'Red, White & Royal Blue' is a stellar debut novel. I'm not typically into romance novels but I was intrigued by the plot, and decided to give it a go- only to find that I couldn't put it down! McQuiston has created characters that are flawed, funny, and mostly importantly: likable. I found every aspect of the novel to be incredibly charming, and the dialogue was relatable and engaging. Daring, smart, and sexy- I've already recommended this one to my co-workers and can't wait to sell it! I can see it being a hit over Pride month this June, and I do believe I've found a new staff pick.

This was one of the cutest books I have read in forever! I am usually not too big on contemporary personally but I found this one to be refreshingly different. It is definitely more new adult than YA but I think can be enjoyed by both demographics.

I didn't know I needed a romance novel between the Mexican-American First Son of the United States and the Prince of Wales, but I did. I really, really did.

Red, White & Royal Blue is sweet, HOT, funny, and so worth reading.

4.5/5 stars

I don’t want to say this book was perfect because it wasn’t.

I had some issues with the technical aspects of the writing. The amount of run-ons almost gave me a heart attack (especially in some of the dialogue), and some of the sentence structure didn’t make sense realistically. And don’t get me started on the present tense (honestly, I really, really hate present tense). I’m hoping some of these technical issues will be fixed in the finished copy, but even if they aren’t, I would whole-heartedly recommend this book.

Red, White & Royally Blue really hit me in a way that I cannot even begin to articulate for you all.

At the heart of this novel, it is about one person who grows to love another – or maybe they loved the other person the whole time and they just simply hadn’t realized. Deeper though, it’s the tale of two boys who can’t tell their truth because they are forced to live in the public eye. Both are leaders of their countries in some form or another, and they spend most of the novel trying to figure out what that means for them.

Are they truly doomed from the start?

Alex is exceptionally witty and America’s sweetheart. He goes to extraordinary lengths to fake ‘relations’ with his best friend for fun (tabloids are no joke), and his entire life has been focused on trying to get through school in order to become the best politician he can be. And to Alex, Prince Henry of Wales is as bland as unbuttered toast. When the time comes that they have to fake a friendship in order to save their asses from the media, Alex is completely dreading it. After all, who lists their favorite food as mutton pie?

But after time progresses, Alex realizes that not everyone in the public eye is as open as he is. Maybe there is more to Henry than the cold indifference that Alex always detected. Mocking text messages turn into constant communication until one day, they blinked and realized they had gotten themselves into something much deeper than either one of them expected.

“So, imagine we’re all born with a set of feelings. Some are broader or deeper than others, but for everyone, there’s that ground floor, a bottom crust of the pie. That’s the maximum depth of feeling you’ve ever experience. And then, the worst thing happens to you. The very worst thing that could have happened. The thing you had nightmares about as a child, and you thought, it’s all right because that thing will happen to me when I’m older and wiser, and I’ll have felt so many feelings by then that this one worst feeling, the worst possible feeling, won’t seem so terrible. But it happens to you when you’re young. It happens when you brain isn’t even fully done cooking – when you’ve barely experienced anything, really. The worst thing is one of the first big things that ever happens to you in your life. It happens to you, and it goes all the way down to the bottom of what you know how to feel, and it rips it open and carves out this chasm down below to make room. And because you were so young, and because it was one of the first big things that happen in your life, you’ll always carry it inside you. Every time something terrible happens to you from then on, it doesn’t just stop at the bottom – it goes all the way down. […] You need to understand this to be with Henry. He is the most loving, nurturing selfless person you could hope to meet, but there is a sadness and a hurt in him that is tremendous, and you may very well never truly understand it, but you need to love it as much as you love the rest of him, because that’s him. That’s him, part and parcel. And he is prepared to give it all to you, which is far more than I ever, in a thousand years, thought I would see him do.”

“I’ve never … I haven’t been through anything like that. […] But I’ve always felt it, in him. There’s this side of him that’s… unknowable. […] But the thing is, jumping off cliffs is kind my thing. That’s the choice. I love him, with all of that, because of all of that. On purpose. I love him on purpose.”

