* Instant NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestseller * * GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER for BEST DEBUT and BEST ROMANCE of 2019 * * BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR* for VOGUE, NPR, VANITY FAIR, and more! * What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, … American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius–his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.
“I took this with me wherever I went and stole every second I had to read! Absorbing, hilarious, tender, sexy–this book had everything I crave. I’m jealous of all the readers out there who still get to experience Red, White & Royal Blue for the first time!” – Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners
“Red, White & Royal Blue is outrageously fun. It is romantic, sexy, witty, and thrilling. I loved every second.” – Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six
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Red, White and Royal Blue came up as suggestions for me over the last six months. And every time I pushed it aside. I didn’t think a gay romance was my cup of tea. But I was wrong. This book is WONDERFUL! The bottom line is this; Love is Love. I have read many kinds of books, every time learning something new. And I’ve read many romantic stories. But I can say that Red, White and Royal Blue made me swoon. It was sweet, thoughtful and so completely vulnerable.
Alex Clairmont Diaz is the first son of the President of the United States, Ellen Clairmont. When Alex attends a royal wedding, attended by HRH Prince Henry of Windsor, second in line to the throne, a hysterical event brings these enemies together, falling into the wedding cake. Que the paparazzi. Flashbulbs ignite.
This is the start of a story of two young men coming of age as they navigate their sexual identities and attraction for each other in the middle of the public eye.
I SO encourage you to read Red, White and Royal Blue. It is charming, sweet and completely full of love. I hope it will make you swoon too.
This is one of my all time favourite books. The main characters are just lovely and the love story the best one I ever read.
this book made me believe in love and also cry twice.
This book was absolutely the perfect combination of lighthearted fun and moving romance. The relationship between the two main characters moves perhaps a little swiftly from enemies-to-lovers, but the flirty banter and their unusual stakes in life keep you from noticing too much. The entire novel is quickly and tightly paced; even scenes which feel like pure romance or gratuitous flirting serve an emotional and plot purpose. The dialogue in particular is as close to perfect as a book can get: not quirky enough to be unrealistic, but still managing to capture the fast-paced idiosyncrasies of millennial speech patterns. There are non-romantic relationships in the novel that are just as fun and excellently crafted, so the entire novel felt like it had a great ensemble cast of characters and a well-built world outside of our two romantic leads.
It’s inarguably a romance novel, but the plot was almost more interesting. Taking place in an alternate universe where the events of the 2016 election turned out very differently, the plot follows America’s first female president attempting to win reelection amidst this political scandal. There’s actually a great deal of politics in this book, and even though they’ve certainly taken on a more lighthearted tinge than real life, it’s interesting to see everything unfold along the lines of our familiar U.S. elections. In the end, it was the resolution of the political plotline and not the romance that moved me to tears.
I’ve seen a few reviews with the complaint that this book is a liberal fantasy, or grossly unrealistic, and sure! It’s a romance written as escapism for a certain demographic, but just because it’s not palatable to a straighter, more traditionally conservative audience doesn’t make it any more unrealistic than the numerous heterosexual romances with implausible scenarios. Romance novels are often fantasy in nature, and giving this book a poor review because of the vastly different political setting is ludicrous. It was diverse, but felt like something that could be inspiring and touching to everyone, especially in these uncertain times.
It’s a YA gay Romance and I don’t tend to like Romances, but this one surprised me. It’s about Alex, the son of the first woman president. She was elected in 2016. She’s a left- leaning Democrat from Texas. So yeah, this is a nice fantasy, too. Alex falls in love with one of England’s princes; the second in line to the throne. It sounds stupid, but Alex and Prince Henry and their extended families make it work. They are smart, engaging, thoughtful men. Alex and Henry are thrust out during a dirty re-election campaign. I really liked and maybe loved this.
I do have a quibble with this novel. I am no royal expert, but I have watched “The Crown” and “Victoria.” Prince Henry, the second- born- son is not of Wales. He is referred to more than once as Prince Henry of Wales. No! His older brother is the Prince of Wales. And their father was a commoner? That’s unusual. Quibbles aside, I really liked this. Recommended by Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books and Music on 6/25/19 on WAMC. Borrowed from inter library loan.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!! The idea of the first son of the president of the US and the prince of England having the type of relationship that Alex and Henry have is extremely original and interesting to me. The way the characters are written are also very realistic and relatable! When some bad events happen in the book, I really really felt for the characters. I felt their feelings through the pages and I applaud McQuiston for that. I have never been so sad to finish a book in a long time and wanting more out of these characters. These characters are so likable and you feel for them the entire book, even if they might have made a wrong move. I deeply love this book and am so happy that I saw someone raving about it on my explore page a couple months ago. 10/10 would recommend.
