DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAYS: Kaje Harper

Our favorite  MM authors a.k.a. castaways are asked, what books, songs and luxury item would they take to a desert island?

This is a monthly series inspired by LezReviewBooks.com’s ‘Desert Island Books’, which in turn is based on BBC’s ‘Desert Island Discs’.

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Let’s welcome our May castaway, Kaje Harper!

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DESERT ISLAND BOOKS:

My Desert Island 10 books:

“Scrap Metal” by Harper Fox – I love Harper Fox’s characters and lyrical writing. This is a gorgeous story of grief, sacrifice and loneliness, love and trust, with main character who gave up his real life to help his forbidding grandfather on a remote sheep farm. Nichol is trapped and alone, until a man shows up at the farm looking for sanctuary. The plot twists through heartbreak and hope to a resolution I desperately wanted, even though I didn’t see how she would pull it off.

“For Real” by Alexis Hall – another favorite author, here he gives us an older sub who was abandoned by his longtime lover and Dom. Laurie feels jaded and uninterested in life, until he spots 19-year-old Toby, who is young, fearless, determined to claim his status as a Dom, and totally unsure how to move forward. Laurie kneels at Toby’s feet, and the world changes for both of them. BDSM and age-gap done beautifully.

“Rattlesnake” by Kim Fielding (you know, just assume all these authors are favorites) – after a rough and unloved childhood, Jimmy has spent decades drifting until a chance encounter and a dead car wash him up on the shores of a small town. There he meets Shane, who has dealt with a devastating accident by building the best life he can. And while Jimmy has no faith that extends beyond the next hour, Shane tries to believe for both of them. Lovely coming home at last of a tired and lonely soul.

“My Cowboy Heart” by ZA Maxfield – Malloy was a foster kid, and the ranch where he was finally taken in is the center of his heart, the ranch owners the parents he would have chosen, though he still doesn’t quite feel like family. When young gay cowboy Crispin joins the ranch, he is a startlement and a wonder to Malloy from the very first moment. Crispin talks constantly, loves animals, makes odd dolls, cooks, laughs, and shakes up Malloy’s life. And helps a lonely man find out that his world and his heart are bigger and more complicated than he ever imagined.

“A Seditious Affair” by KJ Charles – picking one Charles book was nearly impossible, but this one combines real history, heartache, great characters, tense plot, and the sharp banter and perfect word choice Charles is so good at. Here two very different men come together by meeting each other’s needs so perfectly that nothing, not even the threat of the gallows, or the disapproval of powerful friends, is enough to keep them apart. (Reading book 1 first is very useful, though not absolutely essential, but since I have this series almost memorized, this is my favorite of the lot.)

“Thrown Off the Ice” by Taylor Fitzpatrick – warning for bittersweet ending. This book has everything, from the moment Mike, big, thirty-year-old defenseman enforcer on the Oilers hockey team, thinks “No, bad rookie!” at Liam, eighteen-year-old five-foot-eight talented center who is making it clear that what he wants most off the ice is Mike. There is humor and heat, understated love and pain, from the first meeting of veteran and rookie to the slow, wonderful, bittersweet ending. Seventeen years of a relationship that burns warm and steady, with love that outweighs the pain and is impossible to resist. One of my all time favorite rereads.

“Heated Rivalry” by Rachel Reid – This is a high-heat enemies-to-lovers story, skipping forward through the years from a first fumbling encounter of two top hockey players, driven past anger and irritation by lust, on through very occasional meetings for “just sex.” Both men plan to break it off, next time, next year, soon… Both try to find other lovers. Both gradually realize that it’s not just the sex they can’t give up, but a touch, a look, a brief connection – the moments that happen in those brief interludes before one of them heads out the door. The sex is all important to the plot, the end is HFN, but there is now a wonderful sequel to bring these two safely home. (Don’t need to read series slightly-related book 1 first)

“Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts” by Lyn Gala – the best alien-human love story I’ve read; Here, Lyn Gala creates two beings who come together, not because they fit together sexually (and implausibly exactly as two humans would), but because on a variety of levels they meet each other’s needs and feel pleasure in each other’s company. There is a low-key BDSM aspect (Dom/sub and bondage themes, and not pain.) I really enjoyed this story of a man who hasn’t been properly valued by the human people around him for all of his life, suddenly finding a place and a home in the eyes of an alien.

