Welcome to Glenwood Lodge: The Story Behind The Still Hours

Some stories begin with a character. Others begin with a scene.

The Still Hours began with a place. An actual place I know and love, where a wild river runs deep, and the mountain beyond it looks like a giant lay down, fell asleep, and never woke up (I can't look at it without seeing a sleeping giant). Groundhogs come to play, my husband feeds the chipmunks, we avoid the biting pony, and the occasional skunk says hello at five in the morning.

And so this is where the idea of Glenwood Lodge came to me. The river became a lake, the barn pony became a donkey, and in my mind, a beautiful main lodge appeared, ready for breakfast buffets, weddings, and happy gatherings.

And one night as I was falling asleep, the characters came to me. I don't think I created them, really—they just came to me and pushed so hard for their story to be told that in the weeks that followed, I hardly slept and forgot to eat lunch more times than I'd like to admit.(Also, cereal and toast count as supper, right?)

From the story my characters were showing me came the question that became the heart of the book:

Can you love someone again without letting the past decide what happens next?

And that was truly the beginning of Glenwood Lodge.

Meet Evan Parker

Evan Parker is thirty-two, a chef from New York City, and a widower.

When he takes a summer cooking job at Glenwood Lodge, he's looking for something simpler than the life he's leaving behind. Cook breakfast. Help with events. Spend a few months in the Adirondacks. Figure out what comes next.

Falling for his boss is not part of the plan.

Fortunately for him, the owner of Glenwood Lodge has absolutely no intention of becoming part of that future.

Obviously, this goes very well.

Meet Terrence Glenwood

Terrence Glenwood is forty-two and has spent years building a life he can control.

He has his lodge. His routines. His family. His staff. He's good at taking care of people, considerably less good at letting them take care of him, and perfectly content to keep romance out of the equation.

Or at least that's what he's been telling himself.

Then Evan arrives.

He's younger. He's Terry's employee. And he's far too easy to want around.

Why the Adirondacks?

I wanted Glenwood Lodge to feel removed from the rest of the world without feeling lonely.

The Adirondacks gave me exactly that.

They gave Evan and Terry room to slow down. There are breakfasts and hikes, quiet evenings and hidden places in the woods. There are moments when very little happens on the surface, but everything changes between them.

Those still hours matter.

And that's ultimately where the title came from.

Welcome to Glenwood Lodge

The lodge itself quickly became more than a setting, too.

There's a small staff who know far too much about each other's lives. There are six guest cabins, weddings and events, breakfast six mornings a week, and a petting farm that includes chickens, an extremely opinionated rooster named Finley, and Santiago, a miniature donkey who comes with his own warning sign.

There's also Remy, the lodge's quiet caretaker. Julian, a pastry chef from nearby Ashford Falls. Graham, a bartender in MacLeod.

Some of them were originally supposed to remain in the background.

They had other ideas.

By the time I realized Glenwood Lodge wasn't simply the setting of one novel, I already knew whose stories I wanted to tell next.

So The Still Hours became Book One in the Glenwood Lodge series: interconnected contemporary MM romances about complicated men finding love, home, and connection when they least expect it.

Each book will have its own couple and its own happily ever after, while familiar faces—and the lodge itself—continue to appear throughout the series.

What to expect from The Still Hours

If you're wondering whether this one is for you, The Still Hours is a high-heat contemporary MM romance with:

Small-town romance • Hurt/comfort • Forced proximity • Boss/employee • Age gap • Found family • Love after loss • Dual POV • High heat • HEA

But underneath the tropes, this is a story about the past, second chances, and finding home somewhere—and in someone—you never expected.

It's about grief without being a story only about grief.

The Still Hours is coming in 2027

I'm currently working toward publication, and there will be much more to share along the way: behind-the-scenes looks at Glenwood Lodge, character introductions, book news, extras, and eventually more about the other stories in the series.

If you'd like to follow along, you can join my newsletter for updates and extras, or explore The Still Hours to learn more about Evan and Terry's story.

For now, welcome to Glenwood Lodge.

I'm glad you're here.

With love,

Merritt

Disclaimer: Glenwood Lodge is a fictional setting. Any resemblance to a real-world property or business is coincidental.