Tana Roberts led a picturesque life. Except that it wasn't really her life. It was her mother's unlived fantasy. Still, Tana could not avoid her mother's deeply cynical view of relationships. For years, her mother Jean has been the mistress of a wealthy married man, Arthur, and Tana is determined not to end up in the same situation. One fateful night during a college party, Tana is raped by Arthur's son Billy. Turning to her mother for support, she finds silence instead. Her mother's coldness reinforces Tana's disenchanted view of herself and her surroundings.

Burying herself in her college studies and later in her career as a powerful lawyer and aspiring judge, she is unable to trust men. With the exception of her best friend Harry from college, she is alone. When he is shot and paralysed during a robbery, Tana meets his father, Harrison at the hospital. Both vulnerable and in need of comfort, a romantic interest is sparked. However, out iof respect for Harry, the budding relationship comes to an end. As time passes, she finds herself doing exactly what she reprimanded her mother for doing: becoming involved with a married man.

With the help of Harry's sensible advice, she begins to see the faults in her life and realises that a dead-end love affair and career success cannot undo her past. She learns through all her trials and tribulations that it is love and forgiveness, especially towards her mother, that will turn her life around full circle.