I received the ARC from Netgalley ♥

“Red, White & Royal Blue is outrageously fun. It is romantic, sexy, witty, and thrilling. I loved every second.” – Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six

About The Book

Title: Red, White & Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Expected Publication May 14, 2019
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance, LGBT
Suggested Reader Age: 18+
E-book 432 pages ARC
Link to Goodreads
Purchase on Amazon (link)

Synopsis

” A big-hearted romantic comedy in which the First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?”

My Review

“For the weirdos & the dreamers.”

 › While US President Claremont (FEMALE president YAY!) is at Prince Philip’s Royal Wedding, her son Alex and Philip’s brother, Henry, knock over the $75,000 wedding cake, and are forced to pretend to be friends in order to repair the England/US image.

 › The White House Trio
Alex: son of the United States President, bi-racial (Mexican + white) and bisexual, Alex is into lacrosse, went to Georgetown, wants to be the youngest elected congressman.

June: daughter of the United States President, has a journalism degree

Nora: daughter of the United States Vice President, bisexual

“Alex pushes them. June steadies them. Nora keeps them honest.”

All of the characters have a distinct personality and experience personal growth. The diverse cast is refreshing. I love the female empowerment, gender equality, LGBT rep, and people of colour.

Prince Henry: I felt so much for Henry. Alex could come out of the closet after his mother’s reelection campaign is over, however, Henry is stuck in the Royal tradition FOR LIFE. His grandmother is the Queen, and his mother has been stuck in a world of grief since Henry’s father died.

The side characters are just amazing, but they don’t overtake Alex and Henry’s story at all. Bea, Pez, Shaan, Zahra. I just love them all so much.

Alex’s parents aren’t together, yet they respect each other and are parenting their children together. They are both supportive, and modern, and funny, and I just love their relationship with each other and with Alex and June.

“But he thinks about Henry, and, oh. He thinks about Henry, and something twists in his chest, like a stretch he’s been avoiding for too long.”

 › Themes
This fun, emotional read carries a message of hope, family, friendship, and love. Love always wins. Love is Love is Love is Love is Love.

Alex and Henry struggle with accepting a life that doesn’t allow privacy, or let them be who they really want to be.

“He thinks about roots, about first and second languages. What he wanted when he was a kid and what he wants now and where those things overlap. Maybe that place, the meeting of the two, is here somewhere, in the gentle insistence of the water around his legs, crude letters carved with an old pocket knife.”

› Likes
The banter between Alex and June is fantastic, and I love how they take bets on the tabloid coverage about each other.

Prince Henry eating BBQ ribs with his hands for the first time made me smile. I often found myself smiling and laughing while reading Red, White & Royal Blue.

I think this might be one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read!

› Dislikes
My one teeny, tiny complaint is that I wasn’t into the politics. However, I loved everything else so much that it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

 › Final Thoughts
An entertaining, sexy novel with witty banter, Red, White & Royal Blue is a must-read!

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Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

*Quotes taken from an ARC copy and subject to change*

About The Author

“Casey McQuiston grew up in the swamps of Southern Louisiana, where she cultivated an abiding love for honey butter biscuits and stories with big, beating hearts. She studied journalism and worked in magazine publishing for years before returning to her first love: joyous, offbeat romantic comedies and escapist fiction. She now lives in the mountains of Fort Collins, Colorado, with a collection of caftans and her poodle mix, Pepper.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17949486.Casey_McQuiston

https://caseymcquiston.com/

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