Tome Thursday: Valor on the Move

Hello everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!

I think I keep getting asked whether we have this too, and I repeatedly have to explain that, while it's a lovely tradition (and certainly better than some others I could name!) alas, we do not.

So you Americans have a grand ol' time for me too, 'kay?

'Kay.

Back to the intro for my review tonight.

I will admit, I would never have thought, a couple of years back, that I'd be reading books like these, and not because they're bad or scandalous. Far from it! I actually think most of them are much better than the lot of regular, YA and your usual 'guy-and-girl-fall-in-love' type of deal. And I also didn't even know these kind of things existed, if I'm being perfectly and completely honest with you here.

Yes, yes, I live under a rock in a medieval village.

In any event, on to the absolutely fantastic Valor on the Move!

Now, I will admit, I got lucky.

When I started questing around for books dealing with homosexual themes, I was as yet unaware that there are definite minefields in the genre just as much as in the heterosexual one (I'm looking at you, 50 Shades). I read a book recently that not only scarred me for life, but also soured any other books in that same series for me. If I had started my M/M reads with THAT one, I would have hidden under a literal rock and poked my head out ten years later.

Luckily for me, however, my first gay romance author was Keira Andrews.

I mean it when I say I got lucky - I have yet to pick up one of her books that I dislike, and I think I'm on my fifth at the moment (not to mention, she was kind enough to follow me on Twitter and actually communicate with me, how absolutely cool is that?!). I just keep bouncing from one good one to the other.

Valor on the Move was no different. In fact, I do believe it might be my favourite of the lot (at least so far!).

The gist of the story (for those of you who have a hard time deciphering the message in the cover) is this: what happens when the youngest gay son of POTUS falls in love with one of the Secret Service agents on his security detail?

For an answer, meet Rafael Castillo and Shane Kendrick.

We ALL know the story. Come on, who didn't see that movie with Katie Holmes as the president's daughter? But, emphasis on that last word: DAUGHTER. Usually, you have the female student who falls for the agent. Or he for her, but whatever the case, it's usually heterosexual.

Not here.

Rafa is 21 and he has about seven more months to go in the White House before his father's second term is up and he'll be free from the unbending protocol that surrounds him. He's managed to keep his sexuality a secret because his family is republican, conservative - and well, just not all that warm and fuzzy when we first start the book. He even has a girlfriend - lesbian, to be sure - and they're planning to come out to their parents as soon as the change in government takes place.

Of course, there has to be a foil in the plan - his name is Agent Kendrick.

Kendrick has worked his way up through the ranks and is definitely going to be eligible for the POTUS detail soon enough, but he gets stuck with Rafa for now. His parents died in a fire and he hasn't stood on a surfing board since, but he's pretty much the embodiment of how Hollywood sees agents (I am shamelessly borrowing the quote from Rafa, by the way). Also, at the start of the book, he's 39 if I remember correctly, and unlike Rafa, he's always been 'out' and never really thought about having issues with it.

So, those are our two leads. Now let's throw them together.

They get a lot of one-on-one time because Kendrick's partner is away for a family emergency (a very bad disease that has killed his daughter and is killing his son now, too ...) so what happens is we see bonding time going down. Kendrick may not want it or like it at first, but it's not like he can resist Rafa.

I mean, let's be practical here, the kid can cook up a storm, and Shane is a bit of a food lover.

Aside from that little fact, though, we go through cooking, falling into a shallow stream, bowling, and an impromptu first kiss at a decent pace.

Oh yes, Rafa loses his cool and pretty much attacks Shane, but you know what, I'm totally down with that. Even more so because in the aftermath, he's mature and (while an extreme dork) honest with both himself and his agent, which makes him SO MUCH BETTER than your average heroine. Maybe it's the Y chromosome.

In any event, things go semi-normal again although by now, Shane is beginning to realize he likes Rafa more than he should. But before we can dig deeper into this, our main drama begins to unfold, which is that Rafa suddenly realizes - and is sort of told - that his family has known he was gay for years, but nobody said a thing so far. His siblings, because they wanted him to come to them first; his parents, because they thought he would keep it hidden for the rest of his life.

This escalated in him going on a little rampage (which he is entitled to) and running from the White House into nowhere (which might not have been the smartest). 

It ends with him getting kidnapped.

Yeah, by this point, things REALLY start happening in the book. We even get to think Shane's dead for a brief span!

Luckily, our agent is far from dead, but very close to pissed like Hell, and he goes after his little love to get him back. This leads to a cave-in and them waiting to be rescued ... do I have to spell out the 'dot dot dot' or may I assume all of you have seen Mamma Mia! ?

/Side-note: I will admit, I'm a little amused by how the couple managed to, hm, squeeze that in, shall we say. But it's not THAT bad. It'sactuallykindahotandI'mstraight. End aside./

Our heroes are rescued, and in the aftermath, we learn that it was the other agent who orchestrated everything to pay for his son's treatment in Sweden, but that's a big kick as far as everything goes. And of course, Shane is going to be asking for a reassignment ... and again, Rafa is so reasonable and mature about the reality of their situation, I sometimes wonder if he's even real (well OKAY, he's a book character. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.). Shane does end up leaving ...

... and we end up after the Castillos are out of the White House, and Rafa has come to find Shane to ask him to move to Sidney with him (by this point, his parents are OK with him being gay, might I add).

More 'dot dot dot' on the line here, but the book ends with the couple surfing - or in Rafa's case, learning how to surf - and the prospect of a bright and happy future for the two of them.

Finis.

I LOVED IT.

Not only did it have the proper amount of family drama, sensible drama, and characterisation, but it was also grounded in a way a lot of romance novels nowadays just aren't. And while the characters are obviously made up, I feel like if I could know them in real life, I'd be super blessed as they both strike me as very real, very fleshed-out and very much human (no Gary Stus here!). The book isn't too long, you can read it in one sittin, and while at times Rafa's inner monologues did sound a little bit like a teenager was speaking in a 21-year old's body, it didn't take away from the story as a whole. 

A very heartfelt thank you to Keira Andrews for writing a book that's not only delightful to read, but grounded in as much realism as one can conjure on the subject, with just the pinch of drama that makes the happy ending that much sweeter!

I highly recommend this book, or any other by the same author, if you're new to the M/M genre and want to tread into these waters. They are all tastefully and respectfully written, and by the author's own words, there always has to be a happy ending.

xx

*image not mine