The novel tells the story of two boys navigating a love much greater than either of them ever expected. Sometimes, if something is worth it enough, you might just have to sacrifice everything for it, but the journey ends up going in a direction neither one of them ever expected.

Aside from Alex and Henry’s story (I have raved to every friend I have about how much I love their relationship), there are a lot of political undertones. At the base of it all, we have general politics and re-election campaigns, but even moreso, there are so many minority stories that just aren’t told enough. I cried like a baby every time the President’s journey was mentioned. Here we have a divorced woman with two mixed, half-Mexican children. Her ex-husband was the product of undocumented immigrants, and still, they both made something of themselves. We see the first openly gay man in Senate and kickass ladies and…

honestly, this book meant a lot to me. Representation in books is something so real that can make people feel so seen. I know we always preach about strong female characters and all of that, but it is so fricken inspiring to see a girl like Nora on these pages. She is a genius and able to crunch numbers so easily, but she is nothing like the typical nerdy girl who is too shy to speak. She is whole and complex and complicated. She is bold and loud and unapologetic about being true to herself, and holy crap, I am so grateful for that. I can only imagine how inspired so many others may be after they read this book and see a version of themselves on the page.

Casey McQuiston is a master at developing genuine human relationships. She’s brilliant in every sense of the word because she presents the good, the bad, and the messy in such realistic and believable ways. Her characters are more than just a perfect presentation on a page.

At the end of the day, sometimes the messiest parts of us are what make us most human. And Casey captured just that.

Please please please read this book. Even if you are stuck at the beginning, please push through. (ESPECIALLY TO THOSE DAMN EMAILS. HOLY CRAP, ROMANCE). You will not regret it.

I had a difficult time enjoying this book for various reasons, one of them being the writing style, which was choppy as hell, and the story telling bordered on boring -- it dragged! I liked the idea of the story and I'm positive it would have been a lot more enjoyable if it had been short 150 pages. There just were so many words that weren't needed to move the story forward.
My other big issue lay with the main character, Alex. He was a little shit. I found him obnoxious from the start. Like, I'm talking extremely unlikeable -- rude and just a bit racist.
There were moments when I found myself softening toward him only to have him ruin everything with his annoying behavior. I just couldn't sympathize with the guy. It's kind of a turn off when you wish one of the other main characters found someone else to settle down with. I mean, Henry was sweet if a little unstable and I was quite fond of him. He really deserves better than Alex.

I was higly waiting for this book. I am pretty sure I have never read a LGBTQ+ rom-com before and it was all I wanted it to be.

It was heartwarming, funny and a bit sexy, and it was also in a weird way believeable. I usually find that rom-coms can be a bit over the top and unrealatble, because they are trying to do to much. In an another world this story could be true.

I mean, the odds of a first son or daughter and a prince or princesse falling in love with someone of the same sex are quite slim, but this book shows that one does not choose who to fall in love with. It also gives hope of a world of greater acceptance of other peoples lives.

Get ready for some fun with this book! Adorable is the word that keeps coming to mind. Get ready to fly through this enjoyable read.

I received a free ebook version of this from Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this! My review is still honest.

I don't really know what to say. I finally found a romance that I like as much as The Hating Game, my all time favourite romance, and I am damn picky with my romances! This will be one to watch this year for sure.
In a nutshell, this is an enemies to lovers romance between the first son of the USA and the prince of England, and oh my, was it good! There aren't many romances that can have me feeling butterflies and rainbows within the first 10% of the book,and actually have that continue for the whole thing. Henry and Alex are literally everything, and the way they fought for their love and defied hetero-normative expectations just made this book so brilliant. With both being in a position of public scrutiny, it allowed for some really amazing discussions on sexuality and how people perceive it. They're not the only queer characters either, which is something that is always great to read. But it's not just a good gay romance-it's a good romance full stop. The tension and relationship development was just spot on, and I was shipping them so hard the whole time.
This book was also very, very funny! It surprised me how hilarious I found this, especially with some of the email and text conversations they had, and their banter/insults with each other. McQuiston must really just get my sense of humour! On a serious note, it also had very touching moments to do with the fact that Alex is white/latinx and how he feels about that being in the public eye, and the fact that his mother is the first female president. The political stuff was actually really interesting-it gives an insight into how American politics works, and of course, has parallels to the 2016 election and the current times. It added an extra dimension of plot that really worked for me, and made the ending just that icing on the cake.
This is a new favourite for me, and I have no doubt it will feature on 'favourite books of the year' lists for many people. I would love to see more from Casey McQuiston.

