Valor on the Move
An ARC of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. I don’t envy Rafa’s life. He has spent the last eight years hiding from the public eye. And as the President’s 21-year-old son, it surely hasn’t been easy. Secret Service agents constantly by his side, he rarely has a moment of privacy. And being out as gay? Forget it.
I was a bit surprised that Rafa's Hispanic, Catholic, Republican parents were so supportive. It was nice, but a bit odd. I’ll give it to them though since we were told how hard they worked to "assimilate" to the American ways. It did bother me that they tried so hard to be American and remove their Hispanic heritage from who they are. The United States is about diversity with so many people immigrating to find a better life for themselves and their family. Practically everyone here is from somewhere else and it shouldn’t be anything shameful. I think it was great to see a Hispanic first couple in this story, but it would have been nice to see their latino roots peeking through a bit more. It’s a shame that folks feel like they have to remove that part of themselves in order to be accepted here in the US.
Overall, I like how the story progressed, although there were some scenes that while it made sense to keep them in, I felt sort of dragged along.
I think my favorite scene was, surprisingly not between Rafa and Shane, but when Rafa was spilling his guts out to his family. Rafa finally opened up about his feelings and his sexuality, and there was so much emotion there. I got tears in my eyes, because I could feel his hurt.
I absolutely loved this book. It was just awesome.
