A woman sent to retrieve a family’s son, a man tired of living a lie, and a scandal that brings them together. Elsia Letchmore was intent on marrying her childhood friend until he left her and New York behind. She tried to console herself and put the man who rejected her due to her family’s business out of her mind. Now, she’s tasked with finding Zelpher Knight and bringing him to home New York’s Five Point District. Zelpher Knight dreamed of being on the stage, but opportunities for a colored actor in 1846 were non-existent. Spurning his parents’ wishes for his future, he leaves New York and the only woman he has loved, to find the world isn’t ready to accept him. He starts on the greatest acting career of his life – living a lie. When his identity is discovered, he is shunned from the theater community. Angry, alone, and financially destitute he doesn’t expect to see redemption in the form of an angel from his past. Returning home is harder than either of them expected as race, class, and freedom collide. Can the disgraced prodigal son ever find love and healing with the Butcher’s Daughter?

Sebro Devereaux makes no apologies for her life as a courtesan. Known for her beauty, wit, and charm, she has carved a liberating and wealthy path for herself as mistress to some of the most powerful and elite men in the city. If she is burdened by memories of a painful past, no one knows it but her. When she encounters a mysterious, injured man with a spotty memory, she invites him into her home as he heals from his wounds and soon, he offers his strength as her protector. Jupiter Terhune can't remember how he wound up bleeding on the steps of his new employer, but he knows he has always been in love with her from afar. Yet, his mind doesn't have all the pieces and flashes of some hidden terror and an urgent sense of time running out are interwoven through his murky recollections. When secrets from her past threaten her livelihood and independence, Sebro finds herself clinging to Jupiter in an effort to find solace in the turbulent storms of her life. As he begins to remember the events that led him to her doorstep, Jupiter realizes that Sebro is in great danger... from himself.