I think , the Urban Dictionary , should from now on, describe the feeling of Delight . Happiness . Joie de vivre . Cheerfulness as RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE ; because that what I felt reading this amazing and utterly entertaining book.



I just reviewed Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. #NetGalley
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**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

As you might know, I don’t usually read fluffy romantic books, Malka is usually the expert in that sense. However, when I saw the title, cover, and synopsis for Red, White, and Royal Blue, I knew I had to read it! It was such a refreshing break from all the angsty books that I generally read, and I enjoyed it very much!

Red, White, and Royal Blue follows Alex Claremont, first son to the President of the United States of America. When a mishap at the most recent royal wedding threatens international relations, Alex has to play nice in a fake friendship with his arch-enemy, his royal highness Prince Henry of Wales. Henry is charming, stuck-up, and disgustingly perfect, or so Alex thinks. As their fake friendship develops, Alex begins to see the sweet genuine person that Henry is under his princely exterior. When one thing leads to another Alex and Henry find themselves hiding a secret relationship in the midst of Alex’s mother's reelection campaign.

Gah, there were so many amazing things about this book I can’t decide which part to rant about first! I guess I’ll start with the amazing cast of characters. From the main characters-Alex and Henry-to the side characters-Alex’s mom and sister and Henry’s best friend-everyone was just so perfect. I loved how Alex’s family interacted, his mom, the President (female president for the win!!) is incredibly supportive and Alex has a fantastic relationship with his sister June and their best friend Nora. Yes, I am totally including Nora as part of the family because she 100% is. The banter throughout the book between all the characters is just amazing! They’re all so hilarious and I can’t get enough of all their interactions.

As for Alex and Henry, they’re just so cute together! I absolutely adore the enemies-to-lovers trope, especially when they’re like...wait...this very strong burning feeling I feel for said person is...love?? Alex is generally pretty clueless (classic American), and is figuring out that he’s bi while developing this relationship with Henry. While Henry is deep, deep in the closet out of fear of the enormous repercussions he could face as coming out as a gay member of the royal family. I’m not going to lie, there is some angst, but it’s handled so well.

Some of you might know about my love for writing dramatic letters from my open letter to my TBR, and let’s just say that in this book there is a fantastic exchange of letters going on and it was probably one of my favorite parts of the entire book.

This book made me very happy and also made me realize that maybe a cute book thrown in every now and then wouldn’t be the end of the world.

This book was fantastic and very well written. While I did love it, I cannot recommend it to my students because of the amount of sexual content that happens. Yes it's veiled but it's still not something that YA readers may be used to reading. Thus it would be better as a New Adult novel.

This is such a cute book. I was literally smiling while I was reading it. Alex and Henry were so perfect together. All of the characters were nice mix of loving and snarky. Once I was done reading I wanted to immediately reread it again,

I enjoyed every line and every character in this book. It was a great mixture of romance and politics, both of which make my heart happy. Such a wonderful read.

What an utter delight! Sexy, fun, sweet and thought provoking. This is the political gay rom-com we need in these dark times. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Y'all. I thought this book was a cute lil contemporary YA LGBTQ book. No honey. This book was so explicit, it had me clutching my pearls. I loved every minute of it.

RW&RB is a reimagining of our 2016 presidential year where instead of an very large and angry Cheeto being president, the role is filled by a sexy, powerful woman with a biracial family. The main point of view is her son, who, throughout the book, falls in love with the prince of England.

So much of this book was an outlet for me. A sweet juxtaposition of our messed up world, a boy realizing he's bi at age 21 (hello friend), all of it was a release. A world I could climb into and believe, for a moment, was real. I can easily see this book being one I crawl back to when my hopes for the world feel too small.

This is a sweet romance that took me completely by surprise. I was totally sucked into this world, and it's sort of alternate 2019/2020. I highly recommend all romcom fans pick this one up, even if you think you're not the main demographic.

Red, White and Royal Blue is a refreshing coming of age M/M romance. The White House Trio who is Alex, June and Nora definitely made me smile numerous times. Their friendship is tight knitted and it showed from their bantering and jokes among one another.
Henry the prince is a great character as well. He and Alex shared wonderful chemistry. There’s no denying that. I especially enjoyed their first encounters where they’re not fans of another. So much chemistry and heat lied beneath the surface. Alex and his mouth. He knew how to push Henry’s buttons which was a lot of fun.

Alex and Henry gets to know one another on a deeper level via words through texting, emails and phone calls. Henry is certain of his sexuality. For Alex it’s not foreign territory to kiss a man but wanting or feeling more is. His exploration of his sexuality is wonderful written.
It’s a great story of love and not being afraid or ashamed of wanting a person who history deems not right for you. Henry and Alex defy those people.

As much as I enjoyed this book I struggled too. The political aspect of the story took my focus away from the love story. I know it had to be a part of the story because of Alex’s mother but sometimes it became too tedious.
Overall I enjoyed Red, White and Royal Blue thanks to the characters. For a debut it’s pretty good and I’m excited to read more from this author.

