"Hart Ralston is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the wasteland of Tanria, hunting for drudges. It's an unforgiving job, and Hart's got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness. Mercy Birdsall never has a moment to herself. She's been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat - despite definitely not being a son - in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart Ralston, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest....

"Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy's funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist--even if they don't understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that's almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory. All she wants...

While visiting her pen pal Teddy Mansfield, an acclaimed mystery writer, in England, feisty senior sleuth Isabel Puddles gets a chance to put her newly honed skills to use when a local bake-off turns deadly.

"The animals of Sir Sidney's Circus enter a contest at the Iowa State Fair in hopes of winning a $5,000 prize that could save Farmer Farley's farm and his prize pig, Pablo"--

"When Ava writes a thank you to Santa in January, he writes back and sets off a year's worth of correspondence where they exchange information about their daily lives and discuss their shared love of Christmas"--

Four very different friends in Concord, Massachusetts, and their mothers continue their book club, reading Jean Webster's "Daddy Long-Legs," while getting to know their own pen pals from Wyoming.

"Shortly after Cass's big brother is deployed to fight in Iraq, Cass becomes pen pals with an Iraqi girl who opens up her eyes to the effects of war"--

When their friendship turns into something more, Dr. Rhys Gray and Miss Margaret Babcock, no longer able to deny their connection, find the scruples of society and jealous intentions weighing heavily upon their newfound relationship.