I don't even know how to start this review... I adored this book. Like, really adored. It's so far my favourite book of the year. I had a feeling I'd really enjoy it, and it was better than I'd expected.

For some reason, I thought Alex and Henry were going to be forced to fake date, not be fake friends? I must've miss-heard something. But the basic premise is enemies-to-friends-to-lovers with some other twists thrown on top.

A lot is packed into the story. The romance is the main focus, but there is a lot of political elements thrown in. That does affect the eventual romance, since a romantic relationship between an English Prince and the First Son of the United States would have a certain amount of political consequences. That does play a role in the story, as well as the fact that Henry is a prince and being gay wouldn't be ideal to his grandmother. It's not necessarily angsty, but it does play a role in the story.

I loved both Alex and Henry as characters. Their dynamic was overall great. Their pre-existing relationship really added to their romance. I love romances where the characters have some sort of history. It made it really entertaining to see Alex and Henry attempt a friendship really enjoyable.

Alex was a great main character. He was a really enjoyable character to read about. I also loved his interactions with his sister June and the Vice President's granddaughter Nora. They're known as the 'white house trio'. For side characters, both Nora and June were really fleshed out. I adored both of them. I kind of want a book that just followed the both of them.

I also adored Henry. He was a really endearing character, and probably my favourite. He made a lot of comments about being gay, which made me love him even more. He also really grows throughout the book and figures out how he can be both openly gay and a prince.

I absolutely adored the romance part of the book. It could be really fluffy at times and I was so happy reading it. Their romance was cute in its purest form.

If I were to have any gripes with this book though it was the way the chapters were structured. These chapters were needlessly long. Usually chapters cover a few events and end on a natural note. The way they were structured here though was that the chapters and a lot happened in one chapter. Like, weeks worth of things. And you know how usually chapters have scene breakers and what not? This didn't have many, a new scene just started through a paragraphs. That was annoying, and I wish it was structured a bit better.

Overall, I loved this romance. It's definitely my favourite book of the year and I can't recommend it enough.

I requested this book because it sounded like a fun, light read that I could enjoy over a weekend. After picking it up, I became immediately obsessed with Alex and Henry's story and couldn't put it down until I found how how it all ended! This book is everything I didn't know I wanted in a romance novel and I completely binge-read it. I literally ran to my computer to write this review so that I could get all my giddy, happy thoughts written down to share what I loved about it.

One of My Favourite Love Stories
I feel like this book was such a breath of fresh air and I absolutely fell in love with Alex and Henry's love story. Reading about them stumbling through their friendship and getting to know each other, Alex coming to understand himself better, their emails (THEIR EMAILS!!), the way their relationship progress, and all of the sexy scenes in between just made my heart so happy. They seem like such opposites until they dig under the surfaces of their public images and really get to know each other, and I'm so happy that we got to see them go through that. They are both massive public figures and watching them trying to figure out how to have a relationship, and what that relationship actually means, makes for a fabulous love story.

Witty and Fun
I was honestly grinning throughout so much of this book. Alex is somewhat self-centred but completely not self-aware, which leads to some pretty great revelations for him when he starts to understand aspects of his life better. I love his entire relationship with Henry and the many, many hilarious antics they get into, either alone or with their friends. Alex really forces Henry out of his shell, and Henry calls Alex out on his intensity. Even the sexy moments are a battle of wits, making them both adorable and funny to read! Because this is an ARC, I can't quote from the book, but I've seriously written down so many funny moments and quotes that all the characters do or say in this book.

Everyone Needs a June or Paz in Their Life
Ahh June and Paz; it's hard to say who I loved more when it came to secondary characters (Zahra and Nora were also in the running, but June and Paz ultimately made the top of the list). June is the protective and supportive big sister that everyone wants. As an older sister, I loved everything she did to support Alex and how their relationship is such a big part of the book. Although she and Alex are really different personalities, they are such close siblings and I loved reading at it. Likewise, everyone needs a best friend like Paz (Henry is so lucky)! Someone who brings out the best in us, isn't afraid to be themselves, and is a genuinely amazing person to have in their lives. We don't spend a ton of time with him, but any moment with him (specifically when him and Henry are road-tripping to Wales ) is amazing.

