Falling in Controlled Circumstances

by Pepper Espinoza

What would you dare for a free fall of desire and passion?

For four years, Gregory Jackson and his partner, Cambridge police chief Phillip Baker, have enjoyed a committed relationship. Neither suspect there’s something missing in their lives. Until one fateful day when Phillip has a close call while on duty…and Gregory’s flat tire puts him squarely in the glide path of dangerously charming American pilot Jim Tennant. While Jim’s in town to fly prototypes at the local air force base, Greg struggles to keep their relationship platonic, but Jim is an irresistible force. At the moment a transgression seems inevitable, Phillip surprises Gregory by encouraging him to take exactly what he wants. That night, all three of them really learn what it means to fly. Gregory’s pleasure is tempered by two serious concerns. Why is Jim interested in a relationship with a couple? And why is Phillip suddenly willing—even eager—to invite another man into their bed?

Genres: M M Romance, M M M, Menage, Romance, Contemporary, Erotica, LGBT

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2008

About the author

Pepper Espinoza has published several books with Liquid Silver Books, including The Zebra Wore Fishnets and The Zebra Wore Red Stockings, Amber Quill Press, Whiskey Creek Press, and Samhain Publishing. She currently lives in Utah with her husband and two cats. She hopes to complete her Masters degree in Literature in May, 2008.

Ms. Espinoza also collaborates with Vivien Dean, and they publish as Jamie Craig. Together they have Amber Quill Press bestseller The Master Chronicles, and The Silver Series with Juno Books
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Reviews

[ElaineY · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had to be the unsexiest pair of gay men I've come across. Ugh. Okay, I admit it freely and unashamedly - I am formulaic and stereotypical when it comes to my romance heroes. They need to be gorgeous, they need to be physically strong, they need to be downright in-your-face sexy.

And they need to know how to change a flat tire.

I don't care if he's a gay librarian. He is not allowed to be skinny or stand there wringing his hands, not knowing what to do, whether to call his lover or not, when he gets a flat. To really kill any sense of romance or eroticism, Espinoza makes the gay couple British. The skinny English dude is Gregory and his live-in boyfriend is Philip, a cop, Chief Inspector Baker. The third is Jim, an American test-pilot temporarily based in the UK. Philip loves gardening and the two Brits often potter around in the flowerbeds on Sundays. Their house is neat and they have a routine they're comfortable with. Like an old gay couple in their 60s rather than in their 30s.

I lived in London for 3 years in my late teens and had an office in the City in my 40s. Espinoza's book brought back some nostalgic visuals best left forgotten - skinny, pasty Englishmen in their rose gardens with their rheumy-eyed housemates (I never thought about any of them being gay)and their huge ginger cats. I recalled the white-faced college boys who never changed their daily diet - sausages and mash - the entire 3 years I was in college there and never did anything out of their routine. It was weird. I recalled the long, thin, nervous clerks in our office years later, who'd stammer when I addressed them and yes, did not know how to change a flat tire. I know cos when I had one on the highway but thankfully, I had another car behind us and my hubby had the foresight to hire a newly-discharged Marine and promptly based him in our London office for a few months' training. The "Yes, Ma'am" took some getting used to but he jumped out of his car and promptly changed our flat. I was already kicking off my shoes to go help dear old Newley without making him feel stupid but obviously those young Marines just do the job and worry about bruised egos later.

So...I tried to rescue Espinoza's story by imagining Greg was Hugh Grant and Philip was Colin Firth and Jim was...hmmm, I decided on Matthew McConnaughey. It didn't work. I couldn't get those real-life dithery Brits out of my head. I don't know what the hell Espinoza was thinking but I won't be buying her again. Her Mad World was exactly that - insane and depressing and her collaboration with Vivien Dean under the Jamie Craig pseudonym are a waste of money.

Greg and Philip unsettled my LGBT fantasy equilibrium so badly that I had to go back and resume writing my own MMMMMMMF romance. Another reader may not dislike Falling in Uncontrolled Circumstances and even find Greg and Phil sexy but I have too many unsexy memories, unfortunately.

