world falls out from under her. Everything she thought she believed about herself, and him, is called into question. Nicholas wanted a life of adventure with the girl of his dreams by his side, but the death of his brother cast a pall on everything he'd hoped for. When he sees Rachel again, he thinks life has given him a second chance, but then an injury threatens to take everything away from him again. Two souls looking for a place to call home . . . and wondering if just by chance, they can find that home together.

With her checkered past, Margaret Smith doesn’t expect that she’ll ever fall in love again. She’s happy as she is, surrounded by good friends, but she still sometimes wonders if there isn’t something more. Career cowboy Wade Watkins loves nothing better than the wide-open spaces of the prairie, but when a chance encounter with a beautiful waitress sends her sprawling into the dirt, he begins to rethink his priorities. One is coming to terms with her past. The other is looking for a door into his future.

A year ago, Sarah Palmer was utterly humiliated in every possible way while visiting her cousin in Denver. She vowed she'd never go back to that awful place, but then she gets a letter telling her that her aunt has fallen ill and would like to see her . . . in Denver. Stephen Howard feels terrible for the way his family treated Miss Palmer the previous summer, and wishes he could do something to make up for it. When she returns to Denver to visit her aunt, he realizes that this could be his chance. Two people from two entirely different walks of life, so different and yet so much the same. As they navigate all the roadblocks keeping them apart, will they learn to endure the bitter so they can eventually taste the sweet?

A harsh winter storm has blown into Topeka, making train travel impossible and trapping people in their homes. No one can leave the Brody Hotel, either, not without risking their safety in the whiteout. Nancy Ann Morgan has taken a job at the hotel to help her mother provide for the family after the death of their father, a Union soldier. Timothy Hancock is the son of a Confederate lieutenant. When the storm forces them together, they must overcome their differences - or lives could be lost, including theirs.