Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Dearest Milton James

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  193 pages

RELEASE DATE:  August 24, 2021

BLURB:

Malachi Keogh finds himself in a job he neither wanted nor asked for when his father, boss of Sydney’s postal service, sends him to the end of the business line, aka The Dead Letter Office. Malachi expects tedious and boring but instead discovers a warehouse with a quirky bunch of misfit co-workers, including a stoic and nerdy boss, Julian Pollard.

Malachi’s intrigued by Julian at first, and he soon learns there’s more to the man than his boring clothes of beige, tan, and brown; a far cry from Malachi’s hot pink, lilac, and electric blue. Where Julian is calm and ordered, Malachi is chaos personified, but despite their outward differences, there’s an immediate chemistry between them that sends Malachi’s head—and heart—into a spin.

To keep his father happy, Malachi needs to keep this job. He also needs to solve the mystery of the pile of old letters that sits in Julian’s office and maybe get to the bottom of what makes Julian tick. Like everything that goes through the mail centre, only time will tell if Malachi has found his intended destination or if he’ll find himself returned to sender.

REVIEW:

Dearest Milton James is a sweet, swoon-worthy novel that had me smiling from beginning to end. Malachi, the newest employee at the Australian Dead Letters Office, is intrigued by a pile of old, mysterious letters quaintly tied with twine. When he learns they’re gay love letters almost fifty years old, he’s moved to tears and inspired to discover their origins. Finding love himself wasn’t even on the radar.

Malachi is twenty-seven and still a disappointment to his parents who see his behavior as childish. He can’t – or doesn’t want to – hold onto a job (desks and customers don’t agree with him) and when his father, the Postal Service boss, has to bail him out of jail, he’s given one last chance. Pops figures stowing him into a job in an old warehouse with forgotten mail is a suitable punishment. But to everyone’s surprise, Malachi loves the job and the employees at the Dead Letters Office love him. These misfits who spend their days trying to find the rightful homes for heaps of lost letters and parcels are all a “little left of mainstream” so Malachi fits in perfectly. He’s a source of sunshine and humor in the warehouse:

“I tried the online thing once. It was very misleading. I mean, it wasn’t a dating app exactly, but H&M sent a notification to my phone that said two tops for the price of one, and believe me, that was not the case.”

Malachi’s especially fond of his new boss, Julian, aka Mr. Boss McBrown, aka Mr. Tall and Taupe, and numerous other ridiculous monikers that suit his all beige, professorial wardrobe. He’s nervous around sexy Julian and nerves render him the opposite of speechless – he takes verbal vomit rambling to new heights and it supplied me with lots of laughs. Julian is gentle and caring. When he bestows Malachi with his kind smiles early in the book, I felt the warm fuzzies kicking in. Just a little smile made me swoon. Then holding hands – swoon. Julian’s sweet caretaking – swoon. Then the long, smoldering eye-fuck – gulp.

The storyline of the Dearest Milton James letters is wonderful. What a creative, engaging plot! Here’s where the romance kicks in big time, with the theme of forbidden gay love in the 1970s and the mystery of what happened. Are the lost letters a metaphor for lost love or does love conquer all? Were one or both men ever able to live life out and proud? The entire Dead Letters Office crew – Cherry, Denise, Paul, and Theo – join efforts with Malachi and Julian to solve the mystery. The way they each apply their detective skills in a team effort is one of the best parts of the book. The rewarding teamwork and Malachi’s very presence and endearing personality bring new life to the office.

My only complaint is the book is too short with only 193 pages. If you’re looking for a quick read, this is perfect. I would’ve enjoyed further character development and more time spent together with the couple. Some resolution to Malachi’s relationship with his disapproving parents would’ve been nice, too. As I was reading, I suddenly noticed I was at eighty-five percent and was disappointed; another fifty pages would please me. The ending felt rushed.

This is a slow burn story – something I love – but when Malachi and Julian finally got to the Grand Finale of sex (so to speak), it wasn’t until ninety-one percent, and it too was rushed. The scene would’ve benefited from being stretched more (sorry!). The book has a strong romantic overtone, but their actual time in bed is lacking the romance and tenderness that could’ve accompanied more foreplay.

That said, this is a darling little love story, two fold: between the leading men, and those in the Dearest Milton James letters. All of the characters are a delight and the ending is perfect with a epilogue set four years in the future. You’ll definitely swoon, too.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

Amazon