Valor on the Move by Keira Andrews

[Ulysses]

Valor on the Move
By Keira Andrews
Four stars

Cover by Dar Albert
ISBN: 978-0-9940924-4-1

“Valor on the move” is code. For Rafael Castillo’s secret service agents, it means that the president’s youngest child is in transit. As Keira Andrew’s nicely crafted, if somewhat improbable, romance progresses, that phrase takes on several layers of meaning. Although “Valor” is just one of the “V” nicknames that all of President Ramon Castillo’s family has been given by the Secret Service, it also has its own literal meaning. For Shane Kendrick, one of Rafael’s security team, valor is the mission to protect the president’ son, even at the cost of his own life. For Rafa Castillo himself, valor is something he feels he lacks: the courage to face up to his overbearing parents, to live up to his siblings, to come out.

When you’re the gay child of a conservative Republican president—the first Hispanic president in American history—the idea of valor weighs heavily.

Shane Kendrick, at 38, is finally going to the Civil Service equivalent of the big leagues—assignment to protect one of the presidential family. The fact that he’s got Valor, known as “the mouse” because of his obedience and meekness, is not important. He’s in the Castle, as the White House is known, and that’s what matters.

When Shane discovers that the 21-year-old Rafa Castillo is not only handsome, but smart and kind and wants nothing more than to be a world-class chef, his own bottled up emotions begin to force their way to the surface. When Rafa impulsively kisses him one evening in the little kitchen on the third floor of the residence, his world starts to spin out of control.

I have to give credit to Andrews for getting the White House right. (I’ve written a book on the White House, so I know it pretty well, in spite of never having been inside except for once, decades ago, as a tourist). I can’t speak to how well she depicts the Secret Service, but I loved the way she handled the delicate presentation of a conservative, self-made Latino president, desperate to live up to his historic position, and to present to the public a family that lives up to the nation’s impossible idea of what a family is. Rafa Castillo is an engaging young man, totally self-accepting as a gay man, but trapped since middle school in the role of youngest child, determined to make it through the eighth and final year of his father’s presidency before he allows himself to be who he truly is.
Shane is a classic trope of gay romance: the rugged loner, muscular and taciturn. But Andrews gives this diamond in the rough some nice facets: fully out to his employers, generous and kind-hearted, patient and non-judgmental. Shane’s own family story is important in understanding his character, and in his relationship to Rafa. I’ll leave that there for readers to discover on their own.

“Valor on the Move” is indeed about discovering one’s own courage. It is a full-on romantic story, but also manages to cover fresh ground in an engaging way and manages to surprise us more than once.