Brief Encounters

Title: Delivery with a Smile
Author: Megan Derr
Length: 9,500 words (30 pdf pages)
Publisher: Less Than Three Press (Free)
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: C+

Blurb:

Jack worked hard to obtain a normal life. He might not love it, but it’s better than the criminal life he left behind—even if it cost literally everything, and he really does hate being a damned delivery man. On the bright side, his route includes a friendly old lady who makes the world’s best cookies and regales him with tales of her hot, jet-setting son. Normalcy definitely has perks.

Then he walks in on her and her son arguing with men at gunpoint.

Review:

This little freebie was done for the Hot Summer Days event at the m/m good reads group, and the picture prompt was the one on the cover.

Jack’s life is pretty boring, so boring his cop boyfriend dumped him,but he enjoys visiting the little old lady on the route who gives him gingersnaps and regales him with tales of her sexy gay son. On this day, she doesn’t answer, so he decides to go in and leave her boxes, only to walk in on her being held at gunpoint. Soon there are shots, a dead man in the middle of the living room and the sexy son is taking care of Jack’s bullet wound, which is minor. Before long, Jack, against his wishes is on the run from criminals, leaving his boring life behind.

I’ll try not reveal too much, but Jack’s not quite what he seems, average boy in brown delivering boxes, and before long, he and Allen are forced to work together to finish Allen’s job before Jack can go free to start a new life. But what type of life? Soon the two are eyeing each other up and wondering if sticking together might not be so bad. Allen is the suave criminal in his fancy suits and expensive cars who at first dismisses Jack, who covers up his nerves and fears with smiles, but Allen soon sees through that and gets more to the heart of who Jack is.

This is just a cute start to their relationship, which continues in The Christmas Package which will be reviewed next week. Because they spend so much of their time escaping danger, I wasn’t sure if they just kind of fell-in together by proximity, or if there was something more there. It’s fun and has flashes of humour, especially Allen’s mother, but I wasn’t overly invested in the couple. Still, it’s free and worth picking up for fans of the author’s work, especially if you’d like to try something outside of the fantasy genre which she writes so well.