Out of the Rut

Title: Out of the Rut
Author: Helen Louise Carroll
Publisher:  Amber Allure
Genre: Contemporary M/M/M, interracial
Length: Amber Kiss (7K words, 24 PDF pages)
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

 Summary Review: A nicely written short story but I wanted more of an emotional connection between all of the protagonists.

THE BLURB

Do something you wouldn’t normally do…

That’s what the self-help book says, but shy librarian Gerald, unhappy with his job and life, and looking for something exciting to get him out of his rut, doesn’t think the book’s advice will really work for him.

Fortunately for him, a chance encounter in an empty locker room at a used book sale might be just the thing to do it. That’s when Gerald discovers he has a couple of sexy neighbors, Dave and Rick, who are more than willing to help him try something new.

THE REVIEW

Gerald’s life was in a rut. No excitement, and pretty well every day was like the last one – boring. He worked as a librarian and had been doing this job since he left university 20 years ago. There was no prospect for promotion since he didn’t have a degree in Library Science, and with budgetary cuts and the real possibility of losing his job looming due to the current economic climate he couldn’t afford to quit, even though his hours had been reduced. To add insult to injury he had to assume additional responsibilities to go along with the cut in pay. It was one of these extra  jobs, being in charge of the library’s book sale, that changed his life. As he was organizing the used books he came across a self-help book that had as its mantra:

“Do something you’d normally never do”.

 Being a skeptic he was about to put the book in the pile, when another paragraph caught his eye:

“When was the last time you did something you really enjoyed? Read a really good book? Went swimming in the nude? Had mind-blowing sex?”

He definitely was a candidate for the “mind blowing sex” and he remembered envying his new next door neighbours Dave and Rick whom he once saw having sex outdoors in their backyard. He wished he could have joined them but this was a pipe dream since he had barely said a few words to them after they moved in. The memory of the backyard sex was turning him on, with the predictable results, as he kept fantasizing about joining Dave and Rick in a three-way. Unable to control his arousal he made his way to the changing rooms of the old high school where the book sale was being held, so that he could take care of his problem, and walked right into the two men he had been thinking about. To say he was shocked was an understatement, but it was what they were doing that was the kicker as they were having sex in another public place. When they saw Gerry they invited him to join them and he remembered what he had read in the self help book about doing something he would normally never do. He allowed his libido to take over and for the first time in his life he had sex with more than one person at the same time.

This was a nice little story and the reason I wanted to read it was because I had read three others by Helen Louise Carroll and had enjoyed them immensely. Out of the Rut didn’t quite measure up as all the events were too convenient and everything fell into place too easily. However, I realize that with such a short story there are not enough words for a long build-up or for setting the stage, but it would have been nice if the story were not as predictable. Also, it seemed inconsistent for someone like Gerry’s character to join his neighbours and get in on the action so quickly without even stopping to wonder about his job prospects, which were precarious enough, if they were caught.

What I did like was that the characters were all older and Dave and Rick had been a couple for three years and had lived together for two. The story is told from the three POVs so there is some information about their backgrounds – Dave was ex Army and after 20 years had his own business as an electrician. He had known as soon as he met Rick that he was the man for him and they seemed to have a great relationship. They knew that Gerry had seen them in their backyard having sex and when Rick suggested to Dave that they try out the locker room and Gerry walked in, it seemed like a natural next step to invite him, even though they didn’t know how he would react.

The story was well written and if you like your action fast and furious you will definitely enjoy Out of the Rut. However, like all menages, unless there is a love connection between all the characters and the relationship is equal it doesn’t quite work for me, and Rick and Dave were a couple in love while I felt that Gerry was just an add-on for the extra excitement of having a third in their relationship.