‘But the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable.’

OMG! We cannot wipe the grin off our faces! This book was exactly what we needed! A delightfully adorable, heartfelt, and uplifting enemies to lovers’ story that made us swoon like crazy. Our hearts are bursting with love for Alex and Henry’s beautiful, funny and meaningful romance that was tinged with moments of pure and deep emotion. So much so, we regularly found ourselves reduced to tears. Wow! The little touches to this story…..sincere, captivating and truly wonderful.

‘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.‘

If you’ve wanted to sample an MM book but have been a bit hesitant, this would be the perfect place to start. Seriously, your heart will thank you because Red, White, & Royal Blue relies heavily on character development, feelings, and sweetness, with the sex being present, but fade to black. And please…someone TURN THIS BOOK INTO A MOVIE!

‘I’ll be damned, but I miss you. x’

Red, White & Royal Blue is set against the backdrop of the US political arena, and the upcoming election in 2020 when the race is on to get the first female president of the United States re-elected. That’s right, re-elected, Ellen Claremont won the 2016 election (oh if only!) and is out to win the good fight to once again run the country.

Alex Claremont Diaz is her 21-year-old son from her former husband, and a man destined to follow in his mothers’ footsteps. A rising political star, politics is in his blood. He’s got the intelligence, the personality, the good looks and an equally good heart needed to really make a difference.

Alex makes up part of the White House trio, with his sister June, and their best friend Nora and what wonderful banter and loyalty there is between these three. They’re a fun-loving trio not averse to getting up to antics and causing a bit of mayhem much to the white house staffs chagrin.

‘Alex pushes them. June steadies them. Nora keeps them honest.’

Alex has one arch nemesis. The very handsome Prince of Wales. He grates on Alex’s every nerve until one day, when forced to make nice with Henry for a PR exercise, he begins to see Henry in a new light, which has him questioning his feelings for the affable Henry, and not just his feelings, but his sexuality. Can he really be attracted to the man he loved to hate? But there are more concerns than Alex’s feelings, anything scandalous could bring his mothers chances of re-election crashing down.

‘I’m the son of the first female president. And I’m not white like she is, can’t even pass for it. People will always come down harder on me.’

Red, White & Royal Blue is a coming of age, self-discovery story with a lot of relevance to the world today, yet it’s not heavy in its content, in fact, it’s the sort of story you seek in order to forget and escape. Delivered in a light-hearted manner, yet never trivialising the enormity of Alex’s and Henry’s feelings and decisions.

“You are,” he says, “the absolute worst idea I’ve ever had.” Henry’s mouth spreads into a slow smile, and Alex kisses it.

This is the Royal fairy-tale we’ve always dreamed of! The two heartthrobs from two countries, who make us believe anything is possible and who turned our cynical hearts into hopeful ones.

Told in a mesmerising expressive prose, we lived every moment of this story. From the stirring feelings between the sensitive charismatic Prince and the rebel FOTUS with the movie star, good looks to the utter despair experienced when judgment is passed. The nail-biting finale of the political arena had us glued to our Kindles. Each and every character stole our hearts with their own unique personalities; charming and relatable, every one of them crucial to the story.

‘I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire. ‘

Tears flowed, hearts swooned and giggles erupted in this romantic comedy that’s relevant, thought-provoking that defies belief it is a debut novel! We’re excited to see where Casey McQuiston goes from here because if this is her first offering, the brilliance of this story can only mean fantastic things for readers in the future.

We always purchase every book we review and immediately pre-ordered this book the moment we finished. Whilst it may be in the more expensive category than some, believe us, it’s worth every penny! You can’t put a dollar value on the happiness residing in our hearts. A good book is like a therapy. So don’t think, just 1click now for what we know will be one of our top reads for 2019!

“Take anything you want and know you deserve to have it.”

A romance between the First Son and the Prince of Wales. Alex is the bisexual, biracial (half white, half Mexican) son of the US president who is also interested in a career in politics. Henry is the gay prince of England who is closeted to most of his family and the world as he feels the pressure of being the perfect royal son and his loyalty to the country. Due to a misunderstanding they've been "enemies" for years now, an incident involving toppling over a wedding cake causes an international scandal and the two have to feign a friendship to cover it up. Their fake friendship turns into a real friendship, which becomes a romantic relationship.

