"Panic in the streets!" It is the glittering center of the new West, brash young San Francisco, dominated by the luxurious Palace Hotel, where tycoons mingle with famous artists, politicians, and the young American aristocracy. Where 18-year-old housekeeper Sierra O'Nielle, still smarting from a flirtatious gentleman's snub, realizes it is time to face reality and remember her place -- until she sees Joseph Harlan, the handsome son of a wealthy cattle rancher. The sizzling electricity that flows between them is impossible to ignore.... Joseph has come to find a suitable bride. His father will do anything to keep him from a maid. Until the fateful April night Sierra is thrown into Joseph's arms as the earthquake of the century devastates the city. Suddenly they are bound together, racing through the cobbled streets seeking shelter from raining bricks, panicked crowds, and the wall of flame that threatens to devour all that is left....