Falling Into Sin by Pepper Espinoza & Amanda Young
Falling in Controlled Circumstances by Pepper Espinoza
This is the story of a menages, clear and simple.
Greg and Phil are in a long-term relationship, 2 years as lovers and another 2 years as committed partner. It's a very good relationship, Greg a librarian, Phil a chief inspector for the local police department at Cambridge, England. Always seems perfect if not that lately Phil is pretty taken with his job, working odd shift. But Greg never has expressed any complaint, he is happy with their life; Phil is not a simple man to love, he is reserved and taciturn, but he is also very attentive; Greg feels cherished and protected when he is with his lover and on the other hand, Greg knows when his lover needs to be comforted and embraced in the warm arm of his lover and their house, to shut down the world outside.
Then arrives Jim, an American pilot who tests prototypes in the near Air base, recently moved on the neighbor. Jim is outspoken, friendly and handsome. And he has no problem to make clear to Greg that he finds him very attractive. Greg is not blind, and he can see all the good sides on Jim, but he really loves Phil and he would do nothing to compromise their relationship, neither a little kiss. And when at first Phil is sharp and detached toward Jim, Greg thinks that he can only offer a friendship to Jim, and better if the friendship arrives from both of them, Greg and Phil, without allowing to much private meeting between Greg and Jim. But then Phil's behavior changes, he seems to push the boundaries of Greg's fantasies, letting him imagine and taste how it could be with Jim and Phil together; not only that, Phil seems to desire that Greg builds something with Jim's only, trying to imagine what it would be if Phil was not there with him...
It's not simple to read of Greg's interest in Jim without reading it like a cheating on Phil, even if Phil is aware and consenting. There is never a moment in which Phil makes Greg feel guilty for what he feels for Jim, so I have not the feeling I used to when reading a menages, that one of the men is a cheater; but it's also true that Greg remains the "center" man, the link between Phil and Jim. True, the author tries all the possible combination, Phil & Greg, Phil & Greg & Jim, Greg & Jim, Phil & Jim, but she doesn't linger when the three are not together, making so stronger the menages and not the simple couple.
The feeling on the story is that Phil and Greg probably would be an happy couple also without Jim, Phil is the stronger man on whom Greg lean to, and Jim adds to the couple a new breeze, a bit of lightness, but probably Greg and Jim alone would not work out; for Greg, Jim would be a flirt, someone he could be happy for a bit, but not the man he would choose for a long-term relationship. In all this, Phil emerges as the master, the puppeteer of both Greg and Jim, but he reaches this rank without being nasty or aloof.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/falling-in-controlled-circumstances
Amazon Kindle: Falling in Controlled Circumstances
Sins of the Past by Amanda Young
First of all... don't get pissed of the mistery which was not a mistery. I don't know if Amanda Young wants intentionally give us so much clue to unveal the hidden secret from the start, but she does that and so the big surprise you will have at the end of the book for me is not so big.
And so I have had the chance to indulge in something else, like the tender wooing Ryan starts with Andrew. Ryan and Andrew meet thanks to a blind date common friends organize. In the beginning Ryan thinks Andrew not to be his type: Andrew is rich and cultered, lives on previous accumulated wealthy and is a single father. Ryan is an exterior architect and has built his fortune by himself. He is a simple man and loves the handwork. And at thirtyone years old he has just stopped to cruising and maybe he is ready to start something serious, but a man with a little daughter? But Andrew is so nice and sexy...
I like both Ryan and Andrew. They are different, as different as can be white and black, but the sparks between them are hot. Ryan is the down-and-dirty soon type, Andrew is the quite and thinking one. Ryan is a Harley and denim type, Andrew a SUV and slacks one. But in bed they are very compatible and so, maybe, they can find a way to be together.
One only regret: when Amanda Young has introduced the supporting character of Bobby, at the beginning of the story, how she has described him... well, I'm, for some moment, been a fan of him to be the main character of the book :-)
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/sins-of-the-past
Amazon Kindle: Sins of the Past
Amazon: Falling Into Sin (print book)
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
Cover Art by Anne Cain