When Joe Kingsley, the free-spirited son of American royalty, and Cate Cooper, a famous model, have a chance encounter that leads to an instant and intense connection, they wonder if their relationship can survive the glare of the spotlight and the so-called Kingsley Curse.

After a misstep at a dinner party makes her no longer welcome in Long Island, Alex, gifted with the ability to navigate the desires of others, sticks around, spending the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake.

Exposed to the privileges and depravity of wealth when his mother's connections gain him entry into an elite Nashville boarding school, Charlie faces a difficult choice years later while supporting a friend's morally questionable political campaign.

High society member Felix Decker, who belongs to one of New York's oldest families, resigns himself to partnering up with Irish Catholic police detective Frank Malloy when a member of his private club is murdered in nineteenth-century Manhattan.