Allison James is a people pleaser and rule follower, but the day before her thirty-fifth birthday, that all backfires: she is unexpectedly fired from the public relations firm she's worked at for twelve years, only to come home and find out that her fiance has been sleeping with her maid of honor.

Feeling lost, Allison takes her friend Jordan's advice and uses the time off for some self-reflection. Over the next few months, she devours countless self-help books (albeit skeptically), schedules a soul reading with an astrologer/psychic/magician, and goes on a meditation retreat in Costa Rica, where she finally starts to feel like she's getting her groove back.

Back at home, her desire to escape the condo she once shared with her fiance makes her a regular at the new coffeehouse in her neighborhood, where she finds some guidance from (and eye candy in) the attractive owner, Eric. Between Jordan's support, the Barnes & Noble self-help aisle, and the Tao of Eric, Allison gradually discovers that her old life wasn't as perfect as she thought-and that if she truly wants to find her happily-ever-after, she's going to have to start writing her own rules.