A-Z Challenge Review: Fun with Dick and Shane by Gillibran Brown

Why I bought the book: I read a review at Tam's blog and it sounded like an amusing read.  You'll have to read her review because she quotes one of my favourite parts from the book which made me laugh out loud at the time and I was still sniggering for ages afterwards.

Plot: The book is set out as a series of blog diary entries from the point of view of houseboy, Gilli.  He's part of a menage D/s relationship with a strict hierachy.  At the top is overall Dom Shane, then there's Dick who is both Shane's sub and Gilli's Dom, then there's Gilli who's sub to both of them.  The story takes place over a few months and every so often Gilli interrupts his diary entries with longer stories about particular events that have happened to him.  The story is mostly hilarious as Gilli gets himself in all sorts of scrapes and situations due to his habit of over-thinking everything, coupled with a volatile temper, but it's very touching in places too.  Now here's the thing: I can't decide whether this is fiction or not.  Gilli has his own blog in RL and this book is made up of his blog entires from 2006, so either this is a fictional blog and has been for 5 years, or these stories are true.  Not that it matters, but reviewing a piece of fiction is much different from reviewing non-fiction so I'm going to work on the assumption that this is actually an autobiography (which is what Gilli calls it on his website).

Characters: Whether you like this book will depend entirely on what you think about Gilli.  I really liked him.  His honesty is completely endearing, especially as it doesn't always paint him in the best possible light.  I also liked how he reflects on what's happening to him, analysing it from the point of view of hindsight and recognising the triggers that makes him act as he does - and yet, he still can't seem to help over-reacting to certain situations.  He's a complete brat for quite a lot of the book but that is tempered by a sweet and generous nature.  His relationship with Shane and Dick is that of a domestic discipline set up.  This means Gilli (and sometimes Dick) gets spanked and punished an awful lot - and not for sexual pleasure.  I've read books like this before and sometimes they can be a little repetitive - boy cocks-up, boy gets spanked, boy is forgiven, over and over again - but that wasn't the case here because of the time that Gilli takes to show us the history of why he acts as he does, the reasons behind his cock-ups and his feelings throughout the situation.  This made the whole thing very sympathetic in my understanding of how Gilli works as a person and how he needs the relationship with Shane and Dick.  Because the book is from Gilli's point of view Shane and Dick are funnelled through his biased narrative, but I did get a strong impression of the love he feels for them - and how their different roles fulfil an need in him and in each other.

Overall:  I really loved this book.  It made me laugh out loud a number of times but was so much more than a series of funny situations.  Gilli is a delight and through his self-deprecatory witty writing he shows how well the D/s menage relationship works for him.  I also liked that the book is set in Britain, with all the great British dialogue and cultural references that comes with that setting.  Some US readers are not going to understand some of the references to various TV shows and celebrities (there was one point where Gilli is accused of 'watching too much Tricia again' which made me snort with laughter, but that may go over the heads of some non-Brit readers), but that shouldn't be a reason not to read the book.  Those who aren't keen on m/m/m should be aware that the sex scenes are tastefully done with most being made up of vague references or fade to black, so again don't let that be a reason not to read the book either.

Those of you who are looking for a lighthearted read, with lots of laughs and also lots of heart, ought to give this book a go.  I enjoyed it so much I bought the sequel as soon as I'd finished.  It gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me and I can see it being a book I re-read when I need something to cheer me up.

Buy this book HERE.