The story may seem lighthearted but there is a lot of depth to the characters. They feel very real and relatable despite their titles. We see the personal struggles they face themselves, the struggles they must face together, and the consequences their choices may have for those around them. We also see behind the scenes and inner workings of a political campaign.

Enemies to friends to lovers is a wonderful trope. The long-distance relationship was adorable, all their emails are swoon-worthy. There were so many lovely characters. The White House trio is a delight. Pez was great to read about as well. I loved that an entire friend group was formed as a result of Alex and Henry's relationship.

I see you BTS reference. I see you and I'm proud.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been a fan of the 'enemies to friends to more' trope when it's done well and this was done fantastically well. The characters are so full and genuine, I really enjoyed each one for being their own individual person with flaws as well as strengths. Before going into this, I thought it might not be one for me. FSOTUS and Prince of England getting together just seemed like a storyline that would feel so wildly unrealistic that I'd find myself faced with improbable plotlines throughout. I couldn't have been more wrong! Everything moved at a good pace, it felt realistic, nothing was too easy and there was no 'instalove' to ruin the transition from enemies to more.
I'm pretty sure that this is going to be one of my top 5 reads this year and I can see myself rereading it sometime soon.

<i>*i received an e-galley of this book from st martin's press in exchange for an honest review.</i>

OH MY GOD. OH. MY. GOD. YOU GUYS!!!!!!

this book was... truly something! enemies to lovers is slowly becoming my favorite trope.
SO, the book followed Alexander Claremont-Diaz and his family focusing on his mother's presidential re-election and eventually struggling with his feelings after being forced to become friends with his "archnemesis" Henry, Prince of Wales. (among other things)

this is probably the second book i read where it's not a heterosexual couple and honestly? it was refreshing. i adored alex and henry so so so so much. i honestly loved how there was a FEMALE PRESIDENT *cries*
and all the side characters were wonderful and so supportive of each other it truly warmed my heart. this book was full of love and laughter, it was great.

it hurt my heart that they went through so much to be together what with all their family obligations and all but i am so happy everything worked out in the end. alex and henry deserve the world and so much more :')

my only critique is that the chapters were a bit lengthy and so much was piled on so it was confusing.

(the final chapter? focusing on the re-election? brought back those horrid memories of the 2016 election and the stress)

PS: A BLUE TEXAS? WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!!!!

This book was sooo-o cute - I laughed so hard. Loved it! Plus, the whole diversity factor upped its appeal with a woman prez and a gay son.

<b>Be still my Queer Heart!!!</b>

I do not even know where to begin when it comes to this book - the brilliance of the writing, the layering of storylines, the diverse set of characters (and not in anyway contrived), and the fact that she features a gay character and bisexual character ... wow!

<b>Things I LOVED:</b>
The Characters - McQuiston does a beautiful job of creating characters which stand on their own. I felt as though I knew each character, as an individual, and not just as accompaniment to the main characters.

The Relationships - Obviously a big one. And I was here for it. <i>ALL</i> of it. McQuiston took what could have been a complete cliche train wreck and worked it into something so realistic. The bond between Alex and Henry is out of this world and has me searching for a 2020 candidate who could have a Bisexual son that might want to date a Gay Royal. Seriously - is anyone in the running?

The Sensitivity - The book dealt with a lot of big topics (coming out, sexuality, race, class, etc.) and did a beautiful job of examining all of these topics in a very real way.

<b>Things I Didn't Love:</b>
The Emails - I totally get the purpose they served within the greater context of the book ... but sometimes it felt like they dragged on. I much preferred Henry/Alex's actual in person dialogue.

<b>Wrap-Up:</b>
I think this will be one of the biggest books of 2019 - and as Casey McQuiston's debut novel I cannot wait to see what else she has in store! It is so exciting to finally see books which our starting to represent our world! I am counting down the days until they announce a sequel ... please let there be a sequel!

