Axford Brothers

Living in a treehouse? Unavoidable.
Falling for the grumpy lumberjack hottie next door? Unthinkable.

After a viral PR disaster torpedoes my marketing career, I flee Manhattan. The only place left to land? A fairy-tale treehouse in a pickle-obsessed Vermont town, left to me by an uncle I barely knew.
Yes, I said pickles.
No, I’m not okay.
But I’m only here temporarily. Just long enough to regroup, let the notoriety die down, and figure out my next steps in peace.
Unfortunately, my new neighbor has other ideas.
Beckett “the Axe” Axford–cranky local heartthrob and unapologetic tree-murderer–claims Uncle Jim made him promises about the forest around the treehouse, and he’s none too pleased when I won’t take his word for it.
Unfortunately for him, I’m done playing by other people’s rules. I’m not backing down just because some sexy–I mean grumpy–lumberjack says so, and I can handle whatever he dishes out.
Tree climbing? No problem.
Pickle festival popularity contest? Sign me up.
Kissing my unexpectedly-tender, flannel-clad nemesis in the woods after dark? I can take it, bro. And take it. And t– Ahem. You get the picture.
I’m tired of losing, so I’m not giving up my inheritance or my heart without a fight.
And if Beckett thinks differently, he can kiss my axe.

They say everyone’s good at something, right? Well, my superpower happens to be making catastrophically bad decisions.

Sabotaging my father’s multi-million-dollar ad campaign because his client was a homophobic jerk? Done.

Accidentally causing a viral scandal? Check.

Confessing the whole thing, then road-tripping from Manhattan to pickle-obsessed Winsome, Vermont, to apologize to the poor guy who got blamed? You bet your gherkin.

After this, I’m done with impulsive behavior for good. No more reckless choices. No more big gestures…

Until Carlos Morales sits beside me at the bar.

He’s gorgeous, kind, grounded, funny, and until approximately five minutes ago, straight. He lives for family, forests, and small-town festivals the way I live for nightlife, neon, and high fashion.

Flirting with him is foolish. Kissing him is worse. And falling for this man when our lives couldn’t be more different is either my next spectacularly impulsive disaster…

Or the best decision I’ll ever make.

*This novella was previously part of a promotion in January 2026. No new material has been added.

Falling in love with my straight best friend? Tragically inevitable.

Telling him? Completely out of the question.

Everyone in Winsome knows Robbie and I are a matched set. A package deal. Ames and Robbie, Robbie and Ames.

He’s the calm to my chaos. The sun shining through my rain cloud. The guy who convinced me to be a firefighter.
The man who’s known every single thing about me since we were thirteen…

Except for the teeny, tiny, inconsequential fact that I’ve been in love with him for years.

I planned to take this secret to the grave. Robbie’s straight. He’s engaged. And I’m finally–finally–ready to move on.

But one uncontrollable blaze, one daring rescue, one inconvenient injury, and one heavily-medicated, wildly inappropriate love confession later, my plan’s up in flames.

Suddenly helpful, perfect, shirtless Robbie is bathing me, dressing me, and nursing me back to health. And if being around my gorgeous bestie 24/7 wasn’t torture enough, it seems I’m not the only one having un-platonic thoughts.

But there’s no way I’m letting myself fall into the fantasy again. Because if I let myself believe this is real and it isn’t, it won’t just break my heart… it’ll break us.

And I refuse to risk our friendship, no matter how tempting the man’s hot axe might be.

Holden's story. Cover, blurb, tropes and more to come...