Euphemia “Effie” Pembroke is a relentless scholar and physician in all but title. Denied the right to practice medicine despite her extensive education, she fights for recognition, pushing the boundaries of what she can achieve. With a sharp intellect, quiet defiance, and an unwavering drive to unravel the mysteries of the human body, Effie works to assert her agency in spite of society’s limitations, dedicating her time and energy to education and charity so that everyone has a chance to be something.
Isaiah Denham
Isaiah Denham never wanted to be a baron, which is terribly inconvenient, considering he is one. Second son, second choice, second-best — that was the way of things, until a twist of fate and industrial negligence left him with a title he neither expected nor desired. He spent years cutting his teeth on the law, weaving through vice and virtue with equal dexterity, a man who knows exactly how to exploit the system he loathes. Now, with the weight of his father’s empire pressing down on him and the ghosts of expectation clawing at his throat, Izzy has a decision to make: play the game, or break it entirely.
Bran O’Donnell
Bran O’Donnell is a man stitched together from sharp edges and old wounds, a master tailor with a surgeon’s precision and a fighter’s temper. Raised on grief and grit in the East End, he learned early that control is the only thing keeping the world from unraveling — and he’s spent his life wielding it, whether through perfect stitches, clenched fists, or the bodies tangled in his sheets. His hands, scarred and aching, never stop working — not for love, not for legacy, but because stopping would mean acknowledging the things he’s lost. And Bran has never been one to let go.
Skye McDaniels
Skye is driven, sharp, and uncompromising, shaped by a harsh childhood in Dublin and a rough start in London. Raised without the safety net of a solid family, she learned quickly that the world wasn’t kind to those without power. By sixteen, she’d started making her place in London’s underbelly, first as a worker and eventually as a savvy businesswoman. Now the owner of The Moth & Lantern, Skye has turned her brothel into more than just a means of survival — it’s a stepping stone to bigger things. She values loyalty above all, especially from those closest to her, like her brother Eoin, though their relationship is complex. Skye doesn’t leave room for weakness or sentimentality; everything she does is calculated, and she’s determined to climb higher in the world, no matter the cost.