Book Reviews

Book Blurb

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, 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.

 

Book Review

What a truly fantastic read! This book has everything I love to see in a story and then some. Henry is a real-life British prince, though he is fictional. Alex is the son of a female president of the US (clearly fictional, unfortunately). There are lots of snark and humor in the way they both deal with each other and with the world around them, but the comedy felt appropriate and not forced. Enemies turn into secret lovers. The secondary characters are so alive they practically jump off he pages. The plot contains more twists than should be legal. Above all, the two protagonists need to learn who they really are, grow up, and decide who they want to be in the future. The obstacles in their way may seem unsurmountable, but since this a modern-day fairy tale… I never lost hope.

 

Alex goes to Georgetown College and may technically be an adult at eighteen, but, like many older teenagers, he is still looking for who he really is. What he wants in life. This is not easy since he is the “first son” and his mother is the president of the United States – about to run for re-election. He is a fierce hater of all things royal, a matter of principle for him, but a royal wedding (Prince Henry’s older brother) is when he first personally meets Prince Henry. To say that the sparks fly is an understatement, but they drive Alex into full-fledged, violent denial about what is happening.

 

Henry, regrettably, does not get his own point of view, and I only got to understand who he is through his actions, emotions, and background as Alex gets to know him. In many ways he is what people see as a “typical British prince” and it takes a while for Alex to figure out who he really is. There were a few surprises, and, in the end, I enjoyed seeing him through Alex’s eyes as they get to know each other. Needless to say, he is a real man, not a cardboard cut-out from a tabloid’s front page at all.

 

The secondary characters sparkle as much as the principals. Alex’s older sister June is a journalism major and one of his best friends at the same time. Nora, the VPs daughter, is his other best friend, and she has amazing insights and great advice to offer. Then there are some favorite Secret Service agents who are as scary as their job titles imply, yet they can also be very human when needed.

 

If you like your enemies-to-lovers romances with a lot of snark, sarcasm, and humor, if enemies who gradually become lovers and then have to figure out if they want to make a future together is your thing, and if you’re ready for more than one laugh, then you will probably love this novel as much as I do. I can totally recommend this volume – and cannot wait for the sequel!

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book was a gift from a friend.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 443 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	14-May-2019
Price	$9.99 ebook, $9.00 paperback, $16.39 hardcover
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J4LPZRN