I thought I was safe. That I knew what I was doing.

But I was wrong, and when everything goes sideways, I dial the first number I think of.
The one that belongs to my stepfather. The only man who’s ever made me feel protected.

Years ago, my mother and I blew into his life like a whirlwind. I was ripped away just as abruptly, and I wouldn’t blame him for turning away from me now.

He doesn’t. He comes when I need him, just like he always did. 

But when he arrives, I realize that things have changed.

This man isn’t the warm, charming stepfather I used to know. And my stepbrother isn’t the giggling friend I once relied on. My stepfather’s eyes are heated. Brooding. And my stepbrother’s heart is closed and sheltered.

I’m not the gangly teenager they used to know. And they aren’t the safe haven I thought they were. 

I ask for safety and find myself back in their house, my hands starting to remember the way to chop wood and feed horses. I begin to fit myself into their world again. 

And then everything changes. I’m caught in an avalanche and face death in those mountains, and when I survive it, the world is altered. The men who were shutting me out have shifted, and I can actually see them. 

One is tough and unyielding, full of unspeakable desires. 

The other has a tender soul, and a heart that melts in my hands. 

And suddenly, Gunner and Gabe become more than the stepfather and stepbrother I thought I’d left behind.

They become everything. 
If I’m brave enough to reach out and take them.

Little Bird features stepdad, stepbrother, lumberjack, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, snowed-in Christmas, and some extreme spice, and starts the brand new series Hawke’s Wood from bestselling author Quinn Marlowe.