<i>ARC provided to me by St. Martin's Press and Net Galley.</i>

red white & royal blue was a book that i have seen around on Goodreads for a while. It`s been highly praised even before it's release date and let me tell you this book did not disappoint.
I loved the whole setting of Alex and Henry. Alex, the son to the female (yes female with Mexican background) President of the United States and Henry the Prince of England, grandson of the Queen of England.
The timeline did confuse me a bit because it`s set in 2019 but obviously certain political situations are very different in the book, this can very much have something to do with the fact that i'm not a native english speaker and even tho i normally don't face any problems reading in english, sometimes i can get stuffed mixed up a bit. But back to the Book.
Henry and Alex really hate each other until they kinda don't. Their relationship is written out beautifully and felt very realistic to me. I also liked that the political duties they both have don't just get ignored but explained. (i was very confused when i found out they were both like 21/22 and not 16 which for some reason i thought through half of the book???) but anyway.
This book was fun and easy to read and is just one of these books that gives you this nice feeling while reading it. I will definitely recommend it to all my LGBTQ+ friends and can imagine that readers of books like "simon vs. the homosapiens agenda" will enjoy this one as well!

Red, White & Royal Blue transports us to the United States we wished we had. See, our main characters is Alex Claremont-Diaz and he is the son of the president of the United States. Yes, his mother was elected in 2016, so our Alex lives in the White House and dreams of politics and so much more. But when his sworn enemy, Henry, taunts him at the Royal wedding on the other side of the Atlantic, he messes up and has to fake a friendship with him. By the way, his sworn enemy, Henry, is one of the Royal princes and he is so irritating with his perfect hair and perfect manners, Alex doesn't know how he's going to manage spending time with him.

More than a romance, this was a story about friendship, family, acceptance, politics... It had a little of everything and that's what made it so incredibly special. I usually have trouble when books have chapters this long, but here nothing could stop me, I flew through it, stayed up most of the night to read and loved it so much. The characters were flawed, layered and just so related somehow, despite being a prince and the first son of the USA. I found the family drama and politics just as interesting as the romance between our two boys and I just can't stress enough how great this book is. I simply loved it and cannot wait to have a physical copy so that I can read it again and again.

This story is absolutely amazing! Everything about Alex and Henry makes me wish this was real. When a conversation between nemeses Alex, the First Son of the US and Henry, the Prince of England, at the Royal wedding goes wrong and ends in destroying the wedding cake, they are forced to show the world they are friends and not enemies. We get to see Alex grow and find himself and watch his relationship with Henry change into something magical.

My only real complaint is with what I assume is some formatting. Some of the time transitions are very difficult to follow. For example, one line they are in the residence at the White House, next line they are on a plane. Had to re-read multiple sections to make sure I didn't miss something. I was constantly going "Wait, what? How did we get here?" I found this got better as the book went on, but there were still a couple closer to the end where I was getting confused.

The text message group threads are also very, very hard to follow. There definitely needs to be different formating there. I am hoping this is just an ARC issue and will be fixed for the release.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a debut novel that was THIS GOOD. I foresee this book being one of my very top favorites of the year, I loved it that much! This is a story about the first son, Alex and the Prince of England, Henry. They aren’t friends, in fact, they hate each other. Enemies to lovers… I’m always here for it! I seriously could not have loved this book more. It was perfection.

Let’s start with Alex. Alex’s mom is the first female president of the United States of America and her 2020 reelection campaign is coming up. Alex is very involved politically, and wants to focus on that as soon as he graduates from college. Alex goes to England with the first family and runs into his nemesis, Henry. There is an… incident in England that isn’t good for either of them.

Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry Windsor have to pretend to be friends. It’s the only way to save face. But soon enough, their friendly meet ups and constant texting turns into a true friendship. Then feelings start to come into play. I love the obsession these two have with each other as enemies, friends, and more. And this quote.. it’s pretty much my favorite of the book.
First, you’ve been, like, Draco Malfoy–level obsessed with Henry for years.

And then… and then… Henry kisses Alex, and everything changes. Henry has always been gay, but being the Prince, he’s never been allowed to be himself. With Alex, he can be. And Alex always thought he was straight, but looking back into his past, he realizes he’s been bisexual for quite some time. He just didn’t realize it. There is definitely a progression of Alex finding himself and coming to terms with who he is and for Henry, deciding how he wants his future to be. He’s torn between need and obligation. It’s not easy for him.