WOW. This book was amazing.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is the story of Alex, the first son of the US and Henry, the Prince of Wales who fall in love and have to navigate the complexities of their budding romance as well as deal with the political fallout of their international love scandal. The love story is so deep, and moving, and relatable. It's probably the most realistic look at modern day love and dating for 20-somethings with all of trapping of modern technology that I've read. I was blown away by how much I was rooting for this couple. This book also happens to be extremely timely and relevant with all of the political implications of their love story when really all it should be is just that, a love story.

I would highly recommend this book.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. I was very excited to read this book as it has gotten so much positive press, and I was not disappointed! It was the love story of Alex Claremont-Diaz, whose mother is POTUS and Prince Henry heir to the throne of England! I was a little skeptical about how this story could be written without it becoming silly-but Casey McQuiston did a fabulous job of not trivializing any of the plot lines! This story was just so positive and uplifting that you couldn't help but cheer for all of the characters in this story. Many people have written in great detail about the plot lines in this story so I won't break it down, but if you are looking for a great read-with many characters that don't get enough time in current fiction, this is your book.

I particularly loved this book.

I requested it because a TON of people were talking about it via Twitter, but knew nothing about it. It wasn't exactly what I expected. For some reason I thought it was going to be YA instead of NA. I don't typically read much NA, but as I got invested in the will they/won't they and couldn't put it down because of the banter. I particularly LOVED the conversation between Nora and Alex when he was in the midst of his sexual crisis.

All in all the book felt like a grown-up version of The Princess Diaries and I couldn't stop reading once I started.

“Is it possible you willfully forgot about the biggest international event of the year because you don’t want to see your arch nemesis?”

I honestly do not think that any book has made me happier than Red, White & Royal Blue, ever. I laughed, I swooned, I cried, but, most importantly, I finished the last page and felt such a powerful amount of hope that transcends any amount of words that I could possibly string together for this review. This is easily the best debut novel I’ve ever read, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it ends up being my favorite book of the entire year.

First off, in this story, the characters are living in a world where the President of the United States is a democratic woman who was elected after Obama, and her 2020 reelection is quickly approaching. And I just need to take a minute to… *cries forever*! But this book really focuses on two young men, who happen to be very much in the media’s spotlight 24/7, because of the families they were born into. Oh, and one of them happens to be the First Son of the President, and up until this point he thought he was straight, that is until he finally is forced to spend time with his arch nemesis. And I’ll be damned, but this book made me simultaneously believe in love and believe in America.

➽ Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz - The First Son, who is quickly realizing that he is bisexual, but slowly coming out to those he feels safe with. Alex is also biracial (Mexican and white) and (thanks to my beautiful friend Alienor) confirmed to have ADHD!

“Straight people, he thinks, probably don’t spend this much time convincing themselves they’re straight.”

➽ Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor - A Prince of England, who is closeted gay to many in his family (and to all media), because he constantly feels the weight of the expectations placed on him by his family and his country.

“O, fathers of my bloodline! O, ye kings of olde! Take this crown from me, bury me in my ancestral soil. If only you had known the mighty work of thine loins would be undone by a gay heir who likes it when American boys with chin dimples are mean to him.”

Alex has followed Henry and his fame long before his mother became president. But at the start of this novel, both men officially meet, but quickly get into a very messy predicament at a royal wedding they were both attending, which ends up being a PR nightmare for both countries, but especially for Alex’s mom, who is up for reelection. So, they are both kind of forced to fake a friendship to appease the press to save face. But a fake friendship quickly turns to a romance, that leaves both men questioning what they are willing to risk, while the press is always watching.

“First, you’ve been, like, Draco Malfoy–level obsessed with Henry for years—do not interrupt me—and since the royal wedding, you’ve gotten his phone number and used it not to set up any appearances but instead to long-distance flirt with him all day every day.”