Not YA, But Not A Traditional Adult Romance
I want to be clear that this is not a Young Adult book (despite the adorable cover) but it's also not a traditional Romance. I feel like that needs to be clarified because I was a bit confused about age-range when I was reading. The characters are in their 20s and do have sex, so it seems like this book falls under the new title of "New Adult" that I've started seeing on Goodreads. I would definitely recommend it to adults over teens if that helps with the distinction.

I absolutely adored reading it and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Romance, LGBTQ+, or just a funny story about two men falling in love. Red, White & Royal Blue comes out on May 14th and I'm so excited for it to get here so everyone can love it as much as I do!

I'm calling it right now: best YA contemporary of 2019.

This book has everything: romance, humor, scandal, international politics, and lots of parties and booze. Toss in a dash of uptight Brit and hang ten American and you've got the best literary cocktail I've devoured in ages. Stunning.

*This ARC was given to me via NetGalley for an honest review*
This book is everything I want our world to be. It’s the alternative reality I wish existed. It’s what I pray will be our future.

RED, WHITE, & ROYAL BLUE is the most romantic book I have read in years. I laughed until I cried. 

Alex is a smart mouth son of the President of the US, he is smart as a whip and pretty much lives off coffee. His arch nemesis, the Prince of England Henry. But Henry isn’t what Alex thought he was—boring, generic, stuck-up, and handsome—well maybe that last one. ;-)

I love this story and I want everyone to read it. It‘s not only romantic, but it‘s also thought-provoking and genuine. If you don’t pre-order this today, you seriously have no idea what you are missing.

This is the gay romance the LGBTQ world deserves! It has everything I love about romantic comedies: charismatic leads, funny dialogue, sexy scenes, diverse characters... Two thumbs up!

I have not been so enamored with a book in like 2 years. I'm a pretty fast reader and I can usually rip through a great read in a day. However, this book was SO GOOD that I just wanted to make it last as long as possible. Doling out the chapters like a stingy kid who doesn't wanna share her cookies.

ANYWAY - Alex and Henry. I had hearts in my eyes not just for the two of them but for everyone around them. All their friends and their families were simply wonderful. The banter, which is always a win for me, was fantastic.

I read a lot and rarely does a book affect me like this one did. Everything about this was fun, poignant, loving and fantastic.

