Author: Elle Keaton
Book: His Best Man
Series: Accidental Roots, Book #7 (can be read as a standalone)
Page/Word Count: 200 pages, 64K words
Categories: Bisexual Romance, Contemporary Romance, Gay Romance, friends to lovers
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Publisher: Dirty Dog Press
Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood
Buy Links:
Blurb:
Rod Beton and Travis Walker have known each other a long time; since the second grade when Rod was the new kid in town and Travis befriended him with Pokémon trading cards and a fruit snack. Apparently Rod’s easy. Since that day they’ve had each other’s back’s, bread and butter, biscuit and gravy…and so on.
Along the way, Rod fell in love with Travis. He’s been hoping for some kind of signal from Travis that he returns Rod’s feelings. When Travis announces his surprise engagement over Thanksgiving dinner Rod decides he’s done waiting for the impossible. He packs his belongings and heads for Skagit and a new life. Even if Travis suddenly decided Rod was the man for him would Rod be able to put aside his insecurities?
Travis always knew he was destined to take over the family business. As the only boy he’s expected to take the helm of the Walker farming operation, and he’s good at it. An engagement to a local girl he’s pals with seems like the perfect solution, gets him mom off his back and ensures the family line — eventually. When his best friend abruptly leaves town Travis’s eyes are finally opened to the difference between what is expected of him and what he could expect for himself.
His Best Man is a standalone in the Accidental Roots series, a friends to lovers mm romance with an HEA. Bisexual/gay.
Excerpt
His sister had the refrigerator door propped open against her hip, hunting for a snack. Wasn’t it funny how you could eat until you thought you were going to pop and somehow manage to be hungry only a few hours later? Strangers often thought he and Abs were twins; Abigail was almost as tall as Travis and they had the same color hair and eyes. Travis was older, but Abigail constantly reminded him she was more mature.
“Abigail, where’s Rod? Have you seen him? I can’t find him anywhere.”
Abigail cocked her head over her shoulder to look over at him with an expression Travis couldn’t quite translate. He wasn’t always good at reading people. He needed them to tell him what they were thinking.
“He left. I saw his truck pull out of the driveway.” She pulled a plate of turkey out of the fridge and started to make herself a sandwich.
Travis was speechless for a minute. Rod had left? Where would he go? Why would he go?
“He left? When? The roads are going to be terrible! Why would he leave without saying goodbye?” There’d been warnings all week about a winter storm on its way that was going to bring snow east of the Cascades and rain and wind to the west side of the state.
“Gee, Trav, I don’t know, maybe because you forgot to mention to him that you were getting engaged?” Abagail let out a derisive scoff. “And to Lisa Harris, of all people.” She dumped a spoonful of cranberry sauce on the turkey before laying the second piece of bread across the meat.
“Don’t hold back, Abigail, tell me how you really feel. What’s wrong with Lisa? She’s nice, and we’ve known her forever.” Lisa wasn’t bad. She and Travis had been known each other since they were little.
“Lisa’s been obsessing over you forever, she used to try and pump me for information about you; what did you like who you liked…I just have a bad feeling.” shrug, “If I’m wrong I’ll buy you a beer. Don’t you think that’s a question you should have asked before you asked her to marry you?” She took a big bite of her sandwich, chewing and swallowing while she waited for his answer.
“Jeez, Abs.” She glowered at the use of her childhood nickname; “Abs” did not make her happy. “I’ve known her forever, and Mom and Dad—well, Mom seems to like her.” His mom was the only one who mattered; their dad tended to stay quiet during family discussions. “Besides, I didn’t really ask her. We kind of agreed together.”
“You are so stupid. God. How did you survive to adulthood? You know how? I’ll tell you how: Rod saved your ass time after time. You wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him. I mean, seriously, if you are going to use the excuse; I’m sorry, ‘reason’”—she actually made air quotes—“that you asked Lisa to marry you because you’ve known her forever, why didn’t you ask Rod? You’ve known him longer.”
About Elle Keaton:
Elle Keaton here. I hail from the northwet (hahaha) corner of the US where we are known for rain, rain and more rain. I write the Accidental Roots series, set here in the Pacific Northwest featuring hot mm romance with the guarantee of a happy ending for my men. They start broken, and maybe they end up that way too, but they always find the other half of their hearts. I started writing years ago but only began publishing about eighteen months ago and now have six books out. Each features a couple in my little universe, sometimes there is added mystery and suspense. Currently, I am working on the seventh in the series as well as a mm paranormal romance. I’m dabbling with an m/f set in the same universe as Accidental Roots, it features a character who has been around from the beginning who really needs her own HEA. Also, there is a lot of coffee in my stories.
Interview with Elle Keaton:
- What was the inspiration behind His Best Man? To be completely honest, it was my editor. I had no plans to write His Best Man but Alicia kept asking “What about the fire fighters?” I caved and now we have His Best Man. The title itself came from — well I guess I don’t want to give that away ☺
- What is your writing process? In general I am a pantser. That said, I just changed jobs and I think in order to accommodate my schedule I am going to have to do more plotting. I’ve actually already started the process for the next book in the series. It will also be more technical so – more research and probably significantly longer. Le sigh.
- What is the hardest part of that process for you? This is such a great question! For me it changes with every book but often I have trouble with the middle. Or the end, usually the beginning is pretty static. There’s always exceptions to this of course and As Sure As the Sun was one of those – I probably deleted over half and started again when I’d thought I was finished. For His Best Man I started with only a sketch and it took me a while to get to know the characters so that really slowed me down. Right now I have 30k down for a paranormal but … I’m not sure where it’s headed, I’ve put it aside so I can think about it. I find putting a manuscript aside for a little while is much better than forcing out words.
- There’s a big leap a writer takes from putting words down on paper for the love of it and actually publishing those words for public scrutiny. What was that journey like for you? I’ve always wanted to write and for many years I didn’t for personal reasons. Then in 2107 I was laid off and I figured I might as well finally hit the publish button on Storm Season which I had been working on for three years. I met my amazing editor at the 2016 GRL, or maybe the now defunct Pacific Northwest LGBT gathering, and she was willing to take a chance on me. I was totally fresh, I’d never worked with an editor before but my awareness of my lack of grammar skills meant I knew I needed one. It’s the best thing I could have done for myself as a writer. Alicia and I work really well together, she has challenged me with each book and I feel I am a better writer for it. The journey has been great, In general, I find the m/m writing community to be very supportive and I love the readers and writers I have met through it.
- What can readers expect from you next? I have so much going on in my head! I want to sell enough so I can write full time. I mean I already write when I am not at my *real* job but I’d like to only write. That said, there are 3-4 things in the pipeline. One, of course, is the next in the Accidental Roots series – Detective Jorgensen will get his story and that’s all I’m giving away about that ☺. I’m still working on a totally separate m/m paranormal about a grumpy changeling with a book obsession. There’s a holiday novella in the works, two actually – both in the Accidental Roots universe one will be m/m and the other m/f. Aaaand, a m/f spin-off a full length novel, set in the AR universe. Think something like Lauren Dane (one of my hero’s) in terms of story style. A lot of positive stuff, no creepy alpha hero’s. I think that’s it for now anyway!
Where to find Elle Keaton:
