Jesse
I swore I’d never set foot on Hell Creek again. The last time I left that driveway, I was eighteen with a split lip, a packed duffel, and a promise never to look back. But death has a way of dragging you home. My stepfather’s will is cruel and straightforward: live on the ranch for one full year—with my stepbrother—or we lose everything. No sale. No shortcuts. No running. Cole was the golden boy who stayed, the cowboy whose silence cut deeper than words. We learned to fight before we learned to talk. Now we’re fixing the fence at dawn, sharing coffee from a chipped thermos, sleeping under a roof that smells like leather and rain—the anger thaws. Looks linger. The line we swore we’d never cross starts calling our names. But Hell Creek keeps score. Old debts. Older lies. And if I choose him, I’m gambling the last thing my stepfather left me—this land, this legacy, this chance to make something right.
Cole
Hell Creek raised me—the dust, the cattle, the busted knuckles, the quiet that settles after a storm. I stayed when Jesse ran. I held the ranch together with baling twine and stubbornness while our father got mean and the winters got meaner. I told myself I hated Jesse for leaving, but the truth is uglier: I never stopped looking for his truck in the rearview. Now he’s back, taller, sharper, wearing the city on his shoulders like armor. We trade barbs at breakfast and silence at supper. Then the work does what work always does—knocks the edges off—fixing fences side by side. Driving the cattle down to winter pasture and sharing heat when the generator dies, and the house goes cold. The past doesn’t disappear, but it makes more sense in the dim glow of a lantern and the sound of his breath in the next room. Wanting him is wrong, according to every story we were told. But out here under a sky so wide it could swallow you whole, I’m starting to think the only sin is walking away from the one person who makes this place feel like home. Hell Creek Boys is a gritty, taboo slow burn about enemies-to-lovers, family secrets, and the price of legacy—nostalgic small-town grit, frost-bit Montana nights, and a hard-won love fierce enough to outlast the storm.
After years of animosity, Jesse returns home for their father’s funeral, only to discover that he must face his greatest rival—his stepbrother Cole. Having loathed each other for 15 years, they are anything but cordial. However, as they gather to read the will, they realize that circumstances compel them to work together to save the family ranch.
The tension between them is palpable, with unresolved issues bubbling just beneath the surface. Through confronting the family legacy they share, Jesse and Cole begin to peel back the layers of anger that have defined their relationship. They discover that what they had mistaken for hatred may be deep-seated feelings long ignored. Navigating the complexities of their shared past, they grapple with both the pain and the possibility of a fresh start.
As the story unfolds, Jesse and Cole’s journey from enemies to lovers is punctuated by unexpected twists that keep readers engaged. The heat of their unresolved tension ignites into something more as they face challenges that require cooperation and trust. Their experiences force them to confront both family obligations and their own desires. By yielding to their true feelings, they find a path to healing and ultimately, a satisfying, happy-ever-after.
About the author
Atreus Rosewood is a gay romance author living in Michigan with his two boyfriends, two cats, a spoiled dog, and all the beaches he could ask for. He writes constantly to the detriment of all else, and that’s just the way he likes it. If you happen to find him wandering a beach and mumbling to himself, iced coffee is how you’ll lure him back to civilization.
Atreus writes under three separate Pen Names:
–Blake R. Wolfe — Gay Paranormal Romance
–Atreus Rosewood — Gay Contemporary Romance
–Eoghan R. Cunningham — LGBTQ+ Fantasy
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See my reviews of the Sagebrush Cowboys series:
Book One: Rust and Stardust
Book Two: Whiskey and Wildfire
Book Three: Blood and Bravado
Book Four: Saddles and Snowstorms
Book Five: Dust and Desire
