A warm welcome to author Charley Descoteaux for joining us today here at our blog.

Welcome Charley 🙂

Hello everyone! I’m thrilled to be here Love Bytes! Thank you for having me!

Stick around after the exclusive excerpt and leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of the first book in the series, Buchanan House. If you already have your copy (Thank you! <3) then you can choose a book from my backlist (any ebook except Tiny House). All you have to do to enter is tell me what your dream house looks like. Cost is no object, nor are the laws of physics—anything goes!

One of the most fun aspects of a series—reading or writing—is revisiting characters who have already gotten their HEA, both to see what they’re up to and to get to know them better. In Buchanan House, Tim (the love interest) didn’t get any POV time. I tried to get Tim to talk on the page, but he truly is the strong silent type and flat-out refused.

I’m the author, though, so I get to win in the end. Most of the time. Tim doesn’t share POV time in Tiny House but he’s there, and whether he planned to or not, he reveals a little more about himself. (He gets even more up-close and personal in Book #4 but I’ll tell you about that closer to release day. ;))

To be honest, I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen when Nathan found the trail leading away from the camp building and into the trees north of Buchanan House. I thought it had to be something great, otherwise why would Nathan be tromping through the brush? He’s not overly prissy, but not exactly the outdoorsy type either. Tim’s musings about building a house came out of the blue to me, but it’s perfectly in character. Of course he’s dreamed about doing that! And of course he kept that to himself when asked in Book #1 what his dream was. He wasn’t lying, only talking about a dream he felt was possible.

Once construction started on the tiny house I had all the excuse I needed to watch (and rewatch) episodes of Tiny House Nation. I loved that show and must have seen every episode at least four or five times. Don’t laugh—you never know what you’ll see if you watch the background instead of the spot where the camera is focused. Just as I never know what will inspire the perfect scene in a story.

A tiny house isn’t practical for me at the moment, but I would love to live in one. As long as it had electricity and was hooked up to water and sewer facilities. People who live off the grid are awesome, but I’m too old to want to maintain a composting toilet or keep track of whether my generator has enough fuel—don’t get me started on a wireless connection! Nathan’s tiny home isn’t exactly like the ones featured in Tiny House Nation—it’s not meant to be moved and is a bit larger than those homes—but it’s perfect for him.

Here’s an exclusive excerpt for Love Bytes, from the first scene featuring the tiny house.

Nathan kept to the narrow trail leading away from Buchanan House and let his thoughts drift back to the first time he’d noticed it. Barely a deer trail leading into the woods to the north of the camp, it had been too interesting to resist—almost like finding buried treasure. He’d walked for a few minutes, until he came to a small clearing. He’d been exploring for a little while—curious as to why it looked like a small vegetable garden had once been laid at the north end, and how the rhodies and azaleas got there—when Tim found him.

“What’re you doing out here?” Tim’s voice had sounded like that when they’d first met him: tight and guarded and a tad suspicious.

“I just took a walk and ended up here. Why? Isn’t this part of the camp property?”

Tim had looked around for a few moments before answering, stacking a few loose bricks and glancing back toward Buchanan House like he expected someone to arrive and tell them to leave. Like they were doing something wrong by being there and he expected to be scolded. “It is. Used to be a house here.”

“Who lived here?”

“My mom’s aunt and uncle. They owned the camp. Ran it when my mom was growing up.”

Nathan studied Tim for a long moment. “Your aunt and uncle owned—why didn’t you say so?”

“I did.”

Nathan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Eric didn’t say. What happened to the house?”

Tim nodded. “It burned.”

Nathan’s sharp intake of breath made Tim swing in his direction. “Please tell me they didn’t….”

Tim frowned and then his eyes widened. “No. No, they were in the camp when it happened. But that’s one of the reasons their kids left. No place to live except inside the camp.”

“That’s a relief.” Nathan walked to the far end of the clearing and thought he could see where a foundation had been, now that he knew what he was looking for. “Any more surprises hiding around here?”

Tim shrugged. “Not exactly sure.” He turned toward the ocean, and they watched the waves through the trees for a few moments. “I’ve always wanted to build a house here. But….”

“A whole house? That I’d like to see.”

Tim studied Nathan with an appraising look that left him squirming before long. Obviously he thought Nathan was yanking his chain.

“I mean it. Build me a house out here. I’ll pay you.”

“The woods’ve moved back into most of the original footprint.”

“I doesn’t have to be big. Build me one of those tiny houses that are all the rage lately.” Nathan remembered how excited the mere thought had made him. Even six months later, his heart still raced whenever he thought about it. “I don’t need much, just a space to retreat to.”

“To retreat from your retreat?” Tim grinned.

“Yes.”

“For two?”

Nathan’s face had heated. “Will you do it? You can have complete creative freedom. As long as there’s at least one space with an ocean view, and a king-size bed.”

Nathan was almost there, could see the stone chimney peeking through the trees, so he stopped to finish the memory.

“Will you build my secret hideaway in the forest?”

Tim had frowned, but before he could speak, Nathan rushed on.

“Not secret from Eric, just from the rest of the world.”

Tim had agreed, and spent the next six months working on the tiny house between his other jobs. He would have suspended everything else and devoted all of his time to the cottage in the trees, but Nathan didn’t want anyone wondering why Tim suddenly wasn’t available for other jobs.

That delay, the secrecy I thought was crucial to the success of my plan, it ruined everything.

 

Thanks for reading!

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of the first book in the series, Buchanan House. (If you already have your copy you can choose a book from my backlist [any ebook except Tiny House].) All you have to do to enter is tell us about your dream house. I’ll be back in a week to choose the winners—don’t forget to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Thank you again to Love Bytes for having me!

Series: Buchanan House

Book Number: 2

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Release Date: April 29, 2015

Pages: 163

Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

Blurb:

Pride weekend is over, but for Nathan Lucas, the summer is just heating up. He appears to have it all. He’s tall and blond, ripped and handsome, and half owner of Buchanan House, a successful gay retreat on Oregon’s beautiful central coast. But his joie de vivre hides a fear of abandonment. When he was twelve his mother had triplets, and instead of the cherished only child, Nathan became a scapegoat for his exhausted parents, and he has never truly dealt with that pain.

Portland chef Paulie Nesbitt is head over heels in love with Nathan. They’ve been drinking buddies with benefits for years, while Paulie has not-so-secretly yearned for more. Paulie’s extra pounds and self-doubt have kept him from acting on his feelings. Their friends know they would make the perfect couple, but Nathan and Paulie will have to let go of past insecurities if they want a future together.

 

Buy Tiny House:

Dreamspinner Press ebook

Dreamspinner Press paperback

Amazon

All Romance eBooks

 

“Pride Weekend” Book #2 in the Buchanan House series, Free at Dreamspinner Press

Charley Descoteaux has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough. In exchange, they’ve agreed to let her sleep once in a while. Charley grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during a drought, and found her true home in the soggy Pacific Northwest. She has survived earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods, but couldn’t make it through one day without stories.

 

Rattle Charley’s cages:

Blog: http://cdescoteauxwrites.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charley.descoteaux.3

Dreamspinner Author Page: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=879

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharleyDescote

Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/aqe7g7r

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/charleydescote/

e-mail: c.descoteauxwrites@gmail.com