This was such a joyful, happy read for me. As a political junkie, I loved how immersed the plot was with the DC scene. The relationship between Henry and Alex was blissfully perfect. I loved that so much of the angst in the plot was external -- in the duties of the prince and needs for secrecy -- and that allowed the love story to bloom for a lot longer than most romances allow. My favorite part were the soppy love letters throughout that let us wallow in their growing feelings. The two were absolutely adorable together.

What a fun and funny book. I was so luckily to have my wish granted on Netgalley for this book! Everything from the characters to the story had me riveted and swooning. I loved the progression from perceived enemies to pretend friends to real friends to lovers.

Alex and Henry were just so multi-facted i adored them and alll the secondary characters were great and fully formed!

My one issue would be there were so many instances where i felt page breaks were left out. Not sure if that was an arc formatting issue but it sort of made things confusing a bit. As very different scenes just ran into each other without breaks.

But overall i loved this rom com

Red, White and Royal Blue takes place is a contemporary MM romance that will absolutely melt your heart. We follow Alex, the son of the first woman president, as he navigates his relationship with Henry, the prince of England. At first, Alex deeply despises Henry for his boring personality and cold demeanor. However, after a scandal at Prince Phillip’s wedding, they are forced to make amends.

The first half focuses on their growing relationship. Alex is dealing with his pending bisexuality and Henry is dealing with being gay and being part of the royal family. I have to say that this book had such tremendous LGBTQ representation. We had a side character who was transgender with a wife and multiple other characters as well.

The second half deals with Alex and Henry’s relationship vs the world. Alex’ mother is campaigning for reelection and can’t chance everyone finding out he’s dating the freaking Prince of England.

Alex and Henry’s relationship was so sweet. It started out slow, since neither one knew the other one liked them. They bonded over having so many responsibilities and the world always knowing who they are. There were so many cute moments that had me squealing like a little girl. Then there were also moments that had me busting up laughing! This book was so fun and I read it so quickly! Can’t wait to see what else this author has in store!

This was quite refreshing!
It had a lot of laughing out loud moments and the character interactions were adorable!
Highly recommend!

I had such high hopes for this one and I'm happy to say it pretty much delivered when it comes to everything I want in a romance novel. I liked the characters, thought the two males had good chemistry, and the obstacles they faced along the way kept the story interesting.

Alex Claremont-Diaz's mother is President of the United States. She is seeking a second term when Alex causes a tabloid frenzy by getting into an altercation across the pond with Price Henry. In order to smooth things over in the press, both men agree to some staged photo ops. They develop an unlikely friendship that turns into something more. But is the world ready for America's First Son and a British prince to fall in love?

I loved the premise for this one and kept thinking throughout the book how awesome it would be if this actually did happen in real life. For the most part I did enjoy the mixing of U.S. politics and the British monarchy although a few times I did question if something was truly realistic. The pace of the story was good and I'm glad the author didn't drag the story out and have a rushed ending which is fairly common in romance novels.

Definitely recommend checking this one out if you are looking for a good romance, enjoy stories with diverse characters, and/or like books that revolve around politics or the royal family.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This m/m romance was a total binge read for me. I devoured it in less than 2 days right around Valentines Day. I was looking for a steamy romance with substance. I was looking for something a little different. This book met all those needs. The First Son of the US, Alex, becomes entangled (quite literally) with the Prince of Wales, Henry- sign me up!

This rom-com was more than just make out sessions, although we are treated to plenty of those. It explores the impact that Alex&Henry's relationship has within their small circle as well as their respective countries. It was heartwarming, funny, compulsively readable and super sexy.

What I loved most was the sprinkling of queer history presented in emails between Alex & Henry. I relished learning more about how famous people were impacted due to the circumstances of their respective time periods.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the review copy.

(Reviewed by a white, straight, 40+yr old woman.)

Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it:
If this doesn't get turned into a movie I will riot.

This.
Book.
Was.
Spectacular.

Honestly I can't pitch this book any better than the blurb.

Do you like queer romances?
Do you miss the Obama-era?
Do like hate-to-friends-to-lovers?
Do you like passionate main characters?
Do you enjoy laughing?
Do you love books that revolve around family and friends?
Then you will love RW&RB.

I just—this was great.

I loved it. I really really loved it.

This book was a highly pleasant surprise. It hits on every romantic trope that makes for a good, fun time. The characters felt real and present, and the side characters had as much important development as the main characters. Looking forward to more from this author.

I loved Red, White and Royal Blue so much that I wish it weren't fiction.

McQuiston does such an excellent job of setting up a story that plays on both tropes from either side of the pond, and challenging the traditionally straight narratives that have predominated the YA romance genre for so long.

