The Crescent City series is set on planet Midgard, originally a human-inhabited world. Midgard was conquered by the Asteri—a race of near-immortal beings who vampirically feed off the magic and life energy of those they rule. At the same time, an ancient relic known as the Luna Horn opened a portal to Midgard for magical creatures called Vanir—fairies, shape shifters, witches, angels, and others. Finally, the demons of Hel, another planet formerly enslaved by the Asteri, also entered Midgard. Centuries later, at the time of the books in the series, angels govern the world on behalf of the Asteri and humans are at the bottom of the hierarchy, though a rebellion is brewing. Lunathion, which is nicknamed Crescent City, is the most important population center on Midgard.

In the first novel in the series, House of Earth and Blood (HOEAB), Bryce Quinlan is introduced. Bryce is a young half-human, half-Fae woman who is the daughter of the Autumn King—the Fae who rules over a part of Lunathion. The governing archangel of Lunathion, Micah Domitus, assigns Bryce and enslaved fallen angel Hunt Athalar to solve the murder of Bryce’s best friend—a wolf-shifter named Danika. As they investigate Danika’s killing and new murders committed in similar ways, Bryce and Hunt develop romantic feelings.