An award-winning actress. A soldier’s wife. A cancer survivor. A college student. What these women—what all of us—have in common is a need for love: to give it, to receive it, to express its many aspects. Now Andrea Buchanan, who Cosmopolitan called the “girl power guru,” follows her first collection, Note to Self, with a new compilation of thought-provoking, illuminating, often poignant essays on love written by some of America’s most fascinating and vibrant women.

Join author and cancer survivor Kelly Corrigan, describing why her most romantic fantasy now involves sitting on the sofa opening the mail; journalist Giselle Fernandez, sharing why, even though the journey can sometimes end painfully, an adventure in love should never be passed up; Afghanistan war widow Marie Tillman on learning to open her heart again after the devastating loss of her husband, Pat; celebrity stylist Tameka Raymond on the challenges of marrying the rap star Usher in the glare of the public eye; and college student Jaclyn Katz on how her “perfect” traditional family fell apart, and her mother’s brother and his partner gave her back the stability that could have been lost forever. These courageous women have portrayed their own innermost emotions and laid bare their own experiences for readers to learn from, laugh at, and lean on.