When a letter from her uncle Henrick summoning her back to Bastian arrives on Bryn Roth's eighteenth birthday, Bryn is eager to prove herself to the family, even as she learns the Roths are still entangled in the kind of dirty business that got her parents killed years ago.

Olivia Prior has grown up at the grim Merilance School for Girls with no no past except for her one treasure, her mother's journal, so when a letter arrives inviting her to come home to ruinous manor, Gallant, she seizes the chance to find out about her family.

Upon their father's return, the five Dunbar boys, who have raised themselves since their mother's death, begin to learn family secrets, including that of fourth brother Clay, who will build a bridge for complex reasons, including his own redemption.