Henry and Alex are lovable characters that complement each other so well and have a little bit of everything for each reader. Their friends and family round off the story and make you feel as if you're a part of their tight-knit circle.

This was definitely the type of story I didn't want to end or put down, and I sped along as fast as I could to reach what I hoped would be a happily ever after that both Alex and Henry deserved. They both went through so much in the novel from their families and from the media, that from the very start you are rooting for them to succeed.

I can't wait to see what other work McQuiston will put out into the world, and my only hope is that it's as amazing and wonderful and heart-wrenching as Red, White, and Royal Blue.

I LOVED this book! It was lengthy, but I really couldn't put it down. The love story between the first son and the Prince of Whales was adorable, funny and even a bit contentious at times!

eARC provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Have you ever read something that you just wanted to recommend to almost everyone you meet? This is it for me. Red, White & Royal Blue is something outside of my typical wheelhouse, but I loved this book, story, and characters so so much and I want everyone to know about it.

Our story follows our main character Alex, the First Son of the United States, after his rivalry with HRH Prince Henry ends up with published photographs of a fight during a wedding. A fake, PR friendship is instigated and our story flows from there. I had so much fun reading this, and was laughing out loud during multiple portions of the book! There were so many funny lines that I just really appreciated. I flew through reading this, and am so glad I read it!

Another thing I loved about Red, White & Royal Blue is our collection of characters and their relationships with one another. Their relationships seemed natural and fluid, and I loved seeing them interact on the page. This is only of my favorite things to see in books, and I really loved how McQuiston accomplished this here.

Again, this is something outside of my typical wheelhouse, but I loved this so deeply anyway! I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on this! This is a strong 4.5 stars for me, and definitely a favorite of this genre for me out of what I've read so far!

This was a fun read, and a great addition to the growing LGBTQ/young adult category. I especially liked following Alex on his journey to figuring out who he was, both personally and professionally.

I absolutely adore this book and cannot say eniugh about it. It got me out of a looooong reading slump too so extra points. It’s super cute, it’s humorous, and I was rooting for a Happily Ever After so hard!! This is one to check out for sure!

I actually laughed out loud while reading Red, White & Royal Blue (it was actual gleeful laughing, not the weird snorts we all do while looking at something funny on our phones). This book had me grinning like I had just won the lottery, I kid you not. Red, White & Royal Blue is what all romcoms should be: there wasn't any unnecessary drama, there were no ridiculous misunderstandings, and the relationship grew in a real, organic way. Alex and Henry have the chemistry everyone dreams of having.

I read this book in one sitting (yes, it was THAT good) and am currently wondering how soon is too soon to begin a reread.

This is the book I'm going to be recommending to everyone in 2019- it's the delightful, funny, and very relevant story of Alex, the First Son of the US, and Henry, Prince of England and their journey from having a PR driven "friendship" to a real relationship and love. The story takes place a kind of alternate reality, where instead of having a racist Cheeto for a president, a progressive female Democrat with biracial children won the presidency. Her son, Alex, believes that he's meant to go into politics, and behind his seemingly party lifestyle, he works tirelessly to campaign and research in preparation for his mother's hopeful reelection. The only problem is his nemesis, Prince Henry of England, who seems to Alex to be snooty and rude. After they're photographed fighting with one another at a wedding, the two are forced into a "friendship" for the sake of publicity. To Alex's surprise, Henry is not what he seems at all, and they progress from being real friends to being something more. But because of their notoriety and political careers, the idea of a happy ever after for them is more complicated than it seems.
McQuiston is going to be an author to watch. Her writing is funny, powerful, and she does a great job of having a diverse group of characters, including people of color, LGBTQ characters, and lots of strong women. This book is such a breath of fresh air and a getaway from the real world's toxic political climate, and I'd be quite happy to live in the world McQuiston has created.

I would seriously like to thank the book gods for allowing me to read this book early. I will be obsessing about it for all of time. This is great book. HOLY SHIT. More books like this need to exist. I will say its definitely on the more mature in of YA. Red, White & Royal Blue simply fantastic. I thought I was getting a sugary sweet contemporary but what I got was way more than I could have hoped for. This book is full of heart, great pop culture references, love and angsty. Did I mention there's a love hate trope happening? MY FAVORITE. I love some good love/hate banter and this story did NOT disappoint! The banter between American Alex and British Henry was some of the best I've ever read. I love Alex and Henry with my whole heart. OMG. Not to be dramatic but I would die for them. everyone one should read and obsess over this book. Now please excuse me while I go re-read it again because I'm so in love.

