Book Review: Just Don’t Mess With Us: Family Matters

Just Don’t Mess With Us: Family Matters

Andrew Ashling

These stories are fast food, ice creams, snacks. Right after eating them, you will feel hungry again. They have no nutritious value whatsoever, but I hope you’ll find them tasty.

Ever thought about how it would be if you were in love with three persons at once? And all three were in love with you? And with each other? And you lived together? And you all were guys? Wouldn’t it just be like a family? That is what Alan thinks…

Alan is a bit rude and he sees and has so much sex, that he talks constantly about it, almost without realizing it. If male on male sex, graphic scenes or coarse language offend you, this is probably not for you.

Every chapter is a little story by itself, but in the same setting. Yet it is best to read them in sequence, as each story tells you something more about one or more of the characters.

Like the blurb describes, Just Don’t Mess With Us is essentially fast food.  It’s light, quick, has little substance, but is thoroughly enjoyable.  The story is quick-moving, the plot is fun, and the characters are likeable.

It took me a while to figure out what it was reminding me of… it’s essentially a gay porn version of a 90s family sitcom.  It’s got the slightly outlandish story lines, the humour, and the set-ups often found in those old TV shows.  It was like a modern and sexy romp down memory lane.  That might not have been what Ashling was going for, but it’s what I took from it.

The plots are not entirely believable and the reactions are over the top.  But that’s part of the fun.  If this was a realistic book, it would’ve fallen flat, I think.  The sex wasn’t all that erotic, but, like everything else in this book, it was just plain fun.  I chuckled while reading this book, and very few books can manage to make me do that.