Hazel Lynn has spent her whole life training to take on the role of Gatekeeper between the Summer Court and the mortal realm. With her entire family bound into service to Faerie, it's up to Hazel to maintain the peace and prevent any dangerous fae from escaping to Earth. To do that, she must pass the Gatekeeper's Trials and earn her right to stand among the powerful and wealthy Sidhe of Faerie. Unfortunately, her new mentor hates humans like her. He might be pretty to look at, but he has no intention of giving her an easy time of it. But things go from bad to dire when the King of the Summer Court is assassinated. Worse, all the signs point to a human being responsible. Since Hazel and her family are the only humans permitted to enter the King's domain, the blame lands squarely on them. Before long, Hazel's aggravating new mentor is the only person in Faerie she can trust not to sentence her to death on the spot… assuming he isn't the murderer himself. With her loved ones' fates resting in her hands, it's up to Hazel to catch the killer before the vengeful faeries take out their wrath on the rest of humanity.

Hazel's tenure as Gatekeeper between the Summer Court and the human realm has barely begun and she's already stopped one attempted coup. But with no monarch in control of the Summer Court of Faerie, full-blown anarchy threatens to break out. Everyone wants a piece of the Gatekeeper—in a literal sense, if they find out the explosive secret the Erlking left her with after his death. Worse, a notorious fae criminal has escaped jail, and in the process, kidnapped the only person who knows the identity of the next ruler of Summer. Hazel's first task as Gatekeeper is to find both of them, and save the heir of Summer before the Courts fall into chaos. She has help in the form of her old mentor, Darrow, except he's here on a mission from his own Queen that puts Hazel in even more danger. As she closes in on the enemy, it becomes harder and harder for Hazel to keep her loved ones safe. Torn between promises old and new, Hazel is going to have to betray someone… and her decision might well lead to the ruin of everything she's ever known.

Hazel Lynn might be Gatekeeper between the Summer Court and the mortal realm, but thanks to a perceived betrayal, the Sidhe want nothing to do with her. Until she unearths a secret that could either place the right person on the throne of Summer… or doom the whole of Faerie to destruction. Together with her former mentor, Darrow, Hazel determines to prevent the Courts from falling into chaos. But the two vengeful faerie queens who have their sights set on the throne both need Hazel's help to win their prize. And they have the ultimate leverage: information on how Hazel might be able to free her family from enslavement to Faerie forever. As the clock ticks towards the crowning of the next monarch, the pressure builds on Hazel to find a solution and bring an end to the conflict. But the Gatekeeper's curse is irrevocably tied to the future of the faerie realm itself, and Hazel is about to find out just how deep the Sidhe's deception runs. And how much she'll have to sacrifice to save her family.