This book is going to avoid rightful criticism because it’s a “fun, fluffy” romance novel and “isn’t supposed to be that serious.” There’s no denying that a lighthearted story about two men falling in love is sorely missing on mainstream shelves, but we need to ask ourselves why this is the book that got picked for the “Nicholas Sparks treatment”--the $16.99 retail price, the mainstream publisher, all of the things most modern romance novels don’t get, particularly ones with LGBTQ characters. I mean, seriously, can you think of one contemporary author outside of YA who has gotten famous writing LGBTQ romance novels? What about fiction in general? I know, me neither. It’s depressing as hell. So why this book? It’s not because it’s actually good. That much is for damn sure.
Red, White, and Royal Blue follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, a Mexican-American kid whose mom was elected president in 2016. We’re supposed to conceive of this book as a sort of gay Chasing Liberty meets Parks and Recreation: a heartfelt, optimistic, unfailingly patriotic romp where the stars are, yeah, two hot dudes, but they’re carried on the broad, benevolent shoulders of Lady Liberty.
President Ellen Claremont is a white, Southern, centrist Democrat--because, sure, this is an alternate universe, but let’s not go wild--with two children, wannabe journalist June and politics-obsessed Alex. Alex’s arch nemesis for about 5 percent of the book is Prince Henry of Wales, and then he’s his secret boyfriend for the next 90 percent. At the end, they’re outed by Ellen’s political rival, which results in him soundly losing the election against her and turning Texas blue.
CM writes in the acknowledgements that this book started as a fun project and, after the course of the actual 2016 election, became a sort of therapeutic, wish-fulfilling exercise. I get that; I wrote fanfiction about Pete Wentz being my boyfriend in the 6th grade, so why not a President!Hillary AU? I don’t begrudge her that. My issue is that someone else picked up this book and thought it was a good idea to publish it.
There are so many little things that make this book bad: the fact that Alex and Henry are “arch rivals” for literally about ten pages until they’re kissing, and then there’s no plot for a hundred pages; this whole minor plotline where the First Family gets caught with a private email server that reads like a smug joke (“maybe this would matter in some OTHER America, but not this one!”); Alex wearing a red white and blue Gucci bomber jacket instead of a suit as if it’s some world-ending transgression; when the First Family and two of the royal siblings go to a gay bar in West Hollywood and no other patrons post any photos or sell any quotes to gossip magazines...I could honestly go on forever. These are the stupid things we’re not supposed to criticize because this is a “fun” book, so I won’t.
How about instead, we talk about when Henry says “I’d rather be waterboarded...Your country could probably arrange that,” and we’re supposed to see that as a cute zinger. Or when Ellen says “My UN ambassador...said something idiotic about Israel, so now I have to call Netanyahu and personally apologize.” And then we move on to pizza and beer. The problem with this book isn’t just that it’s overly precious and poorly paced; the problem is that it is trying to be both Veep and House of Cards. It exists in a world where we are to believe that a prince “refusing the crown’s money” (as if he isn’t steeped in it, as if he doesn’t benefit from it every minute he’s alive) is somehow the apex of morality. It exists in an America where email servers don’t matter in an election. It exists in a Britain where a prince would say “One does not foster a lifelong love of Star Wars without knowing an ‘empire’ isn’t a good thing.” These cutesy one-liners and feel-good plotlines do nothing to contend with the imperial violence they’re hinting at, violence from which Alex and Henry both benefit. Okay, so Ellen chats with Netanyahu and June wants to be bffs with Ronan Farrow. Following these fun details to their logical conclusion, I can only assume that Ellen orders drone strikes in the Middle East and Henry’s grandmother is a violent racist. If I were supposed to be having a good time reading, that notion would certainly jerk me out of it quickly. The point this book misses is that it doesn’t matter how liberal the President is—the system is still a gruesome, ever-grinding machine. This book isn’t absolved from that reality, not when it makes glib references to war criminals and WikiLeaks.
If this book had leaned harder into its Disney Channel inclinations, this would be a much different review. My Date With the President’s Daughter and What a Girl Wants and The Princess Diaries, all members of the canon to which this book belongs, were successful (to varying degrees) because the idea of the President or the Queen were distant, hazy fantasies rather than political and imperial figures. If Will Friedle had leveraged his relationship with President Richmond’s daughter to pass stricter gun legislation, the movie would have approximated the tone of this book. It’s a jarring, unwieldy juxtaposition.
Even if we leave all of the politics out of it, there isn’t much to redeem here. The sex scenes are jarring; in a break with modern romance conventions, CM describes the undressing and kissing in vivid, pages-long detail, then quickly skirts past sex. It reads like Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson fanfiction written by someone who gets all of the angst but none of the mechanics.
So, let’s review: this book is painfully unaware of how painfully unaware it is; it’s an ice cream truck driving through an apocalyptic wasteland. Sure, ice cream rules, but are we just gonna ignore how utterly useless it is in the current landscape? And isn’t it a little offensive that it’s blaring “God Bless America”as it goes? Shouldn’t we feel a little miffed that someone thought to send us ice cream when we really need a damn life raft? There are many ways this book could have been a hell of a lot worse, but it’s not the story you deserve.