Think “Chasing Liberty,” think “The Prince and Me,” think “First Daughter,” and then think BETTER.
I knew I was going to love this book just from the summary, but even that was underestimating McQuiston. Alex and Henry took over my weekend and my heart very quickly. Alex is a headstrong, life-of-the-party, passionate go-getter who’s had his eye in politics since he could pick up a newspaper, but the real secret is he just cares too much. He’s not one to pick his battles, so he’s constantly working himself to the bone for everything in his life: family, school, political campaigns, etc.
Enter Henry. HRH is a beautiful mess of contradictions, as Alex soon learns. While he seems calm, collected, and admittedly quite posh in Texas-born Alex’s eyes, it becomes clear early on that Henry in public and Henry in private are two entirely different things. The real Henry is a kind, big-hearted, romantic Star Wars nerd, and funnier than the magazines let on. He believes in hope and changing the world, but not so much when it comes to his own life and happiness.
Witnessing these two absolute dorks fall in love over the course of the book was an amazing journey. Their romance, which ricocheted from enemies to friends to friends with benefits to lovers to “forever,” felt perfectly-paced and incredibly organic, which I haven’t been able to say about many books. They grew to know each other, to care for each other, to really get each other, well before they get together, and by the end, even I was a little bit in love and thinking, “Okay, so maybe men aren’t all trash.”
The book would have been good if McQuiston had left it at that, but she made it great with the secondary cast. This book is full of wonderful, hilarious, complicated people who flesh out the story and make it deeply and beautifully human. June, the First Daughter who struggles to balance her political position with her journalist ambitions; POTUS Ellen whose deep love for her children and one-track political mind don’t always mix; Nora, the VP’s granddaughter, and her statistics-backed advice; Bea, Henry’s sister, who refuses to be painted with other people’s brushes; Pez, a wild child/philanthropist I fully expect a sequel about; Zahra, who could probably take over the world with one well-timed phone call; and most importantly, the turkeys. I won’t elaborate. Just know there are turkeys. Anticipate them. Yearn for them. Be ready for them.
Of course, this book isn’t perfect. One major critique I have is the treatment of the UK and particularly the royal family. McQuiston’s American perspective comes into sharp relief when Henry’s brother and grandmother are on the page, their characters more caricatures of the quintessential British snobbery than actual people. She also imbues the royal family with a good deal more political power and intrigue than they actually have, and plays a little fast and loose with her titles. “Prince of England,” for example, is not really used because a) the monarchy rules over Great Britain, not just England, and b) his title would be Prince of Wales or possibly something else considering he’s third in line. I would have thought the first family would know that. Overall, I think she could have benefitted from a bit more research, or maybe just have a few Brits comb through the book and point out those little snags.
That does not, however, ultimately change my feelings about this book. Red, White, and Royal Blue is a loving and much-needed reminder that there is good in the world, that happiness is possible, that bravery and honesty and love can in fact save the day. It’s a bit escapist, a bit optimistic, a bit unrealistic, but given our current sociopolitical climate, maybe that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Sometimes it takes a story like this to remind us that the issues we face today, the injustices and oppressions and violence, are not acceptable, or normal, or inevitable. The world McQuiston has envisioned in this books is ours but with a little more love, a little more joy, a little more hope, and it’s a world we should all aspire to make a reality.

First Son Alex and HRH Prince Henry of Wales couldn't be more different which is probably why every time they meet their animosity grows until a giant cake disaster at a royal wedding changes everything. Now forced to spend time together and pretend to be friends to fix the PR nightmare, Alex and Henry find more common ground than even they thought possible. They also find their relationship growing in unexpected, and steamy, ways.
This enemies to friends to lovers romance is incredibly sweet and fun with a wicked sense of humor too. The supporting cast of Alex's family and Henry's friends add great dimension to the twists and turns of young love between two young men caught in the spotlight and family obligation. The dialogue was fun and fast-paced and emails between the two secret lovers added so much heart to the story. A great read for fans of first loves, political intrigue and happy endings.

"Red, White & Royal Blue" tells the story of The First SOn of US and Prince Henry. First of all, I would like to thank the publisher for granting my wish and allowing me to read this funny, charming rom-com. I absolutely adored it.

The characters of this book are funny and well fleshed out I was not only interested in the two main characters but also their close ones. With some of the "grown ups" I did feel like they were not very believable (a lot of swearing in a professional setting) but overall I liked the book.

History, huh?

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to love Red, White & Royal Blue. I mean, this is Casey McQuiston's first book, and it's written in present tense (ugh), but love it I did. I loved it HARD.

Red, White & Royal Blue was everything I was looking for and more.

My reading experience was simply me laughing, crying, or swooning in a continuous cycle. Sometimes all three at once. It's been a long, long time since I've wanted to melt into a puddle of goo on the floor because the romance!!! Holy god, this story was the romancey-romance of your dreams.

I'm a sucker for a few things in a romance book, and this story has nearly all of them. We get a sexual awakening (can I get a halleloo?!), an enemies-to-lovers (with all the glorious damn, your face, bruising kissing that I could dream up), witty banter for daaaaaaaaaaays, and a romance with a literal (okay, fictional... but still) PRINCE OF MOTHER FORKING ENGLAND. Did Casey McQuiston worm her way into my brain and pull out my deepest fantasies?!?!?!

I wanted to take a nap inside these pages. I took pictures and screenshots of my Kindle of the Uber-romantic email exchange to swoon over later. I cried and laughed like a lunatic on my couch, huddled in a prison of tea and reading of my own making. I fell asleep with the imprint of my Kindle on my face at 3 am.

