Liberty Wilson deserves a few minor indulgences. Her sister Bianca—also her roommate—is a catty bitch, constantly reminding her she hasn’t had a decent relationship in months, and judging by her reflection in the mirror, she ought to spend more time at the gym, and less time staring at the mysterious ex-soldier performing his morning ritual across the street. But it’s her birthday, the fourth of July, and she’s in the mood for a few fireworks. There’s no air-conditioning at Thirty-two Sprucewood Lane, and it’s nearing triple digits. Yet the heat index is no match for what happens when she enters the patriot’s lair.

Ten years ago, Dale carried Mya across the threshold of an enormous hundred-year-old home. Together, they’d planned to restore it to its original glory. But a decade later, the house is still in disrepair, it’s swallowing their hard-earned paychecks, and it’s driving a wedge between them. Funny how the things that draw people together often tear them apart. Does any love remain between Dale and Mya? Or is their marriage about to buckle like their dining room ceiling?

Aging catalogue model Bianca Wilson arrives at Maplehurst Ski Lodge to investigate a rumor about her fifth fiancé and a young, perky Snow-bunny Barbie. The weather forecast promises a snowstorm, but a blizzard is raging beneath Bianca’s cool exterior before the first snowflake falls. Amid the hazy recollections of lovers (and threesomes) past, Bianca rediscovers buried passion, self-worth, and the courage to enjoy life...although it isn’t the life on which she’d planned.

Just when the crazy merry-go-round of life allows Liberty Wilson to stand still for a moment, Sergeant Jefferson Davis Muldoon returns to the armed forces, leaving behind only a note and unanswered questions. At times like these, a girl turns to her best friends for comfort, but Mya Reese-Myers is preoccupied with an unplanned pregnancy. And Liberty’s high-maintenance sister Bianca is dealing with the unresolved losses and a lover who wants—gasp!—an actual commitment. Amongst her confidantes’ emergencies, Liberty is left to piece answers together with the surfacing of letters from a woman who appears to know too much about Jefferson’s past. With secrets revealed, will Liberty’s love for Jefferson survive? How far will any of us go in the name of obligation?