[Mandy*reads obsessively* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I have a weakness for a good ménage and I'm always looking for good ones.
This one did have one or two very big points in it's favor, Greg is a librarian and lives and loves his partner of 4 years Phil.
Phil is the head of the police department, so he works long hours and has a dangerous job.
Greg meets the American test pilot Jim when he is stuck on the side of the road with a flat.
Now, here is where I'm sort of torn, Jim has the hots for Greg right away, and Greg is attracted to Jim, I mean he's hot, no harm in looking, but Jim sort of rubs me the wrong way. And Jim says he hasn't met people 'worth his attention' and when Greg asks what he looks for or is worth his attention he says a 'great ass'. That just sort of made me think Jim is a great big ass!
He is very forward with flirting with Greg and he even after meeting Phil for a total of 2 minutes decides he knows him and their relationship well enough to make a judgment on it.
He also pushes his way into their lives and relationship, oh he says he doesn't want to come between them, but he shows up uninvited Sunday mornings at 8 am after knowing Greg for one day and asks to kiss him when Phil is gone.
He also is very open in his appreciation of Greg when Phil is right there, that's just rude.
Anyways Phil for very screwy reasoning decides they should let Jim get it on with Greg and he will join in too.
Ad they have NO rules, Greg asks but nope, whoever, whenever, any or all constellation of the three with no ground rules..ok, fine, but then, Jim hears a conversation between the two other men and leaves all pouty and decides to call it quits.
It just felt weird and off, Jim was pushy and demanding and went after Greg and then he just up and leaves and gives up?
Greg then goes and gets him back after poor Jim has pouted for a while and even decided to leave the country, I mean it just didn't fit for me, he was so forceful before and now because he thinks he was 'being used' he left, um hello? you went into a working relationship with your eyes wide open and no promises made. Grrr..I didn't like Jim.
What I did think was more 'realistic' was that Greg was the glue between them, yes, they said it's all three, but it was definitely the love Phil had for Greg that made it possible and obviously it was Greg that Jim really wanted and went after. Jim and Phil worked together but without Greg that wouldn't have been the case. That part actually worked well for me.
So, there is a very secure HFN/ HEA with all three happy and going for dp to celebrate it!

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really enjoy m/m/m stories, this one just didn't feel quite right to me. While they all ended up together and became a threesome, it felt more like cheating. I felt that Jim was only really attracted to Gregory and just accepted Philip because Gregory loved him. This one just didn't work for me.

[Pia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very deep, but still a cute story. The sex was steamy. The characters didn't seem to fall in love so much as follow some darn intense lust. (That includes the two that were in a committed relationship at the start.) Overall a quick, easy, and hot read.

[Nichole (DirrtyH) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this story. I really like m/m/m books, but find that they can be rather hit or miss. I was really excited to read this one, because I always enjoy Pepper Espinoza's work - she's a very solid 4 star writer for me so I thought I could trust that this would be one of the "hits" in m/m/m for me.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. The character development is really weak and there is no actual story here at all. It's really all just sex. The sex scenes are good, so if that's all you're looking for you might enjoy this one. But I wanted to read about three guys falling in love. And all I got was two guys falling in love, not very convincingly, and then a third guy sort of awkwardly thrown into the mix because he happens to already be in a relationship with one of the other two.
Gregory and Phillip have been in a relationship for four years but when Greg meets Jim, they can't deny their attraction. And Phillip seems okay with this for some inexplicable reason.
So they all have sex. Greg and Jim fall in love, and because Jim can't really have Greg without Phillip, it becomes a menage. Presumably by the end Jim and Phillip are also in love, but I never really got that feeling. It was more like... well, we're both in love with the same guy and you're not unattractive, so I guess we'll make this work?
So yeah. Disappointing.

[Kassa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a ménage story where an established British couple brings an American daredevil pilot into their relationship. The book is ok and there are several sex scenes once the ménage is established. The end of the novella (~80 pages) is sex scene after sex scene with a few scenes of Greg worrying about the impact on his relationship to Phillip. The reasons for Greg and Phillip accepting Jim into their bed and relationship are kind of sketchy and not wholly satisfying, especially given Jim’s job. Phillip is worried he’ll be killed and Greg will be alone so that makes little sense. The characterization is problematic but the ménage works decently for fans of m/m/m.

[Elisa Rolle]

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://www.amazon.com/dp/1605047775/?...

[Ryoma Gartre · Rating 1 out of 5]

This... could have been a good novel, but i think the author gives for granted a lot of things that she as the creator knows, but we as the readers don't, Gregory comes as a slut to me, even thought at first he refuses, but there's one monologue that made me lose whatever like I had for the character, Phillip character comes plain to me, and Jim was the most rounded character, still I'm not exactly warm towards him either, overall the book lacks emotion, and in the end I'm not really sure they will stay together because I never felt the love between Jim & Phillip, heck I don't even feel love from Gregory towards Jim, just lust.

[Mariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure of characters motivations, and the ending seemed so abrupt. Not sure if I got a wrong copy or if that was actual ending. I did not really love these characters and felt no connection to them. The ending however ruined any enjoyment for me. Can someone who has read this let me know how their book ends? I'm curious to know if mine is the same...

I still really enjoy the author's writing and Quarterback Sneak remains an all-time favorite of mine.

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a while since I read it, but the resolution was too simplistic for the issue the protags faced, and the ratio of sex per character development was too high.

[Tailtiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I just wasn't feeling this book. Threesomes are always a hit or miss for me, and unfortunately, this was a miss.

[justanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

A promising start but the ending needed to be tweaked it was too sudden and major issues were left unresolved. Overall I enjoyed the read but Pepper has penned better books than this.

[Lainy122 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noooo this was so adorable I could die! Perfect pacing, super hot, lovely characters, loved everything about it. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing is okay, but it's pretty much PWP. Sadly. It could have been more.