Even though I don't like reading about politics or political games, even though present tense makes me feel itchy (did I mention that yet??), and even though the sex scenes are suggestive but still fade-to black I wanted to read this book FOREVER.

The dialogue is something I will remember for a long time. The humor was absolutely everything and elevated this book from good to unbelievably amazing. The feelings were so intense I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.

Red, White & Royal Blue is worth all the hype and more. It's worth your time and your money, and it's worth it to read something so fun and heartfelt and rare that it made it's way on to my elusive favorites list. With literally thousands of romances under my belt, this one still stands out.

And nothing will matter but just we two, we two longing loves at last come together.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

**I received an ARC in an exchange for an honest review.**
Y’all better hang on because this review is about to be all over the place.
I have to start by saying how much I LOVED this book!! It was so much better than I ever expected and I will be looking to see if this author has other works because I want to read the ALL. (If there aren’t any, I may have to twitter stalk until I have something else in my hands.).
Ok here comes the gush. I love books with romance in them. I love the sweet ones. I love the angsts ones. I love the historical ones. I love the dark ones. However, there are a lot of books that I liked but that would have been so much better if they took some time to develop the characters and set up the story before hitting me with the DRAMA. This book does that PERFECTLY. These characters jump off the pages. Even the ones who are not front and center are very clearly defined. I feel like I properly “met” them all. The family relationships were so delicious. The friendships were fantastic, even when things went awry. The nods to real life individuals was fun.
I am a sucker for wit and good banter. This book had both in spades. It gave such a richness to all the relationships.
I am not a person who chooses or avoids a book specifically because of a characters sexual orientation. I know it’s a hot button for more diversity but if you write a good love story, I’m in regardless of the genders of the couple. Having said that, I loved that there were characters who were still unsure about their sexuality into their 20’s. We’re often made to believe we should have this all sorted out by the end of our college years and sometimes it takes longer. The relationships in this book overlap and weave together and manage to work.
It’s also hate to love. That trope can really be messed up. This book gets it right. It’s gradual and confusing and often surprising.
There’s are also love letters (emails). And they are fantastic. So swoony and snarky and worth stealing.
This book has steamy bits but they are not graphic. For me, it was perfect for this story.
So, other things to love:
A British Prince
An international incident involving cake
A female POTUS who is divorced and her biracial children
A boy who is surprised by an attraction
Star Wars references, a Harry Potter reference, fan fic references, a Seinfeld reference
A bar named the Tipsy Grackle
A comparison of British baking shows and American Cooking shows
A comparison of Turkeys and Raptors
A divorced couple who drive each other crazy but put their kids first
An election with shady practices
Bravery
Diversity
And mostly LOVE
In summation, I adored this book! I hope there will be companion novels because I have some questions about the friends and siblings.
If you love a good romance that makes you laugh, and smile, and just warms you up, this is one to read.

4.5 stars

This book was SO. FREAKING. ADORABLE. I loved Alex and Henry. I loved their adoration of each other and despite how things were going, they cared so deeply for the other's needs and feelings. I loved the political scandals and intrigue sprinkled throughout. It kind of reminded me of West Wing or something like that. I love stories about high ranking political figures, or the families of them, so I knew that this was going to be a favorite. My only criticism of this book is how it dates itself. Since it is specifically referring to the 2020 election, and most of it takes place in 2020, I found myself not being able to picture it "happening now" as I am able to do with most contemporaries. I feel like down the road, this book won't be as relevant, and it can't be timeless because of this. But that's such a small thing, and not too much of a distraction. Overall, I LOVED this book!

I absolutely loved this book. Henry and Alex’s chemistry and raw relationship was so endearing. It also made you wonder when a situation like this will happen in real life!? I found myself laughing out loud, and turning the pages as fast as I could to see if there would be a Happily Ever After!

