Behind The Bliss: The Story Behind High Rise

Welcome back to Behind the Bliss, my blog series where I share the stories behind the stories—those personal, behind-the-scenes moments that shaped the books I’ve written over the years.

Today, I’m going all the way back to one of my earliest (and steamiest!) works: High Rise.

If you’ve ever searched for 'High Rise Harper Bliss', you probably already know it’s set in Hong Kong. But what you may not know is that this book marked a huge turning point in my writing life.

High Rise: Where It All Began

Written in 2012, High Rise was the first longer work I ever completed as Harper Bliss. It’s not a traditional novel—it’s a collection of four interconnected novellas that follow two central couples as their stories unfold over time.

The first novella kicks things off with Maddie, an emotionally repressed banker, and Alex, a heartbroken gym instructor, who go from friends to lovers (with plenty of tension and heat along the way).

The second novella shifts focus to Nat, an American writer, and Isabella, the hot psychiatrist in the penthouse, whose delicious age-gap pairing brings all the feels.

The third and fourth novellas return to both couples as their relationships evolve under pressure—and pleasure—in the steamiest high-rise in all of Hong Kong.

High Rise wasn’t just my first real foray into longer storytelling—it was also the book that made me realize that writing sapphic romance was what I really wanted to do.

The Hong Kong Influence

At the time, I was living in Hong Kong myself, and that energy—fast, vibrant, and very chaotic—definitely seeped into the book.

The Ivy, the fictional high-rise where the women live, was inspired by real-life luxury buildings dotted along the Mid-Levels escalator. That vertical, elevator-centric living setup lent itself perfectly to a story where people are always just a few floors away from each other… physically and emotionally.

You can feel the city in every chapter: the long work hours, the sticky heat, the skyline, and the sense that anything could happen. And it often does.

A Spicy Start

High Rise is extremely erotic—full of flirtation, tension, and graphic spicy scenes that may make you need a fan.

I actually started my writing journey with erotic short stories, so by the time I tackled this longer work, I was no stranger to writing heat. But with High Rise, I had more words to play with—and it was wonderful to finally add a real romantic element to the steam.

The longer format gave me space to build emotional connection alongside the physical one, and that’s where the magic really started for me as a writer.

The original covers 😎

The Book That Launched a Career

Looking back now, it’s clear that High Rise laid the foundation for so many of the themes and dynamics I’ve returned to again and again in later books.

Emotional honesty. Age gaps. Women discovering love and lust in unexpected places. A healthy dose of drama. The power of female friendships—whether messy, supportive, or somewhere in between. And the idea that our pasts don’t define us—our choices do.

It may be one of my earlier works, but it holds a very special place in my heart. It’s where I found the confidence (and joy) to keep going.

Final Thoughts

High Rise isn’t just a collection of stories about women falling in love—it’s also a time capsule of my early writing life, my time in Hong Kong, and the moment when Harper Bliss was truly born.

I lived in Hong Kong for seven years, and it was an incredible time in my life—not just because it’s such a unique place, but because of the amazing people I met there. (Oh, the gays and how they mocked my 'lesbian sex stories'.) 😍

The friendships, the late-night conversations, the sense of queer community—they all shaped me and, in many ways, shaped this book. High Rise captures a version of me that was just starting to find her voice, exploring what it meant to write boldly, honestly, and without apology.

It holds the energy of a place I once called home, and the creative freedom that came from turning fantasies into fiction. It’s raw in places, definitely spicy, and full of heart—and I wouldn’t change a thing. (Even though, on my latest re-read, I did have a few moments of “should I be canceled for this?”... But let’s just call it a work of its time. 😊)

If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear what you remember most. If you haven’t—well, let’s just say it’s one hell of an elevator ride.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

P.S. Also, there’s a coffee shop called The Bean that the characters love to frequent… perhaps an early sign of my future obsession with coffee shops with bean in the name? ☕😉