This book was delightful! It felt really fresh and down to Earth, and it just felt like it flowed really well. The character's personalities feel real, the dialogue and the way they talked felt real, and the relationship that blooms feels real.

Oh, I just LOVE this book. I've been looking forward to reading Red, White & Royal Blue for AGES now, and isn't it wonderful when something that you've been excited for comes through? Gosh!

Henry and Alex were the perfect characters for me - friends to lovers with such lovely elements of pining and miscommunication! They, and the book as a whole, definitely has qualities of fanfiction to it, but hear me out, that is not a complaint or a negative. The reason I love fanfic is the pay off, and the characterisation and the joy that comes from exploring more about characters you love. For Casey McQuiston to have pulled off that feeling with OCs is fantastic.

I had a few minor niggles on things like timezones, but that's more an editing thing - there was one point where it read as though Alex took off from DC on Saturday morning and arrived in the UK Saturday afternoon, which is obviously impossible - and there were times when I got a bit confused about the back and forth of them visiting each other because it was SO fast paced. I was tired even reading it!

I loved the supporting characters, especially June, Nora and Pez (and honestly I would read the HECK out of a book about the three of them) and I thought the sheer amount of representation should be applauded. As a Brit I didn't think I would be as moved by the US politics scenes as I was, but like I said - after connecting with the characters through 400 pages, the ending just feels like pay off.

And those emails? GOOD LORD SO ROMANTIC AND SEXY??? I was swooning, and honestly it was like the author new the way to my heart with those Hamilton/Laurens references because you know what? HARD SAME.

WOULD AND PROBABLY WILL READ AGAIN!!!

Such a lovely,sweet and unique story.I don't remember the last time I read a M/M that make me so happy!I adored this story from the beginning!

"I never thought I'd be standing here faced with a choice I can't make, because I never.. I never imagined you would love me back."

The storyline was refreshing the dialogues and the emails between Henry and Alex was fun and smart!The feelings are so strong and everything feels intense between these two.It was heatwarming and sweet the romance between Henry and Alex!

If you like friends to lovers this is perfect!It also has amazing characters and the secondary are also perfect!I fell hard in love with Alex and Henry and I wish we had more!

Such a lovely,sweet and unique story.I don't remember the last time I read a M/M that make me so happy!I adored this story from the beginning!

"I never thought I'd be standing here faced with a choice I can't make, because I never.. I never imagined you would love me back."

The storyline was refreshing the dialogues and the emails between Henry and Alex was fun and smart!The feelings are so strong and everything feels intense between these two.It was heatwarming and sweet the romance between Henry and Alex!

If you like friends to lovers this is perfect!It also has amazing characters and the secondary are also perfect!I fell hard in love with Alex and Henry and I wish we had more!

God, I loved this so much. Alex and Henry have a big piece of my heart from now on! This book was just so beautiful and romantic and it made me feel All the emotions ever. I loved all of the characters, which is unusual for me! (except the queen but that’s expected). This is my favourite read of 2019 so far and I cannot wait until I can buy it and pester all my friends to read it!! I didn’t want it to end but I thought the ending was beautiful anyway. This is the book we deserve

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Five Royally Fabulous, Romantic, Swooning Stars.

“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”

In the book acknowledgments, Casey McQuiston wrote that she came up with the idea for this book in early 2016. However, after November of that year, she gave up on writing it for months. McQuiston wrote, "Suddenly what was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek parallel universe needed to be escapist, trauma-soothing, alternate-but-realistic reality. Not a perfect world-still one believably f***ed up, just a little better, a little more optimistic...What I hoped to do, and what I hope I have done with this book by the time you've finished it, my dear reader: to be the spark of joy and hope you needed."

I can say, without a doubt, that this book was the spark of joy and hope I needed. We are only in May, but I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't end up being my favorite book of the year. I felt happiness and warmth radiating through me as I read it and my cheeks hurt from smiling. It was beautiful, funny and perfect. I've been trying all week to write a review that would do it justice.

"Red, White & Royal Blue," is the story of Alex and Henry. Alex is the son of the President of the United States. Henry is the Prince of Wales. They've had a long standing grudge against the other for years. When their bickering boils over at a Royal Wedding, it leads to an international news story that embarrasses both countries. Seeking to do damage control, the PR Team for both men force the two together for a media filled weekend in England to play it off that they are actually the best of friends.

Thrust together, Alex and Henry find out they maybe don't hate each other and a tentative friendship begins. When Alex returns to the U.S., he keeps in touch with Henry through texts, emails and eventually phone calls. Eventually, Alex is surprised to find his talks with Henry being the highlight of his day. He doesn't dig too deeply into these thoughts until Henry visits the White House, and everything suddenly changes.