I also wanted to make sure that I stated in my review that the author is queer (I believe they ID as bisexual, like Alex!) And even though Alex and Henry are obviously queer in their m/m relationship, this book also has such a beautiful and full cast of diverse side characters! I’m completely willing to give my life for June, Nora, Pez, and Bea, right this very second.

Like, I absolutely loved the side characters in this book. Also, you all know that I am always here for strong sibling relationships, and this book has that in spades! Alex’s family in general was everything to me; both of his parents being so supportive and always putting him (and his pace) first really meant a lot to me and makes me so soft just thinking about it. Seriously, this book is found family and blood family goals.

The banter and one-liners were perfection. This author completely understands what it is like to speak and text in your twenties, and they have mastered the craft to perfection. I was either cackling like a banshee or clutching my pearls with heart eyes during all of Alex and Henry’s exchanges. Also, since there is an ocean in-between these two, they correspond a lot of the time through emails, all of which added five years to my life.

Speaking of those emails, the romance in this is just truly a tier above the rest! The dynamic that Henry and Alex are forced into, and then the new dynamics they are forced to overcome, makes for something that you can’t help but root for with everything in your soul. Also, they are truly polar opposites with their personalities, but seeing them together truly feels like you are witnessing soulmates interact. I hate to say this but, your OTP could never.

And obviously because of the setup of this novel, this book does not shy away from US politics, and you should for sure know that going in. But the most tears I shed in this book was when Alex talked about what he felt like to be a biracial kid, and how America truly is a melting pot of immigrants and how that is something beautiful, and should be celebrated, not shamed and something that people consider to be a crime.

This is a book about two men, both in their early- twenties, discovering what they want for their lives and for their countries. Both for themselves and together. In a world that is cruelly unaccepting to anyone who isn’t white and straight, or who are just deemed different. They find friendship, they find love, and they find their voices. And to this Filipino American, pansexual, whose grandparents are both immigrants, who a lot of times really struggles to find their own voice, it meant the world to me. I’ll carry this book with me forever and always.

Overall, this book was just everything I’ve ever wanted. Put your library holds and preorders in now, because I know that so many readers are not only going to fall in love with this tale, but it is going to be one of their favorites for the rest of their lives. I promise you, it is truly that good, and this truly feels like a once in a lifetime book. Casey McQuiston has created something that is going to mean so much to so many readers, and this book is going to bring so much joy to our much-needed world. I’m just forever thankful that I was able to escape into it for a little while, while doing everything I can to make my country's 2020 and on just as hopeful.

Wow, this book was EVEN BETTER than I had dared hope. : )

I'd initially held off on requesting this book until early reviews hit Goodreads because:

1.) Royal*anything* usually bores me to tears.

2.) So do books involving politics of any shape or form.

But this story was a delicious mix of drama, angst, excitement and, most importantly, hope.

I loved both First Son Alex and HRH Prince Henry right from the get go, as they first snarked their way into my heart, then as feelings began to develop, gave me enough banter to keep me laughing every few pages.

I also found the side characters to be a delight, from First Daughter June to Second Daughter Nora to Princess Beatrice to Alex's parents and friends. They were all worthy of their places in the story, only adding to my level of interest.

As the story began, Alex's intense dislike for "HRH Prince Dickhead" wasn't really addressed in-depth; however, once their first meeting was detailed out, I have to admit that I didn't care much for Henry, either.

Then after they were forced to spend time together as pretend BFF's, trying to undo damage to international relations at a Royal wedding, Henry's staunch facade began to slip and we got to see glimpses of the boy behind the unfeeling, arrogant mask. And I *loved* him from there on out.

This was basically your "boy is enamored of boy, finally meets boy, get slighted by boy, hates boy, then they work through their shit, eventually falling madly in love" story and it totally worked for me.

Yes, there was lots of political speak, with Alex's mother being POTUS, and Henry's grandmother being the Queen of England, but it never got to be too much, as humor, feelings, and just... *realness* permeated the pages.

There was also a ton of political intrigue, with an unexpected act of betrayal, which I felt made the book more than less interesting for me. That was a big ole' shock and a departure from my norm, let me tell you.