In the words of Alexander Claremont-Diaz, I have a "Fire under my ass for no good goddamn reason.' and it is all because of this perfect book. I never though I could love a new adult contemporary like this, but then again this book was basically written for me. A charming annoying First Son of the United States (aries) falls in love with the literal Prince of England (pisces), enemies to lovers style. It had love, sex, scandal, politics, pop culture references, an everything else that fuels my very existence.

To loosely quote Alex (my favorite disaster) once again, I stupid love this book.

The characters really drove this book in the best way. It was all from Alex's point of view, but the author allowed the other characters voices to shine just as loud. I just loved everyone so much. Alex was charming, but realistically flawed. It was so interesting that I related to him SO MUCH when we are like in the most different positions ever, but I think that is just the kind of character the author wrote him to be. Realistic, fun, and extremely love-able. Henry was a stiff blank piece of paper at first, because that is how Alex saw him, but as we get to know him with Alex he is the kindest cutest dork to ever grace the halls of Buckingham Palace and I would kill for him. Alex would help me. The side characters, friends and family of the those nerds were also amazing strung out characters who, honestly, I would love to see some spin-offs from. Yes, this is me begging.

The plot moved so effortlessly in some of the best pacing I've seen in a contemporary book, especially one this big. I loved how everything just fit and I want to give the highest regards to the author for all the extremely detailed research she obviously did. She wrote it in a way where I was never confused and understood everything happening. And I loved everything that was happening even when it was stressing me out so much I gulped down an entire can of diet coke in .5 seconds. The writing was just as good. The author was genuinely funny and also inserted some lines that really hit me hard. It was fun while also containing so much substance I may have shed a few tears at points. I really think this is now one of my favorite books ever.

Oh, this book was so much fun. Alex is the son of the first female POTUS, and he's got his future mapped out for him: graduate from college, work for his mom's re-election campaign, and eventually run for office himself. He's pretty much the country's pride and joy, but his position as Golden Boy is threatened when he and his mortal enemy, the Prince of England, are so busy trading barbs at a royal wedding that they accidentally trip and fall into the $75,000 wedding cake. To prevent an international incident, the guys agree to a fake bro-mance around the globe, but as they get to know each other better, they realize that they don't actually hate each other as much as they thought they did...maybe it's actually something that looks a lot like love.

The banter between Alex and Henry is top-notch, and I laughed out loud more than once. Alex is surrounded by amazing, strong women, including his sister, his best friend, his mom, and his mom's Chief of Staff, Zahra, who was probably my favorite because of her amazing ability to bust everyone's balls with love. There was a lot of diversity in this book, too: Latinx characters and gay/bi/trans characters were all mixed in with white British royalty to great effect.

Mostly, I appreciated this book for the joyful parallel universe it provides in comparison to the way our country has looked since the 2016 election. The author said in the acknowledgments that she wrote it after Trump was elected and everything went to hell, and she felt the need to tell a positive, hopeful story as a flip side to real events. She absolutely accomplished that here. The woman is elected president, the boy gets the boy, and everyone lives happily ever after. What a fun escape to the way the world COULD be.

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a delightful read!**

Thanks St. Martin's Press for approving me for this eARC on Netgalley!

4.75 stars (I would've given it a full 5 stars, but there was WAY too much swearing)

I honestly didn't think that I'd love this book as much as I did. But omg, it was so good. I couldn't help but love pretty much the whole cast of characters. Their bonds, friendships, and relationships 💙

Alex/Henry is definitely a ship I fully support!! They're so precious 😍

I'm gonna need another book about them, ASAP 😭 Even if they're side characters, in a companion novel featuring one of the sides from this book as the lead!

