When the past is just a bad memory, a new beginning is the only answer. Or is it?

Backstage at a Las Vegas nightclub, KIMMY CHANG, a glamorous showgirl waits to make her debut. Elated, yet plagued by bittersweet memories, her mood is riddled with the shards of broken dreams. If only her latest ex-husband, Attorney LEONARD GRAPE, could see her tonight! So much has happened in the past two years, so many people coming and going, some never to return…

It all began at the Humboldt Inn in Mittlestadt, Missouri on a stormy New Year’s Eve, when six hopeful strangers meet in search of a soul mate. Can romance blossom among the thorns of lies, drugs and yes, even murder? Though each guest struggles to escape a shady past, a new beginning appears even more daunting.

There’s LUPE MORTON, a devoted wife and mother of the hyperactive DIEGO, abandoned by her distant husband, ARTHUR, an alcoholic psychiatrist. Arthur is now consumed by his plans to marry HELENA LUCIFO, the wealthy heiress to a spaghetti sauce fortune. Pursued by LEWIS LEBOWSKI, a medical student, Lupe is unaware that he is a married man with sordid secrets of his own. LEONARD GRAPE, a prominent personal injury lawyer, has a rocky matrimonial record, peppered with allegations of abuse, infidelities and embezzlement; he is the perfect love match for BARBARA “BARB” LE BARB, the resident drug dealer and one woman escort service. She and EDDIE MC PHEE, her sleazy supplier, keep the town of Mittlestadt and the Humboldt Inn stocked with illegal drugs.

LARRY IGGSBY, a wealthy married executive is searching for a discreet companion to distract him from his doldrum marriage. Imagine his shock when his true love, CHARLENE “CHAR” CHIX appears at the “Waves of Wonder” meeting for lonely hearts. For the past 20 years, he had believed her to be dead, and now, he has gotten a second chance. Never mind that Larry’s wife, SONJA, is very much alive, and Char’s husband is a prisoner with a life sentence.

If only BECKY BLING, the cantankerous transvestite, hadn’t died during the meeting. If only the guests were honest. If only the owners of the Humboldt Inn, Boldt and Mallory Maws, weren’t so bankrupt and desperate to accept cash from anyone, anywhere, anytime to survive. Despite the deaths, their inn flourishes. Nothing and no one is as it seems; romantic illusions rule, and dangerous lies abound.

No one questions Becky’s true identity. Had anyone asked, the reason for the sex change would have been discovered. His appearance was simply a clever disguise. DR. RUFUS DERRY, Head Pathologist at the People’s Charity Hospital recognized Becky immediately as JACKSON HYDE, the man who murdered his fiancé twenty years earlier. When he hires Lupe to work in his office, his life is renewed when a relationship develops between them. He especially likes Diego, which in Lupe’s opinion, is extraordinary. Dr. Derry, Lupe and Diego have found happiness.

In the end, Char, Barb, and Eddie meet tragic ends. The corpse of the dapper Attorney Leonard Grape is discovered in the infamous Room 12A, as well as the corpse of his client, Dr. Arthur Morton. Did Morton’s torrid affair with former patient Kimmy Chang, and his decision to cancel his wedding have anything to do with their murders? It is likely that ex-fiance Helena Lucifa knows the truth. Becky Bling’s autopsy reveals an overdose of diet pills, erasing all blame and accusation.

Kimmy Chang? Now a Vegas showgirl, her friends’ deaths have left a painful void in her life; one that she attempts to fill through the daily episodes of City Hospital, a soap opera they all enjoyed. Though she celebrates her victory in Las Vegas, she is left to begin again, along with Helena, Lewis and Larry. Helena sets her matrimonial sights on Lewis, never mind his wedding ring. Lupe, Dr. Derry, and Diego gaze tentatively into the future. As love resurrects their tired souls from the ashes of the past, the survivors do what they do best. Once again, they begin.