Kate Fairchild is born a rich, privileged American millennial. She grows up in Beverly Hills, attends a fancy east coast boarding school, and eventually attends the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. There, she falls in love for the first time with a senior pre-med major, but her heart is crushed when he leaves her behind for medical school. Running from pain, Kate ends up in Newport Beach, the glitzy California town on the Pacific Riviera. She begins to follow her dream career path into the world of fashion design. A chance meeting with a dashing young man named Cole Baldwin electrifies her. Cole seeks fame and fortune in real estate, and the two find big time sexual attraction as they rise in star quality. Along the way, Kate confronts the feminist ideal of "having it all"—career, marriage, and family. Cole claws his way to the top of the real estate game, while Kate moves forward on her path into fashion design. Her privileged perspective turns upside down, however, when struck with the realities of tragedy and loss. Faced with insurmountable challenges, a turn of events brings Kate the promise of a future of redemption, hope, and the shocking possibility of true love.