"It's bad enough that Everly's drug-selling husband is in jail and her adult daughter blames her for the situation. But now the FBI wants her to turn witness, while her husband's criminal friends want to keep her permanently silent. With no other safe haven, Everly returns to her hometown. A place she hasn't visited in twenty-seven years. And didn't leave under the best of circumstances.

It’s not that Everly has a problem with her hometown, exactly, but since it sits next to Hell’s Gate, there's bound to be a few issues. Like the archaic rules set by the angels who run the town. Or the fact that the townsfolk feel Everly abandoned her duties as one of the members of the town's founding families. But between celestial politics or getting gunned down by a drug cartel, Everly decides to chance finding sanctuary back home. 

After a little good-versus-evil stunt at the town's border, Everly is let back in and for the first five minutes, things are great. Everly's mom hasn't started nagging and she has a whole bottle of wine to herself. But after minute six, all hell breaks loose. Everly gets bitten by a hellhound, faints in front of her hot-and-single old high school boyfriend, and accidentally becomes the town’s Gatekeeper to Hell. A job she never wanted, isn't trained for, and can't shake off like gum stuck to her shoe. And as much as she's flipping out, the celestial ruling body aren't too pleased about it either. 

Before Everly can take a deep breath and figure a way out of this mess, an angel gets killed, humans go missing and the town shuts its magical borders. Now Everly is trapped inside with dying angels, rampaging demons, and a witch with a murderous agenda. Plus, an archangel and his army surround the city and are itching to contain the town's problems with a heaven-sent big boom. The only way out is for Everly to learn how to use her newly acquired Gatekeeper powers. But with no handbook provided, there's a snowball's chance in hell she'll figure it out in time.