"Fair Isn't Life," by Kaje Harper

Contemporary MM Romance

0 Smooches ~ No Heat 1 Smooch ~Cozy 2 Smooches ~ Warm 3 Smooches ~ Simmering 4 Smooches ~ Red-Hot 5 Smooches ~ Scalding

	
Smooches ~ No Heat

Smooch ~ Cozy

Smooches ~ Warm

Smooches ~ Simmering

Smooches ~ Red-Hot

Smooches ~ Scalding

Book Blurb

When a man hits rock bottom, he needs someone to remind him life comes with second chances.

Luke Lafontaine lost everything— his father, their family farm, and a whole way of life. He’s survived the past year by putting one foot in front of the other in dead-end jobs to survive. Cleaning up city folks’ trash at the State Fair is just another two weeks of money between him and being back on the streets. But seeing Mason Bell in the parade— gorgeous, gay, out-of-his-league Mason— stirs dreams he thought he’d given up long ago.

Mason left his small hometown for college in Minneapolis without looking back. It’s been fun and easy— classes and guys— but nothing has really felt important. Then he spots his high school crush, Luke, picking up trash at the Fair. Mason’s done with smooth and easy; he desperately wants a second chance with the boy he left behind.

This is a rerelease of the 2018 Dreamspinner Press novella, with only minor editing changes.

My Review

I received a copy of this book via the author and am leaving a voluntary and honest review.

I’ve never read anything by Kaje Harper before, but Fair Isn’t Life—and isn’t that the best play on words?!—was a delightful contemporary romance novella with a heartwarming story at its center.

Luke and Mason were both genuine and realistic characters. Their friendship felt believable, and I adored how Mason stepped up to support Luke without trying to take over or fix his problems for him. Luke struggles to live paycheck-to-paycheck without knowing for sure where his next paycheck was even coming from. He lives with roommates in a small flat, just trying to keep his head above water and avoid being homeless. He’s recently lost his father as well as the farm and cows that meant the world to him. To say the least, this character is down on his luck and more than a bit broken when Mason, an old high school friend and secret crush, steps unexpectedly back into his life.

Mason, on the other hand, is your typical college-age kid who happens to be delightfully out and proud. He also has an old crush lingering in his mind and it breaks him to see Luke working as a custodian at the fair he should be participating in. So when he decides to pursue Luke, it takes on a bit of the hurt/comfort trope. Including some lovely sexy time scenes where Mason shows Luke different ways men can make love that don’t necessarily involve penetration—even though, yes, eventually that happens too. And it’s beautiful and steamy.

This was a quick read with some enjoyable and relatable characters. I would recommend it to all lovers of MM romance, but also to anyone who enjoys a good old country boy romance!

Kaje Harper
She/Her

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’ve been writing far longer than I care to admit (*whispers – forty-five years*), although mostly for my own entertainment. I write M/M romance, often with added mystery, fantasy, historical, SciFi, paranormal… I also have Young Adult short stories (some released under the pen name Kira Harp.)

After decades of writing just for fun, my husband convinced me I really should submit something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out from MLR Press in May 2011. I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks and print, both free and professionally published, including Amazon bestseller The Rebuilding Year and Rainbow Award Best Mystery-Thriller Tracefinder: Contact. A complete list with links can be found on my website "Books" page here.