I did have a few niggles, Firstly, at 432 (reported) pages, the story felt suuuuuper long, although I never found myself bored. At times, the pacing felt a bit on the slow side, but the humor did its job in keeping me engaged.

Secondly, OMMFG, Henry's propensity to imitate Carl Lewis, pulling a runner and ghosting Alex on more than one occasion, nearly drove me to goddamn drink. True story.

But Alex wasn't one to be ignored, fortunately, so if a bitch needed read, he was the right man for the job, always pulling these two adorable dumbasses back onto The Road to True Love, capitalized, because it's 'a thing' .

I'm extremely happy that I stepped out of my usual comfort zone and gave this book a chance, and would rate it at around 4.75 stars for the humor and feels.

I kept on seeing this book everywhere, but wasn't sure if I wanted to read it. A friend (not a book blogger) mentioned it to me, so I decided to look into it and saw how it was getting such great reviews. I also want to point out this is book is definitely NOT YA. This book is techincally New Adult, but I would argue you could even just say that it's an adult contemporary romance. Which is totally fine, I just want to point it out because the protagonists are just out of college (or about to graduate) and there are a lot of steamy scenes in this book. So a teen reader may or may not be ready to read books that have definitive adult content.

I love a good hate to love romance, so I was one hundred percent here for Alex and Henry's relationship. I loved that they start to communicate via texts and emails. They are both such sarcastic jerks, they are my people! Their strained friendship that later turns into something more was such a treat to read. Seriously, they were the cutest.

I really love that this book also had great diversity in it, from both diverse in terms of race (Alex and June are biracial) and in having representation of sexuality. I was impressed that there was not only one bisexual character, but two! I thought that was awesome. The book really gets int the Latinx rep a lot with Alex and his dad, and even his friendship with Rafael Luna.

I loved the cast of characters in this book, and the relationships between Alex, Nora and June felt so genuine to me. I also really loved Alex and June's Dad a lot, and how he really cared for his kids. I'm not sure what to make of their mom. It's clear she really loves and cares for them, but also the pressure of being The President takes a huge toll on her and her ability to truly be "there" for them. I liked that their parents weren't together anymore, mostly because I felt like it's the case for a lot of people so it made them them seen more relatable.

I think that only thing that I didn't totally love about this book was the election stuff. Like, look, I know I should care about politics, and I'm not saying don't vote, definitely vote, I just didn't really care about the campaign stuff. I felt really bored with those parts, and I know I shouldn't have been since it was an important part to this story. I think that was just a personal issue for me, so I don't think it's a deal breaker.

*I received an egalley from the publisher via Netgalley.

Red, White, & Royal Blue was a really cute book! I loved the light-hearted take on serious issues. It was an enjoyable alternative reality. It was such a fun read with interesting characters.

I‘m going to start this review with the biggest beef I have with this book, one that distracted and annoyed me every single time it was mentioned: there is no such thing as „the Prince of England“. I know this is supposed to be an alternate reality, but since the basic political setup and such seems to be the same, this expression grated on me. More on this later in this review, but maybe at this stage this can still be changed.

The first time I tried reading this, I couldn’t get into it because of the present tense. It’s not my favorite narrative style, but after letting it rest for a week or so I gave it another try and found it didn’t bother me as much anymore. And for about half of the book, I was really happy I gave it another chance.
Let’s focus on the good stuff first: it’s a fun romantic comedy set in an alternate reality where a Mexican-America became president in 2016, and her son falls in love with Henry, an English prince (third in line for the throne, if I count correctly). Alex and Henry‘s love story is actually a kind of „enemy-to-lovers“ story, and it is really sweet and appropriately dramatic towards the end of the book. I also liked that Alex was bisexual, since bisexual rep is something I‘m always happy about.

Basically this book is set in a liberal dream world, and there is nothing inherently wrong about that (except that sometimes that felt almost like a parody to me, but I can be cynical). I still had trouble really liking it, for several reasons.

