UC Riverside

Alyssa Gibbs is married to Master Sergeant Jack Gibbs, a communications specialist at the Presidio of San Francisco, when the novel opens. One morning a few hours before dawn in 1994, Alyssa contemplates leaving Jack when her estranged brother, Staff Sergeant Max Eaves, appears outside their base housing. Alyssa experiences a severe physical event: she physically splits into two separate women, each having equal consciousness and power, but with two completely different perspectives and desires.

Alyssa stays in bed while the Other Woman (as Alyssa identifies her double) observes her brother kissing her husband, opening up a deeply buried secret between the three of them. The aftermath of this finds each character taking drastic measures. Though Alyssa's split is temporary, it occurs with more frequency as Alyssa discovers her loyalty and love are caught between her husband and her brother, forcing her to make an impossible choice.