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Changes On Ice

by Kaje Harper

Rusty Dolan tries to think of himself as lucky. When his folks declared him dead to them for being gay, he'd already turned eighteen, his hockey gear was in his truck, and NHL star player Scott Edison lived a dozen miles down the road. Which meant instead of crashing his life, Rusty had a place to stay and a goal to chase. At the end of summer, his old pickup wheezed over the mountains without dying, and Scott's coaching helped Rusty earn a spot on the Eugene Gryphons team.

Now, halfway into the season, he's playing his best developmental-league hockey and checking out the Oregon gay scene, which has a lot more options than small-town Kansas. Sadly, it has more douchebags too, and when one of them latches onto Rusty, he panics. NHLer Roger LaCroix is also a friend, of sorts. Rusty calls Cross for help, and the veteran defenseman shows up big time. Which does not help Rusty's long-time crush on him.

Cross knows his worth to the Rafters as a Norris-trophy-winning player, but that's about the only thing he's certain of. Hockey is his whole life. He got dumped by his longtime girlfriend a few years back, and wasn't as sad about it as he expected. He's decided he's probably demisexual, and he and Willow just never reached his comfort zone.

But now there's Rusty. After the mess of the past summer, Cross wants to help a deserving young player get his shot. As a man who hates creeps, he has no hesitation posing as Rusty's boyfriend to fend off a predatory ex. Problem is, Cross kind of likes being around Rusty, giving coaching tips and taking care of him. Except who is Cross, at thirty, to have some kind of identity crisis at the expense of a hot, young, up-and-coming player? He and Rusty really should stick to being friends. It's the only safe answer.

Changes on Ice is an M/M, age-gap, slow burn, asexual-self-discovery sports romance, related to the first books in the series but with two new main characters.
Content warning for grief, stalking.

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About the Author

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.

I live 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 kindly, quiet (if sometimes chilly) place and it’s home now.

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

My husband finally convinced me that after all that time writing for fun, I really should submit something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out from MLR Press in May 2011. I have a weakness for closeted cops with honest hearts, and teachers who speak their minds, and I had fun writing the four novels and three freebie short stories in the series. I’ve been delighted by the reception Mac and Tony have 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 Books page.
I also have  an author page on Goodreads where I do a lot of book reviews. You can find me to chat there– I hang out on Goodreads a lot because I moderate the  Goodreads YA LGBT Books group there. I also post free short YA stories on that group, more than 50 of them so far. Or find me on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/KajeHarper