“Nested Hearts” by Ada Maria Soto (a bit of cheating – it’s 2 books, but effectively one story) – a very favorite comfort reread that hits the sweet spot of a little poignancy, but not drama, and a lot of warmth. Wealthy Hispanic tech CFO Gabe meets struggling single-father of a teen, James, and money and pride and time pressures and experience are obstacles between them. The emotions are subtle and understated, the characters interesting, the relatively few sex scenes are meaningful, and the romance is slow and sweet.

“Sword Dance” by AJ Demas – A slow-developing fantasy romance set in an alternate-history quasi-Greek/Roman era. The characters were very engaging, particularly Damiskos, an older, world-weary ex-soldier dealing with the loss of his promising career to injury. On what should be a boring errand, he meets a very unique and attractive genderfluid eunuch sword-dancer, and stumbles across conspiracy and danger. Suddenly, his battle-honed skills are more use than he expected them to be. And love sneaks in while he’s not paying attention.

** I have full reviews of all of the above (and the other 793 books on my “favorites” shelf) on Goodreads

DESERT ISLAND PLAYLIST:

A playlist… I don’t listen to music when I write, because I stop hearing it. But songs that have been an inspiration in a more nebulous way:

LUXURY ITEM

And my luxury item has to be high-quality chocolate (although on a hot desert island air conditioning might be needed to keep both me and the chocolate from melting.)

ABOUT KAJE HARPER

I get asked about my name a lot. It’s not something exotic, though. “Kaje” is pronounced just like “cage” – it’s an old nickname, and my pronouns are she/her/hers.

I was born in Montreal but have lived for 30 years in Minnesota, where the two seasons are Snow-removal and Road-repair, where the mosquito is the state bird, and where winter can be breathtakingly beautiful. Minnesota’s a kind, quiet (if sometimes chilly) place and it’s home.

I’ve been writing far longer than I care to admit (*whispers – fifty years*), mostly for my own entertainment, usually M/M romance (with added mystery, fantasy, historical, SciFi…) I also have a few Young Adult stories (some released under the pen name Kira Harp.)

My husband finally convinced me that after all the years of writing for fun, I really should submit something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out in May 2011. I have a weakness for closeted cops with honest hearts, and teachers who speak their minds, and I had fun writing four novels and three freebie short stories in that series. I was delighted and encouraged by the reception Mac and Tony received.

I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks and print, both free and professionally published. A complete list with links can be found on my website “Books” page here- https://kajeharper.wordpress.com/books/.

You can find me and the book reviews I write, mainly of M/M genre books, on my author page on Goodreads – I hang out on Goodreads a lot because I also moderate the Goodreads YA LGBT Books group. I also post free short YA stories on that group, more than 80 of them so far.

You can also find me on Facebook.
or email me : kajeharper ~at~ yahoo ~dot~ com

You can also join me for flash fiction, previews, book reviews, chat, and more on my Facebook Group: Kaje’s Conversation Corner

Facebook | Website 

A big thank you to Kaje Harper for joining us on this month’s Desert Island Castaways!

Check out our other Castaways:
Natalina Reis
V.L. Locey
 J.P. Jackson
A.E. Wasp
Elle Keaton.
Elouise East
J.K. Jones
Colette Davison
B.A. Tortuga
Casey Cox
Amanda Meuwissen
A.M. Johnson
Becca Seymour
Alexa Piper
Rick R. Reed
C.P. Harris
K.L. Hiers
A.E. Lister
S. Rodman

Hope you enjoyed this post. Don’t forget to check out next month’s Castaway.

What books would you take with you to a desert island?
What’s on your desert island playlist?
Who would you like to be the next Castaway?

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