Red, White and Royal Blue was the best surprise of 2019 for me! I’m not sure I’ve ever been so invested, so enamored and engaged with so many characters in a book before. I laughed out loud at times and cried at others, all while rooting for this dramatically entangled love affair.
Alex is the First Son, sister to lovely June and ex-lover to Nora (the VP’s daughter). While originally despising the Prince of England, Harry, Alex is forced to put on a show of friendship. Readers are invited to join in on this “coming of age” journey as Alex discovers that it is love that ultimately is missing in his life and that Harry is the source of light, joy and above all love. Of course the public eye, paparazzi and royalty make this story so much more complex and horrific (in a fantastic way!). I was charmed by the friendships (I wanted to hang out with Nora & June), comforted by the families (Alex’s mom, step dad and biological Dad are just doing their best), interested in the politics (how does a family survive a very public scandal at the beginning of a campaign) and swept away by the love-story that grows page by page.
The writing style was easy to follow and the banter between both friends and lovers was sweet and absolutely tear-jerking hilarious. I honestly had no idea what to expect when I received the ARC of this book, but I feel so privileged and lucky to have a preview of this wonderful story.
A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

5/5 Stars

If you're looking for a hopeful celebration of politics and love, Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue will be right up your alley. Alex, the First Son, and Henry, the Prince of Wales, find themselves in a bit of a fiasco after a wedding cake incident and the determined damage control will have to overcome the dislike and indifference between them. Needless to say, relations escalate pretty quickly.

Alex is the nation's dream guy; a stunner with humor and a smart head on his shoulders. He's passionate about politics and immerses himself in work to shut out his nerves. Prince Henry though while gorgeous holds himself back and his noble demeanor makes him seem aloof. The slow burn of becoming friends and then the blossoming relationship was perfect especially as a lot of Alex and Henry's time was spent apart. Plus the sharing of ups and downs over text and email were exquisite and the entire relationship was breathtaking.

This book also stood out for it's exceptional side characters. June, Alex's sister, is a supportive presence and her struggle to pursue her own passion of writing while being neutral in journalism was intriguing. Nora, the Veep's granddaughter, makes up the third prong of the Golden Trio and is a goddess of data analysis. Nora and Pez, Henry's sister and best friend respectively, were a riot and all six of them made for a pretty iconic squad. Even the parents and political representatives were amazing.

McQuiston delves into a number of topics especially with Alex discovering his sexual identity and I appreciated the discussion of how realizations are often made later in life which is totally valid. She also tackles our current political climate with a sort of revisionist history and a group of characters that care deeply about the world around them. The behind the scenes White House action gave me a lot of West Wing vibes and left me with a bit of hope for the future.

Overall Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston was a wish-fulfilling political romcom that had me riveted from the first page. Alex and Henry were deeply complex and endearing characters that forever have my heart and the rest of their friends and family were just as great. Their tumultuous meet cute and the social commentary was a roller coaster of emotions and I totally recommend picking this one up.

This book was honestly just so cute, and fun. Alex and Henry were so good together, even when they were both being dramatic. I wish the book had let them hate each other for longer because I love enemies to lovers but I still love the dating a prince scenario.

There were a lot of fun shenanigans and moments in here that at one point I felt like I was just reading fanfiction because it was giving me everything I wanted. But while being really cute, it felt like there were a ton of scenes and pages that could have been cut because the book drags a few times with even more random fluff scenes.

Beyond the romance though, I also really liked the family relations. I was also weirdly into the president's reelection campaign and all the drama that happened with that. I'm not sure why I cared but I did?? I just loved everyone so much, every single character. Make this a 5 book long series with each character, I would love to read it.

This might have just been a problem on the arc but it would do this weird thing where there were hardly any scene transitions. Say they are having a conversation but then the next line Alex is talking to someone else in a different place with no warning. I was a bit confused!

Otherwise this book was just so cute, enjoyable, and all around fun.

I'm going to try and make this review as coherent as possible, but not promises. I'm honestly just so filled with emotions and glee and joy from this book. I have so many highlights from this book and they are all SO GOOD.

Welcome to 2018 and in a far better timeline than the one we currently find ourselves in (*sob*), the successor to Barack Obama is democrat President Claremont, a divorced and re-married bad ass lady, who made two wonderful, half Mexican-half American children in Alex and June.

