Looking back, maybe I should have known where this was all going. But I’ve never been a girl who worries much about the future. Maybe because I never thought I had one. Until my stepfather turned up and showed me life might be living after all. And that he would catch me if I fell again. If I can trust him to stay. Years ago, he blew through town like a hurricane, married my mother, and then left again, saddling us with a new last name and a boy we didn’t know. I haven’t seen him since, and when he returns, I expect him to leave again. Instead, he tries to save me. And I realize that I don’t know him as well as I thought I did. This man isn’t the rough, overbearing stepfather I remember. His touch is gentle, his voice a husky murmur. His eyes are dark and hungry. And his son? The boy I used to laugh with? He’s gone quiet and cold. Distant, like he knows he shouldn’t want what he wants. As for me? I’m the broken one they’re both trying to save. If they don’t destroy each other first. But I’ve never had a family I can count on, and I’m not sure Barrett and Chris can rescue me from my demons. When my real father comes back into the picture, I see a path that doesn’t include a step-family at all. I see what might be a real life. And then everything shatters. I let the wrong man in and bring danger straight to our door. And when it all comes crashing down, and I need a hero, I get two. Only it’s not blood that saves me. It’s them. One is a hardened wanderer full of forbidden longings. The other is hiding a vulnerability only I can see. And they’re both mine. If I can survive long enough to choose them. Dove is the second in the Hawke’s Wood series, and features stepdad, stepbrother, MFM, Why Choose, best friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, found family, themes of self-harm, and a guaranteed HEA. To start the series, look for Little Bird , and to continue, watch for Sparrow .