Cover

I wish the cover was a little more animated and you can actually see Alex and Henry interacting. But, that being said, the cover is how I first got interested in the book so although it's not the best it could be, it still does its job.

Plot

I knew the plot was going to be filled with drama but I wasn't sure what the drama was going to be. Henry is in a place where he is told to keep who he is a secret. He's not allowed to be gay because it's against the royal family and what they stand for. He almost has no support in the palace. Alex, on the other hand, has all the family support but it may cause his mother, the first female President, to lose her second run for office.

The love between Alex and Henry is perfect. It's not instant-love, which I appreciate and they slowly fall for each other and all their quirks. They are not perfect themselves, their flaws are often shown but you can feel their connection. I could NOT stop reading this book. The only reason I would stop is because I literally had to. I was on the edge of my seat, rooting for the couple and their love. The politics in the book seemed very realistic as well and cut throat. It was an interest look into the future of politics and if we grow as a society or not.

I also have to say that I enjoyed this being a New Adult vs a Young Adult book. We got to see some sexy times, although not in too much detail. It was a nice addition to Alex and Henry's relationship and we really got to see their love through those actions as well.

We do see the relationships Alex has with his sister and their best friend Nora, but sometimes I do wish we had a chapter or two from Henry's POV. I really wanted to see his dynamic with his best friend Pez. Pez was mentioned a lot and we saw him once or twice, but we didn't really get to know him or how he is with Henry.

Characters

Henry is my favorite, hands down. I absolutely adored him and wish we got a chance to see some of the story from his POV. He's forced to hide himself from even his family, having absolutely no support until he meets Alex. He suffers from depression and anxiety and we get to see that hands on. I love that he's so flawed and we can see him morphing from Henry, the human to Prince Henry, who has an obligation to his family. It's a very real story and I feel for him as soon as he and Alex started their friendship. We get to see him grow and develop as a character and change his story and take charge of his life.

Alex is the half white/ half Mexican First Son of the first female President of the US. He struggles with his identity because America is still very white and against immigration. We see him struggling with his sexual identity at 21, something that many people go through but we don't hear about. We see him go through a career struggle as well....he thought he knew what he wanted but all of the things he goes through with Henry change his priorities and his path.

Both of them go through a change in this book and it's a beautiful development story. They grow in their own ways and help each other figure it out.

I basically INHALED this book. It was so fun and romantic, and I loved every second of it. I will 1000% be buying copies of this for my store and recommending it to everyone. Also, I'm half Mexican and that is not something I see represented very often, so that was really great!

I rarely read LGBTQ themed "legit" novels. And by "legit" I mean, the ones that actually cover the real feelings of the characters who, in a way, struggle with their identity. I always love cheap MM or even MFM romance but that's because they focused on the hot, sweaty romance and that's it. With legit novels like this one, I always have this, fear of feeling, lurking in the corner while I'm reading them, that's why I tend to stay away. Yet, when I read the blurb of Red, White & Royal Blue, man... I can't help but crave to read it! >_<

Alex is the son of the 1st female president of the United States. Henry is the prince of Wales. They fell in love with each other. What could go wrong? Well, everything, basically.

I love this book so much. Alex's such a goof; smart but goof, and I adore him. He's free, yet always made sure that he didn't mess up. Thoughtful too. And the way he handles himself and Henry, man, I want an Alex for myself!
Meanwhile, Henry's basically the opposite of Alex; controlled, aloof, and somehow detached from life. It's almost like he's living a monochrome life. That's why when they meet each other, instant sparks. It's so fun to see their relationship transforms from enemies to friends, and finally, lovers. Henry's very loving and Alex's gentle yet firm approach, gah I'm in love with both of them!

Sure there are parts that seemed forced to make the story got its HEA, but it's fine by me. Alex's family, Henry's mom and sister, I'm glad that these boys are surrounded by people who love them genuinely.

This book is amazingly good. I laughed, blushed, pissed, and cried a lot while reading it. It reminds me that the struggle with being gay is real, that LGBTQ community is dealing with these overwhelming feelings every day, for their whole life. Fear of being rejected, fear of being ridiculed, or even being cast away. I'm very relieved that these days people are being so open with their sexuality and so accepting. It's about time. I hope people will be more loving and supportive of each other, no matter what their gender or sexuality is.

I honestly surprised that my wish for this book is granted! Ahaha, it's my first time. Thank you so much! :)