Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Valor on the Move
SERIES: Valor #1
AUTHOR: Keira Andrews
NARRATOR: Iggy Toma
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2019
LENGTH: 9 hours, 48 minutes
BLURB:
He’d give his life to protect the president’s son. But he never expected to risk his heart.
Growing up gay in the White House hasn’t been easy for Rafael Castillo. Codenamed “Valor” by the Secret Service, Rafa feels anything but brave as he hides in the closet and tries to stay below the radar in his last year of college. His father’s presidency is almost over, and he just needs to stick to his carefully crafted plan. Once his family’s out of the spotlight, he can be honest with his conservative parents about his sexuality and his dream of being a chef.
It’s definitely not part of Rafa’s plan to get a new Secret Service agent who’s a walking wet dream, but he’s made it this long keeping his desires to himself. Besides, it’s not like Shane Kendrick would even look at him twice if it wasn’t his job.
Shane’s worked his way up through the Secret Service ranks, and while protecting the president’s shy, boring son isn’t his dream White House assignment, it’s an easy enough task since no one pays Rafa much attention. He discovers there’s a vibrant young man beneath the timid public shell, and while he knows Rafa has a crush on him, he assures himself it’s harmless. Shane’s never had room for romance in his life, and he’d certainly never cross that line with a protectee. Keeping Rafa safe at any cost is Shane’s mission.
But as Rafa gets under his skin, will they both put their hearts on the line?
REVIEW:
This is my kind of story. The forbidden love and hiding in the limelight. Protector and protectee. The tale of romance between this Secret Service agent and the son of the President might not be entirely plausible but it was definitely entertaining and something I was more than a little happy to cuddle up with.
Rafa is an expert in hiding. After all he’s done it his entire life. Hiding that he wants to go to Australia, wanting to become a chef. Making as few ways as possible to get as little attention as possible – especially since his brothers and sisters thrive in the spot light. Most of all he’s hiding that he’s gay and that above all else he wants to be free, to live and love openly. And he only have seven more months to go before that could happen. He has a plan, and nothing was going to make him deviate from it. That is until he meets his new protective detail, Shane. Suddenly seven months is a life time, and the fact that theirs would be a forbidden love not only due to who they were, but their age-difference would raise more than a few eyebrows.
As much as I loved the romance between Rafa and Shane I also felt that is was lacking a bit. I mean where were the secret glances, the tension, and the longing, not to mention the growing attraction? Or even a few secret messages or conversation? Sure Rafa was attracted to Shane early on, but beyond that the rest happened kind of off page. We weren’t told about it, it was just assumed that after that first dinner, something magical happened between them. A bond formed on both sides. But I as a listener or spectator wasn’t a part of it, didn’t see, hear or feel it. So them as a loving couple didn’t ring true for me, at least not at that time in their lives. I would have liked them to spend more time with each other.
I loved Rafa’s banter with his best friend. The bike and arts conversations were a lot of fun. That’s a relationship that I did believe in – the friendship and not one of the romantic kind, but the one between genuine friends. I kind of wished there had been more of it.
Iggy Toma, as always has great pacing and distinct voices in his narration. The makes it easy to follow along the story and which character’s currently speaking. There was one part that particularly touched me while listening, and that was when Rafa and his family finally were truly honest with each other. When (Iggy Toma as) Rafa told his family that he wanted to die when up on that stage with his family a few years ago, it gutted me (along with his family). I felt the despair that I imagine he felt. It was one of the few moments in this book that truly gripped me and made me feel.
RATING: 
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