I don't want to spoil the plot because I want readers to discover it and fall in love like I did. I suppose if we have to shove books into genres, this is a romance. And it is romantic in a very toe curling way. Yet there's so much more to it, so many more layers. So even if you don't typically read Romance, give this a try. Perhaps it will spark some joy and hope.

“You are", he says, "the absolute worst idea I've ever had.” -Henry

“That's the choice. I love him, with all that, because of all that. On purpose. I love him on purpose.” -Alex

ARC generously provided through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

My review will be posted on my book club's blog: Librarian Wannabes on May 5, 2019. A shorter version will be posted on Goodreads also on May 5, 2019.

The cover of this book caught my attention when I was browsing titles on NetGalley. Red, White, and Royal Blue; even the title was intriguing. After having read the description, I wanted in. Casey McQuiston’s debut novel did not disappoint me. This was a charming YA romance that gave so much more than just the giddiness of a new relationship. This deals with the way a relationship develops, from friendship to love. It’s about LGBTQ relationships and how our political leaders can influence and help improve rights for LGBTQ people around the world. It’s about politics and politicians and what we hope they can be and what we pray they aren’t.
This takes place in an alternate reality where a divorced woman becomes President of the United States. Casey states that this started out as an escape for her after the 2016 election and morphed into an amazing story of romance, politics, hope, and relationships. Meet Alex Claremont-Diaz, FSOTUS or First Son of the United States if you don’t know. Alex lives a life most of us only imagine. Yes, there are demands and pressures that come with being part of the First Family, but there are also perks, like throwing a New Year’s Eve party at the White House for you, your friends, fellow celebrities, young royals, etc.
Speaking of young royals, the youngest heir to the English throne, His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, is a persistent thorn in Alex’s side. There is just something about his smug, arrogant, coy, handsome face that really rubs Alex the wrong way. And after a couple of drinks, Alex is REALLY irritated just watching Henry schmooze his way around the room at the royal wedding. But, it was certainly not ALEX’s fault that Henry fell into the wedding cake… a cake that was reported to have cost $75,000. Regardless of whose fault it was, the consequences are beyond tedious. Because now Alex and Henry are forced to pretend they are actually best friends, whose horsing around caused the whole “cake-gate” episode and Alex is grinding his teeth just trying to get through it all.
What’s confusing is how suddenly Henry isn’t as dull and stuck-up as Alex thought he was. And maybe he’s actually got a sense of humor. And now, when Henry sends Alex a text it kind of helps him get through his day filled with meetings and classes and pouring over policy. Now, Alex kind of counts down the minutes until Henry sends him a message.
You’ll want to read this book, you SHOULD read this book. People are all alike. Even if you aren’t LGBTQ, you’ve experienced a crush, a relationship, maybe you’ve experienced love. And that is a shared experience we can all relate to. This is a book about self-discovery and acceptance and all the good things you want to see in a good book.

This is by far one of the best books I have read in a very long time. I really enjoyed how much this book felt like a Hug. I was rooting for both guys straight from the beginning! I loved all the diversity representation in this and all the pop culture references as well. I can't wait to own my own physical copy of this so I can reread anytime I need a pick me up. I will definitely be getting more from this author.

"Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some."

There are so many things I could say about Red, White & Royal Blue. I could talk about the spot on American political commentary cleverly juxtaposed with the rigid tradition of the British monarchy. I could talk about how reading this book in 2019 with Donald Trump as president provides a sense of hope and a glimpse of what our world could one day look like. I could talk about the feeling of seeing myself in Alex, a boy who has grown up so deeply rooted in heteronormativity, he has trouble recognizing and reconciling the the same sex feelings he develops at a young age. I could talk about the way McQuiston captures the essence of a moment better than anyone I’ve ever read and how her descriptions are a completely tactile experience. Or the way she put into words the exact shape of the grief I felt when I lost my grandmother at a young age. I could talk about the romance between Henry and Alex, one that is at once tender, sweet, passionate, real, hilarious, sexy, and wonderful in every way. I could talk about this book forever, and likely will because it is my new all time favorite.

Red, White & Royal Blue made me laugh out loud hysterically and read whole portions out to my very patient wife. It made me cry in small bursts which eventually turned into ugly sobbing. I cannot remember the last time I read a book I related to so completely. It is full of treasures large and small–rich family dynamics, beautifully complicated yet unconditional friendships, whip smart dialogue, steamy and relatable love scenes–it is everything. McQuiston is ridiculously smart and it shows in every brilliant detail. I want to pick her brain and be her best friend. I want her to write a thousand more books so I can read each and every one. If you read one book in 2019, please make it this one. My unending gratitude to Casey McQuiston, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a cute and amazing book, trust me just read it. (when it comes out in 2 weeks !!) It did have that insta love aspect a bit but there have been worse instances on that happening before, at least it felt genuine and real.

A sweet love story between the son of America’s first woman president and the prince of England. If only the 2016 election had a similar result.