We start this story in the months leading up to her reelection bid. Alex, the first son, makes a fool of himself, as well as his sworn enemy Henry, at Henry's brother's wedding. In attempt to show that there is no animosity between the countries, Henry and Alex are forced to show the world they are indeed, close friends. And cue the start of the enemies to lovers trope, in the best way possible.

"I think it's amazing," Nora says. "Sworn enemies forced to make peace to settle tensions between their countries? There's something totally Shakespearean about it."

"Shakespearean in that hopefully I'll get stabbed to death," Alex says. "This sheet says his favorite food is mutton pie. I literally cannot think of a more boring food. He's like a cardboard cutout of a person."

As you can imagine, as Alex and Henry are forced to spend time together, their feelings begin to blossom. While Alex had only been with women up until this point in time, I appreciate McQuiston not dragging out Alex questioning if he could possibly like other men. Alex pretty quickly accepted that he was bisexual; while I can totally appreciate this is not easy for many, it kept the story moving along nicely with Alex's quick acceptance.

While Alex and Henry's relationship is very much rooted in friendship as they put on a carefully cultivated PR trip in Great Britain, things really get going with Henry's visit to a New Year's Eve party in D.C. It eventually leads to one of the best first kisses I have ever read. There's so much tension leading up to it and I devoured every interaction between the two.

"C'mon, it's like in the hips. You have to loosen up." He reached down and put both hands on Henry's hips, and Henry instantly tenses under the touch. "That's the opposite of what I said."
"Alex, I dont'--"
"Here," Alex says, moving his own hips, "watch me."
With a grave gulp of champagne, Henry says, "I am."

I mean, be still my swooning heart. I was a little surprised how quickly Alex and Henry got together (not that I'm complaining!) as I expected a little more build up. However, I really liked how much attention was given to the complexity of navigating their relationship. There are so many laugh out loud funny moments - I know I was grinning like a fool like 85% of this book.

How dare Henry come into Alex's house looking like the goddman James Bond offspring that he is, drink red wine with the prime minister, and act like he didn't slip Alex the tongue and ghost him for a month.

He kisses Henry until it feels like he can't breathe, until it feels like he's going to forget both of their name and titles, until they're only two people tangled up in a dark room making a brilliant, epic, unstoppable mistake.

While most of the attention is on Alex and Henry's relationship, there's a lot of great subplots happening and excellent side characters. I absolutely adored June, Alex's sister, and Nora, June and Alex's best friend and Alex's sometimes girlfriend. They are both wickedly funny and smart and incredibly real. I also adored Zahra, Amy, Bea, etc. There are so many excellent characters in their own right, even if they revolve around Alex and Henry.

There's some also serious issues brought up, like the fact that Alex struggles with his mixed heritage, Henry struggles with anxiety and both struggle what it means to carry on a high profile family legacy.

If there's a criticism to be made (besides giving me more books in this world), is that you can fairly easily guess the major plot points. There's nothing terribly unpredictable about them, but honestly, I didn't find myself caring all that much. They needed to happen and I was more interested in how these characters were going to handle them.

Take for instance Alex's mother learning of his relationship and her immediate reaction was to make a powerpoint to lead their discussion, including this title for the ages:
EXPLORING YOUR SEXUALITY: HEALTHY, BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE WITH THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND?
She apologizes for not having time to come up with better titles.

If I didn't love Alex's entire family already, this would have certainly sealed the deal. The ending, while a bit cliche, was still entirely wonderful and really tied up the book nicely. As I said, before, I would love a follow-up book in the future to see what all these amazing people are up to. I truly did not get enough of them in fantastic 432 pages McQuiston gifted us.

While I certainly have started to read more romance stories in the last few years, I still would not certainly consider myself a big reader of this genre. I tend to only like contemporaries and they definitely need to be well-done and bring something different to the table. I've only found a few so far that fit this billing that I've enjoyed and Red, White & Royal blue is certainly at the top of these.

I can't wait to get this in printed form and read it whenever I need a pick-me-up. I cannot say enough positive things about this book and from everything I've seen, just about everyone else who's read this agrees. It's sexy, it's funny and it's emotionally heart-warming.