Ryan is a womanizing stockbroker whose unethical business practices cost him his job and his trader's license. Unable to find another job, he is forced to move in with his equally self-involved (and completely oblivious) girlfriend, Cindy, an insensitive advice columnist on the cusp of losing her own job due to her poor advice and slow work habits. Finding that the truth behind his moving in has nothing to do with romance, Cindy runs off with another man. Ryan decides to stay in the apartment and earn a living by doing Cindy's job. Ryan establishes himself with Cindy's editor, Page, as Cindy's go-fer, collecting Cindy's paychecks and mail and delivering her columns. Initially as hopelessly inept as Cindy in giving advice, he nearly gets the column canceled. However, he rapidly grows into the job and the combination of forced introspection, research and the growing knowledge that he is touching other people's lives transforms him. The column becomes an amazing success. Ryan finds his initially superficial attraction to Page growing into love, but he cannot reveal his feelings while he is a deceptive fraud. Meanwhile, Cindy becomes aware of her growing fame, and returns to cash in, at the same time that the owner of a rival newspaper chain attempts to force Page to sell Cindy's column to him.
For the two 13-year-old blood-brothers Alex and Ferry, Hitler's war is an exciting game – which is not surprising since they live in a backwater town ignored by the Allied bombers. The only thing that's more interesting than watching enemy planes fly past is the burning desire to discover the secrets of sexuality with the fiery Rosa. But then bombs actually do start falling on their little town – and the boys are sent to a Czech spa to wait out the end of the war. Blessed with a beautiful singing voice, Alex joins the boys' choir, insisting that Ferry join it too – blood-brothers share everything! But trouble is afoot when Alex replaces the “Hitler Youth” watchdog as lead soloist. Worse yet is another problem they have to contend with Alex learns that he's Jewish! As the choir prepares a concert that Hitler is planning to attend, the boys are swept up into a world of intrigue and danger – and into the bed of the brave and beautiful partisan Helenka... With both the war and the boys' hormones raging, Alex and Ferry embark on a coming-of-age adventure unlike any other.