Back to the Alex and Henry love fest… The emails, the texting, any communication between Alex and Henry was exceptional. Alex and Henry together was everything. Their romance was the best. I swooned so hard for these boys.

Alex was by far my favorite character of the book, but Henry was amazing as well. I also loved the secondary characters. The White House Trio and Henry’s bestie and sister. Love love love! Lets just be clear here for a second, there wasn’t anything I didn’t love about this book!

This book was so freaking funny. I can’t count the times I laughed out loud while reading. It was also swoony, sexy, smart, and sweet. I loved it so hard and you will hear me recommending it to any and everyone once it releases! Seriously, this book left me with the biggest smile on my face and the happiest heart. A top favorite of the year for me, Red, White & Royal Blue is a must read!

e-ARC provided in exchange for honest review.

Casey McQuiston's first book and it definitely did not disappoint. I loved the banter between our main heroes Prince Henry and First son Alex. Though at times this story seemed a little slower to me it still held my attention. Without giving much away, I can say we follow these two men go from enemies to lovers to happily ever after. Also, the side characters are to die for and help to make this story what it is.

I will say this is definitely of the New Adult genre. I have seen it being called Young Adult but due to the ages and explicit scenes, I would not recommend this to a younger generation. The sex scenes were not to "in your face" in my opinion, they were beautifully crafted.

Overall, I was blown away by this author and this couple. I hope to maybe get one of the side character's romances.

“Someone else’s choice doesn’t change who you are.”
― Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue

This book is perfect. The relationship develops naturally and believably. All of the characters are fully fleshed out. There are a lot of different things that happen that could have been dramatized, but instead they were dealt with in a straight forward more realistic manner. Some people might want more drama but this is exactly the right book for me. I literally have nothing bad to say about.

RATING: 5/5 STARS

Alex is the twenty-one-year-old son of the first female president of the United States, Ellen Claremont, in a fictional universe (parallel to ours) created by Casey McQuiston. Alex's "archenemy" is Henry, the prince of England. The scale of Henry and Alex's love-hate relationship starts tipping more towards love as Alex and Henry interact more and trade witty insults and quips. Soon, they have to reconcile their secret relationship with the platonic image they're presenting to the public, while a presidential reelection campaign and politicians' scheming carry on in the background.

When I first read the blurb for this book, I thought the premise sounded far-fetched and a little over-the-top. But I'll assure you, these elements really worked in RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging this novel was. The writing was so snappy. Alex's voice had the perfect blend of humor and sass, and while the some of the events that occurred were not the most realistic, they had me laughing out loud and causing people around me to question why I was smiling maniacally at my phone.

The romance in this book was fleshed out remarkably well. Henry and Alex exchange emails, text messages, and phone calls in addition to meeting face-to-face. Their conversations somehow manage to be eloquent, frank, and cute at the same time. There's a bit of mystery surrounding Henry's character--who he actually is apart from the publicized version of him--and it was intriguing to discover more about him as he and Alex become more deeply involved. This book is categorized as new-adult/adult, and in terms of romantic content, I would say it's pretty similar to Sally Thorne's THE HATING GAME or Helen Hoang's THE KISS QUOTIENT. (And I think readers who enjoyed those books will really love this one!)

This novel was not only fun to read, it was also smart, politically savvy, and diverse. Alex is half-Mexican and the supporting characters have different sexualities. The plot (especially the ending) holds a vision of what our country could be - accepting and inclusive, with more kindness and less hatred. I liked that this book had a clear message, but in my opinion it didn't beat you over the head with a polarizing viewpoint. That said, if you don't like reading about politics, maybe this book is not for you.

All other romance readers, I highly recommend this book and suspect it will become a crowd favorite when it comes out! I'm not surprised that it already has so many great reviews. I've heard the author is working on another queer novel, which has already automatically been added to my TBR list.

A sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Social: Instagram post on @_shelf.awareness to come.

I wish I were an epic reviewer that was great at pasting quotes in my review, but alas I am not. Alex is the first son of the first female president (elected in 2016) and as his mom closes in on her reelection there is an incident with Prince Henry, the youngest prince of England. The handlers of both collude to portray a friendship between the two.