One, the book is too long. The middle part especially dragged on and on, and I still never got invested into the re-election campaign.
Two, the whole „the Prince of England“ business seems to be a symptom of a bigger problem: every scene set in England lacks texture compared to the stuff set in the U.S., maybe with the exception of the V&A scene (which I still had trouble suspending my disbelief for). It seems like the author, who is from the U.S. had trouble writing convincingly about England. It certainly didn’t convince me. And just, with titles and such, it would be nice if U.S. authors did a little research (when you google „prince of England“ there is a whole bunch of articles saying there is no such thing, and I also wouldn’t call any English prince the leader of its nation). I know I keep harping on about this, but that bit pretty much ruined the book for me because it kept pulling me out of the story, so I feel like I earned the right to complain.

Lastly, while I liked the way the sex was behind closed doors (or whatever you want to call it), of course once again anal sex is „the emotionally valid“ sex act, the one that make the main character realize his feelings. I thought we were past that, but apparently not. (I could rant about this for ages, really.)

So yeah. I suspect that this going to be wildly successful, somewhere along the lines of „Love, Simon“, but unfortunately it didn’t win me over.

A fun read and something different than your average romance. However, the main character of Alex is really unlikeable in the beginning and I almost stopped reading. However, he starts to grow later. While the transitions try to be different sometimes they’re not so smooth. The last chapter was quite drawn out.

I felt this book was a tackles some very relevant issues happening in the world today, in a very cute and relatable way. I loved that it took on politics, international relations, learning to be ok with who you are, women in politics, LGBTQ+, and minorities in all of the above situations. This is a book people need in their lives.

I was highly anticipating this book since I first heard of it July 2018. When I received it on my kindle I was almost too afraid to start. Would it live up to the hype in my head? Could it possibly be as interesting as I was imagining? Simply, the answer is HECK YES! From the very beginning I adored the relationship between Alex, June and Nora. ( The children of the President of the United States and the granddaughter of the Vice President respectively). The trio heads to London to attend the royal wedding of the eldest Prince of England. While there, Alex runs in to his nemesis, the younger heir, Prince Henry. As they trade words, they accidentally crash in to the $75,000 wedding cake causing an international stir.

"As your mother, I can appreciate that maybe this isn't your fault, but as the president, all I want is to have the CIA fake your death and ride the dead-kid sympathy into a second term."

With an international incident on their hands, both teams decide to arrange some PR opportunities where Alex and Henry can try to convince the world that they are the best of friends, instead of the enemies they seem to be. After dreading the forced time together, they realize they have more in common than they think and actually become true friends. Long talks, texts and frequent visits soon spark more feelings than just friendship.

"Okay," he says. "I'm into making history."

There is no back and forth. Once Alex realizes and accepts that he is bi-sexual, he is all in with Henry. They share themselves and their lives with one another. Their relationship evolves just as any two average people's would. The only issue, they aren't average.
Once everyone finds out, it is damage control time. People are briefed. Statements are made. The best yet, The President of the United States makes a power point for Alex and all you need to know to be assured it is amazing is to know that one slide reads, "FEDERAL FUNDING, TRAVEL EXPENSES, BOOTY CALLS, AND YOU" Seriously a priceless chapter that had me nervous and giggling all at once.

"Diaz, you insane, hopeless romantic little shit," says the voice of the President of the United States, muffled in the bed, "it had better be forever. Be safe."

I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between the family and that we, as readers, got to see not just the President, but the mom side also. McQuinston also refreshes us with a fully functional modern-day family. Highly visible divorced parents are able to co-parent while the step-dad is also in the picture. SUCH a nice change.
Casey MqQuiston is now an automatic 1 click author for me. This novel is absolutely everything a reader could ask for. I heard about this book 8 months before I was lucky enough to read it and was somewhat worried it would not be able to live up to the expectations I had built up in my head. In the first chapter I could tell this was not going to be the case. This book not only met my high expectations but far exceeded them! I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. You definitely want to read this book to see what happens with Alex and Henry. (PS can we PLEASE get a book for June?)

An unbelievably adorable, feel-good romance about the First Son falling for the prince of England. It's enemies to lovers at it's finest-- and in the White House! This book was honestly exactly what I needed right now with the state of the world / politics. It didn't paint a perfect world free of problems, but at least a hopeful one where we can find a way to overcome those problems together. Did I mention the adorableness? Honestly, I can't recommend it enough.