Still by Design.

<p><strong>Nestled at the base of Mount Royal in Frisco Colorado</strong> the<strong> Frisco Inn on Galena </strong>stands like a living organism - breathing remembering and healing with the people who pass through its doors. Once a guest himself <em>Elias Keating</em> has returned to the Inn not as a wanderer but as its caretaker. Sober steady and rebuilding Elias's days unfold like ritual: the morning espresso pulled in silence the scent of cedar in the hallways the steady hum of the baseboards that sound almost like forgiveness.</p><p>As the story opens we follow Elias through these early hours of mountain light - how he listens to the rhythm of the house learns the quiet language of repair and discovers that stillness can be an act of design. Yet beneath that calm lies a tremor: the past he left behind and the man he never stopped thinking about.</p><p>When <em>Jacob Hale</em> unexpectedly returns to Frisco - a familiar face with a gentler energy changed by time and distance - the delicate order of Elias's world is tested. Their reunion is unhurried woven through coffee steam laughter from the dining room and glances that say everything words won't. As the snow begins to thaw and the Inn wakes into spring the two men navigate what it means to rebuild connection without losing the selves they've fought to become.</p><p>Around them the Inn hums with life: <em>Alyssa</em> Elias's younger sister fills the mornings with her easy warmth and sass; <em>August</em> the Inn's philosopher-hearted artist designs moments as tender as they are fleeting; <em>The Traveler</em> a mysterious guest and mirror to Elias's own restlessness scribbles in the corner near the fire; and the guests who come and go leave fragments of their stories - laughter letters sketches and the scent of cinnamon and cream - embedded in the Inn's bones.</p><p>Through lyrical vignettes and quietly cinematic days <em>Still by Design</em> moves through the seasons - from the gingerbread-scented hush of winter to the thaw of spring from summer's porchlight evenings to the amber glow of autumn. Each act reveals another layer of Elias's healing: recovery not just from addiction but from self-erasure; love that doesn't rescue but reminds; belonging that isn't granted but chosen.</p><p>By the novel's close the Inn itself becomes a metaphor for grace - imperfect enduring and alive. When Jacob departs for a season to rebuild his own life he leaves behind a letter that reads: <em>The house you built keeps finding me.</em> Elias no longer waiting to be saved simply smiles and lets the day begin.</p><p><em>Still by Design</em> is an atmospheric queer literary romance - part <em>Nights in Rodanthe</em> part <em>The Alchemist</em> - a meditation on recovery faith and the ordinary holiness of paying attention. It's a story about building something worth staying for: a home a rhythm a self.</p><p class=ql-align-center></p><p><strong>Tone & Market Positioning</strong></p><ul><li><ul><li><strong>Genre:</strong> Literary Fiction / LGBTQ+ Contemporary / Character-Driven Romance</li><li><strong>Style:</strong> Lyrical prose with vignettes and introspective narration (reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid Ocean Vuong Nicholas Sparks and André Aciman)</li><li><strong>Themes:</strong> Recovery and rebirth · Belonging and forgiveness · Design and ritual · Love as presence not rescue · Found family in small spaces</li></ul></li></ul><p></p>