For the last three years, Georgia has called the quirky southern town of Sugartree home, dutifully moving back to manage her parent’s coffee shop after her father suffered a heart attack and finding contentment in her busy schedule and the occasional shenanigans of her three younger siblings. When Lakeland Lovett, troubled son of the local pastor, wafts through the door of Good Start Coffee like a tantalizing cup of hot chocolate, Georgia promises herself she won’t fall prey to his charms and annoyingly perfect face again. She’s not the girl she was in high school who foolishly put her trust and heart in his careless hands. She knows better now, and more importantly, she knows Lake… at least she thinks she does. But with Lake strutting around Sugartree, driving Georgia crazy all over again with his pesky nicknames, dumb dimples, and swoon-worthy attention laser focused on her, she starts to find any promises to maintain her distance from Lakeland Lovett harder to preserve, and Georgia begins to see him, and her life in Sugartree, in a whole new way.

Would you rather know what your best friend’s lips feel like against yours but get ghosted immediately after… or never even taste the possibility of forever?What could be worse than inconveniently falling for your long-distance best friend? How ‘bout sharing an unexpected, but magical, Christmas kiss with him, then being ghosted ever after… It's been three months since Caroline has spoken to Griffin Lovett—since he leaned in, gave her the kiss of her life, then returned to his life across the country without another word. After praying through the heartbreak, then pouring her emotions into glitter-filled crafts, Caroline is properly distracted with spring wedding plans for her sister, spending time with her siblings, and enjoying her job as Sugartree Elementary’s newest kindergarten teacher. She’s nearly over the event. In fact, she barely, BARELY, even thinks about how special Griffin Lovett made her feel or how much she misses their easy conversations. And she definitely does NOT daydream about how impossibly soft his lips felt against hers. But when Griffin unexpectedly returns to Sugartree and enrolls his son in Caroline’s class, she’s forced to confront her best friend, and her very real feelings for him, every single day.

She’s denied their tension for years. But he’s finally ready to fight. Will an impulsive bet end in friendship… or fireworks? Dakota has spent the last three years valiantly, and some would say childishly, convincing himself not to want Sadie Mills. He hates the way she drives him crazy, getting under his skin like a splinter he just can’t remove. And he especially hates that he doesn’t hate it at all. After an ill-advised Dominoes Night insult, and some light meddling from his family, Dakota challenges Sadie to a bit of friendly competition. But he quickly discovers how blurry the line between friendliness and more can really be, and that, maybe, he’s ready to jump over that line.

Virginia Remillard, famous amongst her three siblings for her unmatched tenacity, has never shied away from going after what she wants in life… unless you count long-time friend of the family and her forever crush, Ryan Hood. Though she’s confident he’s noticed her in a new way over the past few years, Ryan refuses to acknowledge Ginny as anything more than the cute, baby sister of his friends. In a moment of unbridled frustration, Ginny takes out her annoyance with Ryan on an unknown patron of her favorite record store, leaving a sternly-worded letter any southern woman would be proud of and more than a little sass in her wake, leading to an unexpected pen pal in him, Melody Man. When Ginny and Ryan start seeing more of each other, thanks to Sugartree’s upcoming Bicentennial celebration and a flag-football game they're both committed to winning, Melody Man quickly becomes Ginny’s ever-encouraging confidante and a friendship she hadn’t known she needed.