Because of the collision, Claire Forrester goes into early labor. Her baby survives. But her husband dies.
Now, all these years later, Claire's daughter -- Paige Forrester -- has become a doctor, like the father she never knew, while the wealthy and reclusive Claire is a benefactor of the San Francisco hospital where Paige works.
Paige herself has medical problems, which she's been keeping secret -- one of many secrets in the Forresters' lives. Paige's life is further complicated when she falls in love with Jack Logan, an old college friend . . . and when she meets Gwen St. James, who becomes a new friend.
Also thirty-one, Gwen is an accomplished makeup artist, a vocation she chose, in part, because of the birthmark that disfigures her own face. Gwen's past is filled with questions. She was raised in a convent and has never learned the identity of her parents. She's alone in the world, a woman hiding behind her skillfully applied mask.
Through Paige, Gwen experiences a sense of family as the two women grow close. As close as sisters . . .
Ties of love, ties of blood.
Sometimes they feel like the same thing . . .