Here is what this book does to you though. It sucks you into this beautiful bubble of a love story occurring. Alex is so blissfully clueless in the beginning but you love him for it rather than feel frustrated. The characters of June, Nora, Bea, and various staff members enhance the richness of the story.

You will laugh and swoon and wish you were in their group of six. The Star Wars references were perfect. The emails and text messages leant so much to the story.

I love this as much as I love Eleanor and Park.

What a fun read! As someone who is all day, everyday reading political news on Twitter, this story comes as a nice alternative past, present and future that leads to a lot of wishful thinking from me. There are so many great characters in this story, that I want to know more about everyone. The romance between the boys is sweet and sassy and swoonworthy. I will be singing the praises of this one pretty widely.

An amazing debut novel full of sweetness, sassiness, humor, and love. I can't wait for Casey McQuiston's next novel.

"You love so much bigger than yourself, bigger than everything. I can’t believe how lucky I am to even witness it—to be the one who gets to have it…"

Red, White, & Royal blue is an absolute delight from start to finish and I want to scream about it to the whole world!!! Alex and Henry’s story is funny, sweet, and incredibly romantic---in the most magical sense of the word. I instantly got wrapped up into the two of them and their incredible story. They are the purest of souls, complete cinnamon rolls, hopeless romantics, that have my whole heart!!

First of all, absolutely LOVED the fact that this is a rivals to best friends to lovers. That’s right, Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the U.S., must convince the world that he is best friends with his rival, Henry Windsor, the Prince of England!

It was a wild ride following their relationship. The fact that they began as rivals really opened doors for the development of their relationship, and I loved that I got to see that relationship evolve. There are phone calls, and emails, and cute little texts that totally make your heart melt. With every conversation, every look, every heart to heart, the two build a foundation, and a real friendship, that develops into this heartwarming, utterly adorable, and passionate love.

“It’s unpredictable and it’s intoxicating and it’s fun, because Alex has never met a challenge he didn’t love, and he---well, Henry is a challenge, head to toe, beginning to end."

Their love really jumps out straight out of the pages and wraps you up in its warmth.

I don’t know how anyone can read this book and not instantly be put in a good mood. There were so many moments when I was laughing SO hard!! This book is genuinely FREAKING HILARIOUS! Start to finish, head to toe, beginning to end. Just saying, prepare your lungs.

There were other moments where I just HAD to cry. Sometimes things got sad. Other times the scenes were SIMPLY SO SWEET that I had to let it out through some good ole tears.
Some beautiful things just make you really emo ya know?

Me reading this whole book: THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL *sobs*

It was completely dreamy, and I was a sucker for all the banter and the sexual tension between the two of them. The dialogue in this book is genius. It's natural, honest, and so witty. It really had me with a goofy smile on my face.

Also, this book has just the right amount of steamy scenes ;) (nothing explicit).

“I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire.”

I could go on and on about all the moments when I was swooning thinking “I LOVE THESE TWO!”
Honestly, the entire cast of characters is fantastic. I loved seeing their strong, present personalities. They all stood so well on their own---even the minor characters. The interactions outside of Alex and Henry’s relationship never felt boring or dull. The side characters shined just as hard as the protagonists.

It was also the little details that made me fall in love with this book: the relationship between siblings (Alex and June/Henry and Brea), Alex’s passion for his career, Henry’s love for books and writing, the social commentary, the diverse cast, the little pop culture references, the female president, getting to *be* in the White House and in England, the fact that the first family is MEXICAN AMERICAN!!!!! AYEEEEEEE!!
(I’ll never get tired of seeing Latinx characters in books oops ;)

I truly appreciated seeing healthy relationships between siblings, friends, and parents. It made my heart so happy.

On the other hand, Alex and Henry are public figures having to keep their relationship and sexuality hidden (Alex is bisexual and Henry is gay). I think this novel does a wonderful job at showing the vulnerability, the struggles, the pain, of these two characters as they fight to stay true to who they are, in all levels of their identity. Reading this novel, I felt like I got to see every corner of their hearts. The dark and the light. The ugly and the beautiful.
This novel really succeeds at delivering a story that is fun and silly, while simultaneously bringing up conversations on serious social and political issues relevant to our times—and I absolutely loved that about it. It’s frustrating, and unfair, but it leaves you with an incredible feeling of HOPE.

