Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Axe Backwards
SERIES: Axford Brothers
AUTHOR: May Archer
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 329 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2026
BLURB:
A fake engagement to the hot sheriff who escorted me to family camp? Weirdly delightful.
Failing to tell him that my family is a bunch of professional thieves? Small oversight.
I left the Callahan family business years ago. These days I’m a law-abiding citizen. A photographer who takes nothing but pictures. A man who’s learned not to get greedy for anything… or anyone.
But my family hasn’t gotten that memo, so I expect my week at family camp to be filled with guilt-trippy attempts to lure me back into the fold.
Until Holden Axford comes along… and everything goes axe backwards.
Winsome’s gorgeous sheriff was supposed to be nothing more than a one-night-stand.
He doesn’t have a clue why I’m dreading this week, but he takes his protection game seriously.
So when he thinks I need a rescue, he steps in and declares himself my fiancé… and I’m too busy swooning to argue.
Now Holden’s sharing my bed, stealing kisses like Callahans steal Rembrandts, planning a camp heist (for fun, obvs!), and charming my family of criminals.
Our motto is ‘Callahans don’t get caught’ but nobody warned me about catching feelings.
Unfortunately, secrets don’t stay buried forever. And when someone forces the Callahans toward one last impossible job, protecting the family I love means becoming the man I swore I’d never be again.
But if Holden learns the truth about my past, it’ll be goodbye fake engagement, goodbye sheriff… goodbye heart.
REVIEW:
This is the third book in this series. It has a lot of May Archer’s signature small town, big family, banter, gossiping nosiness, low angst romance between two deserving guys. There are spoilers for the previous books though 😉
Holden Axford is recovering from a gunshot wound. He’s going a bit crazy while he’s out of commission as the small town sheriff of Winsome. He goes out to the local bar to watch the local cover band one night to fight the boredom when a gorgeous stranger walks in. This is his jam! His mother is always trying to set him up and he’s not looking to settle down. He’s pretty married to his job. He’s fine with hooking up with tourists, but he doesn’t do repeats.
When Holden wakes up in the stranger’s bed in his own mother’s inn, well this is NOT what he expected. He also has no idea what happened the previous night with the gorgeous stranger. Who is still asleep. Also he’s got a bunch of texts from his family asking for lots of things he needs to do to help with the festival happening that day. Oops. When his one night stand wakes up and continues to tease him, he finds the rest of his clothes are runs out on the guy without acknowledging that he can’t exactly remember the previous night 😉
Merritt Callahan is a photographer who happens to be in Winsome to meet up with his friend Milo and go to his “family camp” the following week. They do meet up at the festival and Milo teases Merritt about what may or may not have happened the night before with a stranger. Milo is going with Merritt to his family vacation to basically be his protection against his ex who will also be there. But then Merritt sees the guy – and he’s the local sheriff. Uh-oh. This is a problem for a guy whose “family business” is theft 😉
Holden sees Merritt and manages to cause a disturbance when he gets distracted by Merritt. And then Merritt is at the family barbecue after the festival in the evening. This is getting awkward! But when Milo ends up getting a business deal that requires his attention immediately, Merritt now needs a ride to his family camp. Holden volunteers. He and Merritt get caught kissing as he’s dropping off Merritt. They put off Merritt’s family and Holden leaves to go home, but when Holden finds something in the car that isn’t his, he goes back and finds Devon the ex cornering Merritt. So he decides to stay 🙂
Oh boy! The Callahans are of course law enforcement averse and how they are going to spend time with a sheriff and keep him from finding out what the “family business” really entails is going to be a real challenge 😉 Hilarity and complications ensue! Holden and Merritt are drawn together but how will this work given Merritt’s family and Holden’s job??
OMG! This is quintessential May Archer. Her small town stories with opposites attract, fake relationship to more and nosy family dynamics are just perfection. Holden is so sweet. He really tries to be so perfect 🙂 Merritt has made his own way despite his family missing him and trying to influence him back into the family business 🙂 There are plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting. There are also plenty of laugh out loud moments. But don’t be fooled – there is plenty of romance and heart too. I really loved these two and cheered for them to get to their HEA. Highly recommended. Another winner in this series 😀
RATING: 
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