Elizabeth Thatcher, a young school teacher from a wealthy Eastern family, migrates from the big city to teach school in a small coal mining town in the west.
A brilliant crossword puzzle editor finds her life turned upside-down when she is pulled into a police investigation after several of the clues in her recent puzzles are linked to unsolved crimes.
Professional matchmaker Angie Dove is surprised to run into her old college boyfriend Ethan Plume, who has just taken the reins at his family's publishing house. But a bigger shock is yet to come, as bestselling writer Beatrice Penn suddenly takes ill onstage, the victim of a fatal dose of poison. Though bad blood between Ethan and Beatrice makes him the prime suspect, Angie knows he's incapable of murder.
The story of sisters Lillian and Grace who open an orphanage in the 1916 Western town of Brookfield. Caught between the traditions of cattle ranchers and the ambitions of a growing town, they strive to find romance and happiness while overcoming the challenges of helping the children in their care.