5 Things I liked about Red, White and Royal Blue
I know. I know. You’ve either already read this rom-com about what happens when the first son and the second prince fall for one another, or you’ve decided it’s not for you. If you’re in that latter category—let me encourage you to think again. Here’s what’s to love about this book:
1.) OOOh believable, insider-y looks at The White House and Buckingham Palace. I love a good look at a life I’m never going to lead, especially if it’s got all the dishy fun parts and the things that have to suck.
2.) The protagonist’s voice. This one’s told from the POV of the Latinx son of the first woman president, a young Texan who’s not at all certain of his sexual identity. It’s well done and again, feels true.
3.) All the fun secondary characters. There’s such a great stack of them in this story—Alex, the protag, doesn’t know it but a ton of people have his back, and they’re all well worth hanging out with.
4.) Politics as it should be. It’s like The West Wing is back, with idealism everywhere you look and the complicated good guys doing the complicated stuff that has to be done if you really care about democracy and the people etc. You will wish it were true when you’re done.
5.) Number five’s always for writers: here, note the sheer audacity of what Casey McQuistion has taken on here. An imaginary first family, imaginary royals, an entire imaginary election, and she doesn’t shy away from including real issues. Yet the book doesn’t get bogged down or didactic. Far from it. It moves fast and smart throughout. So if you’ve ever thought, oh, gee, I can’t do that, it’s too big, too crazy, too unlikely: grab this taco of a book—fun with some substance (but it’s not a kale salad, either, people).
loved the character development, watching the progression of the relationship, the supporting characters and quotes from love letters between historic people. fabulous book!
This book was a lot of fun.
The story was intriguing, the writing was just okay. Some of the gay sex scenes were pretty graphic.
Topical, political, and hilarious. Anal bleaching is mentioned in the first chapter, which lets you know exactly what kind of crazy ride this book will be.
I must have been living under a rock because I missed all the hype about this book…I decided to read it as a reading challenge goal…a book that won a 2019 Goodreads award. So glad I picked this book, there are not enough words to explain how good it is. McQuiston spins a beautiful love story intertwined with LBGTQ issues, racism, political intrigue and an archaic monarchy. It is a well written book that takes you on an emotional journey…you will laugh, cry, get angry, and pump your fist in the air for joy. You will get swept up in the push and pull of Alex and Henry’s relationship but there is a host of other great characters that enhance the story. Highly recommended.
This is the first book by this author. This is a mm contemporary story set in the USA and uk. Alex is the first son of the president of the USA and Henry is a Prince of England. Enemies to lovers. Lots of USA politics. Lots of hype for this book but not reliable in Australia.
I want to print their email exchange and wallpaper my kitchen – Prince Henry is my new book boyfriend. I felt the words of his email in my soul. I love him.
So many characters, so much the author wants to accomplish, and it just keeps going and going. It got tiresome like a wanna be epic. A bit disappointing after all the hype and promotion.
This book sucked me in, ripped me apart, spit me out, and put me back together in the best ways possible. It’s sweet and with the perfect amount of angst. It’s third from the POV of Alex, but both main characters are men it can sometimes be a little confusing and I admit I had to re-read a few lines at least once a chapter. I couldn’t help but root for Alex and Henry, both in their early/mid 20’s, but their emails and conversations sometimes so eloquent, you forget their age. Witty banter, laugh out loud moments, touching family moments, and heart break, but this is romance so…
I started this book Monday morning on my commute as my read for the week, and then I stayed up late Monday night to finish it. It is a snack: romance, royalty, and coming out story with therapeutic election stories and a strong dose of bi pride. The point of view/present tense was a little distracting to me (it felt like first person to me, but was actually in third person) but obviously, that didn’t stop me from having a grand old time with this book.
I just loved this book with its wonderful characters and the excellent premise. As a New Zealander, I found the political setting interesting. It was a real page-turner, and I couldn’t wait to learn what happened. Highly recommended.
In an effort to read romances with more diverse characters, I’ve been purposefully seeking out books by and about women of color, and also books with LGBTQ characters. This book fell into the second category, and I’m so glad I decided to do this, because “Red, White, and Royal Blue” was amazing.
The premise of this book, what if the son of the president of the United States falls in love with an English prince, was so appealing, I scooped it up right away. I listened to it first as an audiobook, but I loved the characters so much, I wanted to visit them again, so I purchased it as an ebook as well.
This book is funny, well-written, and a beautiful love story. Both Alex and Henry were completely swoon worthy and interesting. I loved that the book is set at a White House with a female president, and the political storyline in the book is fascinating as well.
I highly recommend this book, but with one warning: you won’t be able to put it down, and it will haunt you for weeks.
History, huh?
Yes, most definitely (and if that isn’t a t-shirt for real yet, it needs to be one!).
Could have gotten the same messages across with out details of gay sex.
Fantastic book. Enjoyed it immensely. Had a hard time putting it down.