Angel VoicesRating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


After walking eight miles in the snow, Will finds himself resting in a small church on his college campus. He came out to his family, and his homophobic father beat him badly, kicked him out of the house, and cut him off financially. While he sits in the church, Will listens to the choir rehearsing for the Christmas Eve service. He hears the soloist singing Oh Holy Night and realizes it’s his dorm roommate, Quinn. Even though he knows Quinn is majoring in music, he didn’t know Quinn had such a beautiful voice.

Quinn sees a cold and battered man sitting in the back of the church and, at first, thinks he’s homeless and in need of shelter from the cold and snow. When he goes to tend to the man, Quinn realizes it’s his roommate, Will. Quinn gets Will to tell him what happened, and after Will is looked over by the ambulance crew, Quinn takes Will back to their dorm room to get him warmed up, fed, and rested.

Once they’re alone in their room, they confess to each other they’re gay, and they’ve harbored crushes on each other since they first met. Once that happens, Angel Voices becomes a lovely story of first love, overcoming adversity, and finding a family who love you unconditionally, no matter what.

I loved this little story! It had the perfect components…friends becoming lovers, a virgin MC, a more experienced MC who I wouldn’t consider to be an Alpha, per se, but someone who steps up to the plate to take care of his partner, and a big ol’ Irish/Cajun family who boisterously comes into town and takes a stranger under their wing. Add in Christmas, a bastard of a father who intends to hurt his son, but only makes him stronger in the end, and a bit of hot sex, and you have an hour’s worth of awesomeness that was a pleasure to read.

Will is a shy, tentative young man who’s never even been kissed. He imagined his family would be supportive when he came out to them, and he was wrong. He felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. Quinn is more experienced, but he’s never had a loving relationship. They’re perfect for each other. I noted in the post tags that this is an interracial love story, but honestly, it’s not made into a big deal. Only once or twice, and that was in a sort of sexy sense with how their skin colors look against each other. Quinn’s family is as wonderful as Will’s father is awful (Will’s brother and mother aren’t so bad). The sex is hot, but it’s not in your face because Will is a virgin, so it begins with exploration, but heats up with a slow burn.

I’m not going to give anything else away. What I’ve written so far sums up everything nicely. I will tell you Angel Voices is lovely. The angst doesn’t drag on and on, but the joy is everywhere. Rowan Speedwell has written a book I’ll re-read every Christmas. You have to read this one.

kenna sig