Review: A Still, Small Voice by DW Marchwell

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: Novel
Requested

Buy

Blurb: After a student’s accusation of sexual assault destroyed his reputation, Noah Birchwood left the teaching career he loved. The school system that should have protected him and an ex-lover who should have known better shattered his confidence, and it took Noah six years and another university degree to finally get his life back on track.

He loves his new job as a computer programmer and keeps busy on weekends performing at a drag club with his best friend, Aiden. It’s there that he meets shy, chivalrous Oscar, the owner of the club and, just maybe, the love of Noah’s life. But everything turns upside down when a specter from his former life moves in next door. Noah will have to face his fears and discover the truth about his ordeal if he wants to move past it once and for all and face the future with Oscar at his side.

Reviewed by Stacey Jo: Noah is accused of sexually assaulting a student and hauled out of the school in handcuffs. The accusations are proven wrong, but Noah has no desire to go back to the school. His lover at the time played a role in the accusations, which makes it hard for Noah to trust anyone. Six years have passed and Noah has moved on. He's dated here and there but nothing remotely serious. He's now a successful computer programmer, writing programs for school systems. He also has a successful drag show with his best friend Aiden. Things are going great for him until he see's a guy moving in next door in his condo. When he goes to introduce himself, he's shocked to see that it's his ex-lover, Paul, the one who played a role in destroying his reputation and ending his teaching career. But Noah, being the super sweet guy that he is, welcomes him to the building despite their past. And at one point, even agrees to help Paul in his battle to get custody of his son. Meanwhile, Noah finally meets Oscar, the owner of the club he performs drag at after signing there for a while (Oscar's shy). They go out on a date, have a fabulous time, and are pretty much inseparable from then on. The sex is pretty hot too. They take their time with their relationship though. Oscar is very much a gentleman. Noah tells Oscar about his arrest and Oscar doesn't think that things add up. So Noah does some investigating.  Turns out, nothing to do with Paul and Noah's arrest were what they seemed. Some successful sleuthing uncovers the truth of what happened to Noah which enables him to finally get the closure he needs to put it all behind him. He and Oscar get a very sweet happily ever after.

I really enjoyed this story. Noah was a sweetheart and Oscar was the perfect boyfriend. Paul well... he gets what he deserves in the end. This book uses flashbacks to tell how Paul and Noah first met. The flashbacks are well done. There was never any confusion with the flashing backward. I did tend to get a bit annoyed with Noah at times because he often felt guilty if he was rude to Paul (in present day). I wanted to smack him. This is someone who did some really bad stuff to him, and Noah acknowledges to himself that Paul isn't a good person, yet he feels bad for being rude to him? I kinda felt like Noah was a bit of a doormat in that regard. I did enjoy the very slight mystery subplot and was thrilled at the outcome. I love to see jerks get their comeuppance. It ended very well. Oscar had a small back story himself and it was great to see him get a happy ending too. He deserved happiness. Overall, it was a very sweet story and I really enjoyed it.

A+