There's a long silence. "Zach?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to make me say it first?"
There's another pause and, 'if he says "say what?" I'll just die', Daniel thinks.
"I've wanted to say it for a while," says Zach, and Daniel breathes again.
"Let's say it together, then nobody has to be first."
"Okay. Yeah. Ready?"
"Ready."
"I love you," they say.
And they lie very still, waiting for the sky to fall.

Bittersweet Place is the first book in the Courtesans series, a book about two young men and their growing commitment: to one another, and to the difficult decisions they must make.

Daniel Sylvan and Zach Graham come to Chicago to find new lives. Each has darkness in his past that he would rather forget, but both young men learn that there is no future without the past; that trying to bury old pain only leads to new pain. Difficult as it may be, the past must be faced before they can grow. Daniel and Zach must find the courage to grow ... together.

Sarz Maxwell, a native Chicagoan, tells Zach and Daniel's story with humor and authenticity. In Bittersweet Place the reader will meet not only two extraordinary young men, but also a very special place: Chicago's Boystown, in all its vibrant, breathing life.