And that's what this story is truly about: hope, love, and change

“History, huh? I’m into making some.” Alex and Henry, I love YouUUuU

Oof, I’m going to get emotional again. I just really loved every minute of this book dammit.

Finally, I just need to get this off my chest: I LOVE HENRY AND ALEX AND NORA AND JUNE AND PEZ AND EVERYONE I HOPE THEY LIVE THE HAPPIEST OF LIVES FOREVER THEY DESERVE THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!

Aight. I’m done. I hope you’ll bless yourselves with this incredible book 😊!!!!!


CW: homophobia, mention of drug use, sexual content, profanity, mentions of sexual harassment.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Copy received via Netgalley for an honest review

Every now and again, a book comes along that just blows me away.

Red, White and Royal Blue was one of those. I just adored every single thing about it.

A sweet, fun, wonderful enemies-to-lovers story that enraptured me from the first word to the last.

Alex and Henry have gone from "ugh, why are you here" to "sigh, I wish you were here" and I loved every single up and down of their relationship. I laughed, I cried, and I loved with them.

There are fantastic secondary characters that I would love to see more of in the future.

The last 20% of this book was ah-freaking-mazing, and I found myself having to hold myself back from skipping ahead to find out what would happen to our lovelies.

One of my favourite books of 2019.

Alex, the first son of the United States, and Henry, the prince of England, are rivals, and have been ever since they met at the Olympics years earlier. Now they’re reunited at a royal wedding and after a scuffle with a $75,000 wedding cake, Alex and Henry need to cleanup the media mess they’ve made.

Both the White House and royal family want the world to believe that Alex and Henry are best friends, rather than mortal enemies. After a week of joint photo shoots, interviews and outings, Alex realizes that Henry might not be as stuck up and awful as he originally thought and when he departs London, him and Henry exchange numbers.

For months, Alex and Henry text on the daily and Alex looks forward to phone calls with Henry above anything else. And when they see each other in person again, Alex and Henry share an unexpected kiss that makes Alex question everything he ever thought about his own sexuality and the so-called friendship him and Henry share.

Alex and Henry dive into their romance head first, but they are forced to keep their relationship a secret. Henry feels obligated to fit the traditional mold of what it means to be a monarch. And Alex doesn’t want his new relationship to affect his mom’s reelection as president. So we get to see their relationship blossom over a series of romantic emails, texts and secret hotel room (and other crowded spaces) rendezvous.

Unfortunately, this charade can’t be maintained forever, especially if Alex and Henry want to be together longterm. But coming out to their families—and the world—requires a type of bravery only the two of them could ever understand. Risking everything for someone you love can be scary and nerve-wracking, but the reward can be of epic proportions.

Red, White & Royal Blue is Casey McQuiston’s premiere YA romance novel. I wasn’t originally planning to read this book, but after hearing about it nonstop, I decided to give it a shot. The romance between Henry and Alex is as sweet as can be. Their email correspondences made me swoon and I couldn’t get enough of their sexual tension. While the main characters are adults (Alex, 21, Henry, 23), they definitely seemed more like teenagers to me, which made this book’s classification as YA feel appropriate. While I found the plot line to be cute and the banter between Henry and Alex to be witty, I didn’t love this story as much as others have. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this—it just isn’t my new favorite YA romance. I still highly recommend picking this up if you’re looking for something that’ll put a smile on your face—4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin and Casey McQuiston for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow oh wow. I love this book so much.

As a political junkie and romance enthusiast, this book was pretty much made for me. The characters are fully drawn, the dialogue is whip-smart, and the plot employs traditional romance tropes while also being entirely original. It reminds me a lot of why I love THE WEST WING: you know that most of it is utter fantasy, but it's a fantasy you wish so deeply were true that you're willing to emotionally invest in it.

As a middle school educator, I am always on the hunt for books with queer characters to recommend to my students. While unfortunately the sex scenes in this novel are too explicit for my students, I hope the ones who need it will encounter it when they're ready.

I hope as many of you as possible will read this, and I eagerly await the author's next book. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced digital copy in exchange for this review.